As we approach 2020, what are your views on VR?

[kiriku]

I love VR. I'm not a rich person and I struggled a lot with my decision to buy a Rift a couple of years ago. Felt like so much money! But I saw it as buying a new console, like a long-term investment, which made it feel a bit easier. I never regretted it and still use my Rift on a regular basis, at least a few times per week. And I would love to see more games designed specifically for VR.
I still play the so-called pancake games and enjoy them, but my excitement is so much higher in general for what future VR games can bring in terms of innovation, both in hardware and software. And I think that will be pushed by games like the new Half-Life (and of course games like Lone Echo 1 and 2, Asgard's Wrath, Stormland and so on). Brings attention to VR, increases install base, which allows smaller VR developers to reach a bigger group of people allowing them to invest more money in their projects and so on.

 

[Darkstorne]

Generally indifferent. I can see the potential, but until it's light enough and small enough not to really feel it (like cyber-glasses) and is paired with haptic feedback gloves as standard so you can genuinely feel texture when you touch things, not to mention the need for high frame rates at high resolutions, I'm not interested in jumping in myself. I am really glad it's being invested in though, just like raytracing, because one day it will pay off when the tech is fully realized. But that day is not today, nor is it even remotely close.

 

[Umbrella Carp]

I haven't tried VR ever, but I have seen enough to know it is a tide that isn't gonna be stopped. Would not be surprised at all if the PS5/Scarlett are the last "traditional" games consoles.

 

[Manmademan]

I don't like VR as a concept, but clearly it's a niche product that will remain a curiosity and never really move into the mainstream. Interested to see where the industry goes next.

 

[MC_Leon6494]

I've only really spent time with the Rift and haven't found it particularly exciting. It might be that i didn't have the configuration set exactly right but the field of view felt too narrow and the screens too low resolution to the point where the illusion breaks down regularly for me. I would love to try one of the higher end VR headsets on a really powerful rig, and i think VR will stick around as a kinda sideshow gimmick. Cool, but never quite as easy and painless as gaming on regular 2D screens

 

[The Praiseworthy]

I strongly dislike VR and wish developers wouldn't spend resources on VR only games or VR modes.

 

[AtomicShroom]

I don't think the tech/price is at a point where it's ready for prime time yet. They need to make those headsets less bulky, lighter, cheaper, wireless, much better resolution, solve motion sickness, easier setup/calibration, less sweaty, etc.

I feel like we're still far off!

 

[lapsu]

Have absolutely zero interest in VR. Even if my favourite franchises like Persona, Witcher or Trails made VR only games I'd still have no interest in buying a VR headset.

 

[Le Dude]

Yeah, I still don't feel the tech or console power is really there yet.

Personally I might pick it up after a few more iterations, for flying and racing games predominantly. Right now there's just too many trade-offs.

Even then though I don't really know. I could have kids at that point and I feel like VR has the most appeal when you're on your own. I'd love to see some Nintendoland style asymmetrical multiplayer games break out, where one person has the headset and everyone else is using a TV. That would be cool.

 

[SxP]

I might step in this year with the PS5. But too much is uncertain on that front to say that for sure.

 

[Won]

I remain interested in it, but room remains the biggest hurdle for me. I feel I also don't play enough games that another expensive clunky piece of hardware is something I wanna throw some serious money at.

 

[SharpX68K]

You can have great experiences today, but it's in its infancy, I want to see it continue to develop. I'm hopeful of a nice evolution curve in the next 5, 10, 20 years.

Click to shrink...

This.

 

[oni-link]

I love VR. I'm not a rich person and I struggled a lot with my decision to buy a Rift a couple of years ago. Felt like so much money! But I saw it as buying a new console, like a long-term investment, which made it feel a bit easier. I never regretted it and still use my Rift on a regular basis, at least a few times per week. And I would love to see more games designed specifically for VR.
I still play the so-called pancake games and enjoy them, but my excitement is so much higher in general for what future VR games can bring in terms of innovation, both in hardware and software. And I think that will be pushed by games like the new Half-Life (and of course games like Lone Echo 1 and 2, Asgard's Wrath, Stormland and so on). Brings attention to VR, increases install base, which allows smaller VR developers to reach a bigger group of people allowing them to invest more money in their projects and so on.

