I've had wonky experiences in VR (possibly using bad games), so I'm not nearly as excited as I would be if it was HL3 non-VR. I also don't have a headset at the moment, so I'd have to buy it for really just one game, but possibly a couple others.
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NoFrag: People don't care about Half-Life anymore
- Thread starter UnluckyKate
- Start date
Make sure to actually check out the other games out there. HL:A may be the largest budget title to date but it's far from the only amazing one. Superhot, Beat Saber and Boneworks were all better than almost any pancake AAA game I've played in the last few years.
People don't care but it's amazing that the headsets are all sold out everywhere. And if the reviews come glowing for it, believe me it will only ramp it up.
Valve always wanted Half Life to be a new trendsetter. It was that with HL1, and it was that with HL2. If Alyx does for VR what Half Life 1 did for FPS they have accomplished their mission
And they dont care about consoles.
Valve always wanted Half Life to be a new trendsetter. It was that with HL1, and it was that with HL2. If Alyx does for VR what Half Life 1 did for FPS they have accomplished their mission
And they dont care about consoles.
I think you'll find it's quite the opposite in the sense that it's G8 and a handful of other countries wages' which are excessively high compared to the rest. I mean, I live in a rich, modern, developed nation and the fact that your earnings make even those of a rich and privileged western nation like mine look ridiculous in comparison is an illustration of just how insanely off-kilter modern capitalism actually is. I have taken many looks around, believe me... I'm actually earning quite a bit above average for my profession over here (average is 1152~1300€ a month, translating to roughly 16~18k a year after subsidies, where as I'm currently making roughly 34k a year so actually about twice the national average and even then it's mostly because it's a scandinavian company).
Not even close... read above. Also, dudette. ;)
I've seen videos but they seem too indiejank for me. Walking dead looked decent though. I might check them out if I keep the headset long enough.
Videos don't even come close to properly conveying the experience of a VR title.
I mean the graphics and production values. I'm a graphics whore, I want a holodeck experience with realistic graphics.
Here you can see a more realistic graph of Google Trend than NoFrag. (Btw NoFrag is a very bad french website for news)
Half Life 2 Episode 1 and 2 doesn't have a spike like those "competitor". But both was highly enticipated back then.
I don't think we can rely on Google Trend to know if people care or not about Half Life (or any other game franchise)
I think most of people who want informations about the game know where to go and don't use Google Search.
You really can't. Cause your graph would suggest video game engagement is at an all time low considering the trajectory of every search term is down :)
Here you can see a more realistic graph of Google Trend than NoFrag. (Btw NoFrag is a very bad french website for news)
Half Life 2 Episode 1 and 2 doesn't have a spike like those "competitor". But both was highly enticipated back then.
I don't think we can rely on Google Trend to know if people care or not about Half Life (or any other game franchise)
I think most of people who want informations about the game know where to go and don't use Google Search.
The combination of 13 years of nothing regarding Half Life plus making the game VR exclusive is certainly not going to appeal to a big audience.
lol yeah, it's almost like it's 2020 and people go directly to YouTube/use the YouTube app.
I never finished Half-Life 2 back in the day, I dimly recall endless seeming travelling by a boat thing of some kind or being stuck in a hole and I couldn't get out. I can't remember which was the reason I put it down. So consequently when the Orange Box came around I only played Portal and some TF2. Colour me not really caring at all ever. But if interest is waning then I suppose the length of time between releases would be the reason. I should probably give HL2 another go lol it has been a long time since I put it down.
its super anticipated among the VR community and Valve is selling more Index's than they can handle.
Doubt they care about losing sales to VR exclusivity. They're doing this to make something innovative, not shit out a samey modern FPS in hopes of selling millions of copies.
Doubt they care about losing sales to VR exclusivity. They're doing this to make something innovative, not shit out a samey modern FPS in hopes of selling millions of copies.
This. I have only ONE friend who owns a VR set and it's for PlayStation 4. I don't know a single one who's got it for PC and is therefore interested in Alyx. Some would be, of course, like myself and probably many other, if it wasn't VR. But that was their decision so they have to deal with it. I, personally, just gonna watch it on YouTube.
its actually a good idea considering the meltdown everywhere that it is not on flat screen or consoles
People do care about Half-Life. It's just that for a lot of folks this is sort of a monkey paw situation, where it isn't Half-Life 3 and it's tied to a piece of hardware not a lot people have.
It's fine for Valve though. HL: Alyx is still acting as a jolt to the PC VR platform which they are heavily invested in, so it's mission accomplished as far as they're concerned.
It's fine for Valve though. HL: Alyx is still acting as a jolt to the PC VR platform which they are heavily invested in, so it's mission accomplished as far as they're concerned.
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Windows MR headsets have often gone for $130-200 before, but they are mostly out of stock these days. That's probably why you can't find them cheap.
The 'pricing apologists' have never lied. They're actually the only ones telling the truth instead of the "B-But you need a $700 Vive headset!" lies. The only difference is the lack of stock at the moment.
