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Thank God For VR
🕑 Added 2016-10-16 16:29:52 +0000 UTC Thanks to illness, hospital visits and many, many hours playing Battlestar Galactica for charity we had zero progress on the games front this week. Instead of the current dev log thingy I'm going to write about a Jim Sterling (Thank God For Him) video. Specifically, this one.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_h6GYI8ddA
This video isn't kind to VR. I like VR. Let's talk about the points raised and give you my 2¢ then!
VR Isn't the 'Future Of Video Games'
I agree. It's a side thing, separate to the path of "proper games." I think of VR as a different medium. You wouldn't say that games are the future of movies would you? If all goes well VR is going to grow up differently to games and become it's own thing. The faster it does this, the better.
Barriers to entry
While I agree that VR is god damn expensive it's not that surprising. It's new tech. New tech is always expensive. I dug up a wonderful 1998 article (http://www.nytimes.com/1998/08/20/technology/hdtv-high-definition-high-in-price.html) about HDTVs this morning. Turns out the cheapest ones were going to be $8000 (about $11,500 in today's money). You can get a HDTV for around 1 or 2% of that price now. New tech is always expensive and it's usually just the enthusiasts and hobbyists that get in at this point.
Physical disabilities are a barrier to entry that is going to be difficult to overcome. Seated experiences are not really more taxing than just playing a regular game but roomscale stuff is going to be limiting. Can't argue with that one.
I think Jim (TGFH) is way off on motion sickness. I get motion sick baaaad but have no issues with the Vive. In fact, I've shown it to a whole bunch of people and even ones who literally can't play FPS due to motion sickness can play roomscale Vive stuff with zero issues. I do get a bit of motion sickness if the camera lurches about by itself but, to be honest, that's the fault of idiots who think cutscenes are necessary in VR.
You don't need a colossal amount of space to work VR. The Vive works in a space a few cm bigger than a standard double bed so as long as you have that in wherever your PC is then that's fine. My office is tiny and shared but, with a bit of furniture movement, I get that min space. Just about.
Setup is a bit of a hassle initially. The first day of owning a VR headset is largely just screaming abuse at it but once it's set up it becomes plug and play. I do have to plan to play a bit more but I'd rather put the effort in and play VR than not and play something on my PC.
"VR is not yet proving it can make games better"
This is probably the most I've ever disagreed with Jim (TGFH) on any topic (apart from I preferred Tazos). VR changes how even the core fundamentals of games work. Take 'Space Pirate Trainer.' It's a wave shooter FPS where you stand pretty much still and shoot targets. Mechanically it's less functional than 1993's Doom.
But it's one of the best games I've ever played.
Actually aiming and shooting at a target is a thousand times more satisfying than moving a mouse or a stick. Dodging by leaning, crouching or collapsing to the floor holding a shield and screaming for mercy is even more fun. It's so engaging, I've put far too many hours into it and I keep going back. No mouse based FPS could feel as good as this does. It's just not possible.
It's Motion Controls 2.0
Nah, motion controls have a disconnect in that you have to look at a screen while they work. They control a character. In VR, they're just your hands and that's far easier to understand.
Take Wii Bowling. I understand how to bowl but when holding a wiimote I can't do it as well. I get no visual feed back about how I'm holding the ball, I just see an avatar on the screen moving a bit like me. In VR I'm actually holding the ball. I'd watch it release from my own hand, not that of a character. I'd also argue that Vive controllers are so much more precise than anything I've seen motion controls do in the past.
Developers have to make the games that fit the systems
Well, yes. That's how it's always been. DS devs had to suddenly use a touchscreen. Mobile devs have no buttons to work with. Every system has it's own traits and
foibles that developers have to overcome and work with. If your game doesn't work with VR, don't make a VR game! Simple!
You'll get used to the immersion
Well it's been 6 months and every time I put the headset on I feel a tingle of magic. Just being in a virtual world is madness. Utter, child-like wonder and madness. You know, every person I've ever put in VR has talked to the characters they see in the games. Everyone falls into the role of performer. Everyone role plays. The immersion of VR is something we've never seen before and I'm pretty sure it's going to continue to get better and better. Sure, it may stay niche for a few generations but VR has a bright future ahead of it. It's just probably not going to be the same future as games.
