VR - is it the future?

C

Clint

From back in the day.
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Aug 7, 2018
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Manchester, UK
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Shenmue II
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Shenmue 1
Just got myself the PSVR and am literally blown away. You can tell that the technology will only get better, and the level of immersion is second to none.

Anyone else got one, or an Oculus/HTC? What are your thoughts as to it lasting or leading the way in the marketplace?

It's hard to tell right now whether or not the novelty will wear off, but playing games like Astro Bot and Resident Evil 7; I'm loving the whole 3D element and it adds a whole new dynamic to gaming. When it goes HD, will it be the next level we've all been waiting for?

It's hard to put into words, but can only be judged upon once you've experienced it for yourself. Very impressed.
 
I want to play RE7 in VR and refuse to play it until I get one (most likely getting the PSVR). Waiting until next year before I get one though.
 
Henry Spencer said:
I want to play RE7 in VR and refuse to play it until I get one (most likely getting the PSVR). Waiting until next year before I get one though.
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I picked up a Black Friday deal for about £200. I think under £200 is definitely worth it as a bundle. I wanted one with the Move controllers and they seem to work well.
 
Never experienced VR and never have been seriously interested in picking up the PSVR headset. I think if they had more widespread/universal support that would be good. Imagine as a standard, every FPS game was VR.

My main concern is the whole setup cost. I imagine that having the VR headset and not having the move controllers takes you out of the experience a little.
 
Well, on a note outside gaming we've started using VR in training and preparation of mental health staff and students in Norway. It's definitely more versatile than people think!

I'm waiting for the prices to drop before getting one for gaming.
 
Araviel said:
Well, on a note outside gaming we've started using VR in training and preparation of mental health staff and students in Norway. It's definitely more versatile than people think!
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Indeed. There's a subset of gamers who are VR naysayers, who like to crow that because it has yet to gain massive adoption in games that it's a soon-to-disappear fad in a similar way that 3D TVs rose and fell in the past decade. But the applications of VR and AR extend far beyond games. This is a technology that will continue to have steady growth, and games are only one part of that - but an important part. I think the "killer app" that drives mass VR adoption won't be a video game, though - I think it will likely be pay-per-view live sporting events.

I got a VR headset several months ago, after having wanted one since the early 1990s. My personal feelings about it are mixed, but I'm still confident it will steadily drive toward a mass market technology. The experience of VR is an odd clash between a totally convincing immersion and a readily apparent artificiality (which can be ignored in some ways, and not in others). The most interesting project I worked on was a realistic re-creation of a place I used to live in, and it was a weird and fun feeling to be standing in this place again. It was obviously false, yet compellingly real at the same time. Having limited actual mobility is a downer - I wanted to just walk from room to room. That capability isn't far away with wireless headsets, yet having the real world physical space to do so will always be a challenge. (I can imagine places that rent empty warehouse space for VR events.)

But this also leads to another issue that most people have heard of, and it's a big stumbling block for the gamers who want VR FPS. The simple fact is that it feels extremely weird, physically, to have a convincing visual illusion of presence, and to have your game avatar move through it, without the corresponding physical feelings of motion - i.e., your character in the game runs across the city while you're seated and completely still. In many if not most people, it's headache and/or nausea-inducing. As a result, racing and flying games, where you see a cockpit around you and it makes sense to be moving yet stationary, are more comfortable experiences.

The other issue I don't like is that it's an inherently isolating experience. It's just simply antisocial to strap on a headseat and headphones, so it doesn't work well for a member of a family. But personally I'm on guard against all of the isolating aspects of technology, and I find even the way people retreat into their smartphones in public to be off-putting, so I don't expect everyone to share this opinion.
 
It’ll take time for VR to catch on. There are very few genres that are truly suitable to it. But as previously posted, there are some health risks in regards to it to be fully acceptable into the main stream. It’s a concept some gamers have been waiting for since the 90s and it is truly remarkable. I enjoyed what the Batman game had to offer, and I think it has much more potential and would love to see something more open. The boxing games are fun too as someone who enjoys boxing.

The driving games feel the most natural, but I played the driving club game and it gave me a massive headache lol.

It’s still in its infancy and we have yet to see its true potential.

Maybe in time, we’ll get hologram games lol. We can be singing with holograph Tupac...or be shooting him...
 
VR will definitely get better and reach a wider audience in the future, but it is not "the" future. Traditional gaming will always prevail...
 
Been curious since PSVR was announced, but not until Rez and now Tetris Effect am I actually considering a purchase sometime in the future. Tetsuya Mizuguchi's re-awakened artistic drive is all the upselling I need.
 
