We'll probably get two, maybe three actual games (not tech demos) that are fun to play and use VR well. Beyond that, it will be the same old games, just repackaged with "VR Edition" plastered on them. I predict the best selling VR game of 2016 to be Candy Crush VR Edition for the Samsung Galaxy Gear VR... that people just play on their everyday screen.
Your cynicism is perfectly acceptable. There's so much expense and energy going into VR this time around, plus technology just about caught up with the needs, that I think it can be good. And that means casual players will exactly do what you said, get something like the Gear VR and play shitty phone games/demos. Then declare that VR is a fun gimmick.
Look how high the sysreq's are for Oculus Rift and the HTC Vive and yeah, fresh after release VR has a very steep uphill battle yet. Candy Crush it is! Oh sorry, Candy Crush VR, where you can see your friend's facebook avatar as a 3D background while you play.
Its good they're delaying it. If the SW isn't there, the HW is useless. You need the games, movies, apps, websites all properly configured. Delivering a half baked ecosystem won't be doing the sales numbers any favours or justice.
i dont agree with this.. Steam already has 1500 VR titles, and SIM junkies are buying dev kits off of ebay to get in on the action. Elite Dangerous, Farm Simulator, Euro Truck Simulator, Star Citizen, EVE: Valkyrie, Project Cars, Dirt Rally, VR Porn etc... And with Steam's VR tool, you can map the Headset to virtually any function.. Some are even playing fallout 3 (a older title) on dev kits.
This delay will really hurt VIVE because Oculus will be out first. They just threw away a lot of potential sales, and one of the key advantages all the reviewers were talking about.
So Oculus ships Feb or March, and people are gonna buy whatever is available first. Vive will miss out on the early adopter bandwagon and will cost them at least 100,000 units in my estimation.
VIVE does look more promising however, with it's bigger playspace, and Steam's backing. I just wish it's design was more streamlined and didn't have tons of cables sticking out of the top with bare off the shelf connectors.
The VR tag is currently very poorly managed. Most of those are are merely titles or demos that implemented the most basic possible early SDK support when the initial Rift DK1 was released, then never bothered updating it (and are thus now incompatible with all available HMDs) e.g. Strike Suit Zero.
Oculus have also not announced a solid release date other than 'Q1 2016' and Palmer's "Rift launches in a few months ".
throwing away means wasting an opportunity that is achievable. If they're pushing the date that means they can't deliver by that date so I wouldn't qualify it as "throwing away".
Also we have yet to see if Oculus actually gets released in Q1. Until there is no hard date it's hype-only.
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wolfemane - Wednesday, December 9, 2015 - link
Sweet! about time one of these devices came to market. I'm pretty excited about it!Shadow7037932 - Wednesday, December 9, 2015 - link
Hopefully, we'll get some good games that properly support VR as well.nathanddrews - Wednesday, December 9, 2015 - link
We'll probably get two, maybe three actual games (not tech demos) that are fun to play and use VR well. Beyond that, it will be the same old games, just repackaged with "VR Edition" plastered on them. I predict the best selling VR game of 2016 to be Candy Crush VR Edition for the Samsung Galaxy Gear VR... that people just play on their everyday screen.Was that too cynical? Sorry, it's early.
Flunk - Wednesday, December 9, 2015 - link
If anything you're not being cynical enough!hansmuff - Thursday, December 10, 2015 - link
Your cynicism is perfectly acceptable. There's so much expense and energy going into VR this time around, plus technology just about caught up with the needs, that I think it can be good.And that means casual players will exactly do what you said, get something like the Gear VR and play shitty phone games/demos. Then declare that VR is a fun gimmick.
Look how high the sysreq's are for Oculus Rift and the HTC Vive and yeah, fresh after release VR has a very steep uphill battle yet. Candy Crush it is! Oh sorry, Candy Crush VR, where you can see your friend's facebook avatar as a 3D background while you play.
webdoctors - Wednesday, December 9, 2015 - link
Its good they're delaying it. If the SW isn't there, the HW is useless. You need the games, movies, apps, websites all properly configured. Delivering a half baked ecosystem won't be doing the sales numbers any favours or justice.A5 - Wednesday, December 9, 2015 - link
Yeah, but you have to ship Gen1 hardware to get people to make the software.jasonelmore - Thursday, December 10, 2015 - link
i dont agree with this.. Steam already has 1500 VR titles, and SIM junkies are buying dev kits off of ebay to get in on the action. Elite Dangerous, Farm Simulator, Euro Truck Simulator, Star Citizen, EVE: Valkyrie, Project Cars, Dirt Rally, VR Porn etc... And with Steam's VR tool, you can map the Headset to virtually any function.. Some are even playing fallout 3 (a older title) on dev kits.This delay will really hurt VIVE because Oculus will be out first. They just threw away a lot of potential sales, and one of the key advantages all the reviewers were talking about.
So Oculus ships Feb or March, and people are gonna buy whatever is available first. Vive will miss out on the early adopter bandwagon and will cost them at least 100,000 units in my estimation.
VIVE does look more promising however, with it's bigger playspace, and Steam's backing. I just wish it's design was more streamlined and didn't have tons of cables sticking out of the top with bare off the shelf connectors.
edzieba - Thursday, December 10, 2015 - link
"Steam already has 1500 VR titles"The VR tag is currently very poorly managed. Most of those are are merely titles or demos that implemented the most basic possible early SDK support when the initial Rift DK1 was released, then never bothered updating it (and are thus now incompatible with all available HMDs) e.g. Strike Suit Zero.
Oculus have also not announced a solid release date other than 'Q1 2016' and Palmer's "Rift launches in a few months ".
Murloc - Thursday, December 10, 2015 - link
throwing away means wasting an opportunity that is achievable.If they're pushing the date that means they can't deliver by that date so I wouldn't qualify it as "throwing away".
Also we have yet to see if Oculus actually gets released in Q1.
Until there is no hard date it's hype-only.