The switch to VR gaming?

I was just wondering what price would the oculus rift and Vive need to get to before most of you would consider getting VR?

Price isn't a factor for me. I guess if they got it down to $60, it wouldn't be bad to kill a couple of hours on, and then hide it in the closet for a few months

@Paddy345: I no the price in the UK is massive overpriced for the vive at around £800. The rift is £499 and that still too much.

There is quite a few games on it and with more to come including Fallout 4 VR hopefully we will start to see some AAA games soon. Playing in VR is more immersive than a monitor can ever be

Yes a price drop to around 300 seems more reasonable and i'd say once CV2 is announced as with the Vive 2 then they will drop in price. Don't forget about used units, you can pick them up for a good bit cheaper

Price is not a factor to me right now, I think it is fairly reasonable (though I welcome reductions). I'd like to see it made a bit less bulky, wireless, and refined; from what I gather you still need an empty living room to use it, your computer hauled out there, and a bunch of things wired into it (plus the headset itself wired in).

Ideally, in a year or two, they will release a new Steam Link and VR kit that will work together well and you can just use that in your living room; use Steam Link to communicate to your PC, and hook the VR to your Steam Link's USB connections.

You know those funny black-and-white film clips from the Fifties and Sixties that demonstrated whiz bang technology that is now "what the fck were they thinking" esque?

That's VR in about five years.

would not buy it even it cost $1, its for people who want to walk around with a backpack and/or helmets and goggles while gaming

I think wearing a device on your head is anti-immersive. Additionally, I think wearing headphones is anti-immersive. It actually boggles my mind a bit than people think all this shit is immersive.

Immersion to me is standing/sitting in a room and having the impression that you're experiencing stuff. Having devices and wires strapped to me like the Borg or the Ludovico treatment brings me further away from having an immersive experience, and it's quite embarrassing to look at to be frank.

I got the track ir pro and that's awesome for games like ED and not too big. I only use the silver piece what clips on top of a hat as the pro clip broke but it just the same performance.

You don't need a full room though, you can do it with just a couple feet by a couple feet so pretty much just a standing or sitting 360 experience. I do agree it will be MUCH better when it's wireless but that is coming fairly soon

Trust me it is far immersive than anything a screen can do. The headset makes you feel like you are there and gives you a real presense in these worlds and headphones compliment that. One wow moment for me was when i was playing onward, a military multiplayer shooter guys would walk up to each other and help each other out showing how to load their weapons etc. It brings real world social interaction into gaming in a way thats never been done before

Wait until it's wireless. Think why the likes of playstation and Xbox evolved and why pc graphics and physics evolve? Because we want to feel more immersed in these worlds, nothing is more immersive than VR, this is the next step and nearly every hardware and software company in gaming know this and are investing in it

I purchased all of them at their original retail prices.

The TrackIR is great for flight sims. Not necessarily more immersive, but very practical. I use it mostly for ED.

Have you actually tried the Vive or the Oculus?

Room scale is not required for most games but some of the coolest games really take advantage of it. It's pretty awesome to be able to walk around and interact with an environment that's different from where you physically are. To really be able to take full advantage of it you need a setup that can accommodate it. My gaming rig runs in my office, but I run an HDMI cable and USB extension through the wall to put the Vive into another room where I've got full room scale set up.

-Byshop

@Byshop: Ahhhh that's pretty smart, didn't think about going through a wall. That'd look pretty clean, too, if you did it right with a faceplate and stuff.

Obviously it depends on what you have to work with. Even though I got it to work well, I wish I had more space. I've got an okay sized basement in our current house but I have had to use a lot of "space saving" techniques to have VR space, something like a workout space, a "man cave" entertainment center with projector and surround sound, etc. My main gaming rig is located in my office where I have an Obutto R3volution cockpit set up with three monitors and mounted speakers. I've got a total of five video ports on the graphics card (SLI, but you only get to use one card's worth in SLI mode). Three DP ports go to the Rog Swift monitors which need DP ports for the G-Sync and 144hz, one HDMI that goes to the Pioneer receiver in the next room (multiroom receiver that can output to a TV next to my couch or the projector in front of the couch) and the DVI goes to either the Oculus in the office or the Vive in the other room with audio. I have a 3 foot extension cord that runs from the back of the computer to the front so I can easily plug in either the Oculus or the Vive.

I use the Oculus for "cockpit VR" type games like Elite or Eve Valkyrie and I use the Vive in the other room for the standing and room scale motion control based VR games. I also have the PSVR set up in the same room as the Vive and I play that from the couch. RE7 in VR is awesome.

