the-pi-guy said:
VAMatt said: I was excited about VR for gaming. I thought we were very likely on the precipice of a major change in the way people play games. But, the tech just isn't there yet. |
People seem to either be incredibly pessimistic or incredibly optimistic about the tech. There doesn't seem to be very much in between.
I personally wouldn't say the tech isn't there yet. But people have different expectations. I know some people won't be satisfied (or at least they claim) until VR is basically holodeck.
I think what's currently there is awesome, but it's obvious there's incredible room for growth.
VAMatt said: Then there's the practical limitations, such as the need for significant space to play many games. I'm no longer convinced that VR is the future for gaming, and anything more than a niche way. I hope that's wrong, but that's what it's looking like to me. |
The thing that makes me very optimistic is that there are a lot of companies that are working on solutions to problems in VR. Some companies literally exist only to work on VR.
Oculus is a multibillion dollar company that exists only for VR.
Infinadeck is seeking to fix the problem with the space issue.
https://i.gifer.com/QRkv.mp4
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I probably overstated my pessimism a bit. I think I actually am one of those people in between the extremes. Part of the problem for me, I think, is that I've been anticipating VR for gaming since Sega was talking about it in the 1990s. They claimed for a few years that they were almost there. In hindsight, we all know that they weren't anywhere remotely close too good virtual reality. But, I, nor them seemingly, realized that at the time. I thought that by the end of the nineties I would be putting a headset on and immersing myself and fantasy worlds in my leisure time. it didn't happen.
Fast forward to 2014 or so. Modern VR Tech is on the horizon. My buddy buys an Oculus Rift DK2. It's awesome, considering the low budget, small-time Tech demos that exists for it at the time. I figure that big money is working behind the scenes, and that by the time this stuff hits the streets, will have awesome, full fledged experiences in VR. Then, in 2015, I pick up a gear VR headset. It's awesome. everybody I know wants to play it. Interestingly though, few people care about playing at a second time. That's when I started to realize that we're just not there yet.
Still, I had hope that when the high-dollar headsets hit the market that I'll be pleasantly surprised. and then, when those headsets released, I am surprised. But it's not as pleasant as I thought. There are no AAA games at lunch. Good ways to move around the game environment are few and far between. Control schemes are confusing, and often just suck.
Then I'm forced to accept it. The big money cannot flow into software, because the user base is not there with the hardware. The hardware guys can't build a user base, cuz the good software for it doesn't exist. And that is, to a significant extent, why we're stuck where we are.
I also worry that even if they can get the stuff straightened out over the next few years, they blew their opportunity for mass adoption at this point, by releasing too soon. VR is just too "meh", so people aren't excited.