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[Retropunch]

Is the fad over yet? There's supposed to be a bunch of cheaper VR rigs on the market now.

They've dropped in price a bit, but unfortunately we're still waiting for the hardware to catch up.

Whilst they're primarily GPU driven, things like Ryzen will probably allow for more affordable rigs which will in turn open the market up. The main barrier for people doesn't seem to be the cost of the unit, but the cost of upgrading your rig + the unit. It's also one of those things that everyone knows they don't want to just meet the minimum specs for.

All that being said, I don't think it's really going the way of a fad - there's good content with them, and proper non-gimmick games are starting to come out. It'll probably stay niche for a bit longer, but with both facebook and steam heavily invested in it, I think it'll get a huge, huge push when it starts to be more available to a wider market.

[Cruxador]

Oculus Studio has shut down. Not a big deal by itself, but could be a sign of the beginning of the end for the Oculus or even for the current round of VR tech in general. After all, the novelty has worn off and there hasn't been a big blockbuster success story yet.

[PTTG??]

We'll see if this is the end, but if it is, then it'll be because they were still too damn expensive.

[Chiefwaffles]

There's still the whole VR thing Microsoft's doing - both with Scorpio and windows.
I'm also holding out for Fallout 4 VR now.

I mean, VR definitely isn't doing well but I don't necessarily Oculus studios shutting down is a sign of the beginning of the end. Oculus, maybe. If VR's a fad and is in fact ending soon, then the beginning of the end has already happened a while ago.

[Folly]

To clarify, Oculus Story Studio, a division of Facebook, is what shut down. Facebook has since stated that they intend to continue investing in VR technology on other fronts.

[Retropunch]

I don't think this is a sign of much really, the story studio seemed to be set up to sort of take the helm in directing the course of VR story telling (I remember reading articles on it when it launched which all were writing stuff like that) when they thought Oculus would be the main player in VR by a long margin.

It's now probably just an expensive film making studio which hasn't made anything particularly note worth (in a wider sense) and they're just trying to cut back on excess stuff.

[Folly]

It's now probably just an expensive film making studio which hasn't made anything particularly note worth (in a wider sense) and they're just trying to cut back on excess stuff.

I'm not sure what 'wider sense' you are referring to, but the studio's productions gained considerable critical acclaim and won numerous awards.

[Retropunch]

It's now probably just an expensive film making studio which hasn't made anything particularly note worth (in a wider sense) and they're just trying to cut back on excess stuff.

I'm not sure what 'wider sense' you are referring to, but the studio's productions gained considerable critical acclaim and won numerous awards.

In terms of, they didn't break into the mainstream in the way they probably hoped for.

Not to say they weren't great films and widely acclaimed, just that I imagine Oculus had an idea that they'd be breaking into the mainstream in a Pixar style way, but that hasn't really happened. More than that, I think Oculus thought they'd be the only big player in the garden when they launched and could use this as a way to get a foothold in the whole 'VR movie business' which hasn't quite materialised.

That's not to say that this is a sign of anything - a lot of companies establish these sorts of ventures in their early days when cash is readily available and no one is paying too close attention to ROI, but as soon as it starts getting to 'corporate time' they have to cut back on these things.

[Folly]

Rift is on sale for a few weeks, $400 for the visor and controllers.

[PTTG??]

Yeah, apparently they're on sale now.

It's in the mail as we speak.

This is going to be either fun or a gradual disappointment. Can't wait!

[SalmonGod]

How have I missed this thread for so long?  I've been thinking of making my own VR thread for a while, because I never noticed this one.

I've had a Vive for a few months now.  Bought it when it was on sale for the 1 year anniversary.

VR will definitely benefit in the future from higher resolution, and I don't like the lenses in the Vive HMD.  Even now, the content on the market is severely lacking.  I haven't been able to afford to pick up any of the biggest titles like Arizona Sunshine, but there aren't many of those and most everything else is pretty bad or very short.  Only titles over $10 I've picked up were Audioshield and Space Pirate Trainer.