-Byshop

Trust you? I've used it lol, and it looks bad. The few times I've used it, I'm always trying to think of a nice way to say "Oh yea...kind of cool but not really". I feel like it's gimmick right now. Every single person I've seen buy a VR set, I don't think I've seen anyone acquire more than 50 hours of usage for it on Steam (or even half that). Everyone I've seen buy it barely uses it. It's been around for how long...about a year? And what...2% of people on Steam own one? Pretty weak if you ask me

I've never been on Steam before and took notice "oh, all my friends are constantly playing VR, I must get in on that". It's more like "oh hey, it looks like he's finally getting use out of it after all those months of owning it". Haven't you noticed that all these people are spending half a grand to to use their device to play a handful of games? Couldn't be any more niche.

IMO it's very watered down immersion. Even just using headphones is absolute shite for immersion. Wearing goggles too? LOL. I almost feel you guys are playing a joke on me. Wearing junk on your head isn't immersive. As soon as I've strapped anything to my head, I'm instantly not immersed in the game or what I'm doing. Period. That's precisely why I don't bother with headphones and actually get a good laugh whenever people tell me they game with headphones.

Perhaps because it's objectively 10x more immersive than a monitor? Ya know, having an entire game around you in life sized 3D. You just shit on everything you don't have.

I second this. I've only used VR at a shop with a Playstation 4 but it's as immersive as it can get because you feel like you're actually INSIDE the game instead of just looking at a monitor.

I can't grasp your view at all being that it is less immersive. The fact is VR WILL become the new main way to play games in the next few years especially as the price drops. There are some good games on it and plenty to come and this will only increase as VR units drop their price to appeal to the mainstream market. People have always wanted to be in these worlds, it's why graphics, physics increase as time goes on, to make it more realistic and immersive. It's been around for the last year as an extremely expensive device that requires other expensive hardware to run it and guess what, it's still selling well which goes to prove how sought after it is. As i said once the price drops to attract the mainstream market thats when they start flying off the shelves and more developers invest huge funds to profit from the market.

it won't matter to me, wearing goggles is not my idea of immersion, i don't even like wearing glasses to read. i think the vr idea will find more success among young kids growing up. its easier to market it to them as the next step in gaming.

a great ips monitor or tv is my idea of immersion, then again wii sports is immersive to me, also there all kinds of advanced controllers out there for flight and driving sims.

Edit. in fairness i should add i've never tried vr equipment

Your just stuck in your ways though no different than someone who says a video game will never be as immersive or interesting as a book, thats fair enough, if thats how you prefer to game then fair play but VR is not just here to stay but will become the main way of experiencing gaming worlds very soon. Also i highly recommend you try VR, the resolution isn't there yet for it for it to be picture perfect but i assure you the emotions VR invokes is something a game on a screen can never do. A wireless 4k VR device with AAA games coming out as much as pc and consoles and i'll rarely if ever play a game on a screen ever again. It's inferior in every way

I agree VR is very immersive and fun, but it won't become the main way of gaming soon. It will get popular and popular as time goes by but until they actually get the devices working perfectly and get long serious game titles for VR it will be just a section of gamers using it.

VR is more immersive and less immersive at the same time. The sense of presence is great, but the resolution is shit right now. I bought a Rift to mostly play racing games in my cockpit, but it is actually a downgrade from placing the cockpit in front of my big screen TV. The lack of clarity and definition with the VR headset really holds it back. I still think VR is great, but there is a lot of room for improvement and the price has to come down for the average person to really consider buying it.

Yep, this. Graphics and Controls need a bit more to develop.

Saying that, on Playstation 4 it's pretty good already.

That Groinal attachment's supposed to have a life times guarantee. You've worn it out in nearly three weeks.

A few thoughts:

- The fact that the rift requires so many usb ports is a bit daunting; (I'm not certain that usb hubs would have the required bandwidth.) But a new wireless rift would be great!

- The resolution and comfort sounds like they could both do with some improvement. And getting rid of the "screen-door" effect.

- It will be interesting to see how successful Fallout 4 VR is.

At this time, I think PSVR is a better deal than Rift/Vive. A PSVR can actually work on PC by using Trinus to play SteamVR games, but it is not possible to get a Rift or Vive working on PS4. And while PC hardware is obviously superior, both Rift and Vive suffer from many of the same issues of PSVR (in particular, blurriness and low resolution).

I also think Resident Evil 7 is hands down the best experience in VR - hopefully it comes to PC next year so Rift and Vive owners can experience it, as well. It is frightening and immersive in a way which I have never felt before in a video game. It was an eye opening experience that really cements in my mind the fact that this is the future of horror games. It was shocking to me how tame and boring the same sequences felt to me on a 2D screen.

