Register

    Sony PlayStation 4 Attains Virtual Reality

    By SHOOTUpdated:No Comments2462 Views
    The PlayStation 4 virtual reality headset Project Morpheus is shown on stage as Richard Marks, senior director of research and development at Sony Computer Entertainment America, answers questions at the Game Developers Conference 2014 in San Francisco, Tuesday, March 18, 2014. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

    Project Morpheus headset unveiled at Game Developers Conference

    By Derrik J. Lang, Entertainment Writer

    SAN FRANCISCO (AP) --

    Sony is getting into the virtual reality business.

    The Japanese electronics and gaming giant unveiled a prototype virtual reality headset to be used in conjunction with its PlayStation 4 video game console during a Tuesday talk at the Game Developers Conference.

    Shuhei Yoshida, president of Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios, showed off the slick black-and-white headset at the annual gathering of game designers. He said Sony has been working on the technology for more than three years.

    The adjustable doodad is codenamed Project Morpheus and features a head-mounted display with 1080p resolution and a 90-degree field of view. Sensors built into the headset can track a wearer's head movement in concert with a PS4 camera.

    "This prototype is by no means final," said Yoshida. "We will continue to work on this to improve it, but we believe it's a good representation of how PlayStation will deliver VR."

    Anton Mikhailov, a senior software engineer working on Project Morpheus, said the current version of the technology must be attached to a PS4 console with a cord that's about 15 feet long, and users' virtual perspectives can be simultaneously broadcast on a television screen.

    "The experience can be shared, and that's only going to allow it to spread," said Mikhailov. "I think that's going to be the key. Once people see someone else interacting in VR, they're going to want to put it on and try it next."

    Mikhailov said users will be able to interact with the virtual world displayed on the headset with the gesture-detecting PlayStation Move controller, as well as the standard DualShock 4. He declined to specify when the headset would be released or how much it would cost.

    Project Morpheus will be available for demonstration beginning Wednesday for conference attendees on the conference's expo floor with four games: diving cage simulator "The Deep," medieval combat game "The Castle," sci-fi dogfighter "EVE: Valkyrie" and a VR rendition of the stealthy action-adventure title "Thief."

    While Sony Corp. has released other head-mounted display units, Project Morpheus marks the company's first foray into VR with PlayStation. Sony's headset is similar to the Oculus Rift, a VR device currently in development by the Irvine, Calif.-based startup Oculus VR.

    Both devices use head tracking to reduce queasiness when users peek around a virtual landscape, and they look more like ski googles than the bulky gaming helmets of the 1990s that usually left users with headaches.

    REGISTRATION REQUIRED to access this page.

    Already registered? LOGIN
    Don't have an account? REGISTER

    Registration is FREE and FAST for UNLIMITED ACCESS to all SHOOT pages using either your email or social login (LinkedIn, Facebook, Google or X)

    The limited access duration has come to an end. (Access was allowed until: 2014-03-22)
    Category:News
    Tags:Game Developers ConferencePlayStation 4Sony



    Review: Writer-Director James Gunn’s “Superman”

    Tuesday, July 8, 2025

    It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a … a purple and orange shape-shifting chemical compound?

    Writer-director James Gunn's "Superman" was always going to be a strange chemistry of filmmaker and material. Gunn, the mind behind "Guardians of the Galaxy" and "The Suicide Squad," has reliably drifted toward a B-movie superhero realm populated (usually over-populated) with the lesser-known freaks, oddities and grotesquerie of back-issue comics.

    But you don't get more mainstream than Superman. And let's face it, unless Christopher Reeve is in the suit, the rock-jawed Man of Steel can be a bit of a bore. Much of the fun and frustration of Gunn's movie is seeing how he stretches and strains to make Superman, you know, interesting.

    In the latest revamp for the archetypal superhero, Gunn does a lot to give Superman (played with an easy charm by David Corenswet ) a lift. He scraps the origin story. He gives Superman a dog. And he ropes in not just expected regulars like Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan) and Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult) but some less conventional choices — none more so than that colorful jumble of elements, Metamorpho (Anthony Carrigan).

    Metamorpho, a melancholy, mutilated man whose powers were born out of tragedy, is just one of many side shows in "Superman." But he's the most representative of what Gunn is going for. Gunn might favor a traditional-looking hero at the center, like Chris Pratt's Star-Lord in "Guardians of the Galaxy." And Corenswet, complete with hair curl, looks the part, too. But Gunn's heart is with the weirdos who soldier on.

    The heavy lift of "Superman" is making the case that the perfect superhuman being with "S" on his chest is strange, too. He's a do-gooder at a time when no one does good... Read More

    MySHOOT Profiles


    Add A Comment