Cheap and accessible server hosting for all abilities.

Shockbyte demonstrates how far game server hosting has come, proving to be highly accessible with a plethora of tutorials and clearly laid out options. Even better, it’s keenly priced with server options that suit every budget.

Pros

• +Simple to use setup
• +Well priced
• +Reliable servers
• +Varied plans available

Cons

• -72-hour refund policy is a little limited
• -Occasionally sluggish support

Founded in March 2013, Shockbyte’s mission statement has been to offer “premium services at unbeatable prices” and it mostly meets those lofty goals. The Australian-based company is now one of the longest-running Minecraft server hosting providers. While it’s expanded its services to other games such as Project Zomboid, ARK: Survival Evolved and — most recently — Palworld, Minecraft is the big one here and the one we reviewed.

Promising 13 server locations scattered around the world, 24/7 customer support, 100% uptime, full FTP access, and support for pretty much every mod you can think of, Shockbyte sounds pretty irresistible on paper. With an eye on whether it could be one of the best Minecraft server hosting providers, here’s how we found the Shockbyte experience from setup to playing on the server.

PLANS AND PRICING

Shockbyte offers 12 different plans, plus a custom plan if you have specific needs. All the plans offer 24/7 customer support, 100% uptime, full FTP access, DDoS protection, and full mod support. Where plans differ is how much RAM they offer as well as the number of player slots. There’s good variety here with the option to upgrade any time as needed. To help customers know what to buy starting out, Shockbyte also has a few recommended plans for certain needs such as best for modding or the latest version.

The cheapest plan is the Dirt plan with 1GB RAM and 8 player slots at $2.50 per month. That ramps up to the Titan plan at $40 per month with 16GB of RAM and unlimited player slots with a 300 recommendation. Discounts are available for committing to quarterly, six monthly, or annual plans.

Such a discount means the Dirt plan drops to just $22.50 for the year which works out as excellent value for teaming up with your mates on a private server. All servers use NVMe SSDs with unlimited disk space and bandwidth. Deciding which plan to buy mostly comes down to how many players you expect to play at once and RAM considerations.

Shockbyte offers a 72 hour refund policy so there’s just enough time to test things out if you’ve made a mistake with your needs. Payment is accepted via credit or debit card along with PayPal and Paymentwall methods. While signing up, you can choose to add on a preferred location, purchase a dedicated IP, and arrange server management options, all for a fee. That means the price can increase a fair bit depending on what you need with features like a dedicated IP costing $5 per month while server management costs $15 per month. While the cost can ramp up, at least it’s fairly clearly laid out so you always know what you’re paying for and why.

EASE OF USE

Starting out with a Minecraft server with Shockbyte is pretty speedy. Once you wrap up the purchasing process, you’re given two username/password combos. One is for the client side of things while the other is for the control panel. Access to the latter can then be shared with other users who you want to have control over things, although you’ll need to get in touch with support to get it set up.

The opening part of the control panel has you able to choose the server type you want. A near never ending choice of Bedrock or Java server types are available with recommendations highlighted.

On the left hand side is the more complex set of options as well as the best ways to monitor your server. Chat and console are fairly self explanatory with the latter a good way of dipping in to check all is well.

Dive into the Files section and that’s where things get a little more complicated. The Config Files section offers server settings such as if you want to set up whitelisting, change the game mode or difficulty, as well as disable or limit various settings. It’s clearly laid out with drop-down boxes allowing you to quickly change things. The responsiveness is fast with the majority of actions not requiring a server restart although Shockbyte recommends doing so once a day.

If you want to add any modpacks or plugins, the Shockbyte interface is simple to use. There are a lot of plugins to choose from while you can use full FTP access to add anything that hasn’t already been thought of. Again, adding from the plugin list is straightforward and takes moments. It’s all designed in a way that makes the process as simple as possible, even if you don’t have prior server admin experience.

For those users who do have more advanced experience, there’s an appropriately titled Advanced tab too. Here, you can set up commands, scheduled tasks, add additional ports, startup parameters and MySQL databases. It’s reasonably comprehensive stuff that means Shockbyte is fairly good at catering for both novice users that simply want the basics right up to those who know exactly what they’re doing.

SPEED AND EXPERIENCE

Shockbyte offers servers across Europe, North America, Singapore and Australia, with the latter two requiring an additional payment each month. The Minecraft server I used was based in Europe, much like myself, and I found the ping to be pretty reliable. A steady 30-35 ping meant no issues with lag and that continued while adding players to the server.

