Does VR have a future in gaming?

[fenrif]

You don't need AAA devs to stop it being a toy. AAA dev's don't generally make good games anyway, so the further they stay away from VR the better.

[Chris Simon]

You don't need AAA devs to stop it being a toy. AAA dev's don't generally make good games anyway, so the further they stay away from VR the better.

That is partly true. Big developers don't automatically mean good games, of course.
BUT - it's not necessarily about quality of the games but about the numbers. Whether we like it or not, big companies sell much more units than indies. That's what I meant. Naturally if the VR games they put out are good, it would be better, but the simple fact that they would sell enough units to kickstart the mass usage of VR would be enough.

[Matias]

It has a place but not mainstream. That is based on all the problems VR currently has
-Motion sickness, headaches, eye strain
-Need for a lot of space, most people just dont have the room for it
-Controls and Movement seem like a really big challenges to overcome

But for what i think VR is best for atleast in current state is racing games
-doesn't have the problem of movement because you are sitting in one spot anyways
-Fixes a lot of visibility issues you can have when using in car view
-Racing sim guys are already spending tons of money on their rigs so price is not as big of an issue
-Immersion. Have you seen DIrt Rally in VR ? That looks so crazy

[Kiran04]

VR is going to have to ditch accelerometer or motion detection based controllers, because they are so clunky and unreliable that it's just plain frustrating. I know it might seem more "immersive", but in reality it's just awkward. There is no good way to sync human movements to a game's controls right now, and I don't see there being one anytime soon. Gamers like positive controls with tight and precise movements that are predictable and replicate-able. VR is the opposite of that. The best you can hope for is a wider field of view using a VR heat set, but everything else about the game is going to involve either a mouse and keyboard or a PS4 controller.

[fenrif]

Vive controls (and Rift) are 1:1 perfect tracking with zero latency or desync. You are incorrect.

[LogenVos]

There's always future with VR. Imagine you're playing SAO/Overlord/Log Horizon/Dot Hack like game. That would be awesome. The question is when? Maybe when a console can do a GTX 1070 level of gaming? Or when 1070 prices are like garbage bin deals?

[Chris Simon]

There's always future with VR. Imagine you're playing SAO/Overlord/Log Horizon/Dot Hack like game. That would be awesome. The question is when? Maybe when a console can do a GTX 1070 level of gaming? Or when 1070 prices are like garbage bin deals?

Well, if the rumours are true and the next gen consoles running on AMD chiplet architecture will have Vega 10 core, we're talking GTX1080/RTX2070/VEGA64 level of performance, which would be awesome. Then yes, if consoles will push VR harder, that could really make a difference, because they will always have the advantage of standardized hardware and therefore everybody with said console is by default "VR-ready".

[Brigand Boy]

To the OP: I think the biggest hurdle right now for normal consumers, other than the price, is the solid issue of hardware.

I own a vive. I like it well enough, but I live in a small place. I play mostly Quivr (an archery tower defense game) and I enjoy the hell out of it. It's a good workout...

But there are three major problems with VR currently. 1) The headset usually boasts a low-rez screen, 2) All solid games feature a movement dynamic of point-and-click to teleport, and 3) The headsets pretty much all come with wires.

They are currently working on #1. When they hit the spot when the headset features a screen that rivals a 1080p screen at the least in visual quality, you might see people buying headsets just to watch movies in a virtual movie theater, if nothing else. But it's good that they are working on it because this is a barrier to entry for all users, not just gamers. #3 is a quality of life (and possible safety) issue, but they seem to be working on that as well.

For #2, the problem is they don't have a good way yet to move a stationary person in a game. They are working on a feedback omni-directional treadmill, but the programming involved in the treadmill alone is staggering. It has to anticipate which direction you want to walk next, and almost move before you do... this so far is the biggest hurdle, and anyone with a small room will attest to how limited VR really is because of this.

I will say that the Sonic VR running method is intriguing. Just pump your arms and lift your head up and down (or run in place) and lean to the right or left to turn... it's actually pretty inuative, and doesn't leave you nauseous... however it will leave you exhausted lol

Really it's a problem of how hard it is to get into VR for the average user and also experience things in the game. Most people don't want to clear off a specific section of floor to play a game, so they generally won't be into VR. But I think as it improves, people will get more interested in it. It won't be a big boom anytime soon though unless they make a breakthrough in the UI and movement.

[fenrif]

But there are three major problems with VR currently. 1) The headset usually boasts a low-rez screen, 2) All solid games feature a movement dynamic of point-and-click to teleport, and 3) The headsets pretty much all come with wires.

They are currently working on #1. When they hit the spot when the headset features a screen that rivals a 1080p screen at the least in visual quality, you might see people buying headsets just to watch movies in a virtual movie theater, if nothing else. But it's good that they are working on it because this is a barrier to entry for all users, not just gamers. #3 is a quality of life (and possible safety) issue, but they seem to be working on that as well.

For #2, the problem is they don't have a good way yet to move a stationary person in a game. They are working on a feedback omni-directional treadmill, but the programming involved in the treadmill alone is staggering. It has to anticipate which direction you want to walk next, and almost move before you do... this so far is the biggest hurdle, and anyone with a small room will attest to how limited VR really is because of this.

I will say that the Sonic VR running method is intriguing. Just pump your arms and lift your head up and down (or run in place) and lean to the right or left to turn... it's actually pretty inuative, and doesn't leave you nauseous... however it will leave you exhausted lol

Really it's a problem of how hard it is to get into VR for the average user and also experience things in the game. Most people don't want to clear off a specific section of floor to play a game, so they generally won't be into VR. But I think as it improves, people will get more interested in it. It won't be a big boom anytime soon though unless they make a breakthrough in the UI and movement.

The vast vast majority of games have had #2 solved for over a year now. H3VR for example, offers teleport, slide, direct input, and armswinger locomotion. Most games offer at least teleport and trackpad locomotion. Very very few games ONLY have teleport. Aside from QuiVR which games have you played that only have teleport?

My playspace is about 6"x5", and I can play every game that VR offers, including roomscale only games. As long as you can take a step in every direction from a central point you are golden.

[Onion Snatcher]

Absolutely it does. I think the psvr will probably end up being the most successful vr headset. It's cheap compared to the vive, and unlike the pc vr headsets, which you need a beastly pc to use, you can buy a ps4 used for less than $250. You can get a headset, bundled with controllers, and a ps camera, and a couple games for $300.

[kalin]

having worked on vr a couple of years, i hope so.. but the costs are still a bit of a barrier, hoping the next few years makes it a bit more interesting

playing skyrim with natural locomotion plugin made me feel that open world stuff is really possible, but the game needs a bit of rework for interactions... i'm not sure we'll see too much movement until there's a bit more consumer base to actually make it financially viable to make games for vr, it's the challenge of regular games on top of vr just makes it really difficult