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The story
Valve’s new VR headset, the “Steam Frame,” has launched, reportedly priced at around ¥200,000 (roughly $1,300). It’s built around wireless streaming from a PC but can also run standalone, featuring custom pancake lenses and a field of view of up to 110 degrees. On 5ch’s Hardware/Industry (Geha) board, discussion ranged widely — from whether standalone mode is even necessary and debates over specs like field of view and lens type, to stock availability and comparisons with existing VR headsets like the PSVR2 and Quest.
VR headset Steam Frame goes on sale for around ¥200,000. A wireless VR headset centered on streaming that can also be played standalone
Source: famitsu.com / Original article here
What people said
Already in the trash 🗑 or crying 😭
That's just needlessly jacking up the price.
There are tons of people out there who don't own a gaming PC and play indie games on a laptop or phone.
They probably want a flood of low-budget, idea-driven games you can just pick up and play standalone.
That's why they said SteamOS runs on ARM.
Optics
Custom pancake lenses
Glass and non-glass optical elements
Wide field of view (up to 110 degrees)
does it get even better if you pair it with a high-end host PC?
Basically, VR is meant to be used remotely with a host PC as the base.
Once you've used them, you can't go back to Fresnel.
There's a lot of variation within both pancake and Fresnel lenses, you know.
Pancake lenses inevitably dim the image, and since they stack more lens elements, some models get really bad ghosting.
It's a shame when a pancake-lens headset skips diopter adjustment too, since that means bolting on extra corrective lenses.
It also cuts into the effective field of view when there's no head tracking.
Guess that was cutting it close, huh.
Are people seriously strapping on VR headsets from a company that just dumps its own embarrassing history onto PC gamers?
PSVR2 is actually a solid VR HMD.
The HMD I mainly use is also wired, so that part's no different.
The real gap is tracking accuracy — Lighthouse base stations versus camera tracking.
With camera tracking, a room full of monitors/screens can throw off tracking fast enough to make you queasy in no time.
Frame will probably have the same issue, so you'll need to drape it in some colorful Zelda-print cloth or something.
Also it's OLED, and even though it's Fresnel the effective field of view is wide, and it gets even better with that one fan-made tool everyone uses.
Field of view is fine, I guess — not amazing, but a passing grade.
If you're using it for lewd purposes, the binocular overlap right above your nose matters more than horizontal FOV.
If that's really all there is to it, that means they've given up on VR.
The story about Quest 4 being cancelled did a total 180 — word at the end of last year was that a gaming-focused Quest 4 is coming in 2027.
There's no way this catches on.
It's not about whether it catches on or not —
it's a niche, enthusiast product to begin with.
The people who always fuss about that are usually outsiders who aren't even into it.
On this page both are still in stock.
It even lets you add it to the cart (though it then trips a purchase-limit check that blocks it)
They probably made this because the platform itself is raking in insane profits, but there's no real demand for this and it's probably running at a loss.
There probably won't be a new Steam Deck either.
Frame runs on Snapdragon — meaning they've built out an ARM version of SteamOS and the Proton layer.
I bet Deck 2 will ship on ARM too, so portability should improve a lot.
Even the best-selling Steam Deck has still only sold around 6 million units worldwide.
Factor in the development costs for something like this, and the profit margin has to be razor-thin.
You say it's only sold around 6 million units, but
they were probably never planning to sell it at that kind of massive scale to begin with.
Are you comparing it to the scale of console hardware or something?
That's fine for MR or AR, but that kind of setup falls flat for VR since there's no sense of immersion.
Even in this review, there are comments like "this sucks!" over just a little light leaking in beside the nose.
If you try to make a glasses-style VR headset, you end up with something like the original MeganeX.
And when the usability turns out bad, it evolves into something like the current MeganeX.
As long as it's VR, that's just not realistic.
Securing a wide field of view, blocking outside light, and keeping it from slipping —
you can't pull that off with a sunglasses-style shape.
Yeehaw!
Thanks so much, mister!
Congrats!
If yours arrives before mine, that means it's defective, got it? (this part's important)
I am a Zelda fanboy.
This is my 3rd Switch 2 lol
As long as it still feels like wearing swim goggles, it's no good.
It's the opposite — that just shows shallow interest.
There's no way a quick try like that tells you what VR is actually capable of.
Having the headset clamp tight on your face also contributes to motion sickness, you know.
The arpara launch unit was brutal lol
Even with the Pico 4, it got rough after about 30 minutes.
What I want most from this one is better comfort/fit, but even then I'd just be happy if 30 minutes turned into an hour.
I don't think headaches or motion-sickness nausea will ever hit zero.
The Pico [a pun on "Pikotaro," the PPAP singer] is out of the question to begin with lol 😅
For that kind of thing, better to pin your hopes on Meta's new one instead ☺
Just trust me and buy this!
Zero problems wearing it all night long.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myfaMv0LVII
Background and Key Points of This Discussion
The Steam Frame is Valve’s new VR headset, notable for supporting both PC streaming and standalone operation. In the thread, some questioned why a Steam peripheral would even need standalone mode, but that can be read as an extension of Valve’s push to bring ARM support to SteamOS via the Steam Deck — aimed at delivering lightweight indie titles even to users who only own low-powered devices. Reception to the specs — price, field of view (officially up to 110 degrees), and the pancake lenses — was largely positive. Still, pointing to the Steam Deck’s official cumulative worldwide sales of only around 6 million units, there’s persistent skepticism about whether the VR-only hardware market is even big enough to be profitable. It’s easy to mistake how fast it sold out for proof of popularity, when it may simply reflect limited production numbers.
*This article is compiled as an excerpt and summary of the 5ch (Hardware/Industry [Geha]) thread “VR headset Steam Frame goes on sale for around ¥200,000.”
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