I guess some people think its a big deal, cant see it personally. But im sure those that get excited by it will have a good time.
Why the Oculus Rift is a Big Deal
- Thread starter Shamus Young
- Start date
All this arguing about whether the technology will catch on, and nobody has asked the obvious question: Will the *product" catch on?
Whether people find VR to be a significant improvement to their experience is a fine question to ponder. But you also have to ask whether or not people want to play their games for hours at a time with a big, bulky set of goggles strapped to their head/face.
Whether people find VR to be a significant improvement to their experience is a fine question to ponder. But you also have to ask whether or not people want to play their games for hours at a time with a big, bulky set of goggles strapped to their head/face.
Shamus, you make a solid case for the cool technical aspects. It still strikes me as a gimmick, though. No matter how cool it is, I can't see it mattering to the gaming world.
Basically, if it's so awesome, why can't they persuasively argue it instead of going the"Gabba gabba hey" route?
Not to mention, immersion doesn't mean realism.Ell Jay said:
Think is, I don't get it, man. I think the real problem is more that they can't actually explain why they're excited. And like sufficiently advanced science being indistinguishable from magic, without any explanation this is indistinguishable from random fad hype that sweeps the internet every 12 seconds. And I suspect it is little more than that, in absence of their explanation.Vegosiux said:
Basically, if it's so awesome, why can't they persuasively argue it instead of going the"Gabba gabba hey" route?
Well put. As much as it surprises me, we're actually agreeing on something ^^Zachary Amaranth said:
I mean, I suppose I do get the base argument that it kind of switches your entire visual input instead of just making you focus on a part of it, but toying around with sensory inputs like that isn't something I'd consider "awesome", seeing as my brain has a hard time keeping up with one reality >.>
Within gaming? I don't think it'll last. I'm sure the OR will find uses, much like the Kinect, however.Lvl 64 Klutz said:
Is that still the tech instead of the product?
No, of course. I agree. I was more directing the question at those vehemently defending how much more immersive of an experience the tech will be. The technology itself will probably be more immersive, but I think that those arguments aren't taking into account that you'll be wearing these bulky goggles AND headphones.Zachary Amaranth said:
I love the idea in theory - for years I've felt the only way that games aren't moving forward is in monitors / TV screens, still square and very separated from a natural field of vision.
But I just can't imagine wearing that thing on my head for hours. I really hope it's comfortable!
But I just can't imagine wearing that thing on my head for hours. I really hope it's comfortable!
Fuuuuuuck that. For the same reason 3D televisions never got big in the latest push is that people don't want to wear stupid looking things on their face. It's why contact lenses were invented, and why VR will be nothing more than a gimmick sold to a very niche audience.
YOU TAKE THAT BACK!Vegosiux said:
>.>
And I wonder how it impacts people with motion sickness (as an example). When I was a kid, I used to get carsick, seasick, airsick. I don't anymore, but I'm just imagining what this could do to a bunch of people to screw with their heads.
Well, when I thin immersive, I think neck strain. >.>Lvl 64 Klutz said:
But seriously, it also runs into the problem of setup. I mean, a lot of people don't even like motion controls, so how's this going to fare in gaming technology?
People here really did learn from 3D glasses and motion controls, lol.
I don't know. It looks uncomfortable, and you said brain and immersion enough that I'm worried about getting a tumor.
Also, people were convinced that a iPhone 4 was an iPhone 5 when some guy who let them hold it said it was an iPhone 5. People were convinced that 3D glasses were new, that the Wii motes would make controllers redundant, that laptops and iPads would end desktop computers. Too much hype already.
I'll try to keep an open mind as long as it's not forced into any thing.
I don't know. It looks uncomfortable, and you said brain and immersion enough that I'm worried about getting a tumor.
Also, people were convinced that a iPhone 4 was an iPhone 5 when some guy who let them hold it said it was an iPhone 5. People were convinced that 3D glasses were new, that the Wii motes would make controllers redundant, that laptops and iPads would end desktop computers. Too much hype already.
I'll try to keep an open mind as long as it's not forced into any thing.
My main concern is whether or not I'll be able to use it without experiencing headaches and nausea.