But overall, I'm still happy.  I've had some great experiences.  The motion tracking is incredible.  Walking freely around inside a virtual space and manipulating objects with seamless motion, even when you try to break it by flailing your wrists around as fast as you can, is a level of exhilaration I haven't found in a gaming experience since 2004 (when physics and dynamic lighting took off).  I cannot exaggerate how major it is to experience the sense of scale of the space you're in.  When you're looking at stuff on a screen, you only have an abstract understanding of, for example, how large the character in front of you is in relation to you.  In VR, that level of abstraction in interpreting your surroundings is gone.  That NPC is standing right in front of you. 

I still shine with wonder at what will be possible in VR in just a couple years.  I guess it probably helps that I don't really get motion sickness.  I have such a stable sense of balance, that I can literally spin in place as fast as I can forever and never fall down.  I can see how people who aren't like that would be more skeptical.

Also, the hardware requirements to run VR are vastly overstated.  I have an above average gaming rig, but nothing crazy.  My computer parts are all anywhere from 2 to 10 years old.  I think my CPU, RAM, and motherboard are all about 4 years old, and my GPU 2 years.  If you already have a desktop PC, it doesn't cost that much to get new core components in the sweet spot price-to-performance range.  Certainly not $1000 or $1500 like so many people say.  I've encountered a couple VR games that weren't playable, out of dozens, and they were very clearly just badly optimized. 

Spoiler: My Rig (click to show/hide)

Processor: AMD Phenom II X6 1090T
RAM: 16 GB DDR3
GPU: AMD Radeon R9 200 Series with 4 GB memory

My content recommendations for anyone else who gets into VR:
--Audioshield is my favorite VR anything.  It feels so goddamn good with some wrist weights.
--Space Pirate Trainer is my #2.  I've tried a few other wave shooters, and this one is still by far the best.
--The Lab is of course great.
--Vive Video is the best free video player I've found so far.  I watched a 3d copy of Gravity on it, and it was pretty good.  Suffers under the resolution a little bit, but not horrible.  It otherwise felt like a great way to watch a 3d movie.  I've always hated watching 3d films otherwise in the theater with those glasses.  But this was great.
--Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes!
--Accounting is a pretty fun 1-time thing.  Free.
--Portal Stories VR is a decent 1-time thing.  Also free.
--Acan's Call was an alright attempt at a proof of concept for a hack n' slash
--Compound looks promising.  Really enjoyed the demo.  But there's not a lot to it right now.
--Pavlov is a lot of fun, and frankly hilarious.  There's nothing like someone standing over you and laughing before shooting you, as you're knelt on the ground frantically trying to figure out how to reload your shotgun (you have to go through the same motions you would with a real gun).  Or following behind your teammate and dying suddenly when they turn around... because they had their knife in their hand and accidentally stabbed you.  The gameplay elements function very well individually, but the overall formula is pretty broken.  But damn it's fun anyway, and the brokenness is half of it.
--theBlu is another 1-time thing, but a fantastic example of an immersive film experience.  Fucking gorgeous.
--Trials on Tatooine is another example of a decent nugget of immersive storytelling.  It's a little immersive film clip similar to theBlu, but it offers far more interactivity.  You don't have the ability to effect anything in the very short story, but I could see this being a really interesting approach to take further.
--There's lots of little artsy projects out there you can watch for free.  Most are forgettable.  The one I've encountered so far that I really liked was Firebird - La Peri.

One that gets hyped up a bit and has some AAA polish on the surface is Raw Data.  I actually wasn't impressed.  Tried it on a free weekend, and didn't like it.  The player has a decent amount of freedom of action, but it was difficult to execute them smoothly and the enemies are ridiculously boring to fight.

I really want Gorn!  From the trailer and the reviews, it looks like it might be the first to do something really good with VR melee combat.

[PTTG??]

Gorn looks like the perfect game to strap some weights on for.

By the time you're tired of the game, you're as buff as the characters in it.

[PTTG??]

SO someone took my rift headset from the UPS facility and left the empty box. Props to Best Buy, they shipped me a new headset free from Oculus.... admitedly, they shipped it much slower than my original order.

Anyone know what I can do with the touch controllers in the meantime?

[Cruxador]

Anyone know what I can do with the touch controllers in the meantime?

Touch them?

[PTTG??]

Anyone know what I can do with the touch controllers in the meantime?

Touch them?

_{I can touch them....}