1667

For me the money was well-spent, but I had realistic expectations going in. I’m a tech geek, and the presence factor of even the current gen technology blows me away.

After playing a VR game for a while, my dog will sometimes wander into the room and brush up against me and it’s this weird disorientation as I look down with my headset on, confused (and startled as hell) as to what is touching my leg and why I can’t see it. Then I suddenly remember that I’m not on some other world, I’m in a spare bedroom in my house and that’s my dog wondering what the hell I’m doing flailing my arms around.

VR has offered some really breathtaking moments and for that it was worth the cost for me. No, I don’t use it as my primary gaming device (not even close), but I don’t regret buying it at all. I’ve gotten far more out of it than I have on my PS4, for example.

The worst part about VR for me is going back to non-VR games. Everything feels so flat (no pun intended). It’s kind of hard to describe, but playing a game by staring at a monitor feels really shitty after feeling like I’ve been IN the game. I get used to it again after a few hours, but it does take a bit of an adjustment. And games like Elite? I can’t even fire it up without the VR headset anymore.

1668

This is really the only reason I have that is holding me back. I have games with VR support that I would love to see in play. But for the life of me, I have, maybe, a 5x5 square of unused space, in even my biggest room, beyond walkways through the rooms. The placement of sensors and movement room places this squarely into the Wii category for me, I don’t think I know how to fix that.

The other mystery is just how well it works for some of the games that it’s enabled in. I could see Elite or a flight sim working very well, I’ve used TrackIR before, and it’s limited in how much you need to worry about. You could use keyboard and mouse and look around without too much difficulty, thumbs up there.

But say, Fallout 4. How on earth does it work there? There is way too much going on, and the requirement for some games to use the VR controllers makes it even more tracking necessary, and we get back to the small space issue.

I’m also waiting on rev 2 or even 3 of some of these products. The last thing I want when I dip my toes in is crappy resolution or usability issues.

1669

Quite the opposite. The “too bad” part would have been laying out between $300 - $600 for a VR setup with the current lay of the land.

And I say this, fully cognizant of the fact that I’m largely speaking to VR owners who now have at least some investment in bringing others along to grow the marketspace.

Very true. To each his own, I guess. I’m generously out $500 on VR, but $270 of that is for a phone which has many uses. It’s worth it to me based on the entertainment it has provided. I am planning on buying in to PC VR at some point, just not sure when.

I urge caution to everyone I speak about VR to in real life. Better to let the technology speak for itself. That said, there is a lot to be excited about. It has a very high “cool” factor (which is also why caution is good).

But if you have any doubts at all, why not wait for the next generation at least. I’m convinced it’s here to stay regardless of whether or not it takes another decade to catch on. You’ve got nothing to lose and everything to gain.

1670

A phone is useful for this.

Which I have currently conscripted as the screen to my Gear VR. >.<

Are you saying I should have no problems doing this on Gear VR, or that in Rift or Vive you can use a phone to play audio files while in a VR experience (I would be curious how)?

1671

The latter. Open podcast app. Find desired podcast. Press play.

In your scenario, why not use a PC based client instead (or a smart device if you’re not at your PC)?

1672

I probably could with a little finagling; I’m just disappointed someone at Oculus didn’t think this would be a desired feature and make it readily accessible. Or maybe they did, but it was too taxing on the already-taxed phone (somehow I doubt it, though; all I’m talking about is playing an audio file)?

1673

I’m not sure it’s an Oculus issue so much as an Android/Samsung one. The game audio pre-empts the podcast audio (at least, that’s my recollection from when I had a Gear), but so does most game audio, VR or otherwise.

1674

I hear you there. I have mine set up in the spare bedroom, but it’s a cramped space there. Probably about 7x5 or so (If i’m being generous). It’s definitely not ideal.

1675

And that’s why I’ve not jumped in, pun intended.

Explanations of things like the description below add to my frustration. Hell I barely have room to get 7.1 speakers mounted around the living room. And when I’m PC gaming, I am a laptop gamer. How are you supposed to get a great experience like that?

1676

I can use the PSVR in a small room, is only when I want to use the move controllers that I need more space. And the move controllers are finicky (at least in Skyrim and RecRoom). With PSVR you can use the controller for many things.

1677

To be clear, I have a two-sensor setup in a tiny room and it tracks things fine unless I’m trying to pick up stuff from the floor, which very few games require you to do. It’s not roomscale, but 90% of games don’t require that.

1678

How mobile are the sensors, Ginger? Are they USB based? I generally laptop game on a desk that doesn’t move, but there isn’t much space around that for movement.

