Oculus Rift available for pre-order in ~30 hours!

[Bigbazz]

I wasn't even aware that the product wasn't already available to purschase, given how widespread they have been for the last couple years now. In the sim racing communities you often see people who have Oculus Rift setups. It's a cool product but I don't have that kind of disposable income to throw at gimmicky toys, even if the potential is incredible.

[Grym]

I probably wouldn't unless a lot of H-games got made for it.

Especially if the company Illusion joined in the fun then it can get very tempting.

[Deleted]

You all have very valid points, yet, I don't think the examples are comparable; 3 monitor setups done right, cost a lot of money and take a lot of space. Motion controllers work well, but aren't needed in the current generation of games. Voice control is used a lot in sims - especially flight sims.

Let it be clear you probably won't want to buy a VR device if you only play mmos or mobas. Heck, you probably won't even want to play CS with it.

I've tried it all; 2 monitor, 3 monitor, beamer, virtual boy, 3d, gsync, etc. None really impressed me. VR in its current iteration blew me away and that doesn't happen easily.

Up to 500 euro I'll buy it regardless of how much the specs have improved. If it's much more, I'll scrutinise the specs first - see if it's worth the price.

The thing is, VR is just all of those technologies merged into 1 headset. It sounds cool in concept, but the technologies by themselves have already been tried and tested by a vast number of gamers. Look at what happened to the kinect. It was, in theory an extremely good piece of tech, so much so that companies with nothing to do with gaming, used it because it was so good at producing 3D models, while it was been a burden on gamers. Triple monitor setup, while expensive and does take up space, how many would "actually" use it given the chance? I've tried it and didn't like it at all. The exact same issue with 3D. For me, personally it provides a worse gaming experience.

Personally, anything over 200$ is expensive for it. I can imagine it'll be pretty fun for some games. If your willing to spend a shit ton on a really, really good wheel and clutch pedal, a decent chair and a VR headset, a racing sim could be an amazing experience, but I can not think of anything that would be as fun. The input to the game is always the final straw on immersion (unless you can get a custom controller suited for the game, which is gonna get expensive, quickly)

[nocturnus]

The thing is, VR is just all of those technologies merged into 1 headset. It sounds cool in concept, but the technologies by themselves have already been tried and tested by a vast number of gamers. Look at what happened to the kinect. It was, in theory an extremely good piece of tech, so much so that companies with nothing to do with gaming, used it because it was so good at producing 3D models, while it was been a burden on gamers. Triple monitor setup, while expensive and does take up space, how many would "actually" use it given the chance? I've tried it and didn't like it at all. The exact same issue with 3D. For me, personally it provides a worse gaming experience.

Personally, anything over 200$ is expensive for it. I can imagine it'll be pretty fun for some games. If your willing to spend a shit ton on a really, really good wheel and clutch pedal, a decent chair and a VR headset, a racing sim could be an amazing experience, but I can not think of anything that would be as fun. The input to the game is always the final straw on immersion (unless you can get a custom controller suited for the game, which is gonna get expensive, quickly)

I can only tell you this: Try it and come back. VR - in its current form - is nothing like any of the examples you gave. It really IS a completely new development and absolutely not a rough compilation of so called 'failed' technologies.

There has been nothing, absolutely nothing, on the market that comes close to what the Oculus and Vive do. If you think you've experienced VR with the Samsung Galaxy phone VR device you're wrong. Granted, it's 'funny', even kinda kewl, but it doesn't compare to the overwhelming, awe inspiring effect of either VR (I haven't experienced the Vive, but from what I've gathered, it's better than DK2 and THAT was amazing.).

In the Oculus I was on the Nostromo. I was in the spaceship, of my all time favourite film. I was there. It was incredible.