As promised by Shockbyte, there was no downtime either with the Minecraft server always ready to go. It’s a reliable force for regular players.

During my time playing on the server and gathering together some friends, the experience didn’t dip in quality. Daily restarts and not cramming the server with mods and plugins is sure to help here but as a general, standard Minecraft experience, it works well out of the virtual box. That’s also where the level of ease involved in adding or removing mods, as well as simply restarting the server certainly helps keep things ticking along healthily.

SUPPORT

Support is two-fold with a ticketing system and extensive tutorials. The tutorials are the true standout here. It feels like there’s a YouTube video for literally everything you could possibly need while setting up a Minecraft server. A full playlist is available or you can dip in for individual queries. Each tutorial is clearly laid out and no longer than it has to be. Whether you simply need guidance on which server type to choose from or you want to set spawns, manage whitelists, or learn how scheduled tasks can benefit you, it’s covered here with no padded out filler.

It’s a truly useful resource with things backed up by a Knowledge Base which answers many queries, followed by direct support. When I contacted support by sending off a ticket, I was impressed to get a response within an hour. The follow up, however, took a fair while longer. Cynically, paying helps. It’s possible to pay $3 to bump your ticket to the front of the queue which feels a little unsavoury but on the other hand, Shockbyte is pretty cheap elsewhere.

Talking of payments, it’s also possible to pay $15 per month for the company to manage your server including controlling and setting up mods and plugins. With the many tutorials available, it’s hardly necessary for most people but it could be useful when starting out.

Knowledgebase

Shockyte’s knowledgebase has plenty of helpful tutorials and the company’s YouTube channel also provides a wealth of videos to help you get started (Image credit: Shockbyte)

FINAL VERDICT

Shockbyte is an excellent value way to snap up a Minecraft server that isn’t much hassle to set up and maintain. Ideally suited for novices but also anyone who wants to keep costs down, you can get straight on with setting up your Minecraft server pretty quickly, right down to installing some mods or plugins without having to delve too deeply.

Where things falter is a bit, is the added costs and occasional support quibbles. A little inconsistent with speed isn’t a dealbreaker for everyone when it comes to needing assistance from support and the YouTube videos certainly help, but if you run into a major problem, feeling obliged to pay an extra $3 will grate.

Similarly, added costs for features like a dedicated IP or server management are transparent but something to be aware of when totting up the actual price you’ll be paying.

Neither of these issues will affect everyone though and for the most part, Shockbyte works well. Its 100% uptime and speedy servers mean you and your mates will easily be able to join in at any time without any problems. It fits nicely into that ‘it just works’ mentality that everyone appreciates about technology. It also makes the process far more accessible than server management ever was in the past.

The post Shockbyte Minecraft Hosting Review appeared first on Review Products.

What has PSVR 2 got right and wrong?

Sony’s PSVR 2 has been available for just over a year now, originally launching on February 22, 2023. Thus we’ve had plenty of time to analyze the state of the PS5 exclusive VR headset; where it’s been, and where it’s going in the future. In short, it’s not been great, and it certainly doesn’t look good.

While an excellent bit of kit in its own right with specs that compete with some of the best VR headsets out there, things haven’t looked too bright on the software side of things. Its price remains a sticking point, too, especially as the Meta Quest 3 – a much more compelling headset right now – largely outclasses it in terms of both price and versatility.

But perhaps that’s a little unfair. Sony has, after all, recently announced that it’s been working on getting PSVR 2 compatible with PC – though in what capacity remains to be seen. As a result, though, this could mean that PSVR 2 has a decent life ahead of it. But at present, there’s simply very little reason to own Sony’s headset unless you’re desperate to play a relatively modest number of exclusive games.

Where are the exclusives?

Let’s begin at launch. PSVR 2 did have a fairly impressive launch line-up, spearheaded by Horizon: Call of the Mountain which I genuinely believe to be not only the best game in the series but an excellent VR exclusive in its own right. It’s a highly polished offering, featuring varied and energetic play paired with a slew of welcome accessibility options.

Unfortunately, most other PSVR 2 games at launch weren’t exclusive to the headset, and can also be found within the Meta Quest and Steam VR game libraries. These include Kayak VR, Townsmen VR, and Puzzling Places. All wonderful titles in their own right, just not what you’d call flagships or system sellers.

The headset did pick up steam somewhat in the following months, with fully-featured VR modes for Gran Turismo 7, Resident Evil Village, and Resident Evil 4. These were all free additions, too, baked right into the base games themselves. Following these, further VR exclusives launched in the form of Humanity, The Dark Pictures: Switchback VR, Synapse and C-Smash VRS.

