Oculus Rift

PaulC2K said:
Not sure about the Sony/PS4 aspect, but Sony have released headsets for a few years now i believe, not VR but i guess for home cinema use, and they most definitely haven't been cheap.
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but these products will be marketed and sold to a small niche and that small niche will have money. i imagine sony has worked out this isn't something the general consumer would ever get as it'd have to be a high price even if it was mass sold, and all it is is a small tv by the looks of it.

VR headsets offer much more that the general consumer will want, and will make sony more money from indirect sales of the VR, such as PS4, then PS4 games, so they can afford to sell the VR at a better price to us.
 
djkav said:
Correct. Sony is for PS4 and Rift for PC. Not competing against each other.
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imo they are. i want VR, i don't care if it's for xbox, ps4, pc. i'd prefer pc as i'd assume you'd get more smaller games, but for instance i'd really like to give skyrim and go, and playing it on a ps4 or pc makes no difference to me once i'm wearing a headset, except i don't have a ps4 yet, but if oculus takes way too long to come out compared to sony's VR headset and sony have good games to offer i'd happily get sony's offering.

what does make a difference to me is the support for the omni. i don't know if the omni plans to be for consoles or if sony will make their own versoin, but i want to play a VR headest with the omni as i'd expect this to really enhance the experience. could you imagine running from one side of skyrim map to the other whilst feeling klike you're actually in the world.
 
Fairly sure the answer is no said:
but these products will be marketed and sold to a small niche and that small niche will have money. i imagine sony has worked out this isn't something the general consumer would ever get as it'd have to be a high price even if it was mass sold, and all it is is a small tv by the looks of it.

VR headsets offer much more that the general consumer will want, and will make sony more money from indirect sales of the VR, such as PS4, then PS4 games, so they can afford to sell the VR at a better price to us.
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Im pretty sure right now VR isnt much more than gamer orientated technology. The general consumer isnt going to get much out of it, they can watch films and feel like its a far bigger screen than their 42" tv in the corner of the room.

Where VR has a purpose aside from gamers is in professional markets, things like virtual showrooms being able to walk around the house you can buy, despite it not being built, or being able to carry out medical procedures in a VR simulation. But professional markets may buy some, use the gimmick or for early evaluation, but they'll be waiting for 4K levels of detail, where spending 5k on a device is nothing.
What we currently have is little more than VR for gamers, casual users, and tech lovers. Thats brilliant for us, and when theres a professional marketplace it'll trickle down to gamers too, but its still in its infancy, and gaming is still pretty niche for what VR could/will offer.
Not disagreeing with your comment as such, but i think the only 'general' group it appeals to right now is general gamers, not general consumers, still a long way to go for that IMO, including a reason to own one cos the majority of reasons are gaming orientated because thats where theres active devs right now.


Also, while writing the bit about watching films, it'd be pretty freaking cool if it was possible to use stereo cameras (if/when they added it) to broadcast a huge TV into the room, still being able to see everyone in the room, but the TV is twice the size and in a 'fixed' location just like your normal TV. You'd still be able to see and talk to others, you'd just be watching a huge TV without having to go out and buy that huge TV which also looked ruddy stupid in there :D It'd be a bit like a virtual projection screen if that makes sense.
 
GodAtum said:
I am concerned Sony will take away development effort from the oculus.
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I'd be interested to see how well its adopted by console owners.

The primary VR market seems to be simulations, and to a lesser extent, FPS's - it's not an all-encapsulating device. Add on the cost of it (it must be at least £200) means I can't see it being a massive seller if it only applies to a subset of games.

The PC is a different market; you've got people much more accepting of expensive peripherals and hardware, a rabid simulation playerbase (which the OR is practically designed for) not to mention the modders, indie developers and tech market means I can still see the PC being the primary VR platform.
 
PaulC2K said:
Also, while writing the bit about watching films, it'd be pretty freaking cool if it was possible to use stereo cameras (if/when they added it) to broadcast a huge TV into the room, still being able to see everyone in the room, but the TV is twice the size and in a 'fixed' location just like your normal TV. You'd still be able to see and talk to others, you'd just be watching a huge TV without having to go out and buy that huge TV which also looked ruddy stupid in there :D It'd be a bit like a virtual projection screen if that makes sense.
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Theyre very much working on the virtual space as a selling point, dont think thats too much of a step.

https://share.oculusvr.com/app/vr-cinema
 
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I actually have one of these and i really dislike it, i dislike it because it makes me feel incredibly sick and its actually quite tiring i just prefer sitting in a seat and using keyboard and mouse its a better feeling than moving your whole body around to get the effects of your finger tips on the keyboard.
 
TheyCallMeAndy said:
I actually have one of these and i really dislike it, i dislike it because it makes me feel incredibly sick and its actually quite tiring i just prefer sitting in a seat and using keyboard and mouse its a better feeling than moving your whole body around to get the effects of your finger tips on the keyboard.
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You talking about an Oculus Rift? Yes, i heard nausea was quite bad with DK1, which is why i didn't buy one.
 
