I’ve been slowly drifting away from yoyoing as I get more involved in VR gaming. I’m currently using both a Valve Index and a Rift S regularly, but I really haven’t had many good games to play besides beat saber(which I play daily and it’s taking a toll on my elbows at the moment). Is anyone here into VR and have any game suggestions?
My current topic games are:
Beat Saber
Pavlov
Audica
VRChat
Superhot
And I’ve tried No Man’s Sky but it just isn’t quite there yet.
I can’t take the extremely low resolution of VR headsets. I feel like I get a better experience on a regular flat screen with 4k visuals… and I don’t have to strap a sweaty many-corded thing on me face while I do it!
That’s understandable, but as for low resolution headsets what have you tried? I do realize that standard headsets like an old rift or vive are pretty awful but the screens on the index with 144hz are super nice. It might not be the same as a 4K monitor (unless you’re getting your hands on a Pimax) but they aren’t as terrible.
I did a taster session with an HTC Vive a while ago, just to see if I liked the feeling of vr (I’ve heard some people get bad motion sickness, thankfully I didn’t).
I played a few demos, like beat saber, an archery game and some sci-fi shooter and I couldn’t really care if the graphics were bad at all, the feeling and experience of vr is something I never tried before, and I loved it.
I really want to get a psvr eventually. A game I really want to play on it would be Skyrim, one of my favorite games anyway but in VR I think it would be breathtaking. I like no man’s sky and that would lend itself quite well to vr I’d imagine.
Trouble is, I keep buying YoYos and the vr fund gets pushed back all the time! Some day.
I feel like the only person around who has never tried it. Ive been fascinated by VR gaming ever since trying the Virtual Boy when it came out, but was kind of disappointed in that particular product. I imagine the stuff today is just insane, and from reaction videos ive seen, it seems like it can be really immersive. The price for entry is just too high for me at the moment, so ill just wait until it gets even better.
So yea, only $600 brand new (considering I don’t have a PS4). I admittedly don’t know much about the current state of VR, pricing, games, etc, but I do know it would probably cost more than I can afford right now. Im happy retro-gaming atm, but I can’t wait to be blown away by modern VR.
If you’re looking for a very good VR experience that doesn’t involve a PC or PS4 the Oculus quest is only $400 can plays many PC titles like beat saber, super hot, VRChat and job simulator. The graphics are obviously not as good, but the performance and screens make it just as immersive as many high end PC setups. Performance meaning consistent frame rate, good tracking and highly responsive controllers. Plus no wires, fast setup and portable. I know this sounds like an ad but compared to being tethered to your PlayStation or dumping upwards of $4,000 into a pc setup with a wireless vive the quest is really really good.
I know psvr isn’t TERRIBLE but with the price point and convenience of the quest along with it being overall more immersive I feel like PSVR is becoming obsolete.
To be fair I haven’t tried PSVR. But I have tried Rift, Rift S, Quest, Vive, Vive Pro, and a Pimax 5k.
Edit:
AND NO THE QUEST ISNT LIKE YOUR USUAL SAMSUNG GEAR VR EXPERIENCE. It has full 6DOF with tracked controllers. You can walk around in a room scale virtual playspace and everything. People have turned warehouses into giant VR arenas where you can run around and shoot your buddies. Don’t buy an oculus Go, that is a glorified phone vr.
I feel like your points are very valid, but maybe a bit out dated. The main the that you said was really good about the VR you tried in the article was the interaction using the controllers. For me that’s the only reason why I really find VR great. I’m not sure if you are up to date with the current controllers and tracking systems available, but taking the index as an example, it is a wireless controller strapped to you hand with full finger tracking, along a trigger, with two buttons, a track pad and joy stick on each (all with touch sensors). This allows for hand like interactions, like say grabbing a grenade, pulling the pin and throwing it naturally (letting go by opening your hand FULLY). Interacting with guns in say audica where you literally open all your fingers except your index so you can spin the guns around them on the trigger guards. Pressing buttons, grabbing doors, things of that nature. They aren’t perfect, they aren’t gloves and we are still limited just haptic feedback. But they are a decent step forward. And you can go around and do what ever interesting hand gestures you want.
A good example of when these controllers will be used to their full potential is with Boneworks:
I understand screens are lacking, but the most important things over resolution is screen door effect, refresh rate, and clarity. Being able to read text at a distance without seeing the gaping black spaces between each pixel is critical. I don’t mind simple graphics if they actually look nice. But this is mainly because I am looking for games that are fun to play. I’d rather get immersed in GAMING with fun mechanics in a simplistic environment than looking at a very high quality field and saying wow. Again, index coming through with the LCD panels and 144hz was a big step up for me. But it is like going from a 60hz monitor to a 144hz monitor. You get used to it, it seems normal, but when you go back it hurts.
The quest tries to be the wireless, convenient non-pc, phone or console tethered VR headset and does a decent job, but it does come at the cost of graphic and screen quality. However it does offer some very nice possibilities. Take Space Pirate Arena for example, not great graphics but boy do I want to freely run around and shoot my friends.
Sharing VR experiences in a way someone who is not in VR in a way that isn’t just a headset mirror is important. A company called LIV is currently pushing towards Mixed Reality Capture where the player is (generally) on a green screen and the world around the is then keyed in.
I actually work at a mixed reality studio and create content like this. But, like you said, with VR already eating your CPU and GPU stacking some neat 4k capture of not only you but a whole separate angle of the game doesn’t make it happier. I still stream beat saber on twitch with just a headset mirror simply because frame drops and over all worse performance are not worth it for me.
I’m not trying to say VR is great, but it is getting there. Games like No Man’s Sky run pretty poorly, look worse, and the controls are rather garbage. I’d much rather be playing on my PC and I would be much more immersed in pancake gameplay. But when it comes to games that nail interactions that are completely unique to VR, like swinging lightsabers in beat saber, catching and throwing things in slow motion in superhot or handing a live grenade to a friend in Pavlov and seeing them physically react in front of you, those are the kinds of things that make VR special to me.
Again, I believe your opinion for many reasons is correct, I’m just trying to explain why I enjoy it and I had some time to write a mini essay for giggles. It isn’t for everyone, it won’t replace gaming, it won’t make your TV obsolete. You shouldn’t rush out and get it right now because it is the most mind blowing experience. You WILL lose interest over time if it isn’t something you love. But it’s kinda cool, it’s improving in quality, and it definitely is becoming more consumer friendly.
Hopefully something I said in there is somewhat helpful. Not trying to sway you either way.
And now I go shower and try to fix the pain in my elbow after avidly chasing scores in beat saber for 4 hours straight.
We have a VR room (Vive Pro?) at our school library. It’s kinda cool, but I’m not much of a video game player. I don’t feel compelled to go back. My seven year old loves it.
Are those backpack rift setups? Looks like a pain to wear and play in. All for just a shooter experience as well. I played on the rift a few days ago since we have to use it for a shoot coming up next week and it was pretty terrible.
That tracking system is interesting though, I know quite a few arcades use specialty tracking with their setups. The leg tracking look a lot lighter to wear than something like a vive tracker.