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WHY I'M STILL NOT SOLD ON VR - by Mr Biffo

22/6/2016

17 Comments

 
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Alright. I've tried. I've really, really tried to give Virtual Reality the benefit of the doubt, but the reality is this: it isn't happening for me.

Don't get me wrong; I've pre-ordered a PlayStation VR, and I hope to scrape together enough coins to bring you PC reviews later in the year. And maybe that'll even stretch to an Oculus and Vive.

I'm trying to remain optimistic that PSVR will represent some sort of tipping point for VR, in terms of it going mass market... but I just don't know. I really don't. 

You hear this talk of the VR version of Resident Evil 7 making people want to throw up, and it all comes back to the reservations I wrote about a year or more ago.

VR just doesn't seem suited to extended play. When you add up all the negatives - the eyestrain, the sensory deprivation, the social awkwardness of thrashing around at thin air - and people aren't going to want to be locked into a virtual world for hours at a time, the way they currently are with regular games. You know: playing games while their senses can still detect reality. I know I don't want that. 

Especially not if it my eyes are watering, and I have a headache, and there's vomit spurting from my mouth.

Many are suggesting that VR is best for short experiences. You know: like the sorts of games you get on smartphones. Which is fine, but - let's face it - that's a lot of money to pay just to play a stereoscopic version of Fruit Ninja. And currently, I'm unconvinced that there's a single VR experience which justifies the expense.
WHAT ARE YOU NOT?
I'm not the only one who feels like this.

Denying that his company's next console will be some sort of VR machine, Nintendo's Reggie Fils-Aims spurted this: "In my judgment, I think VR is a bit further out there for mainstream, mass market applications and applications that consumers can invest a lot of time in, versus short snacks of entertainment."

He didn't rule out Nintendo going virtual one day, adding, in a funny whiny voice: "We've been looking at the VR space since the days of the Virtual Boy. With us, we want to make sure that our next content is going to be mainstream and mass market approachable, and when something like VR is at that point, you can expect Nintendo to be there."

And that's it, really: when VR is mass market and mainstream. It isn't there yet, and - given that the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive still seem to be a niche thing, for certain PC gamers - I see no sign yet of crossover happening any time soon. VR feels like something for tech nerds and games journalists to get excited about. 

It has been projected that half of all VR headset sales this year will be from the Samsung Gear VR; just £100, and being given away free with preorders of the Samsung Galaxy S7 phone. However, few would argue that it offers the sort of VR experience we were told we'd all be buying into.
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UNREASONABLE DEMANDS
It doesn't help that Oculus and Rift are already struggling to meet demand, and the PlayStation VR is likely to be similarly constrained when it ships in October. 

I struggle to believe that this is down to the mass appeal of VR. I don't see that there.

Shortages are due to the cost and complexity of shipping a new hardware format; all consoles struggle to meet demand initially.

Virtual Reality still seems to be facing an uphill battle in terms of convincing most people that this technology is the future of entertainment. I'm not denying it's cool, and exciting, and futuristic. I get all that. But where is the one game, the one piece of software, that sells it as a must-have to the likes of me? Heck, I can't even name a single VR exclusive game.

​Where is that something special that it offers, in the way that the iPhone did? I remember when I first played with an iPod Touch. It felt like something completely new, something exciting. VR is an old idea brought up to date with new technology... and boil it down to basics, and isn't it just a fancy screen? 

For me it still feels like a hobbyists medium, something for elitists. Whether Sony can reverse that perception remains to be seen - and, frankly, they've got a better shot at it than anyone. For VR to become mass-market it needs to get into the hands of everyone. For one thing, it needs to be driven by kids, and it is thus far priced out of the hands of most younger gamers.

For most of the rest of us, who might have the disposable income - I know I can't just drop the best part of a grand on it - there's also the hurdle of shutting ourselves off from our family and the world.

It feels like all the predictions of VR are focused on the "Wooh! Cool!" factor, and not what it potentially does to us as people. It's like sports cars with a top speed of 200mph. All well and good, and a great status symbol, but most of us need a boring family car. Or can't even drive yet. Or are constrained by speed limits.

FROM THE ARCHIVE:
HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN VIRTUAL REALITY HEADSET
​
TOP 20 VIRTUAL REALITY EXPERIENCES
IMMERSE VIRTUAL REALITY HEADSET REVIEW

17 Comments
Waynan The Barbarian
22/6/2016 12:42:32 pm

For me, it all just feels like the Kinect all over again. An expensive gimmick that nobody will buy into. I don't want to stand in the middle of my living room flailing my arms around like a twat only for the hardware not to detect what it is i'm trying to do. I want to sit on my gluteus maximus and use a responsize, reliable controller.

