Since the release of the Playstation 5, it has been rumored that Sony would update its PS VR system to a tentatively named PS VR 2. After a long wait, the Japanese company finally went ahead and officially announced their plans for a new VR experience on the PS5.
The post doesn't say much, but it did reveal a new controller. While details are scarce, it can be seen as an upgrade to the current Playstation VR controller, the Playstation Move.
But what exactly is the difference between the Playstation Move and the new PlayStation VR controller?
For starters, the big difference is quite obvious, the design.
The Playstation Move was released a long time ago, it is even older than the PS VR itself. It was launched in 2010 to compete with Nintendo's Wiimote. As a result, it shares more aesthetic similarities with a remote control or a wand than either a gamepad or a VR controller.
The technology is a bit different than what´s normally used in VR too. It´s not exactly outdated but it is not something you´ll find on the market today for its competition. The Move needs the Playstation Camera to work, the camera tracks the position of the ball at the tip of the controller and uses that to determine its position and movement (along with some gyros).
The new, yet unnamed, Playstation VR controller looks a lot like the ones used by PC-powered VR headsets like the Oculus Quest or Valve Index controllers. The key difference is that it looks a bit like a sword´s crossguard, with an orb that surrounds the player´s hands.
While Sony hasn´t said exactly how it works, we can tell that it doesn´t have a colorful sphere like the Move or any other way for the PS Camera to track it, as it doesn´t have any LED lights. According to the blog post, the tracking is done by the headset itself. It detects a little ring at the bottom of the controller to calculate how is it moving and what´s its position.
So, what about its features? What can the new controller do that the Move can´t?
According to the blog post, the controller brings a whole slew of innovations that would put it on par with the rest of its peers in this generation of VR. It has:
Adaptive triggers: Just like the Dualsense, this new controller has triggers that are sensitive to how much pressure you use when you press them.
Haptic feedback: Again, like the Dualsense, this new controller can vibrate to give you feedback on the game and your actions.
Finger touch detection: The controller can detect the position of your fingers without you having to actually press any button.
The Move does not have any of these features, and while it can track your hand movements just fine, it is lacking in the other complementary areas of subtle VR immersion.
It can be safely assumed that the Move will not be compatible with the new VR system, as it lacks many of the new controller's features.
On that note, there hasn´t been any word on the compatibility of this new controller, either to PC headsets or to the original PS VR. It will probably not work on PC, because Sony has currently no reason to work with their competition.
Will you be able to use the Move in the new games for the PS VR 2.0? Well, if the Dualshock PS 5 compatibility is any indication, the Move will not work with the new PS VR games, but we have yet to hear an official declaration.
It´s also unknown if the new controller will work with the older PS VR games and system. That´s something that only Sony can answer. For now, we can at least say that the current PS VR is fully compatible with the Playstation 5.
And that´s everything we know at the moment. If you want to check out the currently available PS VR bundles while waiting for it's update, check out our page over here!