Click to shrink...

Pancake games is such a funny term

 

[Pargon]

I've never tried it but the potential health repercussions concern me. Has there been research into how looking at a screen at such a close distance affects one's eyes?

Click to shrink...

The lenses cause your eyes to focus at "infinity" (20ft) so they should be relaxed. Most people are sitting closer than that with their TV/Monitor setups.

 

[Potterson]

"I'm interested in VR more and more and I'm soon gonna buy a headset"

 

[Tyaren]

I'm definitely interested and I do believe there is immense potential. However I don't think it is quite there yet, so I will wait a little longer to invest in it.

 

[Spence]

It's an awesome technology that if done right certainly has it's audience, I think that further in the future when the technology get even better and more compact and battery technology will be developed we will also see AR and VR merging to something new.

 

[Dphex]

I haven't tried VR ever, but I have seen enough to know it is a tide that isn't gonna be stopped. Would not be surprised at all if the PS5/Scarlett are the last "traditional" games consoles.

Click to shrink...

i don´t see this happening at all, traditional gaming on a big screen won´t go away

 

[kiriku]

Pancake games is such a funny term

Click to shrink...

Yeah, it's so dumb but I kind of love it. lol

 

[Prine]

It's a no go for me, medical reasons. And I'm happy to know that developers are indifferent towards it, would not want them to focus resource and talent on something that will remain a niche product. I do not want MS be a part of it and would be disappointed if thier teams started to make VR games.

 

[BasilZero]

I don't like VR and have no interest in it


Is what I voted.

 

[Jon of the Wired]

Hm, none of the poll options really capture my feelings about VR. I own a headset (an Oculus Quest) and while I don't love it, I like it fine and I'm not disappointed or underwhelmed.

I am excited to see where things go, and I'm particularly looking forward to the new Half Life.

 

[NekoNeko]

fun for a few hours a year but in its current state not worth investing into.

 

[StrappingYoungLance]

I don't have a problem with it existing or developers making games for it but it essentially has no appeal to me. I don't like a lot of what I see from the games or the typical solutions they have to various problems VR has right now like floating hands and warping for movement.

If I were to play VR I'd really only be interested in playing it with a standard controller in hand. I have zero interest in motion control or having to stand (obviously the latter isn't always the only option).

I do expect the tech to improve and slowly become more and more common over the coming decade.

 

[Deleted member 9486]

I have a PSVR and have barely used it the last year plus. The novelty wore off for me and I just can't be bothered to put the headset on and play.

I have zero problems with it existing or things like the new a Halflife being a VR game. Not every game is going to be for me and I'm drowning in things I want to play all the time anyway.

 

[Raysoul]

It needs to be cheaper.

 

[Necromanti]

As someone with zero investment in VR and is currently uninterested in investing that money into it, I'm generally indifferent to it at the moment. I was more interested in it when the press/people in general seemed to be talking about it more. Without seeking it out, I almost hear nothing about VR/VR games anymore.

 

[Poison Jam]

I own a PSVR headset and I've greatly enjoyed some of the games on offer. I love Astrobot!

However, I feel like using it is a bit of a hassle. The cables are often in the way, I don't like the cramped feeling of wearing the headset (especially for longer sessions), and it always feels like the screen isn't quite in focus. Screen-door effect is also very much a thing with PSVR.

When the alternative is lounging and playing on a lovely TV with a decent set of speakers or headphones, I end up very rarely using it.

Would love to try something like the Oculus Quest hooked up to my PC, but I can't help but doubt I would use it enough after the honeymoon period to be worth the cost.

 

[Clive]

VR is amazing and I hope it's a big part of gaming's future. There are issues with quality of software, hardware and price at the moment but some games that nail it are absolutely incredible. Hopefully the medium can grow to support more AAA games like Half-Life.

 

[Deleted member 27315]

I believe that when we are at the point that almost every game has a VR version, nobody will touch flat versions again.

The difference is beyond insane in these games. Examples : RE7, Wipeout, Dirt Rally, Skyrim vs flat versions.

