Question for Early Adopters

[AndyT]

So.... How do the early adopters feel that VR is shaping up? Will it be a viable medium for "proper" AAA (for want of a better term) games? Can you imagine a half life, left 4 dead or battlefield type game being properly realised with the current VR headsets and controllers?

I'm thinking of getting involved, probably end of 2017 or early 2018, whenever there are some fully polished titles ready. It's gonna require a complete new build and some serious investment I think, so hoping to wait for the early issues to be ironed out and see if the costs flatten out. It'll be a family decision so will need to be approved by the wife as we are looking at probably 2k+ if you are doing it right, and what's the point if you don't do it right eh?

So, what are your thoughts? Does the shooting mechanic work? Can you imagine ducking behind an imaginary wall as bullets fly past your head? I just can't imagine how it's going to work...

Also, do you let your young kids use it? I have read that it can damage development of the eyes and htc don't recommend for kids younger than 13.

 

[AndyT]

It's not suitable because it's also really addictive. Also the eye spacing (or overall size) is really designed for adult heads. I can't see how it'd damage the eyes any more or less than TV or mobile devices though.

But for short fun experiences I'd say it's fine. My son loved the Star Wars interactive videos.

Good point on the headsets sizes etc. I hadn't thought of that. I had read an article that the constant focussing on a fixed point could trigger lazy eye in some kids.

In any case - I think I will wait until the computing power becomes more cost effective. At the moment I can't justify (even to myself, never mind the wife) spending hundreds, if not thousands on lots of lovely frames per second.

In an ideal world I will wait until HL3 is released. I had a 3-4 year hiatus in PC gaming up until the release of HL2 in 2004 and built a brand new rig to play it after watching every video there was. Firing HL2 up on my shiny new Nvidia 6800 was probably the greatest gaming experience I've ever had. Such a massive leap in experience and interaction with the environment. Hopefully the timing will be the same for HL3, if it ever happens....

 

[AndyT]

Thanks for the responses - Out of interest - has anyone recorded their heart rate / calorie burn with a fitbit or similar during a VR gaming session? I'm hoping it makes gaming a more active hobby in the future! I can imagine ducking, crouching, weaving flailing arms around etc for a few hours burns significantly more calories than twitch aiming with a mouse...

 

[AndyT]

I can see VR being the next huge thing, it's so close, yet still so far in terms of mainstream. It's been coming for years now. I hope a load of money is thrown at it. I've not been bothered about anything gaming wise for the last 3-4yrs. I need something new, the games these days are not really to my tastes. Vast and in many ways endless content at the expense of a quality experience.

I want to be blown away by something, and incremental increases in graphics just don't cut it anymore. I've been spoiled going from the C64 to present day and all the leaps in between.