Sony's Playstation VR has the potential to make or break the VR industry

October 2016. That's when Sony will unleash Playstation VR on the world and join early birds to the party, HTC Vive, Oculus Rift and Samsung Gear in the virtual reality space. It's far from a crowded one-the Vive and Oculus hold the high ground as premium experiences (as befits a $600-800 asking price, not counting the $1000+ cost of a PC with the power to run them) with the Samsung Gear ($99) on the low end, so there's room for Sony to carve out a space as the mid-range headset.

The Oculus and Vive show us virtual reality at its best, with experiences that  create levels of immersiveness never experienced before. I have yet to meet someone who isn't blown away the first time they try it. Based on my demo at a Best Buy store 2 months ago I bought one. And returned it 44 days later. Why? Because it lacks that one "must have" app that keeps my interest for more than 15 minutes at a time. That worries me- a lot. It reminds me of another device hailed for it's interactivity and fun factor-The Nintendo Wii. Remember that? The Wii sold well initially, only to collect dust later once the shine had worn off and publishers stopped making quality games for it. As it is, I haven't seen anything coming down the pipe that blows me away for either device and that's worrying. Enter the Playstation VR. At $399 (and a PS4 to power it), the cost of ownership is far lower than Oculus and Vive and while it offers a slightly less polished experience, those who have tried it were still impressed. The launch lineup looks impressive as well, with content coming from heavyweights like Ubisoft, Rocksteady and Crytek along with a slew of other developers, big and small.   All of this has the potential to be a huge boon for VR should Sony VR be a hit-People on the fence may be swayed to purchase for the upcoming holiday season which builds the user base of overall users which in turn builds confidence in developers to create games and experiences for said users.

Suppose however, things go south quickly after release in October? Suppose consumers get motion sickness using Sony VR? What happens if sales expectations aren't met and Sony lets it's foray into VR die a quick death? The repercussions could be huge as they can affect the industry as a whole. People won't say Sony sucks, they'll be saying VR sucks. That's a bad thing for Oculus and Rift who are banking on Sonys success to bring folks to their devices as well.

Now on the other hand, it's possible not everything comes crashing down for everyone involved if Sony fails. Failure of Sony VR however will slow down widespread adoption of VR in gaming and entertainment as a whole. After all, if one of the biggest names in technology can't make it work, then what's the future look like for the other guys?

No pressure, Sony.