Are Virtual Reality Headsets Going to be Successful?

SigmaTheDJ · Mar 27, 2014

"...if doing so wasn't planned for at launch..."

But I thought you said it didn't need any developer support as it works with any game? You're just contradicting yourself now. It clearly doesn't work well with Skyrim without user mods and not even they solve all the problems, so it's obvious that VR has
to be planned by the developer for an optimal experience, and with consoles there are no user mods anyway.

SuperDeluxo · Mar 27, 2014

@SigmaTheDJ, I agree with what you stated above. However what I actually meant was the concept of VR works with just about any type of game. I was indicating that you don't necessarily need a first person type game with omni treadmills and motion controls
to enjoy VR, although they would naturally be more tailored to it.

As far as getting older games that were not designed for VR working, the community is doing a pretty good job, I believe Skyrim now runs pretty much perfect with the exeption of the shadows. This would not be possible with consoles as you quite rightly stated.

It's very much for the PC for the next couple of years, but we know that anyway, Sony are most likely 2 years from a launch of their VR. But of course if Oculus is a success, then it's likely developers will add native support for VR which could be retrofitted,
as Valve have done with HL2 etc.

EnenDaveyBoy · Mar 27, 2014

@Randver can I ask how it worked for Skyrim? did you no longer have to use the mouse for visual movement? and how did you rotate 180 degress?

Randver · Mar 27, 2014

It's just a resolution issue. If they know the game will be run in two resolutions they simply add a UI for both. I run dozens of games in Nvidia Surround some as old as the late 90's and UI fixes have been provided by the community, if we can do it ourselves
I have faith the developers can add it at launch.

Skyrim works perfectly with the OR. You linked an old article from a single site. The PC modding community is huge. I run Skyrim at 5760x1080 and UI fix was available days after launch so I'm sure any OR issues were fixed just as quickly.

You're making it sound like that VR will require coding the game specifically for it ( like the Kinect ) and that's not the case. It's simply a higher resolution and the biggest advantage over multiple monitors is no borders.

HairyLoveSpuds · Mar 27, 2014

GG - That is semantics..... All of those games you mention work without the Kinect. So no, they cannot be considered Kinect games...... A kinect game that runs purely by Kinect can be called a Kinect Game. And i make it 3. Sorry i must have missed one. It
is you that is fooling yourself into considering them Kinect Games. I am not fooled, by adding a few voice commands, and some head tracking, and in the case of Peggle 2. Using your hand to control the line of trajectory, when it is so much easier to use the
controller. But ok.

Fighter Within

Kinect Sports Rivals

Just Dance

Games that require the Kinect or do not work at all. That is a Kinect game. But hey, what do i know. Ryse was going to be a fully Kinect game, until they realised, it wasn't going to be as good as they thought. Just look at Fighter within, for how that would
have worked.

As to the comment about devs supporting the VR headsets. The Youtube videos you see are all from old games. Not new ones. Those games were never supported for the OR. They were adapted, and fixed. Virtually any game can be made VR, and multi-plats, if all
the PC, X1 and PS4 get one. Where as the likes of Kinect is one platform only. And requires significant developer time, for one user base.

We could go on forever. But there is more to the new VR headsets than meets the eye. (Pun intended). What will you as a developer, develop for, A game for 1 user base, using a system that perhaps in the region of... (Being fair here) 75% use. Or develop
a game for a new system, that has access to 3 user bases, and appears to be taking the gaming world by storm, with only a small change to the existing code.

I know where my money would be. But hey i purchased a Jaguar many years ago, and look what happened to that. LOL

SuperDeluxo · Mar 27, 2014

@EnenDaveyBoy am gonna take a punt that Randver played Skyrim with an Xbox controller, I've not tried Skyrim myself on the Rift, maybe I will tonight, however any first person I played worked in the same way with the exeption of Time Rifters (you look where
you want to aim with that one). The right stick on the controller is usually configured to look, as it is on almost every other game you play, however you can look around the world with your head movements, so it kinda works in conjuction. You can also rotate
180 degrees, it's a 360 degree wrap.

Randver · Mar 27, 2014

@EnenDaveyBoy

I was using both but I believe if you continue to keep your head turned you'll continue to turn that direction. I found it easier to think of the OR as my head and the keyboard/controller as my body so I was primarily using it for head tracking (mouse look).

Randver · Mar 27, 2014

@SuperDeluxo

I wish I had been using a controller. My only complaint with the OR ( and it's user error) was that if my hand came off the keyboard I had a heck of a time finding the proper hand position again.

