Will VR be a fad?

[Merlin5]

I'm excited about VR and looking forward to receiving my Gear VR in a couple of weeks. A gamer friend said it's a fad and too expensive, it won't do well. I remember playing a bit of Skyrim on my 3D monitor years ago, it looked great. But I don't know if many gamers have bothered with 3D gaming.

My question is, who strongly believes that VR will be a massive success, and who thinks there'll be shelves of headsets crying from their dust coated lenses, watching their owners reverting back to the pick up n play simplicity of 2D games?

VR, here today gone tomorrow?
VR, here to stay .... beg, steal or borrow?

 

[Merlin5]

But 3D TV probably had a ton of money invested in it and there's probably thousands of sets in houses, and now where is it. Samsung have dropped it. Playing devil's advocate, but couldn't this headstone soon say VR?

At the end of the day, however ingenious new tech is, people want simplicity. Putting 3D glasses on or a headset isn't particularly convenient or comfortable to many people as just watching TV or picking up a game controller without faffing around with the accessories.

 

[Merlin5]

I think that 3D TVs failed because watching films is a social thing for many, and having to put glasses on to watch it was a faff that people weren't willing to suffer for the 3D effect. If it had been 3D without glasses then I think it might have succeeded.

This can surely be said about VR too? What about all the families that play games in the living room together with a Wii controller or gamepad, seeing each other's laughter or other expressions on their faces. With a VR headset you can't see the eyes or even half the face, so it will be isolating and reduce that social interaction in the same way. And it's even more cumbersome than donning a pair of glasses. I agree though that VR is a whole new ball game and far more immersive.