I'm a massive PSVR advocate, I honestly think it's the best thing i've bought since the Dreamcast. Nothing inbetween has truely made me excited to play like back when I owned a Dreamcast. Some of the games and experiences releasing for PSVR are breathtaking. Anyone that doesn't understand hasn't tried it. I can understand some people get motion sickness or whatever, but i'm lucky that I don't experience any issues, only immersion :p. There's so many amazing games and experiences available right now, it's really starting to take off I feel - especially with the price coming down. I see the device as it's own console really, and not so much an accessory, or a novelty, sure you need the PS4 for it to function, but the uniqueness and the fact that 95% of the games are exclusive experiences that anyone who doesn't have a PSVR will never be able to play, it's got that sort of Dreamcast feel for me where i'm having so much fun, and people don't realise how great it is haha!

I don't think it has to take over regular gaming, I think they can both coexist. I love playing games relaxed in my sofa without anything on my head, and I also love jumping into a completely different world and experience. They can both exist together in my opinion.

It's also bringing back those days of great arcade experiences, just fun pick up and play games that you want to play through multiple times. Games don't have to be 40+ hours long, I love these fantastic Light Gun style arcade shooting games which we haven't had for years - they're back with VR! Driving games are insane, and games like Moss and Astro Bot, prove that pure fun 3D platformers are still a thing and work great in VR too!
 
James Brown said:
I'm a massive PSVR advocate, I honestly think it's the best thing i've bought since the Dreamcast. Nothing inbetween has truely made me excited to play like back when I owned a Dreamcast. Some of the games and experiences releasing for PSVR are breathtaking. Anyone that doesn't understand hasn't tried it.
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Part of my work is dealing with VR (for driving simulators). It's used by some companies as a dedicated room with curved walls and 25 projectors is even more expensive, and it's the next best thing for realism as in a simulator you need to be able to look at and see everything around you.

Despite having tried it and having to do frequent testing in it, I don't understand why the general consumer would want it, outside of it being the current fad. The head movement can easily be replicated with a thumbstick, and depth perception can be done better with a 3DTV (which rightfully came and went). The amount it adds is so minuscule compared to the extortionate price tag that it's comparable to having one of those curved screens that nobody actually bothered with.

It's good technology, but its uses lie outside the realm of gaming, much in the way that Kinect is used for a lot of robots' vision systems. VR will go very much the same way as Kinect - death as a gaming platform, but living on in other applications.
 
Maybe in 30 years.

Right now I dont see good games in graphic. And I know, graphics aren't all, but talking of VR I would like to play a game that doesnt seems like a I'm in a Nintendo Wii game.
 
I completely disagree duckie! Whilst I understand that you've had a good first time impression with it because of your work, I don't think you can compare VR that's built soley for demonstrating a tech demo driving sim, to hundreds of fun interactive gaming experiences and immersive arcade action...or atleast you can't completely write off VR just because of that initial experience. The PSVR's game library is already massive, and being in those interesting worlds, and being part of the game that's moving completely 360 degrees around you is quite mindblowing at times. I disagree with you on how little it adds for the high price tag, when the price tag of PSVR right now is literally the price of like 4 games, and it comes with 2 of them! - https://www.shopto.net/video-games/...2ocFPYb6nrP6OxiAkP-OXPbLZsyEONqBoClEYQAvD_BwE

It's a fantastic companion to an already amazing system, honestly I would never want to go back to not having PSVR, i'm excited for the future with a potential wireless headset, even better controllers, and a higher resolution / greater field of view. Apart from Shenmue 3, this is what excites me the most. You've got to experience it properly man.

Sput said:
Maybe in 30 years.

Right now I dont see good games in graphic. And I know, graphics aren't all, but talking of VR I would like to play a game that doesnt seems like a I'm in a Nintendo Wii game.
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Dude, games don't have to look like Wii games, it's just because alot of the inital development for VR has been indie developers. If you can ever properly try VR, you need to play Resident Evil 7, Rush of Blood, Rez Infinite, Astro Bot, Farpoint, Doom - the graphics are there, you just need to see the big hitters!
 
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James Brown said:
I completely disagree duckie! Whilst I understand that you've had a good first time impression with it because of your work, I don't think you can compare VR that's built soley for demonstrating a tech demo driving sim, to hundreds of fun interactive gaming experiences and immersive arcade action...or atleast you can't completely write off VR just because of that initial experience.
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It's not "VR built solely for demonstrating a tech demo driving sim"; the driving sim is not a tech demo, it's long-established software designed to replace real-life driver training; and the VR system we use for testing is a standard commercial product (Oculus Rift iirc).

