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)?
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)?
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)?
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
Then I spent way too much time playing with the butterflies on my porch in the Vive. I’m so gullible.
Divide that time by time spent playing all other games. Are you spending even one hour per day of your gaming time in VR?
Not lately. The wife moved furniture around and put the headset away. I think it was a hint. But I used to spend at least an hour a day when it was new. I still think it’s an amazing experience.
It’s 3D television all over again. It’s just not that impressive relative to how amazing modern games look. And certainly not enough to offset the price, difficulty of setup, sweaty face, nausea, of extended play.
It’s like the “pepsi challenge”
In his book Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking (2005), author Malcolm Gladwell presents evidence that suggests Pepsi’s success over Coca-Cola in the “Pepsi Challenge” is a result of the flawed nature of the “sip test” method. His research shows that tasters will generally prefer the sweeter of two beverages based on a single sip, even if they prefer a less sweet beverage over the course of an entire can.
Sure, for 10 minutes it’s a novelty, and the sweet taste of novelty is interesting. But play for an hour, play for a few hours, play for a week… suddenly the downsides of very low resolution screen door effects, nausea, 1 pound of complex, sweaty stuff strapped to your face, the control limitations, the fact that nobody else can see what you’re doing and have fun with you … starts to really weigh on you. And that’s the part that actually matters.
It certainly hasn’t changed my world. But it has enhanced it.