VR

[omega 616]

I am trying to be open minded about this "new level of immersion" but I can't help but think "this is going to be like voice controls?" and "will it really add anything if it works perfectly?".

VR is being sold like "it adds a whole new dimension to games!" (just like Microsoft was pushing with voice controls) but does it really? It's like kinect on xbone, you can shout at it and sometimes it does stuff but it's not setting the world on fire ... just like sixaxis and (so far) the touch pad on the PS4 pad.

I feel like VR will be the same, just something that is there but only used in insignificant ways. Voice commands in Ryse was shoot a volley of arrows, touch pad in shadow fall commands the owl and the sixaxis is used to turn valves ... they are not HUGE innovations to gaming, some would even say cheesy gimmicks.

I can only see VR being used in games such as Flower, Journey, Dear Esther, Gone Home, Stanley Parable etc ... I can't see it being used in games COD or mirrors edge. They just seem to quick and constantly moving your head around like that will hurt your neck. Just think about how much you usually move your head left and right ...

Especially when you are gaming, your head doesn't really move. Now, say you're going to play COD for an hour (which come on, for us gamers, is nothing), that is an hour of moving your head left and right ... my bet is that your neck will be killing you!

I think people are more in love with the idea of VR than how well it will work with games. They think they are going to feel like they are there and it's going to bring the world to life more but all it's really adding is a more realistic look mechanic.

You still can't smell the fall out waste lands, feel the rocks under your feet, the battle cry of a raider or the recoil of your gun. Of course, we may never have that kind of VR but this face mask VR feels hollow to me.

I think people will rush out to buy it and after a month or two it will be put to one side and almost never used again.

I know I'm about to be flooded with hyped up people but without getting too rabid, what do you see happening with VR.

 

[Magix]

Well, I don't see why people are wasting so much energy discussing this. Who cares, when it comes out, we'll see if it's good or not. I think it's safe to say most of us haven't tried it out so it's hard to say (not to mention even the people that have tried it haven't really been able to use it to its full potential)

Voice controls could be awesome if they work REALLY well, miles better than any xbox currently does. The same goes for VR.

 

[Smooth Operator]

Honestly I can only advise people to try it at some point, you will see what it actually does. This is one that really can't be sold with any amount of written or video presentations.

And if we run down some recent gimmicks:
- voice commands, horribly inaccurate so shit doesn't register half the time and much much slower to make something happen
- Wii mote/Kinect movement, horribly inaccurate so shit doesn't register half the time
- sixaxis, actually decently accurate but as we turn the gamepad in weird ways when playing that just messes with your controls
- secondary screen, why the hell would I use that when it only breaks immersion further
- Oculus Rift, covers your entire view 110° of which is image as opposed to 20° your average couch sitting experience gets, also it naturally tracks head movement with high accuracy and observable lag only once you throw your head around

But let's be clear the VR devices we have now are not a replacement for anything, they are a very expensive peripheral for the occasional party piece. Much like force feedback wheels/joysticks, but how many of you have even used one of those?
And games need to be set up before VR feels right, UI needs to be redone, camera has to work completely differently, aiming with your head actually feels real dumb so devs need to have a system where body and camera go on separate vectors, thus without developer support VR does nothing... and we are still in an age where supporting two old as hell control methods is an extravagant feature.