See you in the cyber.
- Dan
Comments
Photography by KO
cool !
I think the main problem facing VR is that not many people know what to do with it. It's a medium that has yet to be explored to it's potential. Take the Doom Example. FPS was a rudimentary genre, that had yet to develop into it's potential. But after it's release we saw many clones just like it, some good, some bad. But as technology and development moved on, so did the genre. Given some time, I can see the exact same thing happening to games in VR. Platform Shooters branching out into their own experiences, while new ones coming up as people explore the technology more. The big difference from then and now is that the barrier of entry for developers are much lower. Game engines like Unity make it so anyone who has the spare time to learn to use it can make a game. Sure, there will be a ton of crap, but every so often, there will be that gem that changes things. If you get a chance, check out the Dev Logs of H3VR. Not only is it an interesting game, but the dev logs talk about the challenges associated with VR and what makes for a good experience. From what I hear their latest update, by accident, has made one of the best melee systems in VR yet.
Blake Northcott
Great post! I learned a lot!!
i wouldn't hope dp
Tanner Corcoran
Any chance of Little and Cubed coming back?
Well maybe one day a highschool student working min wage can afford one... until then seems like it'd be great fun
Now I moved it out into our shed so I could have a 4x2.7m space. I finally played raw data to too and the zombie robots made me crap my pants ( =_=)
This made me flashback to a few days before my vive first arrived spending a whole afternoon setting up a play space in my living room, then after 4 hours of verbal abuse because it wouldn't maintain sync on base stations because I didn't read they had to be less than five meters apart, had to drag the whole thing including my pc to the other part of the house and had set the base stations up on top of ladders and cookbooks. But that moment 6 hours later where I got to be a Space Pirate I made it all worth it.
elmagio
Out of curiosity, do you intend to give PS VR a go when it releases? It's widely reported as behind the first "Good enough" VR product that's actually an option for more than just a small niche, if true that could boost VR adoption/development through the roof, but as an owner of a clearly superior headset/setup like the Vive, do you have any interest in trying the more accessible option?
Tyler Rand
The role play part isnt good for me. I already get super into games with characters (or any game really). I talk to them as if they were real. I make decisions and play the game as if it were really happening. With Vr you would just incourage my behaviour. It would be amazing for me and immersive, but id go insane.
BurningEmber
Great points. Especially with the 'motion controls 2.0' part; the issue with motion controls was that they were first-person movements with a third-person view. You were moving your hands, but the results showed up on what your mind identifies as another person. Much like the phantom limb effect, where you see a fake hand and hide your real hand, hitting the fake hand jolts you and leaves you with a very uncomfortable feeling; motion controls were that same effect, but dimmed. Even in first-person games, unless you sat right up next to the screen, that disconnect was still there. However, VR is first-person controls in a first-person view, as you noted. You're not moving a character's hand, you're moving your own hand, and as such you are that character. That's what I love about it. The view, the controls, the movement, it all forces deep immersion, and that's beautiful.
Stephen Staver
Great post, Dan!
Mirriky
The future of VR is only going to get cheaper and more powerful as things continue
Mirriky
As a VIVE owner, I agree with all of this After 5 months, I'm still not bored of VR
Alex Bayer
Dammit Dan, stop making me want to spend more than a thousand dollars on a system even capable of the Vive, let alone the Vive itself.
Just a lil guy
Well said.
Your kids don’t like falafel
I haven't tried VR, but all of your points seem to make sense, it's a pain that they're so expensive though
Shawn Lindsay
VR will be at its peak when we have a headset that is the combination of PSVRs more comfortable headset, easy setup and lower price point and Vives high quality precision and library
Forecaster
Whole heartedly agree. Thinking that it will *replace* regular games is silly.
Rachel Wolfe
Words are back! Sweeet.
