Phil Spencer - Virtual Reality Not Yet 'A Thing'

[JEMC]

Scoobes said:

JEMC said:

I agree with him but even in a few years when the technology is finally there to make it happen, will the games be ready for it?

Sure, VR will be awesome for some games like FPS and racing games, but what about the other genres? How will it be to play a third person shooter, an adventure game, a RPG or a platformer with those headsets?

Third person games play very well. Surprisingly so.

FPS play very weirdly and are difficult to get right (movement on sticks vs head tracking; your body gets confused). I played a great proceduraly generated horror game called Monstrum and whilst the VR makes it highly immersive, the basic movement is still controlled on analog sticks which makes it very disorientating.

As for the other genres it really does depend on how well they adapt to VR and the way they implement perspective.

The best games I've played on VR are all ones where you're in a cockpit and controlling a vehicle. Flight based games are going to see a revival with this tech imo.

Thanks for sharing. It's a relief to know those headsets can work well with other games besides FPSs. And yeah, using a regular controller to play with a VR headsest looks to break the immersion. That's why Sony and Valve have gone with motion based controllers.

And I also agree on your last point. Driving and flight games are the ones that will benefit the most because there are already proper peropherals for them, and the (very) fans of those genres aren't affraid to spend big money to further enhance their experience (multiple displays, special chairs, etc.).

 

@binary solo: Buying a VR headset "only" to use it as a secondary screen seems like a waste. It would be better to get a second TV and use headphones (thankfully the PS4 controller has a headphones pass-through).