Edit: Geez, I don't work for Oculus I swear haha

[lloose]

Not going to bother. Because:

1- Its first gen tech.
2- I've tried it and while it was amazing, I didn't think it was ready.
2.5- I don't think its ready because it can't run at a constant framerate. After about 10 minutes me (and the other 3 people who were with me and tried it) got serious motion sickness.
3- I don't think it has real stay power. We have had countless fads when it comes to display technology and none of them have had much effect on anything (3d, curved displays, etc etc).

[Kuja]

I don't see the reason to preorder anything. And wasn't some other virtual reality headset not only cheaper, but a lot better too?

[Denpepe]

Well seeing as it needs 2 screens (one for each eye) and I have only one decent eye (not even good) I think I'm gonna pass as it will probably be unusable by me anyways.

I'll stick to one big screen, hard enough as it is.

[Truhan]

I really want it to do well, and I hope it does. I'm just not seeing enough AAA backing to warrant a preorder. I was full-steam on the hype train at one point, but as more and more not AAA things came out, I just have to keep wondering, is its price (which is likely the same as a current gen console) really warranted with close to no AAA developers really hopping on board? If it does well and gets the backing, I'll definitely get one. I WANT to be on the hype train. There's just absolutely no reason to hop on though.

[nocturnus]

Not going to bother. Because:

1- Its first gen tech.
2- I've tried it and while it was amazing, I didn't think it was ready.
2.5- I don't think its ready because it can't run at a constant framerate. After about 10 minutes me (and the other 3 people who were with me and tried it) got serious motion sickness.
3- I don't think it has real stay power. We have had countless fads when it comes to display technology and none of them have had much effect on anything (3d, curved displays, etc etc).

Good points and you're right about the specimen you probably sampled: A dev kit. So did I and while I was amazed it was in fact an unfinished product. But, as all alphas/betas/dev kits, they do not represent the final product. Tomorrow we'll see how much it has improved and on what fronts.

[Lodreh]

Yea, they said that about computers and the internet too...

Its for Porn.

Fair point but I feel it's too gimmicky for gaming... much like the Kinect or Wii. I do think there are viable application for the technology... like preforming a surgery across the globe or in a quarantined area... controlling a remote drone... having your actions mimicked by a robot to teach others technique... the possibilities for a learning tool are endless... gaming... not so much. Example: An internet dragon is in my face and it's breathe is so fiery bright I can't see to play... that's fun (< sarcasm).

[Deleted]

I'm either buying the SteamVR or some other alternatives. Unless the Ocules Rift isn't bloated with social media shit as it is owned by Facebook I might consider it if it is cheap.

[nocturnus]

I'm either buying the SteamVR or some other alternatives. Unless the Ocules Rift isn't bloated with social media shit as it is owned by Facebook I might consider it if it is cheap.

How would it be bloated with social media software? You know it's not a console, right? It's basically a screen.

Fair point but I feel it's too gimmicky for gaming... much like the Kinect or Wii. I do think there are viable application for the technology... like preforming a surgery across the globe or in a quarantined area... controlling a remote drone... having your actions mimicked by a robot to teach others technique... the possibilities for a learning tool are endless... gaming... not so much. Example: An internet dragon is in my face and it's breathe is so fiery bright I can't see to play... that's fun (< sarcasm).

You're overthinking it. Take a race game, without the rift, you're playing a game. With the rift, you're actually racing a car. You actually FEEL the acceleration.

[voskopoula]

I won't preorder until there will be sufficient software (AND MOSTLY GAMES) that will use this technology. Because till then, new and better VR Gear will show up and i will be able to choose from a wider variety .

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How would it be bloated with social media software? You know it's not a console, right? It's basically a screen.



You're overthinking it. Take a race game, without the rift, you're playing a game. With the rift, you're actually racing a car. You actually FEEL the acceleration.

You are actually racing a car and FEEL the acceleration? how? in the helmet? forget it, you wont feel a thing, you will just turn your head left and right, there won't be dynamic force feedback...

what i want from a vr experience is not just the helmet. I want helmet and sensoring my whole position in 3D. i want to duck behind a virtual box and the sensors see it and make me duck inside the game in real time.
I want the sound to be full 3D and not just left and right and fake the other directions.