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Waynan The Barbarian
22/6/2016 12:43:22 pm

*responsive

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Lorfarius
22/6/2016 01:00:27 pm

The Resi stuff might be down to the fact that the PSVR just can't get the high enough frame rate required to stop sickness. I've had the Oculus for a couple of months in the first week or two I felt a bit queasy with a few space/racing games but a quick sip of Ginger ale solved that (it really works!). Since then the longest I've worn it for with only quick breaks for the loo was 8 hours. I didn't feel ill and had no marks around my face (you don't if fitted properly) and I still play it for extending periods to this day with no problems. One of the best games for extended periods has been Chronos as its a fairly good action RPG which needs lots of tme an dI had no issues with it.

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Little Blue Fox
22/6/2016 01:05:17 pm

Jesus wept!!

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Walter Peck
22/6/2016 01:44:35 pm

All I know is that I'm not looking forward to the epidemic of pinkeye caused by filthy gamers flocking to PSVR demo stations.

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Gary Pavement
22/6/2016 01:45:37 pm

Virtual reality is well and good, as long as the game involves standing still or sitting in a chair or in the bath.

As soon as you need to move a meaningful distance, people will be tripping over or getting tangled up in the cabling.

Bath Simulator 2016 coming soon bye

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PskyFletch
22/6/2016 02:05:19 pm

That episode of community with the dean best summed it up for me.

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RG
22/6/2016 02:50:01 pm

I'm very much the opposite. I'm very excited by the prospect of VR. I can afford it, my PC is sufficiently beefy - I just don't have space for it. My "office" is a tiny box room - great for traditional gaming, but there ain't enough room to swing a toy cat. I guess Oculus might work, but I'd rather buy into the more open Valve solution.

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Bruce Flagpole
22/6/2016 02:52:04 pm

I agree with your thoughts on it Mr B, but then the anecdotal evidence from people I 'know' (mostly from forums rather than IRL) seems to be that once you try it you 'get it'.
However I suspect you're right about it ultimately suiting smaller 'experiences'.
For me, I think it will be a bit like Wii motion controls. When it was initially announced, you think 'WTF?'. then you try it, and you get your nanna playing bowling with your uncle and nephew, and you shift the furniture for some 4 player tennis and everyone goes 'WOW, this is so much fun, I want one!'.
And then a week later you think 'I can't be arsed with all that pratting about, I just want to sit down and bash some buttons and play a game.

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Picston Shottle
22/6/2016 02:58:31 pm

I got a little bit excited when I heard Fallout 4 was being made VR compatible. And then I read a review of somebody who's had a go and it sounded crap. Granted, it was only a demo, and probably a cobbled together demo, but then issues the reviewer raised made it sound like these problems were pretty much insurmountable, the main one being how you actually move your character. I mean, you're gonna need a treadmill to actually move your character if you want a truly immersive experience, no?

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Euphemia
22/6/2016 03:31:54 pm

It sounds horrid. And like a very expensive fad for consoles. I imagine that once the porn-plug-ins are available for PC's, it'll do very well amongst the lonely gentleman set.

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Ben Stevens
22/6/2016 03:32:36 pm

VR is an exciting, gimmicky thrill that people will get a great deal of pleasure from in short bursts, but I do not see it becoming the defacto format through which people consume interactive entertainment. I can easily imagine VR reviving the arcade environment as a destination experience where people go with friends for a few hours of dopey escapism every once in a while. It will never go mass market for domestic use IMO.

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Damon link
22/6/2016 05:50:46 pm

I think AR will take off sonner than VR. At least with AR you don't have the eyestrain and so on.

Even the Wii suffered a little for making people feel silly flailing about.

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required
22/6/2016 05:54:41 pm

I was really looking forward to VR until I read https://www.quora.com/How-big-an-issue-is-the-nausea-problem-for-Virtual-Reality-products/answer/Steve-Baker-9?share=1

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Michael Evers
22/6/2016 08:42:07 pm

I have used an Oculous Rift. It was quite a novelty and does make a pretty big initial impact but I was uncomfortable as I was aware there were three people watching me use it.
I can't really see it ever being anything but a novelty, like 3D was. It needs a revoltionary 'killer app' to sell the thing like Wii Sports managed to sell the Wiimote.

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Kara Van Park
22/6/2016 10:56:53 pm

I'm more concerned that they will be successful and unmissable experiences, and my stupid eyes and proclivity to motion sickness will leave me sat with a sick bucket on the sidelines.

They're only just starting to make FPS games that don't make me hurl mashed carrots into a welder's protective apron after about an hour's play, so I look forward to these things comfortable when I'm in my 60s,

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King_Rocket
23/6/2016 08:39:40 am

As someone who uses and loves VR, I equate a VR headset to the a decent racing wheel.

Now sure you can play most racing games on a control pad but that is neither the best or most immersive way to play those games. VR is like that.

I am not sold however on standing up and waggling your arms about, makes for a great tech demo (and great think pieces) but long term engagement is less likely.

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