This is on page 1 and yet it's conveniently being ignored by a lot of you.
Not sure how he's "lying" when the UK list price for the mixed reality headsets is 380 pounds on the official microsoft site. That's 500 USD. The list price for the Rift S is 450EUR which is 515 USD. Even without scalping and availability issues, VR seems to be a good bit more expensive in Europe.
Amazon and Microsoft's Store are two very different places. I have a UK friend that ordered a HP Windows MR headset from Amazon for 200 pounds before Christmas. It was brand new direct from HP, so it's not a used item or anything.
It's not that. It's because it's VR and a lot already know they won't get it. Also this is a spinoff, so it's not like they're appeasing those that wanted to see what happens after Episode Two. (But we know that now, thanks to the retired original writer revealing his draft for Ep3)
Well, yeah...the last game was when?
A generation has come and gone where Half Life was just a joke to people. So much has happened since 2007 and gaming has changed a lot.
Doesn't help they are limiting the audience of the game to people on PC with a headset.
The blame is on Valve entirely.
On a more positive note... I do hope the game does well. Maybe Valve's strategy is to release Alyx, tempt people to play the older games, maybe bring out another HL game or a game set in the same universe and then they will do Half Life 3.
A generation has come and gone where Half Life was just a joke to people. So much has happened since 2007 and gaming has changed a lot.
Doesn't help they are limiting the audience of the game to people on PC with a headset.
The blame is on Valve entirely.
On a more positive note... I do hope the game does well. Maybe Valve's strategy is to release Alyx, tempt people to play the older games, maybe bring out another HL game or a game set in the same universe and then they will do Half Life 3.
The opposite is true. It's very clear that this cannot be a cash grab because it will sell less due to it being a VR game which is still a niche maket.
The idea that Alyx was made in the interest of business is a terrible take. You'd have a much better argument calling a non-VR version of Alyx a cash grab.
Maybe if Valve didn't come out with a prequel that nobody wanted, on a platform that few can afford to own, there would be more interest in Half-Life.
This is one of the only ways in the near term future that will push more people to like VR. A huge complaint over the years was that VR has no real games, it's all just tech demos. Of course this isn't true, but there's a perception issue where people only look for huge franchises and dismiss all other games. Half-Life is the first big established IP getting the AAA VR treatment exclusively. As long as it reviews well, it will definitely be an objective improvement to overall VR reception in the gaming community.
Don't know if true, but sometimes it's good to let some series rest for a while, but if too much time is dangerous for popularity.
Also being VR limits the audience, but at the same time maybe it's the reason why we have a new HL, sometimes the tech is what is needed to revive a franchise in a meaningful way
Also being VR limits the audience, but at the same time maybe it's the reason why we have a new HL, sometimes the tech is what is needed to revive a franchise in a meaningful way
Releasing a AAA game too assuredly paltry sales on a nascent platform. Run by the worst accountant on Earth.
Valve has said in basically every interview that 'you should refresh yourself on the events of Episode 2', so I think we can assume it will tie into it.
And people can read a synopsis instead of watching a movie too. That's their loss of what will probably be the most revolutionary gaming experience in years.
Depends on the brand, but they are between 300-400 pounds. Amazon official listings can go way lower when there is stock available.
Seems a bit silly. Half-Life: Alyx is definitely the best looking VR game graphically speaking, at least outside of walking simulators, photogrammetry scans, light-field captures and stuff.
I'd also expect Alyx to have the best sound design of any VR game so far given the confirmation of HRTF usage.
If you can afford GPU this game requires you can afford baseline VR too.
300-400 MSRP pounds is high. It's certainly higher than the price of entry for US consumers.
As for the graphics, this is why I'm interested in Alyx, but not the other games that were mentioned (superhot etc).
This is true on the whole but Steam has such widespread reach that this will be a consistent seller for a very long time. The main limitation for the game will be the VR requirement rather than the diminishing brand importance of HL.
The game at minimum settings is also probably as good looking and detailed (or better, given the interactions only possible in VR) as some of the biggest AAA games on console, so I am unsure what people think of when they say it looks bad.
Feels like Half-life is only for those who were invested into the game at the time. For those of us waddlers who never had an investment, this just seems like your standard dystopian future with gun shooting and stuff.
It's a future investment. Valve sees VR as a big part of the future gaming. They've been working with VR hardware for almost a decade and have plenty of plans for future hardware/software even in the long-term future.
To push the medium forward. They are only making this game because new tech is here, and they want to see what they can do with it. Valve could sit and do nothing and just generate money from Steam, CS:GO, DOTA 2 (2 of the biggest games around right now) and TF2, if they wanted to.
This thread will age poorly.
Right now, the main constraint is how fast VR headsets can be manufactured, seeing as they are always sold out. I don't think anyone expects HL:A to be a blowout, but I expect it to sell very well with time as the first truly AAA VR game.
Right now, the main constraint is how fast VR headsets can be manufactured, seeing as they are always sold out. I don't think anyone expects HL:A to be a blowout, but I expect it to sell very well with time as the first truly AAA VR game.