So while PSVR 2’s exclusives line-up isn’t predominantly made up of PlayStation Studios titles, I don’t think the ‘lack of exclusives’ argument holds up quite as well now as it may have done half a year ago. Even though some experiences are complementary VR modes, I believe they can still be counted as their own thing, and as such there are plenty of exclusives to enjoy for PSVR 2 in 2024.

Recently, Sony confirmed that it’s testing support for “additional games on PC.” The announcement was quietly snuck into an official PlayStation Blog post, and the wording is quite vague. Among the best-case scenarios would be full parity with Steam VR titles.

That would mean having access to superb VR games like Half-Life: Alyx and Boneworks without needing to shell out for another headset like Valve Index. However, as PSVR 2 doesn’t have mixed reality (tech that imposes virtual elements over your real-world surroundings) support, such experiences likely won’t be available to it on PC.

Sony hopes to make this PC support available sometime in 2024, so PSVR 2 could have a bright future ahead of it away from PS5. However, that’s only one side of the coin. The other is potentially much bleaker, signaling an end for PSVR 2 support on its native console.

There is some evidence that this could be happening right now. Another recent harrowing round of layoffs saw Sony cut about 8% of its workforce; roughly 900 employees. Much of these were from studios like UK-based Firesprite, developer of the aforementioned Horizon: Call of the Mountain. Furthermore, PlayStation’s London Studio has been shuttered entirely. The developer had previously made VR projects like Blood & Truth and PlayStation VR Worlds. As a result, much of Sony’s VR talent has now been, or will be, let go.

While this doesn’t necessarily mean that we shouldn’t expect more first-party PSVR 2 exclusives, it’s a sign that Sony could be scaling back in-house software development for its VR headset.

The Meta-Phant in the room

The Meta Quest 3 and its controllers on a table next to a plant pot with a green fern in and a gold lamp

Easily the greatest threat to PSVR 2’s place in the market is the Meta Quest 3. And there are plenty of reasons as to why this is the case, and why the Quest 2 successor sits atop our best VR headsets list.

In terms of specs, PSVR 2 and Quest 3 are actually quite similar on paper. While I prefer PSVR 2’s vivid OLED display, Quest 3 has it beat in the resolution department coming in at 2,064 x 2,208 pixels per eye. This offers a slightly sharper image than PSVR 2’s 2,000 x 2,040. Elsewhere, both are capable of refresh rates up to 120Hz.

While both headsets feature a passthrough camera – making it easy to view your real-world surroundings at the touch of a button – it’s much more fleshed out on Quest 3. Meta’s headset supports mixed reality experiences which also makes it a better fit for productivity and leisure apps. There’s something of a trade-off here with PSVR 2, which has integrated eye tracking features that Quest 3 lacks. This lets you use your eyes as a cursor, or for various gameplay elements such as focusing on certain objects.

“there’s not much of a reason – at least right now – to purchase a PSVR 2 over a Meta Quest 3.”

Where Quest 3 really wins out, however, is in price and versatility. PSVR 2 will run you $549.99 / £529.99, a bit more than Quest 3’s retail price of $499.99 / £479.99. That doesn’t sound like much of a difference at first inspection, but it’s worth noting that, at present, PSVR 2 requires a PS5 in order to, well, function. As a result, the combined investment reaches the $1,000 / £1,000 threshold, and that’s before you’ve purchased any additional games or PSVR 2 accessories.

There’s no such restriction with Meta Quest 3. You buy the headset, and it can be used either standalone (wirelessly at that) or hooked up to your PC. It’s also compatible with Meta’s own game and app library, as well as that of Steam VR.

In conclusion, there’s not much of a reason – at least right now – to purchase a PSVR 2 over a Meta Quest 3. It’s possible that Sony is well aware of this, and could be cutting its losses by sunsetting official support and looking into PC compatibility. In fairness, being able to use PSVR 2 on both PS5 and PC would increase its value proposition exponentially. But I don’t think this will be enough; a slight price cut – perhaps something more in line with the Quest 3 – would make it even more appealing.

But until that time, the Quest 3 is a much better option if you’re getting into VR for the first time. Unless you’re desperate for that OLED display or bespoke eye tracking, the Quest 3 remains our headset of choice in 2024. There’s been highlights for PSVR 2, certainly, but as competing headsets offer more for less, it’s got a seemingly impossible second year ahead of it.

The post PSVR 2: A Year In Review appeared first on Review Products.