VR Devs Are "Coasting on Novelty", Says John Carmack

[OuendanCyrus]

That's the thing though, isn't it. It's going to take some time before devs starts releasing some groundbreaking and "proper VR games" for VR headset. The reason why the VR library is filled with these novelty gimmicks is because everyone is clambering all over new technology. It's like picking up a new toy, you'd want to experiment with it first, you're not going to be creating masterpieces with new tech right off the bat.

 

[immortalfrieza]

VR needs 3 things in order to work:

1. Any headset needs to be small enough and comfortable enough to be worn for hours on end, and not cause sickness when used.

2. While not necessarily always optimal, every VR headset needs to be compatible with every VR application, so as not to split up the market.

3. VR headsets need to be usable even in the absence of an application specifically designed to make use of VR. If VR headsets functioned like wearable TVs or monitors when it's not using a VR specific application it would have use outside of simply VR, and thus value to the consumer.

Otherwise, VR will never be anything other than a gimmick.

 

[Karadalis]

Still waiting on a mech/space/tank sim that really knocks you of your chair.

I mean cmon.. VR was MADE for the genre of vehicle control.

Can you imagine a Tie fighter/xwing type of game in VR? Or a mechwarrior game?

Well there is that EvE ofshoot but thats more like a proof of concept then a real full fledged game.

 

[Mortuorum]

VR is itself a gimmick, so of course the games are gimmicky. Maybe someone will come up with the new killer app for VR one of these days and it'll become a must-have technology for gamers. I'm not holding my breath, though.

VR is not just a gimmick. It's the future of gaming, and at some point will go beyond that and become central to human interaction, there is no question about it.
As for the killer app, see my post above.

Time will tell which of us is right. Maybe VR is the future or maybe it will be nothing more than a footnote, forgotten when the next big technology comes along (maybe true 3D televisions that don't need glasses or something).

 

[m00se]

I'm just going to throw this out there and say that the reason we don't have Half-Life 3 is because Valve is trying to make it fully VR compatible. If Valve ends up being the first company ever to make a proper VR FPS and that also happens to be a freakin' HL3 game, because their success is pretty much guaranteed, others will follow.

I love your optimism. It also makes tremendous sense from a business perspective for Valve to do exactly that.

 

[m00se]

I'm just going to throw this out there and say that the reason we don't have Half-Life 3 is because Valve is trying to make it fully VR compatible. If Valve ends up being the first company ever to make a proper VR FPS and that also happens to be a freakin' HL3 game, because their success is pretty much guaranteed, others will follow.

I love your optimism. It also makes tremendous sense from a business perspective for Valve to do exactly that.

 

[m00se]

I'm just going to throw this out there and say that the reason we don't have Half-Life 3 is because Valve is trying to make it fully VR compatible. If Valve ends up being the first company ever to make a proper VR FPS and that also happens to be a freakin' HL3 game, because their success is pretty much guaranteed, others will follow.

I love your optimism. It also makes tremendous sense from a business perspective for Valve to do exactly that.

Edit: There must be a glitch in the Matrix. I don't know how to delete repeat comments. Sorry!

 

[votemarvel]

I've yet to play a VR game that wouldn't be as good if played on a regular monitor. That I think is what VR is going to struggle to find, that game to which VR is absolutely essential.

One of my biggest problems is that I can't imagine wearing one of these bulky things for hours during a hardcore-gaming-session.

I'm not sold on VR for games at all but for media consumption I find it to be great. I was watching a movie in a virtual theatre and for a time I genuinely forgot I wasn't there.

The problem came from exactly what you mention. After about 45 minutes the headset began to get really uncomfortable to wear.

 

[Smooth Operator]

I am glad the main man of VR said it himself, because all VR criticism is usually put down to "you just don't get it".
He is of course completely right, apart from Elite the VR games are very much $20-30 demo games, where no one spent much time outside making some stuff work and quickly pushing it to market.
What makes it worse is they are getting an immunity from real scrutiny on account of being novel, sorry but that shit can not fly past the first few months. People you need to demand your games be made better, otherwise no one will spend the time to do so, developers are perfectly happy taking your money for minimum work.

 

[Infernal Lawyer]

So basically the company who made the tech but isn't willing to invest into making a great game... is calling out other developers for not investing into making a great game?

Don't get me wrong, he's right that people are just selling glorified tech demos... but if you're not confident in your own technology, why should anyone else be?