What else do you need or can you just put it on and use it with all games?

Do you need a special video card, monitor, specific games etc.?
 
Decent review of both devices there, i think i prefer the Oculus version for the hardware spec, but the Sony version for the execution.

I like the fact that the Sony version has its tracking lights, the device actually looks rather cool and futuristic while actually driving a needed function. The fact that Sony also have the Joypad, but more significantly the PS Move controllers, which can drive additional character movement tracking and have buttons which games require (i still love the 'pew pew' PS Move advert :D) in order to be more than simply waving hands around, or needing 'power gloves' or something.

But i believe the Rift will be the more advanced tech device, while Sony might be a lower spec but cheaper. I dont think they'll be able to charge $300-400, which is up their with the cost of the console, while PC owners will view it as the price of a small hardware upgrade they'd do every year or 2 anyway.

Daft thing is, while i believe a Sony solution could be more immersive (headset, cam & move controllers) im not a big fan of joypads, though there are exceptions like GTA types. However i know with the Rift, the 2 experiences im really excited for are racing sims and flight (SC) sims, and they'll be better with a wheel (got) and a HOTAS (getting) so no glowing orb with buttons is going to make those experiences realistic, let alone better.
I only have 1 game which uses PSMove, and thats the Sports Champions game, which is a brilliant tech demo, and VR would add something but not much, but the reality of moving your arms about for 1:1 interaction isnt all that.
It might be a more immersive experience coupled with VR, they've done Move guns which fitted the devices into a gun shaped object for Killzone etc, and i think all this could make for an amazing experience, but there just isnt enough examples of successful applications with the Move which would make me think it could revolutionise gaming where the Rift is viewed as an inferior overall experience. I think Morpheus+Move could make excellent experiences, but not deep AAA-title experiences, just extremely entertaining mini-games and full priced gimmick games. The whole 'Move' thing always felt like it gave a fun aspect, but never a competitive one, you wouldnt competitively play COD/BF/KZ with a Move controller, but its pretty fun.
 
Devlish said:
Theyre very much working on the virtual space as a selling point, dont think thats too much of a step.

https://share.oculusvr.com/app/vr-cinema
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Yeah, ive seen that as well as the multiplayer version with people moving around in the same screening room :D
But what referring to is more a case of augmented reality, stereo cameras 'broadcasting' your living room, and where your TV would be, instead of seeing your 42" Panasonic TV, you've got a 80" Cinema screen augmented into your room. You've got everyone else in your physical living space still, walking in and out of what you're seeing, but you're watching Die Hard on a huge screen while the missus is sat on the sofa watching Corry etc
and you can see her outrage when she finds out someones been cheating on another soap character, and her disappointment each time you go 'yippee ki yay mother fu----' :D

Guest2 said:
What else do you need or can you just put it on and use it with all games?

Do you need a special video card, monitor, specific games etc.?
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nothing special as far as i know, maybe 2 outputs on the GPU, or maybe even the rift input device handles all that too (1 input, 2 outputs - monitor & headset)
 
Guest2 said:
What else do you need or can you just put it on and use it with all games?

Do you need a special video card, monitor, specific games etc.?
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You need a couple of outputs on your videocard (HDMI or DVI). One connects to your monitor as normal, the other to the Rift. You also need a spare USB to plug in the cable from the Rift that delivers the head tracking data.

No, you can't just use it on any game. While you can use injection drivers (Vireio Perception, Tridef, VorpX) to "convert" normal games to Rift mode, in my experience it's not worth the effort (most times they never feel quite right or end up with graphical glitches). Designed for VR experiences are the best, as they correctly render the warped stereo view that is required, and tend to take into account a more VR friendly placement of things like menu items and HUDs.
 
Thanks - and so to my next questions...

What VR games are out now? (if any)
What VR games are being developed

I think it will be a tiny % of the market so big devs would never even consider developing a VR game.
 
Live For Speed has proper VR support, and ive read on the OR forums that a lot of people have said its been the best added-in VR support they've seen and been really impressed with the game on the whole.

Its a cracking sim anyway, although the ironic thing is that the majority of people who used to play it have faded away due to lack of development on it, and there he is implementing Rift support. Its only a 1 man (coding) project and ive no idea if the issue is still being worked on any more, cos its been 3yrs+, but they've always been really good at implementing stuff and updates. Its content it needs though, and havent a clue where the modeller went.
Well worth trying the free demo (please practice offline first!) and the full game is £24 with a handful of fictional but decent cars & tracks (theres a legit BMW F1.06 and low power single seater, but its mostly fictional content).
 
DCS: World should also have support pretty soon. In fact there are mentions of them partnering with OR for launch.

EDIT:- Oh and +1 for LFS, a great sim.

Nate
 
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