I also wonder for things like Skyrim/Fallout if you can just use keyboard/mouse normally with the headset as lookaround? Hell I wish I knew someone around me that has a PC based VR setup that I could look at.

1679

Yeah, USB (3.0 required, I believe). Pretty mobile other than the cable. They’re not heavy and they don’t have to be locked down or anything. Only issue would be calibration once you’ve moved them to a new location.

Don’t think so, but I haven’t played it myself. Don’t really see the point in playing retrofitted games like that.

1680

I have a rift and an OK set up area. I like the games and the am still blow away with the sense of being there. My issue is I’m lazy. After a full day of work I like to sit on my ass, relax and go back to the comfort of a keyboard and mouse.

1681

I’m the opposite, I’m actively looking for games that get me out of my chair. While I do wish there was more content I’ve been pretty satisfied with the few titles I have that make me move around. Robo Recall, Racket Fury, and my current favorite, Gorn, are all a ton of fun and they get the blood pumping.

I don’t know how someone can say that current VR isn’t impressive unless they are just a constant curmudgeon. Everyone I’ve shown the rift to has been blown away. I had some non-gamer house guests over the holidays and they were instantly addicted to Racket Fury. The commented on the quality of the immersion and how it was so seamless. After a while they’d forget that there really isn’t a table right in front of them and kept trying to put the paddle down on it after a match.

It’s true the price is still too high and there isn’t enough content for it, but the same could have been said for the first PC EGA card I purchased way back. Anyone who expected VR gear to sell like the Wii right off the bat was indeed foolish, but to claim an emerging technology is dead because it remains an emerging technology for a while after the first commercial product hits the market is equally foolish. Its like looking at the first mobile phones and saying they will never take off because they are too expensive and bulky.

1682

I think what we’ve learned here is that it’s in the VR industry’s best interest to encourage a resurgence in the flight simulation market. :-)

But I’ve enjoyed my standing VR games as well. And when I show people stuff like Google Earth, that little whale demo, etc. they’re blown away.

I have to think that those who find no value in the current 1.0 rev of VR are the same types who find more to hate about the games they play than to like. Because I’ve had some super-fun experiences. Heck, just being able to explore the ISS in VR was one of the most fun things I’ve done in gaming and I bought my first computer in 1982.

As for the sensor placement issue, the Windows Mixed Reality headsets put the sensors in the goggles, so there’s nothing else to set up. I haven’t tried one yet, but as I understand it they should work with most Vive/SteamVR titles.

1683

I still really want to play Lone Echo. Jeff Cannata rated it has his favorite game of the year by far on his gaming podcast.

Need to find someone with a VR headset who will let me use it for a few hours uninterrupted!

1684

Mine’s in a small area. Larger would be ideal but really there’s only a couple games where it’d make much difference to me (Superhot for example). I knew I’d prefer seated stuff going in, and that has been true for the most part - but maybe that’s because I don’t have the space to jump around in. :)

Even so, playing in VR is still my prefered method if a game supports it well. If cockpit games don’t support it, I’m unlikely to play them. I’m still regularly spending time in mine, so no sign of dust-gatherering yet. Also still regulary amazed by the coolness and scale of the worlds around me.

Recently I’ve playing a fair bit of X Rebirth VR, and I have to say - it’s actually pretty great. Even though they cut the old campaign, condensed the universe, and locked most station doors from FPS access it’s a ‘proper’ game in VR, and fully supports touch controllers. And as a bonus, there’s no Yisha Tarren sitting next to you. ;)

Most surprisingly, I’m liking the gesture controlled flight mode as it gives 6 axis rotation by twisting your hand, allowing the right stick to be used to manage targets (or at least that’s what I’ve bound it to, you can of course use the stick to steer instead if you want). Firing guns and missile using your gaze. Pointing at things to tag them. But mainly I’m just loving flying around those huge stations and discvering each part! Once you get the hang of the controls it’s really cool.

It takes a little while for the whole thing to ‘click’ as it’s still quite a complex game, esp. in terms of UI but yeah, I’d recommend it. The great part being you can just put the headset on, pick up the touch controllers, and play.

For Rift users, it ships with a seperate Oculus executable. You can set the Steam launch options to use it directly (eg. ‘steampath’\steamapps\common\X Rebirth VR\XRebirthVR_Oculus.exe" %command%), makes it work nicer when launching from Home.

1685

Then I spent way too much time playing with the butterflies on my porch in the Vive. I’m so gullible.

1686

Divide that time by time spent playing all other games. Are you spending even one hour per day of your gaming time in VR?