PICO 4 VR all-in-one evaluation: focusing on the vibrant content ecosystem

I feel duty-bound to write a review of PICO 4. As a player who is widely involved in electronic products, I own many VR devices, but only PICO allows me to buy two generations of products (Neo 3 and 4). I spend a lot of time with these devices, so I wanted to share my experiences and feelings about using them from a different perspective than just providing a formal review.

From the initial curiosity to the later curiosity, and then to treating it with a normal heart, my attitude towards VR equipment has gradually calmed down. If someone asked me what is the most important thing for a VR device? Now I have a different view. Taking the PICO 4 in front of me as an example, my focus is not on the hardware parameters, but more on the content ecology.

Here we need to fix a concept first: Although there will be differences in hardware parameters between VR products at similar prices, they will not be so obvious. The gene that determines whether they can stand out is the perfection of their content ecology.

I always feel that VR equipment provides a sense of freshness. Few VR players around me would say - I often spend dozens or hundreds of hours playing a game. That's a rare occurrence. Most VR games do not have a long shelf life like ordinary games, so many times we spend a lot of money to buy VR equipment, only to eat it up soon after we get it home. To put it another way, it’s because the freshness of VR content is unsustainable.

But on the contrary, if there are constant new games, new VR programs and videos, and new applications entering the market to keep the content ecosystem dynamic, this sense of freshness can be maintained. This is what attracts me to the PICO brand. From the 3rd to 4th generation, I saw the process of PICO gradually building an ecosystem. If the era of PICO 3 can be described as everyone is building houses in full swing, then at this time point, PICO 4 has already taken the lead in decorating.

PICO 4’s current content pool can be summarized into two parts: one part is games, and the other part is other content including video, live broadcast, fitness, social networking and other applications. No matter which part, there is a relatively stable update cycle. When you use PICO 4, you can feel that this pool is not a pool of stagnant water, but full of vitality.

Now the "Recommended" column of the system's main menu can better assume the pivotal role of the content pool. All categories of content are exposed here in a specific order. Whether it’s games, videos or other content, as long as you double-check here every time you turn on the phone, you’ll always find something interesting. To put it more bluntly, this is also the reason why I always turn on the phone.

(The following screenshots were recorded through PICO 4 screencasting. Due to well-known reasons, the screenshots cannot restore the actual VR experience, please refer to the text description.)

Before talking about the gaming experience, we need to first introduce the improvements in hardware indicators of PICO 4 (compared to PICO Neo 3). PICO 4 is naturally a VR device based on the 6DoF standard, providing operational accuracy and comfort that match mainstream games. In addition, it has made the following improvements in indicators: the resolution has been increased to 4320x2160, the PPI pixel density has reached 1200; the field of view has been expanded to 105 degrees, and the angular resolution has been increased to 20.6. These core data are important for VR equipment, because when you put on a VR helmet, the most direct feeling is whether the picture in the field of view is clear enough. This is not only beneficial to high-end games, but also the basis for experiencing applications such as videos and movies. .

It is worth mentioning that PICO 4’s new Pancake solution also reduces the weight of the frame, from about 400g to about 300g (excluding straps and batteries), which improves the wearing time. The comfort level also objectively extends the time of single use. For a device like VR that tends to feel cumbersome, this upgrade is more practical.

In addition, PICO 4 supports full-color perspective function through an RGB color camera, that is, you can see the real scene in front of you when equipped with a helmet. After a recent upgrade, the distortion and other defects in the full-color perspective state have been significantly improved, and it can almost be worn to do some simple work. This also provides a foundation for future related applications involving AR.

About the feeling of using PICO 4 to experience the game. Here I would like not to make a fuss about the two clichéd works "Beat Saber" and "Half-Life Alyx". In fact, I already mentioned its support for these two works in the trial report of PICO Neo 3 the year before last. PICO 4, which has improved in various hardware indicators, will naturally perform better. Relatively speaking, I prefer to share some fresh and representative works that I have recently experienced, such as Devolver's "Tentacle Artisan", which is also a newly launched work on the PICO store.

In this game, you transform into a huge sea monster, peeking into the coastal town from a tower perspective, interacting with NPCs, and "helping others." The hands holding the handle become a pair of huge tentacles. By swinging the arms at will, you can create various shapes with accurate precision and range judgment. This is a very typical game with a sense of VR substitution: you have to apply some imagination during the game and treat yourself as a monster instead of a human, which will be more interesting.

