And who's tried it??

I got some hands-on time with PlayStation VR at a local Best Buy. The demo dude was pretty cool. Except for when cut off the circulation to my brain with the headset. He gave me a list of choices. The available games were Battlezone, Eve Gun...jack??, some Soccer Heading thing, and... some other crap. I don't remember. But everyone seems to agree that Eve is the coolest demo, so I tried that.

It was pretty fun! I'm always up for some novelty, but it did seem that the way the industry was pushing VR was a bit "cart before the horse", similar to the 3D push or even the upcoming 4k push. Like, trying to create a market before the demand even really exists. But, I have to say, it geniunely felt like something new, being able to look around (within a 160 or so degree field of view, maybe?). The actual game itself was just a simple 3D space shooter, but the VR implementation made it cool. The graphics were kind of grainy, though. I guess that's a necessary evil at this point. I'm looking forward to jumping on the VR train when both the tech and games have matured.

Man, "gimmick" is a weird word. I guess it's not really a word...

Also, modern controllers have so many buttons. Where the hell was the missile button in Eve Gunjack? I kept locking on in vain!

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I think I mostly agree with you. I got to try out the Vive at the office where I work (the Road Redemption guys have one) and it was pretty neat. The first demo was a Portal one which had nice visuals but was very limited in interactivity (it was essentially a cutscene that you could look around in). The second one I tried had you in an office cubicle and was surprisingly enjoyable. It was pretty much a tech demo that let you play around with the physics of the office objects in your area, such as a stapler, coffee machine, etc. Really reminded me of Elebits. The third was the most game-like, a FPS that had you fighting off zombies in the middle of a clearing, with several "waves" (Galaga-style) and some upgrades as you progressed. It was fun!

Altogether though, I don't know if I'd say it's the future of gaming. I think I could generously put it in the same category as motion controls; a cool new way to play games that might develop "parallel" to how games are going now. It might be the stepping stone to something much bigger though; who knows?

Fuck do you embed vids on mobile ffs?



;)

I have not tried it yet, but I'm keeping an open mind. I do think it could be future, but is now finally the time where it catches on? That I do not know.

I don't play on PC, but I'll definitely check out Playstation VR whenever its out and see how it goes. The new Resident Evil (which seems to be more like the old RE that I know and love!) will support VR, so that will probably be my jumping-in point. I see the enormous potential, it's just a matter of realizing it. Looking forward to finally trying it, though.

TriforceBun said:

Really reminded me of Elebits.

I wasn't going to come back to NW until the NX info was officially released, but I was sitting practicing my guitar and suddenly, like a bolt of lightning through my spine, I knew someone somewhere mentioned Elebits. So I searched the whole Internet, and sure enough, here it is.

I like Elebits.

Anyway, I think VR is a very cool gimmick but will be as much "the future" as 3D enabled TVs. You gotta get the individual-headset thing out of the picture, that's the barrier. Once that happens, then we can talk about the future of gaming and such. Not before.

EDIT: Oh and yes, I've tried it. It was pretty amazing, and gives you that WOW feeling that maybe you had when you first tried Wii Bowling or saw a good 3D film. However, given experience with years of Wii Bowling, you understand that wow feeling doesn't last. After a few games, it loses the cool factor that 3D films lose after the third or fourth one. VR is frontloaded. All WOW until you get used to it, then it's nothing that interesting, really... Kind of like how the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park were INCREDIBLE, but then when JP 2 (and 3) came out, it was like "Oh. Yeah. Dinosaurs. Yeah."

@J.K. Riki

Haha, I think in the back of my mind I was wondering if you'd pop up and mention Elebits after that...!

I tried it! In Japan! I actually wrote about it in Carlos' VR thread. Here's what I had to say.

Koovaps said:

I had the opportunity to try Playstation VR recently, and it was very cool. It might have even convinced me to pick it up sooner than later. I tried the Deep Dive experience and boy, was I immersed! I was physically - and audibly - responding to everything going on around me. Apparently I was putting on quite the show for the people running the demos, and my wife and kid, who I heard laughing at me halfway though. I was even told people from other demo stations were coming over to check out the goof that was eek-ing and flailing in his chair.

To be honest, I'm not at all surprised I responded as positively as I did to VR. I already become nearly fully immersed in games and movies and rides. That said, as great as the technology is, I still don't see VR as penetrating terribly deep into the mainstream, but doing quite well with tech enthusiasts. It is fully immersive, but also fully isolating, and I simply don't see that as a winning formula for the masses. I love scary movies, in large part because I allow myself to be genuinely freaked out by them. Horror seems to be the obvious go-to for VR, and it'll certainly be effective, and I can't wait to try it. But I'll take a theatre full of people being freaked out collectively over the isolation of VR scares any day of the week.

