5 Things I Wish PSVR Told Me

Cinematic Mode is Automatic

While you won’t be able to play the likes of Uncharted 4 or Mafia III in VR, you can still play them and use your VR headset. Thanks to Cinematic Mode, the PSVR will show your non- VR games on a huge 226-inch floating screen. It may not look as pixel perfect as your games do on your big TV, but if you’re looking for a little bit of additional immersion and a means of closing yourself off to the world, this is definitely something to try.

Cinematic Mode is therefore a neat idea, but at no point are you told how to actually use it. Though trial and error would eventually have you just putting in your old games to see what happens, you don’t actually have to change any settings or select any options. PSVR will automatically just display your games on the giant floating screen inside your headset.

You Don’t (Necessarily) Need a Ton of Room

One of the things that may have deterred a couple of people when it came to PSVR was just how much room you actually need to enjoy it. After all, not everyone has a 10′ deep by 6.2′ wide area in their house that they can dedicate to playing and flailing around in virtual worlds. However, from our time with PlayStation VR, you can actually still play in a much smaller area.

Yes, you won’t necessarily be able to fling your arms around quite as much as you could in the larger area, but depending on what experiences you’re playing, it’s more than possible to enjoy something like RIGS or Until Dawn: Rush of Blood in a smaller area. Of course, if you’re after the optimal VR experience, the more space you’re going to want, but that doesn’t mean you can’t play it in less area than Sony states.

The Layout of the Move Controllers

Chances are that you’re probably not all that familiar with the layout of those funny-looking Move controllers that will essentially become your hands in the virtual world. The buttons are in different places, the Start and Select buttons are well hidden, and the whole thing can feel incredibly foreign when you’re blind-sighted by the headset strapped to your face.

Unlike the DualShock 4 that in some games will appear in virtual hands in front of you when you’ve got the headset on, the PlayStation Move controllers are left out. Instead, PSVR plays a cruel game of you pressing the buttons aimlessly in the hope you’ll select what it is you want to jump into. While you can definitely learn the layout after a while, it also doesn’t tell you that you can take screenshots while using these controllers by pressing the Select button on the left hand side of your move controllers. Depending on what hand you’ve got the controller in it can be pretty tricky to press, but it’s still neat you’ve got the ability to snap the best moments of your VR experiences on these motion controllers.

You Don’t Need to Face the Camera to See the Screen

Almost every video you see, set-up guide, and demonstration from Sony has seen people directly facing the Camera  for them to be able to see the PS4 Home Screen or at least be facing front and center in their world. While this will definitely provide the optimal experience, the picture will actually appear in the direction the PlayStation VR headset is facing when you turn it on. Therefore, if you’re facing away from the camera, yes, the display will be behind you.

Though this will remove a bit of the faff around setting up your PS4 for PSVR every time you want to turn it on, remember that if things do get all a little disoriented, you can always hold the Options button on your DualShock 4 to recenter the screen in the direction you’re facing. Things can and often do go a little off when you’re moving around in VR, so these are handy tips to remember.

The Deal With Trophy Notifications

Trophies are something that many love to boast about, and just like all other games, PSVR titles come with their own trophy lists for players to make their way through. While this was more or less expected by players, it’s more the way trophy notifications are handled that may have some players confused. Especially considering the lack of information regarding them.

You see, rather than have the white notification box pop up in the top right-hand corner of your VR display, instead you’ll just hear the all too familiar chiming sound when a trophy unlocks. Considering this can be difficult to hear if you’re shooting a screaming witch in the face or blowing up robots, the lack of communication regarding this can leave you a little lost. It also means you’ll have to back out of the whole game to  check what you got the trophy for. A small gesture, but now at least you know how to know when you’ve popped a trophy.