Eight months later update.

[Calranthe]

I bought my HTC vive last July along with a 1080, system was already quite good i7 6700k 16gb DDR4, 500gb Samsung 950 pro m2.

Moved into a new house early August and got myself a room specifically for gaming and VR, only 2.3*2.5m

Was it worth it, do I still use it ?

Hell yeah!

I am unable to play any flat 2d (as I see them now) FPS, When I want some gun violence its Zombie simulation, Serious Sam VR, A10 and Hordez completely spoiled me, there is just no comparison, while I used to love mouse/keyboard FPS and was never able to get a handle on WII or console fps (I even hooked up a keyboard and mouse to play Halo the masterchief collection). Holding a gun in each hand and being able to shoot in two directions, aiming is spot on, rifles are amazing same goes for Shotguns, I just can never go back to old style fps.

Elite Dangerous while not my favourite game is still amazing for a sit down space game but I have to say my go to game for simulation is American Truck Simulation HTC Vive + Thrustmaster TX Wheel (thinking of getting the Shifter addon) is so immersive, I have to watch myself can end up spending way too much time in there.

RPG Games like vanishing realms is a lot of fun to actually have a sword and shield.

And for energetic games nothing comes close to fruit ninja VR or Audio shield.

Hardware has held up to some very vigorous use.

I play all my none VR games on theatre mode (nothing beats fallout 4 on 150" screen)

Yes you loose some graphical quality especially if use to 4k gaming but the immersion is out of this world.

Although my main advice is read up on game settings and tweaks for example basic settings on ATS look okay but with some scale tweaks suggested on other sites it looks amazing.

I have already started a fund for 2018+ which is when I think the next gen may start to appear probably grab a Titan X if nothing else is out + HTC Vive 2 or whatever comes.

Very happy I jumped on this gen and do not see it as a waste especially as I can see me using it for 1-2 years at least.

 

[danoliver1]

Same here, haven't touched a non vr game in months. Currently playing pcars and elite dangerous mainly with bouts of arizona sunshine for my zombie killing needs. All i can say is the vive is my best gaming purchase ever.

 

[Calranthe]

What a lot seem to not realise is that VR and the Vive/Rift open an immersion level that can not be described, yes you have a graphic fidelity drop but if you can take a couple of breath and just get passed that you realise the simple truth that the immersion level is 10 times that of anything else.

Today I was on American Truckers Sim driving along listening to tunes came to a junction and one of the AI cars let me in, without thinking I leaned over and waved a thank you to him before I gunned the engine and carried on my way.

And that moment in a zombie shooter when you are reloading eyes darting from side to side hands shaking as you physically crouch down to provide a smaller target area and shoot them as if they were right in front of you.

 

[RoyMi6]

You people obviously don't have Squad installed! That bad boy keeps me coming back to desktop gaming and easily my biggest time sink at the moment.

Still, I do love a touch of Project Cars, DCS and Arizona Sunshine

Oh, and every update of Hot dogs Horseshoes and Hand grenades will easily result in an hour or two of faffing around!

 

[Sc00p007]

What a lot seem to not realise is that VR and the Vive/Rift open an immersion level that can not be described, yes you have a graphic fidelity drop but if you can take a couple of breath and just get passed that you realise the simple truth that the immersion level is 10 times that of anything else.

Today I was on American Truckers Sim driving along listening to tunes came to a junction and one of the AI cars let me in, without thinking I leaned over and waved a thank you to him before I gunned the engine and carried on my way.

And that moment in a zombie shooter when you are reloading eyes darting from side to side hands shaking as you physically crouch down to provide a smaller target area and shoot them as if they were right in front of you.

Agree 100%. I'm still waiting for someone i know to pick one up. A little dagger to the heart when i hear some upgrading their already decent gpu's. VR is too expensive, but they are happy to spend £600 on what is just an upgrade in res. These are my gaming friends, and i can't believe they are overlooking it.

 

[lokiss]

A default thing for me has become films.

I shy away from watching anything from the archive on anything else but the vive. While people might scream resolution ect, honestly watching anything from the 60's-90's era, it's right there.

When I'm feeling beat, nothing better than dropping on the bed and watching an old flick on the vive in the Cmoar cinema. There's a peace and tranquillity about it that's unrivalled, it totally locks you away from everything.