SuperDeluxo · Mar 27, 2014

What I previously stated about it being a 360 degree wrap is wrong when I think about it, technically its a 180 degree wrap but as you head track or rotate with the controller your characters view changes to represent what you would expect to see i.e the
path you have just walked down. So in theory, if anybody actually could turn their head 360 degrees then the VR world would behave as you expected it to.

EnenDaveyBoy · Oct 31, 2018

Thanks for the info, sound interesting, just watched a video on youtube, and looks hard work, but I guess you would get used to it, and will take a bit of refining.

Guess I will wait and see. I bet turtle beach are a bit worried, since their headphones will no longer work with them.

Randver

@SuperDeluxo

I wish I had been using a controller. My only complaint with the OR ( and it's user error) was that if my hand came off the keyboard I had a heck of a time finding the proper hand position again.

Randver

They aren't having to design the game specifically for the VR, its just a matter of supporting the resolutions at launch.

The patches (actually it's just editing files) that I need to apply when I'm running a game on my PC triples are for games that didn't support the resolutions at launch. The biggest issue is with UI's. You're basically stretching the screen and if doing
so wasn't planned for at launch you'll have parts of the UI across the entire area rather than in the center which makes viewing easier.

If the community is able to add widescreen support for games after release then the developers won't have a problem doing it prior to release. The console will only need to support two resolutions, the PC already does it for a dozen or more.

SigmaTheDJ

I can see it facing the same challenges as 3D. At CES a few years ago, 3D was touted as the next big thing, except consumer demand for it was low and it flopped.

Just like 3D, you cannot show off VR in advertisements or YouTube videos or whatever. Also, just like 3D, there will be plenty of people who don't want to wear the headset, and there'll be plenty of people who find it makes them nauseous - and we'll get
stories in the mainstream media about that, just like we did with 3D.

Then there's the issue of both cost and dev support. A peripheral that costs £300+ is an extremely tough sell, but without mainstream adoption, why would devs target it? If you're making a VR game for the PS4, not only are you only targeting PS4 users, you're
only targeting PS4 users that have shelled out for the required peripherals (including the PS4 camera) to be able to play it. Why do that when you can make a game aimed at a wider audience? The Move peripheral was barely supported by devs (including Sony themselves)
and that was far cheaper and more accessible to the end user than a VR headset.

So as much as I love it as a tech geek and I'd really like to try it, I think it's going to fizzle out and fail to crack the market. As far as Sony is concerned, I think it's a stupid risk, given that they are still posting huge losses and downsizing.

SuperDeluxo

VR works for almost any game, in as much as it creates a more immersive gaming world. True VR would require alot more than just a headset, but that does not mean that a headset alone playing a game seated is not a VR experience.

I have had the Oculus DK1 for quite some time, tried alot of content, some created specifically with VR in mind and some not. Whilst it's true that some experiences are more suited, I actually find it's not necessarily the type of experience but the methods
used to create the experience that adds the most to it.

With FBs recent aquisition of Oculus VR , as you can guess the forums reflect the skepticism of many developers and enthusiasts about the future of VR.

I think they will be sucessful, probably not something for current gen of consoles though, especially knowing the requirements to run more modern games at a decent resolution. Maybe in 3-4 years they will become less niche and ready for mass market. Until
then I will be enjoying Oculus, already pre-ordered DK2.

HairyLoveSpuds

Quote from ENEN

"@Hairy I don't have a problem with VR, but I just can't see how its going to work, for a VR headset to work for gaming certainly FPS, not so much car games, I need to be able to turn 360 degress, which means a massive change
to how I game. The kinect simply sits on my TV stand and doesn't change anything.

3D as a concept IMO is a treat at the flicks, i don't need it at home, VR is the same, it would be a treat to go to a VR arcade (maybe), but not sure I can see it working into my home in the near future, maybe in 10 years when
there is a more VR experience beyond the headset."

Exactly the words of quite a few people that purchased an Xbox One with Kinect. There are exactly how many Kinetic specific games out for the Xbox One. Sorry that's 2 games since launch, for something they are trying to make work. Great i can control my
console from my camera. But i could do that with my mic.

3D is a concept?. OK. SO now that every film that comes out in the cinema in 3D and 2D also has the equivalent Blu-Ray version in 3D. And 3D TV's are so much cheaper. Matman Arkham City was a joy to play in 3D on my PS3.

The 2 largest console makers are creating a VR headset, and Facebook is buying Oculus for $2 billion. That is 3 serious people on the market. Unlike just Microsoft when they were trying to push the HD-DVD, although it was considered a better media. Or again
MS, with the Kinect, which a lot of people do not like. Or many other companies, that try to introduce something alone. It flops.

But with 3 big multi-national companies, and probably plenty of backers, i cannot see it being a gimmick for very long.

Are Virtual Reality Headsets Going to be Successful?