Virtual Reality (HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, PSVR, etc)

[Dormie]

Making this thread because I don't see any discussion on this genre. I got an HTC Vive (still the best VR out so far IMO) a couple months ago and it has been pretty awesome. You don't realize what it's like until you actually put on the headset and play. VR is entirely new medium in the world of gaming(and more) and will definitely change gaming going forward. It's clear that it isn't a gimmick like past technologies.

The only downside so far is the limited selection of games with long-term, polished, gameplay. Many indie games out right now, which isn't a bad thing. And the hardware is still new so realistically it is normal for this many games to be out. Fallout 4 and some other intereting titles are already confirmed and I'm sure in another 6 months we'll be looking at some seriously cool experiences.

Playing the games out now really gets me excited for all of the possibilities it offers. IMO, if I were Bliz, I would start on Warcraft 4 and add full VR support (meaning controller and room-scale support). I've played a couple other games such as 'Out of Ammo' and 'Lazerbait' for the Vive that really allow me to envision how it could play, and it would be incredible.

[Tech614]

You don't realize what it's like until you actually put on the headset and play.

Yea it go's from honey moon period to lame fad in mere hours. Mostly not a problem with the VR itself, but the fact all the games are lame low budget cash ins with no depth, bad controls or simply just being an observer to a game world in a headset like you would be on TV.(Thumper for example is a good game but the VR mode does nothing for me over the normal mode).

Nobody is willing to risk big budget games on VR. Well, silly ass capcom is. If RE7 doesn't push VR units it's going the way of 3D TVs fast. Job Simulator and Summer Lesson sure aren't going to be moving VR units to the main stream.

[Elim Garak]

VR? Oh I remember VR, back in the 90s it was all the rage.

[Cæli]

So my main problem with that.

VR games can only be 1st person ?

I mean playing WoW with VR like we normally do, or playing a mario game, or an old school like RPG (Undertale?) ?

Does not 100% of what gamers needs. Nothing better than a controller/keyboard+mouse for some games.

For 1st person sure. Other than that it's pretty much the same as playing in front of a screen at night.

[Soulwind]

So my main problem with that.

VR games can only be 1st person ?

I mean playing WoW with VR like we normally do, or playing a mario game, or an old school like RPG (Undertale?) ?

Does not 100% of what gamers needs. Nothing better than a controller/keyboard+mouse for some games.

For 1st person sure. Other than that it's pretty much the same as playing in front of a screen at night.

[Dormie]

Accounting VR came out today, short experience as a first release from a new dev team, including Rick and Morty creator:



Also, The Golf Club VR is coming out tomorrow, hoping it will be good:


Serious Sam VR came out the other day as well.
Couple other good games out are
Raw Data:


Onward:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98NV6Azz1CQ

Audioshield:

There's another game like this called Soundboxing

There's also creative "games" that offer something different such as
Google's 'Tilt Brush':


Soundstage:


AltSpaceVR and Anyland are awesome social games too.


- - - Updated - - -

Yea it go's from honey moon period to lame fad in mere hours. Mostly not a problem with the VR itself, but the fact all the games are lame low budget cash ins with no depth, bad controls or simply just being an observer to a game world in a headset like you would be on TV.(Thumper for example is a good game but the VR mode does nothing for me over the normal mode).

Nobody is willing to risk big budget games on VR. Well, silly ass capcom is. If RE7 doesn't push VR units it's going the way of 3D TVs fast. Job Simulator and Summer Lesson sure aren't going to be moving VR units to the main stream.

Like I said, the technology is still new. Even normal console releases don't have much more content at this point. Games take time and we'll be at the point where real games will start releasing soon. The experience has already been worth the price.
It definitely WON'T go the way of 3D TVs, those were a gimmick. VR is here to stay and improve.

[KyrtF]

Nobody is willing to risk big budget games on VR. Well, silly ass capcom is. If RE7 doesn't push VR units it's going the way of 3D TVs fast.