Fallout 4 VR may be another one of those incredible experiences, although I don't think it will heighten the senses and adrenaline in the same way RE7 did. I can't wait to try it out whichever platforms it ends up on.

In any case, it is fair to say that until the resolution is improved it is an incredible but flawed technology. VR headsets right now are a peak into the future. Once we have 4K headsets and the graphics cards to push them, I'm even more excited to see what these experiences will feel like.

Most of the deepest experiences on VR are still controlled by traditional controller, and that's honestly fine. Motion control is not necessary to still feel the advantages of VR in traditional games.

If it is, we will be damn lucky, because VR is pretty damn incredible. I can't imagine it being totally obsolete in five years, that would take some incredible progress, totally welcome though.

Interesting I thought the resolution (or at least the perception of it?) was supposed to be better because of the screens and how close they were or something.

What about the gear? Does wearing that stuff pull you out of immersion or do you not really notice it after a while?

@mrbojangles25: You get used to the gear, but the headsets certainly are not the most comfortable things to wear. They are not bad, but obviously less comfortable than looking at a regular monitor/TV.

VR is overrated, needs a lot of improvements to be viable or it'll go the way of 3D TV's.

VR is the real deal, those who claim it lacks immersion need to acknowledge that you are in the minority with that opinion. I have a great setup that demands very little shuffling of furniture, and manage a 4mx4m space. There are absolutely ZERO games in 2d that can rival quality VR experiences with regards to immersion. I could care less how I look(lol at gaming nerds caring about that), and when I'm right into a game, you forget the headset is on. Only after long play sessions where sweat begins to interfere does it become an issue. We are years away from a more low-profile HMD with a perfect mix of resolution, FOV, wireless and the like. I suppose being an old gamer from Atari days, the lower resolution doesnt bother me at all, with supersampling it is more than adequate.

Dirt Rally w/ wheel, Elite w/ HOTAS, and to be frank a whole lot of quality games buried in all those "tech demos" people keep referring to have made my purchase more than worth it. However, I see it more as a great complement to standard 2d gaming, not a replacement.

It's been around forever...and what...3% of gamers have them according to Steam? Anyone who's wanted one has probably gotten one by now. The numbers aren't going to drastically change. VR is niche. You're kidding yourself if you think it's ever going to be anything else.

Do you really believe this latest gen of VR is the same as previous attempts? There's an ecosystem in place now that was never there before, and yes it will continue to grow. The high price of entry prevents it from becoming more mainstream for the time being, but 3dtv, this is not.

Not sure why you quoted that part, but I was speaking directly about how immersive the experience was, not it's popularity in gaming circles. Every single person I demo my Vive to does not complain about how they look, or the HMDs weight, or the cable. They feel so completely immersed that their eyes when taking the headset off scream "Oh yeah, I'm in a living room!" They then ask how much, I tell them, and then they dismiss any thought of buying their own hahaha. It's freaking expensive.

Samsung makes VR products, the I phone is cool though is Nintendo Switch actually going VR.

I just read a review from someone who tried the new Skyrim and Fallout vr at e3. Sounds like these games don't translate very well at all...

I've been listening to others' opinions on the vive and occulus for some time now and I think I can finally conclude that I won't be getting either.

At least not until they release newer and more advanced versions.

Also, I heard that the vr versions of the above mentioned games will have an additional cost!!! Hah, no thanks. I don't have hundreds to spend on something that I'll probably get bored with after 5 minutes...

sitting with a 180 setup works great for me this whole wireless thing I don't see as a big deal at this moment the novelty of moving around is cool just like it was for the wii but just like the wii most are going to end up playing seated. most don't game to be active but more so to relax

yeah, while the active aspect sounds fun at times, I would much rather be seated. I don't want to be crouching and kneeling and taking cover like in some of these games, either, that's for sure.

Also a lot of games I want to play have me in a pilot's seat or something. Really want to try out Elite: Dangerous on VR! Even just to try it out.

@mrbojangles25: yea mine setting in serious sam vr is just like a normal fps with motion aiming which i play seated and it feels amazing.. elite dangerous is a great game btw

I've played Elite: Dangerous a while ago (a year plus, probably, definitely before the expansions started coming out).

Are you a current player? How is it now? I found it a great game but maybe a little tedious, tbh. If it's a bit more exciting now I think I could get back into it. I've been meaning to, I think it's a game I could spend a lot of time in (which is what I need, I've been jumping from game to game a lot lately, I need just one game I can stick with).

for me in vr it's relaxing I pretty much only get on when I want something not too intense I barely do combat mission just trading carrying cargo... it looks amazing in vr I didn't play it until after I got my rift