Furthermore, it's neither my only nor my first introduction to VR. I'm not writing it off because of "an initial experience". I have VR gaming experience (in part due to having easy access to a VR system, and in other parts due to having gullible friends) and if I had it at home I would probably not go through the effort of plugging in.

James Brown said:
The PSVR's game library is already massive, and being in those interesting worlds, and being part of the game that's moving completely 360 degrees around you is quite mindblowing at times.
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I do not find it "mindblowing" to have a game that's moving completely 360 degrees around you when every 3D game does it - only the camera movement is controlled by a stick rather than your head. Interesting worlds and immersive arcade action already exist outside VR in droves, and will continue to do so.

James Brown said:
I disagree with you on how little it adds for the high price tag, when the price tag of PSVR right now is literally the price of like 4 games, and it comes with 2 of them!
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£250 to me is not "the price of four games", it's "the price of four brand new AAA games" that I generally don't buy anyway. Additionally, the page you linked only shows one game included, and it's worth £30 new according to the same site. So "the price of eight games with one included"? Unless you consider "Playstation Worlds" a game, which would be a very loose definition...

Honestly this whole paragraph was full of misinformation at best, and downright insulting at worst. You managed to downgrade from "anyone who doesn't understand it hasn't tried it" to "oh, well you haven't tried it *properly*". I'm curious to know what you consider to be a true Scotsman at this point, as clearly if someone doesn't absolutely love VR and want to suck its fully immersive cock then they haven't truly tried it.
 
Sput said:
Maybe in 30 years.

Right now I dont see good games in graphic. And I know, graphics aren't all, but talking of VR I would like to play a game that doesnt seems like a I'm in a Nintendo Wii game.
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Astrobot and Wipeout don't look like Wii games at all. Sure, we're not on high definition just yet but the technology is only going to get better.

I was one of those 'it's not going to last' types. Then I took the plunge and can honestly say I'm literally blown away. It's 10x better than what I was expecting, and I was actually expecting big things. I think it's great for the casual gamer as well, someone who is limited with their time and can only play a couple of hours a day.

The only downside to VR is that it completely takes you away from social situations. If you've got headphones plugged in, you are no longer part of the 'real world'. It's that level of immersion that makes you focus much more on the game you're playing without any outside distractions. Skyrim, for example - a game I have played over 500 hours and multiple copies - is a much more immersive, and epic adventure when playing the VR version. If you're an old fan of Skyrim you absolutely have to play this game in VR. It's fucking incredible, even with the limited graphics.

To all the doubters - go and get a headset, and play Astrobot and tell me this technology isn't here to stay. Watching videos cannot do it justice. It's like playing SM64 again for the first time back in 1996, but in full 3D. It's simply breathtaking.
 
I am wearing glases so these VR headsets are not so nice to use for me. VR might be the future one day, it could be the next big step in gaming but not now yet. In my humble opinion we have read a point in the gaming world, where graphical improvements are not on sight anymore. The tech as reached its limits, so VR would be the next step to put Games into a new level. A similar big effect as the change from 2d to 3d games. But it will take may years that the VR Tech is that good to be really considered the best way to play games. In this current gen it is a nice gimmick but no must have to get the best gaming experience.
 
DigitalDuck said:
Honestly this whole paragraph was full of misinformation at best, and downright insulting at worst. You managed to downgrade from "anyone who doesn't understand it hasn't tried it" to "oh, well you haven't tried it *properly*". I'm curious to know what you consider to be a true Scotsman at this point, as clearly if someone doesn't absolutely love VR and want to suck its fully immersive cock then they haven't truly tried it.
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I hope you're just in a bad mood dude, because if you go back and read my previous reply, I don't believe I said anything that should have provoked such a rude reply like that from yourself. I understand you're not keen on the technology (an understatement at this point it seems), but i'm not trying to force you to like it, i'm just trying to give you my argument for, when you're so clearly ready to give your argument against. Bit shocked with your reaction actually, and feel like you are blowing up what I said out of proportion. Obviously never going to win any debate with you so will leave it at that - and this debate doesn't really need a winner, if you like VR then great, if you don't (any you've actually tried it) than that's cool too!

I just think that there's enough people discovering the technology, especially through something as easily accessilble and affordable like PSVR (go back and check that link, it was £179.86 with 2 games - yes PSVR Worlds is a game (for Dangerball alone (no less of a game than Cosmic Smash was for the DC back in the day))) and completely changing their minds on what they were expecting going into it, and coming out the other end and loving it. Not everyone obviously, but enough and growing traction enough that it certainly warrants some respect in the industry and continuing to bring great new games and experiences to the system, and not being so quickly dropped like 3D tv's were.
 
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