Poll: So where have all the VR talk gone?

[Lufia Erim]

Outside of it's respective sub-reddit that is. VR has been out roughly a year ( give or take a few months, too lazy to look up the actual dates). That VR has been released and yet i only see the occasional review of a new games being spoken about.

As a reference point i am specifically speaking about VR gaming with the PSVR, Occulus rift and the HTC vive.

VR was(is?) supposed to be the next big step in gaming. And yet at the moment i hear very little outside of actively searching for information.

My questions are:

-what happened to the VR talk?
-are you interested in VR?
-have you tried VR?
-if you are not interested in VR gaming, what would it take to personally get you on board?
-what is the game or kind of game you would want the most in VR?

As for me, i am eyeing the PSVR really hard. While i could go out and buy one right now if i wished, it's not the right time for me because I'm about to move, but i can definitely see myself buying it in the near future, maybe by the end of 2017, especially if there is a price drop before the christmas season or black friday. I am tempted to buy the lastest game everyone is raving about, Farpoint, to make sure i get the buddle with the aim controller. I might actually buy the game before i get the console. Besides we all know that these things tend to go up in price when all is said and done.

 

[lionsprey]

i would have gotten VR if it wasn't so damn expensive.

 

[Zhukov]

The talk petered out because hardly anybody is buying VR systems due to their price and the lack of system-seller/killer-app games on offer to tempt people.

I am personally interested in VR but have no plans whatsoever to buy into it because, well, see previous sentence.

In order to get me to shell out, there would need to be:
- A reasonably priced system (no more than $700 for everything I need plus one game)
- ... That is easy to set up and doesn't need much physical room.
- One or two really amazing games that I really want to play and look like actual games rather than tech demos.

As it is, I'm sitting this out. If VR becomes big then great, I'll wait till it gets cheaper then check it out. If not, well, I've yet to see anything that indicates it would be any great loss.

 

[Myria]

I think the problem VR, in its current form, faces getting beyond the high-end enthusiast market is one that wont' be solved by cost reductions or even "killer apps".

It's the isolation problem.

Strapping a box to your face that essentially visually cuts out the real world just isn't viable in most people's lives. They have parents, wives, husbands, kids, pets, and a hundred other things that they need to be aware of and periodically respond to. Many of my gaming friends already face blow-back from loved ones over sitting in front of a computer/TV for hours on end with headphones on talking to people no one else can hear -- gaming often is fairly isolating. In most cases cutting off their vision as well would simply not be remotely acceptable for both practical and family-dynamics reasons.

Many of my friends wouldn't even consider VR in its current form, regardless of cost or software availability, because of such issues. In several cases I've little doubt it'd be a fast track to divorce court.

Even in the absence of VRs other issues, and they are legion, the isolation issue kills VR dead in the general market.

 

[BrawlMan]

Like 3D, it's a stupid fucking gimmick and everyone knows it. Dat price is high too!

 

[Dalisclock]

I'd love to see VR become viable. The main problem is that the systems are way too pricey and so far most, if not all, of the games available are essentially short tech demos.

Christ, I waited for years to grab a PS4 for $250(which included Uncharted 4) despite the fact I'd been dying to play Bloodborne for quite a while because I wanted more then 1 game I cared about to show up(Last Guardian finally sealed the deal). VR currently asks you to pay a lot for essentially is a gimmick right now. When VR has a reasonable cost to benefit ratio(games I want to play), we'll talk.

 

[DrownedAmmet]

This is pretty much Gen 1 of VR. The tech just isn't there yet and the head sets aren't really that practical plus its too expensive. I'll wait until its refined quite a lot before I nose dive into it.

Yeah, a year isn't very long and there aren't many killer "apps" for VR yet

It's making it's way to the mainstream, though. I now know two people personally who own a VR headset (one a PSVR the other an Oculus I think) so when the hardware gets cheaper and cheaper and more and more games come out for it, you'll start to see some actual games come out for it

I don't see VR going away anytime soon, it's far from a passing fad at this point

 

[Mcgeezaks]

Like 3D, it's a stupid fucking gimmick and everyone knows it. Dat price is high too!

...except that it's nothing like 3D-TVs and I've yet to hear a reasonable argument to why they should even be compared to eachother.

OT: As it is now, I'm still very interested but it's new technology and it's super expensive so I'm gonna wait a bit. I'm aiming to buy a HTC Vive and future features like being wireless makes it even more appealing, it'll be interesting to see how the controllers will evolve as well.

 

[BrawlMan]

Like 3D, it's a stupid fucking gimmick and everyone knows it. Dat price is high too!

...except that it's nothing like 3D-TVs and I've yet to hear a reasonable argument to why they should even be compared to eachother.

OT: As it is now, I'm still very interested but it's new technology and it's super expensive so I'm gonna wait a bit. I'm aiming to buy a HTC Vive and future features like being wireless makes it even more appealing, it'll be interesting to see how the controllers will evolve as well.

Not exactly that similar, but it's still. Overly-priced? Check. Hyped up to be not all that great with barely a few exceptions? Check. People with too much time and money on their hands? Check. VR, and 3D to lesser extent, have this problem of coming back every 5-10 years and making the same mistake of being hyped up to do this and that, when at the end of the day, most people want to sit on their asses and use regular controllers. When you combine that with motion controls, you got a big headache. The only games do VR really well are rail-shooters, and RE7. Other than that, not much else.

 

[Mcgeezaks]

Like 3D, it's a stupid fucking gimmick and everyone knows it. Dat price is high too!

...except that it's nothing like 3D-TVs and I've yet to hear a reasonable argument to why they should even be compared to eachother.

OT: As it is now, I'm still very interested but it's new technology and it's super expensive so I'm gonna wait a bit. I'm aiming to buy a HTC Vive and future features like being wireless makes it even more appealing, it'll be interesting to see how the controllers will evolve as well.

