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Don't panic: There's a version of the PlayStation 4 VR headset that has everything you need

When the PlayStation 4 VR headset launches this October, it'll cost $400. That's $50 more than the cost of a PlayStation 4 console — required to power the headset.

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And that's not all: you'll need a PlayStation 4 Camera as well, which costs another $60, for PlayStation VR to function. Really!

PlayStation VR
This is PlayStation VR — the headset, anyway. It also requires a PlayStation Camera to function.
Sony

Sony revealed as much during a presentation on Tuesday afternoon in San Francisco during the annual Game Developers Conference. 

And to us here in attendance, that seemed a little crazy: buy a $400 VR headset peripheral for the PlayStation 4, then you're forced to spend another $60 just to make it work? Huh?

Sony, thankfully, has a solution.

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In an interview with PlayStation's worldwide head of studios Shuhei Yoshida, he told Tech Insider that there will be a bundle in North America that comes with a PlayStation Camera and a PlayStation Move motion controller. 

"There will be a bundle in the SCEA region [North America] with Move and a Camera," a rep sitting in on the interview told Tech Insider (after much cajoling from Yoshida himself). Sadly, the rep wasn't able to give a price for the PlayStation VR bundle that includes the (required) PlayStation Camera and (not required, but important) PlayStation Move controller.

PlayStation VR bundle
This slide was shown during Sony's presentation on Tuesday afternoon; it shows everything you get for the $400 you spend on a PlayStation VR at launch (sans PlayStation Camera).
Ben Gilbert / Tech Insider

So, why not just include a PlayStation Camera in every PlayStation VR headset sold? There's a (somewhat) reasonable answer to that: Plenty of folks already own a PlayStation Camera, apparently.

"We didn't put it in because many people already own it," Yoshida told us. Oh? How many people? "A large enough number of people," Yoshida said with a smile. He can't actually divulge numbers, nor could he offer a percentage — there are 36 million (or so) PlayStation 4s out in the wild. I asked if it was over 50% of owners; again, he couldn't offer a specific number. 

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Fair enough, but clearly Yoshida respects that some folks won't own a PlayStation Camera and will want a wholecloth solution to buying a VR headset for their PlayStation 4. Sony has another seven months or so to figure all this stuff out, so here's hoping it does.

Sony PlayStation 4 PS4
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