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Just wanted to find out how many of you guys own a VR headset. If you do, what one do you have? And what's your experience been like with it so far?
I just got my Oculus Rift for development, and it's so feckin awesome. It's definitely the future, it just sucks that it's stuck in the future because it's so bloody expensive!
I know right? I saw videos of them and was hooked right then. It's singlehandedly the biggest revolution on gaming. And honestly I think it could be extended outside the world of gaming, you could make some seriously gripping film with the right writing. Think about watching a 2.5 hour movie and you are the main character talk about being sucked into the movie!
My friend bought the Vive one and we went to try it out. My reaction : It's okay now, but in 5-10 ten years it's going to be the topic that everyone is talking about, especially in the gaming world. Games that are played looking at a computer screen will probably be called "flat games" or something. The games that are available to it now are pretty dull and boring in my opinion, but I'm not a gamer- type of person so it's just my opinion. Also I'm a lucid dreamer so my standards for virtual realities and the opportunities they offer are much higher than that of a regular person's :wink:
Pros :
- The 3D aspect works really well already. Like when you're "holding" an object with the controller and you rotate it, it rotates perfectly in real time. Or if there's an object in the virtual reality and you walk around or go underneath it, it stays put and exactly there where it is. You feel like being in that "space".
- Having really vivid, long and weird dreams the night after using it.
- Some of the non-gaming content like "The Blue", where you're standing on the bottom of the ocean, has extremely well done textures. It has almost waking-life quality to it. Also big landscapes look pretty realistic too. But of course when you go look at the ground close-up it's all blurry and "video game"-looking.
- Looking at people walking to walls and tripping over is funny. Or looking at people like my friend who play scary video games, and then watching them twitch on the ground, scream and kick the air as a spooky ghost surprises them. :D
Cons:
- Movement is limited and when not, it feels unnatural. Like in "The Blue", the area you're allowed to move in is probably like 8x8 meters. Games where you're moving on a larger area require you to stand still and press a button on the controller for you to move forward. That you're standing still and simultaneously moving forward takes a lot away from the immersion. Some of the games have "teleportation", that you click a space in front of you and you move to it, but it feels a bit dull as well.
- Lack of the senses of touch, smell and taste. You're going to another world with only your sight and hearing.
- Games ( for now ) either lack details and feel squarish and soft ( they kinda have the Portal - game vibe to them ) or are simple and boring. Like shooting a gun at a shooting-range or playing mini-golf.
- Video game addiction will take a whole new level. Like I said I'm no gamer, but when I tried a sonic game or something and I looked around the virtual world I said to my gamer friends : " Yeah, people are going to get so addicted to this."
- Porn industry will flourish. Okay I admit, I tried a 3D video that my friend loaded to it.... and I cringed, I cringed so hard that I had to take the glasses off immediately. I mean: *Sexy French teacher sits to "your" leg as you lay there.* " Mmmm, you been a bad boy..." :cackle:
- You feel like wearing a scuba dive-mask, you have these kinda big and round lenses around your area of vision.
- Expensive.
There's a lot work to be put to the industry and it's development, but it will most definitely be the next big thing. I didn't touch any subjects like movies education, architecture or that stuff the glasses offer, because I only have experiences with the gaming side of it. But the glasses offer a lot to many industries in the future.