 

[Bryo4321]

I recently got an index because of half life. So far I've found that whether it's "worth it" or not REALLY depends on the software. Certain games like blade and sorcery that have decent physics and movement are honestly amazing. It's incredibly immersive, but other game feel like they are only party there. I think the headset is capable of an incredible experience, the problem is more that developers still seem to be trying to figure things out. I feel like it's really the software that's lagging more than the tech, and a few of the excellent games out there for vr are proving that.

 

[Damn Silly]

Indifferent. Tech seems neat, but not enough that I'd be spending decent money for not a huge amount of titles that interest me.

 

[Doober]

It's probably not for me. I'm not much of a PC gamer to begin with, so investing in a rig plus the VR tech dissuades me.

I have a PSVR and although RE7 was amazing, it was still a pretty clunky device. And that's without hand controls.

 

[RockmanBN]

Too expensive. Not gonna pay the price of a console for them.

 

[shaneo632]

I love VR. I own PSVR and a Rift S. The lack of true AAA full-fat games has been disappointing, as well as the pricing of many titles, but I love the medium and it's really enriched my gaming experience the last 3 years.

But the last few months have been so chaotic with regular releases I've not had much time to play my headsets tbh.

 

[Deleted member 1476]

I just wish I could buy a PCVR, already have PSVR but a PC one is way too expensive here. I would also need a better CPU / GPU to be able to hold better frame rates, and they are also expensive.

I'm all in on the tech, if not now then in the future.

 

[Kingpin Rogers]

Too much hassle for it to be worth it right now. The price, the clunkiness of wearing it, the wires, the sensors or cameras needed for tracking, the fact you need a high-end pc to go along with it, the space you need for it to even be worth playing. All that stuff gets in the way of me enjoying VR right now, Oculus Quest is a good step forward but that is still seen as a budget option for VR and wouldn't give you the best experience, and the issue of needing room still crops up with it. Once they can create a high-end vr headset that's comfy and wireless for a reasonable price then I'd be more interested. Bonus points if you don't need a pc or other machine to go along with it and they somehow make it so you don't need as much room either.

 

[Santar]

I have zero interest in VR. I don't want to isolate myself like that. It's starting to feel like escaping from this world into another with how you are completely immersed in it, something I have absolutely no desire for at all. I don't play games to escape into another world completely.
It honestly makes me worry a bit for our future sometimes. I can absolutely see people isolating themselves completely in VR.

 

[Kemono]

I love VR. I own a PSVR and a Oculus Rift. Can't wait for PSVR2 with Resident Evil 8, Astrobot 2, etc. VR is in a great place right now but still it can go up so much further.

The headset that gets cordless vr and foward rendering right will kick the door wide open. I really hope sony'll wait a bit with PSVR 2 to make sure of that. With foward rendering you'll get VR games looking like normal ps4/ps5 games and not cut back versions anymore.

And i really, really hope that sony and other finally start giving us option vr-modes for their 3rd person games. no need for more than making the player the camera and let us aim like in Resident Evil 4 (wiimote style). That would be so awesome and i don't understand why this hasn't happened already. Come on capcom.. that should be a somewhat easy vr port.

 

[mxbison]

It's very exciting and one of the biggest things in video game history. Could take another 10 years or more though.

 

[yyr]

I got PSVR the first time it dropped to $200 so I could play Polybius and I have no regrets. It generally collects dust though. I haven't gotten around to Astro Bot and RE7 yet but really am looking forward to playing them on my base PS4. I've been playing games since Atari 2600, and can still appreciate things with more primitive graphics, so despite the fact that some things look rough or low-res, that doesn't bother me much. The immersion is wonderful, and I feel like that's the point. Polybius really is an experience that I love.

VR imo is in a weird spot. Most developers seem to be playing "wait and see" as they wait for a larger userbase, while most gamers seem to be playing "wait and see" as they wait for better tech and lower prices. Usually when this happens, platforms die out entirely. Current VR platforms aren't quite dead, but as far as I can see, they seem to be treading water, with most games still coming from small or indie developers, along with a drip feed of occasional support from bigger publishers. Better hardware isn't going to solve this problem.