 

[Zethor]

Glad you're loving it but it seems most people have different views as VR is proving to be a bit of a mainstream flop. As they've been saying since the 90s, 'Just you wait, the next generation will be HUGE, believe me!!'.

 

[danoliver1]

Glad you're loving it but it seems most people have different views as VR is proving to be a bit of a mainstream flop. As they've been saying since the 90s, 'Just you wait, the next generation will be HUGE, believe me!!'.

Pc vr isn't mainstream its still enthusiast due to cost of entry, not many people are willing or able to shell out £1000+ for a pc then £800 for the hmd. In the mainstream Samsung gear vr has sold several million units and ps4 vr has sold out so when price is less of a factor the uptake has been very positive.

 

[lokiss]

On the day they announce psvr numbers at nearly a million in sales in a world where console additions rarely succeed, or don't receive the positive response the psvr's been getting.

Dano is right, barrier to entry is huge on the pc, I count myself fortunate that I'm in a position to be in from the off with a 2-3 year lead time on generation next (not that'll be any cheaper). Flip side, the majority of developers I've seen commenting on it, say it's the future.

 

[melmac]

Glad you're loving it but it seems most people have different views as VR is proving to be a bit of a mainstream flop. As they've been saying since the 90s, 'Just you wait, the next generation will be HUGE, believe me!!'.

You are saying most people hate VR? Mainstream flop? How do you figure that out? Consumer VR has been out less than a year. The number of apps and games is increasing all the time. VR is available on several different platforms, phone, consoles, PC's. More and more developers are getting on board, more and more manufacturers are making headsets. The biggest names in the tech world are involved Microsoft, Facebook, HTC. Companies are coming out with Peripherals and add-ons for the headsets. It's an industry that experts are predicting to be worth over 20 billion before 2020.

If this is a flop then it's the most successful flop ever.

 

[Zethor]

VR games are too expensive to make and they have too few potential buyers:

http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/JoeRadak/20161212/287443/The_Costs_of_Making_a_VR_Game.php

The real sales are much lower than the actual sales(when you are below expections on Black Friday things are not looking good):

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2016-11-29-vr-the-biggest-loser-this-holiday

VR is pretty much zero outside of gaming.

http://venturebeat.com/2016/10/22/why-vr-content-outside-of-games-and-entertainment-is-failing/

And finally, the big players in the gaming industry are staying away from VR(along with their money):

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2016/06/how-risk-averse-big-budget-publishers-could-doom-vr-gaming/

I would also add that maybe, just maybe, most people do not want to play games in a special room, cut off from the world and unable to take a sip of tea.

 

[melmac]

VR games are too expensive to make and they have too few potential buyers:

http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/JoeRadak/20161212/287443/The_Costs_of_Making_a_VR_Game.php

Let's start with this. Did you even read the article you linked to? It is describing setting up a company, getting an office and producing one game. If that was your business model it would be expensive to make any game, full stop. If you are a game developer, chances are you probably have most of the stuff that he is using to calculate the cost of making one VR game. Stuff like computers, office space etc. The cost of making a VR should be no more expensive than making any other game.

The real sales are much lower than the actual sales(when you are below expections on Black Friday things are not looking good):

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2016-11-29-vr-the-biggest-loser-this-holiday

This article is mainly due to the Sony PSVR not hitting 2.6 million unit of sales. Sony had a huge stock issue and revised their estimates down. They have now over 1 million units sold.

VR is pretty much zero outside of gaming.

http://venturebeat.com/2016/10/22/why-vr-content-outside-of-games-and-entertainment-is-failing/

It's been out for less than a year and it's been primarily aimed at gaming and entertainment market. How big of a surprise is it really that most of the content is for games and entertainment? And even if nothing is ever produced for VR outside of those two categories it doesn't mean that VR is failing or will fail in the future. Look at consoles, they are just for gaming and entertainment and are very successful.

And finally, the big players in the gaming industry are staying away from VR(along with their money):

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2016/06/how-risk-averse-big-budget-publishers-could-doom-vr-gaming/.

Oh, the big players are staying away? Outdated article much? EA have produced a VR update for battlefront. What about Crytek? Capcom? Bandai Namco, Bethesda, Valve, Codemasters, Nividia, AMD for big players? And you conveniently forget all the big players that are involved with the industry and are bringing their money to it, more money than most gaming developers are ever likely to see. Facebook, Microsoft, Samsung, HTC, Sony, Intel.