I don't think so. The potential uses are quite large - even discounting games. Big issue right now is price. Once that comes down, VR will be much more mainstream.

[Tech614]

I don't think so. The potential uses are quite large - even discounting games. Big issue right now is price. Once that comes down, VR will be much more mainstream.

Sorry but it doesn't work like that. It's never going to be mainstream for gaming, it will have some niches but that is pretty much it. You need software to sell hardware. You don't wait on the hardware to sell to make good software for it. The fact only 1 company with a VR headset actually makes games is the reason its DOA for gaming. That 1 company being Sony, who has devoted little more then small bare bones games with no budget in the games they have made for it. That says it all right there. Hell the fact Sony is selling PSVR at profit and not at cost should tell you everything. If Sony was confident in the thing it would be $300 or $350 so they would make money once someone bought a few games. As it stands though they're profiting well over game prices on each unit sold. Sony knows it's a niche market which is why they have done very little marketing for it outside of the Taco Bell promotion. Sony has spent more money advertising a 3rd party game(CoD) this year then they have the PSVR.

[Dormie]

Sorry but it doesn't work like that. It's never going to be mainstream for gaming, it will have some niches but that is pretty much it. You need software to sell hardware. You don't wait on the hardware to sell to make good software for it. The fact only 1 company with a VR headset actually makes games is the reason its DOA for gaming. That 1 company being Sony, who has devoted little more then small bare bones games with no budget in the games they have made for it. That says it all right there. Hell the fact Sony is selling PSVR at profit and not at cost should tell you everything. If Sony was confident in the thing it would be $300 or $350 so they would make money once someone bought a few games. As it stands though they're profiting well over game prices on each unit sold. Sony knows it's a niche market which is why they have done very little marketing for it outside of the Taco Bell promotion. Sony has spent more money advertising a 3rd party game(CoD) this year then they have the PSVR.

I hope you remember these clueless words 2 years from now.

[Tech614]

I hope you remember these clueless words 2 years from now.

Show me all the AAA mainstream games in development right now.

Since they're going to be out in 2 years surely they're in full production already right? For main stream gaming the entire straw house atm is dependent on RE7's VR mode being good, RE7 being good and RE7 selling like RE4(even then, that's only one game and it will have to persuade other AAA developers to take it serious). If you think the main stream AAA gaming crowd gives a rats ass about any of these games posted in this thread I got some bad news for you.

Oh wait what's that? You're gonna link me some indy games, small dev team games and bare bones gimmick games? Maybe just maybe you'll link me a game that has a 1 hour "VR mode" that does absolutely nothing for the rest of the game and is a waste of time.

It's funny when people think a gimmick that doesn't even start out hot is going to progress. Even gimmicks that DO start out hot like motion controls still fade into obscurity.

[Deleted]

I got rid of my Oc VR set a while ago... I am more interested in AR! More real world practical use. Can't wait for a consumer version of the Hololens.

[KyrtF]

Sorry but it doesn't work like that. It's never going to be mainstream for gaming, it will have some niches but that is pretty much it. You need software to sell hardware. You don't wait on the hardware to sell to make good software for it. The fact only 1 company with a VR headset actually makes games is the reason its DOA for gaming. That 1 company being Sony, who has devoted little more then small bare bones games with no budget in the games they have made for it. That says it all right there. Hell the fact Sony is selling PSVR at profit and not at cost should tell you everything. If Sony was confident in the thing it would be $300 or $350 so they would make money once someone bought a few games. As it stands though they're profiting well over game prices on each unit sold. Sony knows it's a niche market which is why they have done very little marketing for it outside of the Taco Bell promotion. Sony has spent more money advertising a 3rd party game(CoD) this year then they have the PSVR.

Who said anything about games? That's likely to be a niche market for quite a while.

But there are plenty of other aspects to the technology, plenty of other possibilities. Once the price of the equipment comes down, VR should be a bit more successful than it is now.

AR will probably be much more useful though.