[Lodreh]

...You're overthinking it. Take a race game, without the rift, you're playing a game. With the rift, you're actually racing a car. You actually FEEL the acceleration.

That happens without the Rift... just sit on the sub-woofer.

[Artorius]

No. I feel... much like 3D... it's a fad... and will go away quicker than the hype that created it.

Current VR is still terrible. But they can't improve if it goes away so...

[Feroxxy]

I need to get this. Why cant I order it yet!? I've been exclaiming how my cat seems to have this amazing animations and AI programming for months now. I'm pretty sure I'm already in the virtual reality, but I can only know for sure when I put on VR glasses inside a VR simulation. No computer is strong enough for that yet. Unless we're not in 2016 as I think we are? OH HELP ME PLEASE!

[nocturnus]

I won't preorder until there will be sufficient software (AND MOSTLY GAMES) that will use this technology. Because till then, new and better VR Gear will show up and i will be able to choose from a wider variety .

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You are actually racing a car and FEEL the acceleration? how? in the helmet? forget it, you wont feel a thing, you will just turn your head left and right, there won't be dynamic force feedback...

what i want from a vr experience is not just the helmet. I want helmet and sensoring my whole position in 3D. i want to duck behind a virtual box and the sensors see it and make me duck inside the game in real time.
I want the sound to be full 3D and not just left and right and fake the other directions.

Hehe, I'm not talking about force feedback. It's a bit technical, so I won't bore you with details. But in layman's terms: you can trick your brain (vestibular nuclei) into thinking actual acceleration happens via visual stimuli. This triggers physical reflexes, mostly noticable in the belly.

That happens without the Rift... just sit on the sub-woofer.

Unless you enjoy prostate stimulation, that wouldn't have any added value. (unless you're using race-chair-specific subwoofers with vibrations driven by software).

[teddytous]

I was really pumped for the occulus 2 years ago... espeically since the purchase/merge, they really stopped being open and targeted towards enthusiasts, instead its just over advertised and over hyped. I think their totally missing their mark trying to go for massive curb appeal, when it will always be an niche enthusiast product.

Case and point, if you click on that link you learn like almost dick all about the product. Its a headset... comes with a few games....

What are the specs on display? What kinda of audio is in it? how much does it weight? To start..... then the 2000 other questions any enthusiast would want to ask.

[nocturnus]

I was really pumped for the occulus 2 years ago... espeically since the purchase/merge, they really stopped being open and targeted towards enthusiasts, instead its just over advertised and over hyped. I think their totally missing their mark trying to go for massive curb appeal, when it will always be an niche enthusiast product.

Case and point, if you click on that link you learn like almost dick all about the product. Its a headset... comes with a few games....

What are the specs on display? What kinda of audio is in it? how much does it weight? To start..... then the 2000 other questions any enthusiast would want to ask.

Which will all be answered in 15 hours.

[Artorius]

I need to get this. Why cant I order it yet!? I've been exclaiming how my cat seems to have this amazing animations and AI programming for months now. I'm pretty sure I'm already in the virtual reality, but I can only know for sure when I put on VR glasses inside a VR simulation. No computer is strong enough for that yet. Unless we're not in 2016 as I think we are? OH HELP ME PLEASE!

OR display or any other VR headset are always at the same distance to your eyes which means that the image is always placed at the same place.

So what? Means that you'll always be focusing at the same single place and seeing everything or seeing almost everything with some things blurred at the input.

I'm not even talking about the lack of resolution, or the motion blur, or the limited color gamut. It's a simple concept that I don't really see how we can solve. We can't make a display that shows different images for different focal points. And we also can't track how much the ciliary muscle is flexed so we also can't make the hardware render a proper image to be used at the current displays either.

Those VR headsets are just far from being close to "reality".

But we'll get there, eventually.