Ugg....there is two VR threads... oh well, here is what I said in Carlos's thread:

I was kind of a nay-sayer towards VR back in the day, hell even earlier this year. As time goes on, I'm becoming more interested. I definitely want to be able to try it out first, or at least be able to return the unit, if I feel its not for me. I actually feel that I will probably love it. I love being immersed in my games, movies I watch, ect., and VR seems like it might give me that new experience I've been craving. While I still love the current state of playing videogames, I'd be lying if I stated that I'm still into gaming like I was 5-10+ years ago. I'm kind of bored with videogaming, I just feel that I've been there, done that so many times now, its just hard to really get into a game, no matter how great the game may be nowadays. I know part of that is just me and all the crap I've been through the last year or two, but things have taken a turn for the best and I'm in a much better state in a very long time.

I still keep up with all the latest gaming news, I still actually want to sit down and enjoy playing videogames, but anytime I try to put any serious time into a game, I just feel like quitting after only 20-30 minutes. Its almost like I feel like I'm forcing myself to play, almost like it feels more like work, instead of being fun. I know that sounds f'ed up, but thats the best way I can describe the way I feel.

I have a fairly large open floorplan, as far as my home is concerned, so I have more than enough room to move around, if the game would actually require a fair amount of playing space. I'm single, so I don't have to worry about alienating others around me, well except for my dog, but I'm sure she will not mind.

I guess only time will tell. I will probably go the PSVR route, though I might also try out the HTC Vive, or whatever its called. I'm assuming that one hooks up to a pc, which I will have to do plenty of research before I plunk down a ton of money to buy a pc or build one that is more than capable of running VR software.

As far as what the future holds for VR gaming, I don't think it will be a gimmick or a passing fad. As the tech improves, headsets become smaller, and overall price is more manageable for the casual gamer, I can easilty see VR gaming becoming just as popular as playing a game the current way we all play today.

If it just becomes a passing fad, then so be it. No biggie, either way. Just don't knock it, until you've actually had the chance to try it out.

I tried it awhile back, was not the biggest fan. Gave me eye and head aches. Also I know the idea is to become completely immersed in something, but I'm an adult in a relationship, I can't escape from life for hours at a time! I try to be present in my world, even when gaming.

With that said I think it will be a big part of gaming moving forward (as motion controls SHOULD have been.) Because it's clearly a big part of the distant future of gaming, and whatever hiccups exist will be smoothed out in time, whatever price barriers exist will lower in time, etc. It can only become more and more accessible from this point.

I don't think it will be nearly as big as standard TV / controller gaming anytime soon though. Asking people to buy this whole extra thing is already a barrier, and much like with motion controls many devs won't want to put the time and energy into making it work with both the standard and something new.

I have a PS VR pre-ordered, just too curious to pass up the chance to dive into something new. As far as the future of VR I'm in no position to judge so I don't have very much experience with it.

@Zero
In my opinion motion controls are terrible 99% of the time and hopefully VR won't be, I for one am glad to see motion controls on the decline for standard gaming (although apparently for "room scale" VR motion controls make more sense and are making a bit of a comeback, heck even PS VR uses the old Move controllers).

I haven't tried it yet so I can't judge, but I can say I'm not interested in the concept. I have no idea how well it will do, but it is typical for things I don't like to become popular (and vice versa), so there's a good chance it'll catch on.

I have not tried VR, but I find it amusing that the same community that thought waving your arms around to play Wii was beneath them have no problem wearing a ridiculous looking headpiece on their head for hours at a time to play games in VR.

My prediction remains the same... it won't catch on right away, but it will become ubiquitous once the technology has improved and a solutions have been found for a lot of the major problems with it. There are just so many applications for VR that will appeal across all demographics.

I personally still don't see myself investing in it for a few years. Maybe the next generation or maybe the generation after that... but then maybe RE7 will be awesome and I'll impulse buy a PSVR? It could happen.

@Koovaps
Deep Dive. Is that the one where you're dropped into the ocean in a cage, and you just look around? I tried that today at Best Buy. It was pretty awesome. It made me think that the first killer-app for VR will be some sort of scuba simulator, where you can just watch the underwater life going by around you. It seems relaxing and fun. I guess the surprise at the end of the experience was less relaxing, but I actually had a smile on my face while it was happening, since it was so cool. The VR demonstrator asked me if I was fine at the end, and I just laughed it off. (Maybe he thought that I had gone insane?) Then I asked him if people often get freaked out by that moment. He said that, earlier in the day, a girl had started screaming and freaking out, to the point that the manager came out and made sure that she was alright. Nice job at broadening the appeal of your product, Sony! (I still thought that it was cool, though.)

But, I have to say, the lack of any vibration to match the information being fed into my optical nerves kind of killed my immersion factor a bit, though. There's a market just waiting to be tapped there. VR Suits and VR Chairs! (As always, the pornography industry will lead the technology effort.)

@WrathOfSamus777
In a way, it seems that wearing VR goggles really would be offputting and antisocial, but I've come around a bit, since I think that most gamers these days just play by themselves and jump online to play multiplayer. In that case, do the goggles even make much of a difference?

@carlosrox
Sorry, Carlos! I know that you had already made a VR thread, but I had intended for this thread to be more about hands-on impressions. To make up for it, I embedded your video for you!

@Shadowlink
VR truly is the future.

I'm still waiting for a good Jedi Ball simulator.