The problem is it's not easy to understand without trying it.Zachary Amaranth said:
I mean, I can tell you you actually feel like your in the cockpit of a starship, or actually feel like your walking around an environment. I can tell you you actually feel like NPCs are real, flesh and bone people standing in front of you, or your sword in minecraft feels like an object made of light hanging in front of your face (when blocking). I can tell you that things have real scales; that heights are soaring, and buildings tower over you, etc, etc.
But even having heard these kinds of things over and over myself (and having watched tons of media on the rift) I still failed to imagine what it would be like.
This isn't to say experiencing it is guaranteed to knock your socks off. I mean, I don't know. But it seems to have impressed a lot of people who have tried it.
Some basic examples of what you can do with the tech:
-You'll be able to lean over and survey your toops in an RTS. Little living toys will fight eachother on a battlefield stretched out before you.
-You'll be able to inhabit a seemingly real ship, with real dimensions, consoles, and controls set about you to inspect as you would in real life. Space, sky, or ocean just over your shoulder, and all about you.
-You'll be able to interact with avatars, and NPCs that seem like people with scale, and volume, in a real space, or sit and watch immersive movies (a demo called 3D lapdance was interesting... to say the least)
-Exploration, and manipulation of detailed environments will potentially make point and click type games a thing again.
-Even something like a 2D platformer will be interesting. You could have a little mario hoping around on a world that seems like you could reach out and touch.
-atmospheric spooky games will be cool of course.
-virtual tours, field trips, concerts, shops, talks, etc.
and so on.
All you've done is make a case for novelty. And that's fine, but I tried some of the "feel like you're there" things twenty years ago. That's cool. It doesn't give me a reason to care. Hell, it doesn't even give me a reason to think this time it's different. Except, perhaps, because ponies.SpinFusor said:
The only thing funnier to me than some of the over-hype for the Rift[footnote]Even though I am extremely excited to see it come to fruition, I think some people are hyped for it without actually knowing why they're hyped.[/footnote] is the naysayers saying shit like, "This is just a gimmick. I tried VR 20 years ago and it sucked. Therefore this one will to."
The utter stupidity of their statements just tickle my funny bone. So much so my cheeks are starting to hurt.
Regardless, great read Shamus. It's refreshing to see someone on the Escapist write an article actually detailing some of the incredible tech advances behind the Oculus. Not to mention detailing why it's so exciting. It's a nice change of pace from either "It's the greatest thing ever!" or "It's the shittiest thing ever!"
And, as far as I'm aware, I share your opinion on the Facebook buyout as well.
The utter stupidity of their statements just tickle my funny bone. So much so my cheeks are starting to hurt.
Regardless, great read Shamus. It's refreshing to see someone on the Escapist write an article actually detailing some of the incredible tech advances behind the Oculus. Not to mention detailing why it's so exciting. It's a nice change of pace from either "It's the greatest thing ever!" or "It's the shittiest thing ever!"
And, as far as I'm aware, I share your opinion on the Facebook buyout as well.
http://gizmodo.com/meet-the-crazy-camera-that-could-make-movies-for-the-oc-1557318674?utm_campaign=socialflow_gizmodo_facebook&utm_source=gizmodo_facebook&utm_medium=socialflowBreakfastMan said:
Wasn't the Wii a total sales success? Last time I checked, it sold double the number of consoles that their competitors did.BreakfastMan said:
I find amusing that this is always mentioned as if people had to care about how do they look, and also as if it's never going to get smaller (last models I've seen are much smaller than the first devkit).Lvl 64 Klutz said:
Sounds like a terrible idea, because it pretty much breaks cinematography. I mean, where the director points the camera, how the shots are framed, how the camera is oriented, and what exactly the director chooses to place in the shot matters. It really adds to the power of film. This takes away all of that. :\Qvar said:
Yeah, it was a sales success... For most of one generation. The next generation, consoles pretty much abandoned motion-control on that level. The only people who are still trying to push it to any significant degree is Microsoft, and even then the Kinect is mostly used for navigating menus.
I'm not really sold on the idea of VR movies either, just pointing at what they probably were talking about.BreakfastMan said:
I may see it happening in special-effects oriented movies (space battles movie please), but I definitely wouldn't use it for, say, a Tarantino movie.
As for the success of motion-control, I'm not much into consoles, but for what I've heard the WiiU does have a similar control stick to the one the Wii had... But it's the games that aren't selling the console to anybody. Or so I've heard.