Not exactly that similar, but it's still. Overly-priced? Check. Hyped up to be not all that great with barely a few exceptions? Check. People with too much time and money on their hands? Check. VR, and 3D to lesser extent, have this problem of coming back every 5-10 years and making the same mistake of being hyped up to do this and that, when at the end of the day, most people want to sit on their asses and use regular controllers. When you combine that with motion controls, you got a big headache. The only games do VR really well are rail-shooters, and RE7. Other than that, not much else.

VR is new technology and I'm pretty sure even consoles suffered from all those at one (or two) point in history.

VR does good in other games as well such as racing games, some sport games (Like pool and table tennis) and other games. Job simulator, Onward, Arizona Sunshine, Raw data, Subnautica, Elite Dangerous etc etc...

VR has endless possibilities if you let it.

 

[stroopwafel]

Tried it a few times and (like others said) it's definitely immersive but the experience is so different from playing a game on a TV that it really doesn't compare. Traditional videogames will remain superior played on a TV with controller in hand but VR is more superior for interactive experiences like 'walking simulators' and espescially rollercoaster ride horror games. I think VR will become big but to be honest I think it will become more popular outside of gaming. VR itself is also more exhaustive and perfect for short experiences contrary to the more relaxing experience of playing a game on a TV which is enjoyable for a much longer duration of time.

As a supplement I think VR has the potential to be awesome(for the kind of narrowly defined experiences) but I also agree the current library on any VR device is very lacklustre. It just doesnt't have that commercial reach to warrant any serious investments from publishers. Atleast not yet. Which unfortunately makes VR still very much an expensive gimmick. Though I'm looking forward to E3 maybe Sony will give PSVR a hard push.

 

[meiam]

VR games just don't work, there's no killer aps for it because it just can't be one. The only type of games that work on VR are simulator (anything where you're sitting down and using control that also exist in game, so driving/flying/spaceship) which are very niche games. Everything else doesn't work, as soon as you need to walk the immersion is gone and you might as well be playing an ordinary game on an ordinary screen.

Add to that a multitude of problems, expensive, heavy headset that limit the time you can play and look goofy, physically cut from the real world, need very strong machine to run even basic stuff, mountain of garbages games that come out for it and so on.The technology will improve and some problem will be fixed but there's nothing you can do about the basic fundamental problem of VR.

I'd say it was a fad, but that would be overselling it, it's what the kinect was, heavily marketed gimmick that never caught on.

 

[Bedinsis]

My answers are:

-what happened to the VR talk?
> It hasn't gotten the push marketing wise to reach a big consumer base. And the lack of marketing I suspect either means that it is too expensive to be marketed widely or that the tech isn't quite 'there' yet. Or that I haven't paid attention and the consumers weren't convinced, like what happened to 3D TV.
-are you interested in VR?
> No. I haven't gotten a new PC for years and I don't own a console, and first person games make me vomit. I'd be satisfied with a regular PC upgrade for the visual fidelity.
-have you tried VR?
> Yes, after a lecture in Computer Graphics. That was years ago, and people formed a queue, so it was a quite short session.
-if you are not interested in VR gaming, what would it take to personally get you on board?
> A low price and a guarantee that I won't get motion sick.
-what is the game or kind of game you would want the most in VR?
> I am personally not interested in playing it; having said that, some first person shooter game would at least be neat.

 

[Kerg3927]

Strapping a box to your face that essentially visually cuts out the real world just isn't viable in most people's lives. They have parents, wives, husbands, kids, pets, and a hundred other things that they need to be aware of and periodically respond to. Many of my gaming friends already face blow-back from loved ones over sitting in front of a computer/TV for hours on end with headphones on talking to people no one else can hear -- gaming often is fairly isolating. In most cases cutting off their vision as well would simply not be remotely acceptable for both practical and family-dynamics reasons.

Many of my friends wouldn't even consider VR in its current form, regardless of cost or software availability, because of such issues. In several cases I've little doubt it'd be a fast track to divorce court.

Even in the absence of VRs other issues, and they are legion, the isolation issue kills VR dead in the general market.

Makes sense. I also have a TV in my office (I'm a PC gamer), and like to put a football or basketball game on while I'm gaming, and look up at it every now and then, check the score, etc. Couldn't do that with VR.

The motion thing, too, seems like a big obstacle. Seems to me it will be more useful for educational/documentary type stuff. Take a tour of - well, any place in the world - without leaving your house. It definitely has a huge future, but I don't see it as replacing gaming as we know it.

 

[moosemaimer]

I don't have a lot of software for my Rift, but Google Earth is goddamn fantastic. Clicking around on a browser window has absolutely nothing on actually reclining in a slot canyon, flying over a waterfall and then staring up at a forest of skyscrapers.

They made it so rather than simply moving the viewpoint up and down, you actually grow taller and shorter, so the entire world goes from globe to diorama to real-life scale seamlessly.

 

[Fijiman]

I might have been interested in VR but there has yet to be a reason to justify the cost for me. I am definitely not going to put down the money on a new gaming system (be it a PS4 or a higher end gaming PC) plus the headset when no one has been able to make a game for the damn things that isn't some indie project. Maybe in another five to ten years they can try VR again, but for now it's not really much to be impressed by.

 

[Redryhno]

Because, at least for the moment, VR is basically just the newest "OOOOH SHINY" thing when it comes to tech. It doesn't really do anything all that desirable, especially considering the setup costs(space, the rig, your PC being able to handle it, etc.).

Basically, people stopped talking about it because there's nothing to talk about with it. It was, and for the moment, is still just an expensively gimmicky piece of hardware that requires more room than most people have on hand.