I would also add that maybe, just maybe, most people do not want to play games in a special room, cut off from the world and unable to take a sip of tea.

This is a tired, old argument. Is VR for everybody? Nope, of course not. In my experience it's no different than if I was wearing headphones and playing a game on a monitor. Need a special room? Nope. It needs some space but I can't believe that most people, with a little bit of planning would be able to find the room. As for special $1000 pc, that's rubbish too. A lot of gamers will already have a PC powerful enough. A 970 GTX is perfectly fine for VR.

VR is much more sociable than people think. I have had VR weekends with Friends and family and they have been much more fun than sitting around watching one person play fifa or whatever.

You are pushing that VR is failing because you don't like it. But VR is far from failing.

 

[millermilla]

Had my Vive for 8 months also and absolutely love it, well worth the expense. Since I got my Vive I can honestly say I have spent no more than a couple of hours flat screen gaming, I just cant get back into it.

There are times when I wish there was more AAA games and the seemingly never ending stream of early access wave shooters, zombies, archery games etc. can be frustrating but every now and again you discover a gem.

I don't get as much time as I would like to play as I work away a lot and have 2 kids so I grab the odd hour here and there but I have still managed to put in 60hrs on Elite Dangerous, 50hrs on Project cars, 15 Hrs on Onward etc. etc.

 

[David230]

I've lost interest a little. I will always use it for race and truck simulators as this is where it really shines for me but the games I have tried outside of this have been more novelty value. RE7 on pc in vr would be something I would love to be able to try.

 

[danoliver1]

Cant wait to play the new valve vr games wonder what they'll 3?

 

[geordiejc]

I had my Vive for 3 months and sold it, the gaming experience is only good if you like wave shooters or cockpit games I.e. elite and racing games. The best game was called 'the lab' which was free but had limited functionality.

I loved elite on a monitor, but 1080p graphic are far superior to VR, never mind 4k

I'm glad you are still enjoying it, for me it's too primitive but I see it being mainstream -/+ 10 years.

 

[Devrij]

I love mine, but I just never get a chance to use it since having my daughter. I might petition the other half for a full afternoon of gaming and get it out again. The new elite update sounds like the perfect time to.

 

[melmac]

I had my Vive for 3 months and sold it, the gaming experience is only good if you like wave shooters or cockpit games I.e. elite and racing games. The best game was called 'the lab' which was free but had limited functionality.

I loved elite on a monitor, but 1080p graphic are far superior to VR, never mind 4k

I'm glad you are still enjoying it, for me it's too primitive but I see it being mainstream -/+ 10 years.

Yeah some people can't get past the graphics. I thought that would be a stumbling block for me too, but, I am so involved in the actual game that I don't even notice the graphics at all. I haven't sat down and played a 2D game since I got VR. 2D gaming just seems so bland and boring after VR.

You are way wrong about the gaming experiences been only good if you like Wave shooters or cockpit games. Games like The Climb, Eleven Table Tennis, Knockout League, subnautica, (the list goes on!!) are brilliant. Experiences like Rec Room, VR sports Bar, Big Picture and others are really good social gatherings. If you don't like cockpit games or wave shooters and bought the Vive and thought that's all there was then no wonder that you didn't enjoy it.

Maybe you are right and it will take 10 years to become mainstream, but, I don't think so. I think it will be mainstream in 2 to 3 years. I think the slowest adopters will be those people who can't get beyond the graphics.

 

[varkanoid]

VR is not failing but it is flailing. Oculus and Steam have not yet released sales figures. Reports from Mr Facebook in that its not making them the money they were expecting. VR games not making money because the hardware units are not shifting. I dont intend to buy VR I cant use it as it makes me dizzy/sick. Someone said you need to keep using it to push past that. Yeah right I`m going to pay £500+ for that experience. I dont have the room either for the sensors and environment experience. If I cant get a 34" 21:9 monitor to fit then I have no room for VR. No way. Appreciate there is the other side of the arguement and that people find it an enjoyable experience problem is there isnt enough people that do. Only thing to my mind is the Playstation keeping it alive in the home.

 

[Witcher1980]

Rift dropped the price recently, we all got a £50 store credit. The email I recieved said enjoy it for another two years, makes me wonder if we will see new models in two years.