Sony's Project Morpheus VR headset is a “Really Bad Idea," says Pachter
PS4 will be a "wild success", according to Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter, but the analyst feels that the new Project Morpheus VR headset will be a “Really Bad Idea for Sony."
It follows claims from this industry insider than Sony will show new VR demos in due course, and that PSone and PS2 support is coming to PS4 with native 1080p rendering.
Speaking with DualShockers, Pachter suggested that the VR scene is already too crowded. "I think it’s a bad idea for multiple participants to chase it," he began, "and I think it’s a really bad idea for Sony. I have no problem with the Oculus Rift, that they’re trying it, because they’re a startup and that’s a very small market and if they dominate it that’s great, but if it’s a small market and there are multiple players, it’s gonna be hard for anybody to make money.
"And I don’t think it’s gonna be a big market. It sounds interesting, but I don’t think there will be enough content to justify making the capital investment to create the headset. I think it’s chicken and egg. If there’s no content you’re not gonna buy a virtual reality headset, and if you don’t buy a virtual reality headset, there won’t be any content, because no one will make a dedicated game for a very small audience.
"The Oculus Rift guys are making some games themselves, and they hired some pretty impressive people. Sony certainly is capable of doing the same, and if you wanna think about Sony’s success here, remember all the big 3D games and how those did. Nobody cares. So I think it’s just a super super small market."
Pachter didn't write Oculus off however, and added, "I think the Oculus guys are gonna be very happy with a million sales. If they get a million sales, they’re gonna get a ton of money. A million sales is a huge success for Oculus Rift. It’s just a hiccup for Sony."
It's a topic that came up in my recent VR roundtable interview with a handful of prototyping virtual reality developers. Check it out for some neat insight into this emerging market.
What do you make of Pachter's comments? Let us know below.