Also, we have some people saying "VR is the future of gaming." We have some other people saying "streaming is the future of gaming." I don't necessarily think that either camp is correct, but one thing is certain: these two groups can't both be right. The high bandwidth, low latency, and high framerate requirements of VR are absolutely not compatible with streaming, at all. So, if streaming actually becomes popular, and demand for local gaming drops, VR's audience will shrink...and it's not quite a huge audience to begin with.

 

[N.Domixis]

Gives PlayStation an advantage. Even if ever so slightly

 

[kiriku]

I recently got an index because of half life. So far I've found that whether it's "worth it" or not REALLY depends on the software. Certain games like blade and sorcery that have decent physics and movement are honestly amazing. It's incredibly immersive, but other game feel like they are only party there. I think the headset is capable of an incredible experience, the problem is more that developers still seem to be trying to figure things out. I feel like it's really the software that's lagging more than the tech, and a few of the excellent games out there for vr are proving that.

Click to shrink...

It's a problem with userbase I think, you can't expect smaller devs to invest a lot of money in researching and developing for VR when the market is so small. I think the most impressive VR games on PC right now (with some exceptions of course) are on the Oculus Store, simply because Oculus are funding the development of some of the games there, giving experienced developers time and resources to do really cool and innovative stuff. I think that's one of the proper approaches to solving this and growing the market, much like Valve is doing with Half-life: Alyx.

 

[Slim]

Underwhelming except BS and RE7

 

[Bryo4321]

It's a problem with userbase I think, you can't expect smaller devs to invest a lot of money in researching and developing for VR when the market is so small. I think the most impressive VR games on PC right now (with some exceptions of course) are on the Oculus Store, simply because Oculus are funding the development of some of the games there, giving experienced developers time and resources to do really cool and innovative stuff. I think that's one of the proper approaches to solving this and growing the market, much like Valve is doing with Half-life: Alyx.

Click to shrink...

Yeah that's definitely true, I haven't played the oculus games but Stormland for example looks really awesome. I'm excited for bone works too, so there are still a few cool games on the horizon and more to come. But hopefully the source 2 sdk and vr adoption for half life will really usher in a new era of modder/indie vr games with impressive physics and gameplay.

 

[VirtualReach]

I don't like VR as a concept, but clearly it's a niche product that will remain a curiosity and never really move into the mainstream. Interested to see where the industry goes next.

Click to shrink...

Interesting, I don't see many complete VR skeptics even after considering smaller/better headsets. Any reason why you feel that with the incremental improvements over the years VR won't reach mainstrem? What about in, say, 25 years?

Personally, I don't see any future where AR/VR doesn't play a large role in the coming decades.

 

[klastical]

Bought a psvr at launch and loved it. Since then I've been finding less and less reasons to hook it up. I dont think I've played it at all this year, the software just isnt there imo. Have any amazing psvr games came out this year?

 

[Window]

Very interested in how it evolves over the next few years. At this point in time, I don't think it offer any compelling or meaningful interactions. Traditional games in VR don't interest me and doesn't seem like a good fit. I'm kind of frustrated that VR right now seems to focus on transplanting the experience of traditional games into VR or for corporate training purposes. Not to say both of those are bad things but I feel like VR should open up more possibilities than just that.

 

[Airbar]

Don't have VR (yet) and probably won't for the next few years. But I'm all for companies like Valve to invest heavily in those systems. Tried PSVR at a friends house and I really loved it.

 

[Manmademan]

Interesting, I don't see many complete VR skeptics even after considering smaller/better headsets. Any reason why you feel that with the incremental improvements over the years VR won't reach mainstrem? What about in, say, 25 years?

Personally, I don't see any future where AR/VR doesn't play a large role in the coming decades.

Click to shrink...

We'll simply agree to disagree.

IIRC the best selling VR headset (PSVR) only has an adoption rate of less than 4% of the console's install base. This isn't a technology that's gaining traction, this is extremely niche. Increasing graphical fidelity or resolution won't fix this, the concept of VR remains spectacularly unappealing to the mainstream.