Hands-On: HTC Vive Vs. PlayStation VR - 7 Key Aspects Compared

6. Comfort

It's all well and wonderful having short, showy 15-minute sessions with virtual reality headsets, because in that timeframe you'd need to have the neck strength of an anaemic goose to feel any strain or discomfort. But big questions remain about how good VR is for long, grinding game sessions. Presumably, the headsets will cost a fair old bit, and therefore be aimed at the more hardcore gamer - the kind of person who games three-plus hours a day. How would these headsets hold up then? As things are currently, the Vive would have problems. First of all, it's heavier, which is the price it pays for having sensors for detecting the room around you. HTC should also have a chat with Gore-Tex about breathability, because my face got extremely hot and humid in there. After my 15-minute session, I took off the headset to find that the area surrounding my eyes had worked up a substantial sweat - much of which soaked into its foam cushioning lining the headset. The HTC spokesperson joked to me about the number of anti-bacterial wipes they had to get through to keep the headset hygienic. Considering I had tried on the Vive relatively early in the EGX expo, I found this fairly amusing, but spared a thought for whoever the last person trying on the sweat-soaked headset at EGX would be. The PlayStation VR is lighter and less sweaty, with a much better designed harness to attach it to your face. The elasticated ski-mask band of the Vive didn't feel like it made the headset one with your face, while the twiddly knobs and adjustable bits on the VR headset really felt like they strapped you in for the ride. For longer sessions, this could give the PlayStation VR the edge.