Sony have made it clear, multiple times, that they expect to be treating the PlayStation VR as an all new console, an all new system. They’re approaching the launch with the same mindset, backing it with the same kind of first party support and third party relations, and hopefully give it the same kind of marketing that they did the PS4 or PS Vita.
However, just because it is being treated like a console in those regards doesn’t mean it will last as long as one. Speaking to The Verge, Sony’s Shuehei Yoshida admitted that it was hard to make a guess as to how frequently the PlayStation VR may be upgraded, given that VR was an emerging technology.
“In terms of tech, VR is just starting, consumer VR is just starting, and there are also areas where R&D is being done; the resolution gets better, the interface, all of these kinds of things,” Yoshida said. “So even though we are approaching PSVR on PS4 like a console — meaning that anyone can buy it without any technical knowledge — because this field is so new, and advancements will be everywhere as we continue to work on R&D, I can not say that the PSVR will have the same kind of cycle as a traditional console.”
It makes sense- personally, I can see these VR headsets have an upgrade cycle resembling a smartphone’s far more than a console’s. So once every year or so, essentially.