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Another type of game that I think is relatively niche but is favored in the VR field is fishing. This type of game combines video and gameplay: you can not only enjoy the panoramic scenery, but also gain a sense of accomplishment through operations. In this regard, Real VR Fishing does a great job. Coupled with PICO 4's high definition and viewing angle, its landscape expressiveness is accurately presented, and just looking around the landscape gives you a feeling of enjoyment. To take a step back, this game is simple and easy to use in terms of gameplay. The high-precision handle simulates the feeling of lifting the rod and retracting the line, which is very realistic and gives an immersive illusion.

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My personal favorite is adventure games, especially those with Japanese style, so when I browsed the PICO mall At that time, I noticed "The Story of Yu Neng Qi Lu". This is also a work that was previously famous on Quest and Steam VR. The PICO version has been better localized into Chinese. Strictly speaking, this is an adventure game in the form of puzzle solving. You have to cooperate with the heroine and use your respective special abilities to solve difficulties. To put it bluntly, it’s the kind of game we often see on social media where “someone won’t be able to guess what you’re doing when they’re watching.”

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When it comes to Japanese adventures, there is another one that I have to mention is "The Ruin Mage". This is a more typical action-adventure game focusing on dungeon exploration, and it is a rare combination of plot and combat operation. Especially the latter, when I played it with PICO 4, it gave me the best feeling among the action games I have ever played. It should be mentioned that this game has been available on the PICO mall before, but it is currently undergoing localization. It will be re-listed in the future, I recommend you to try it.

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Most of the games mentioned earlier are also sold on Quest and Steam VR. The latter is almost considered a universal content pool for all VR devices, and PICO 4 is no exception. You can connect to Steam VR on PICO 4 via USB3.0 wired or WiFi wireless streaming. In theory, wired streaming is better, and wired streaming should be used when playing some large-capacity masterpieces.

Outside of games - as mentioned above, PICO's current ecological content is relatively rich, and all mainstream VR content can be seen on this machine. For example, an interactive boyfriend or an interactive girlfriend, such as panoramic live broadcast, hot dance or immersive video, etc. You can also freely play the videos you want to watch in various 3D modes of PICO player (this seems to be very important). The official also provides a cloud storage-like streaming software to facilitate video storage and playback.

I haven’t counted how much content of this type is currently in PICO’s content pool, but the feeling of “refreshing every time” is very good. Just like scrolling through Douyin or watching Bilibili, you will not be recommended duplicate content. Of course, I’m not saying that PICO’s content pool is nearly unlimited like the latter two (if you like to watch Douyin and Bilibili in PICO, that’s another matter), but its fresh content is enough to attract you at a certain moment. Turn it on and play around. For VR equipment, this is already rare.

In terms of system, PICO 4 has not changed much compared to the previous version. This is mainly because the current version is mature enough in terms of ease of use. But you can also see that it has been improving the segmentation function. For example, fitness-related head-up reminders: display play time and calorie consumption; such as adding a recline mode, which allows you to lie flat and play with positioning tracking turned off; and the full-color perspective function mentioned just now, which adds a tap box. body to perform switching operations. There are many interesting details, and sometimes it makes you feel like this machine is like a miniature laboratory, where new ideas are always coming out.

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There is nothing to say about the appearance, because the host frame and handle of PICO 4 still use the same template, no Too much change. But on the other hand, the appearance is also the most noteworthy aspect of VR equipment, because the wearing experience sometimes plays a decisive role in the player's feelings.

As a player who has been using VR equipment for a long time. I personally think that you can eliminate any concerns about PICO 4 in terms of wearing experience, or in other words - compared to products of the same level, PICO 4's wearing experience is relatively comfortable. This is partly due to the weight reduction brought about by the Pancake plan mentioned before, and there is no heavy feeling like lifting a dumbbell. On the other hand, it is also due to the continuous improvement of humanized design aspects such as padding, straps and size. When you start to get involved in games or videos, it will be easier to ignore the existence of the "helmet".

#The button layout of the controller is still a classic split-half design, which should be familiar to players with VR experience. The styles and feel of the two menu buttons are clearly differentiated from the function keys, making it almost impossible to accidentally touch them. The size of the handle is relatively moderate, and players with large and small hands can adapt quickly.

In short, as a relatively popular VR product on the market, I think the advantages of PICO 4 are mainly reflected in its dynamic content ecosystem. Whether you are hunting for games or other content, this machine will always make you want to turn it on. In addition, I see its progress in hardware parameters and wearing experience, and it is still adding subdivided functions through continuous upgrading of the system. I believe this will also make it attractive to a wider group of players.

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