Which VR headset will come up on top?

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liquiddragon

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Edited By liquiddragon

Poll Which VR headset will come up on top? (44 votes)

Oculus Rift / Facebook 34%
Morpheus / Sony 20%
Steam VR Vive / Valve / HTC 45%

So Oculus had the mind share for a while and now they have Facebook money but Sony and Steam have taken some of its heat. Can't speak about the built quality of the prototypes but Oculus is a new company and Facebook has not put out a proven hardware. Also, how do they leverage Oculus? They have to work with Valve, Sony, and Microsoft if they want to get into games and they all have something cooking. Maybe they'll focus more on stuff other than gaming? The Samsung deal is an indicator but no one seems to be interested in that.

Sony can definitely put out a great hardware and I think Morpheus is the best looking headset out of the bunch but again, how do they leverage this thing? Of course they have the Playstation platform but VR has to be bigger than PS. Sony really has trouble marketing anything these days so even if Morpheus is the best technically, I don't have faith that they can do a good job convincing ppl that it's the right one. Maybe they can do what they did with dvd/blu-ray and really use their film/tv business to push VR and hopefully other studios will follow suit.

Steam VR apparently is the best technically and of course they have the Steam platform behind it. HTC is ok I guess but Valve hasn't really proven with any hardware either. In the gaming community, Valve is a mammoth but how is it viewed beyond it? Business wise, they seem to be geniuses so is this another home run?

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fisk0

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#1 fisk0  Moderator

I think Oculus currently has the most public name recognition. As for which is best technically, I don't think we can say yet. Keep in mind that Steam VR requires external base stations for it's positional tracking, which may (but hopefully won't) end up a Kinect-like nightmare which cuts a chunk of it's audience off by the real world estate requirements alone. I'm not even actually sure what Valve are going for with that feature, while it may get them unrivaled precision - would anybody actually want to move around with a thing on their head limiting their spatial awareness? So far I think it sounds like it's worth sacrificing precision in order to make a single self-contained unit like and relying entirely on head movement rather than full body movement stuff like the Oculus.

I have no idea of the specifics of Sony's Morpheus to say anything about it at all.

As for which will come out on top, I think it'll mostly come down to price and whether it's comfortable to wear, rather than the technology inside.

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Summer Lesson is the only thing I know for a fact would sell millions no questions asked.

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whitegreyblack

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If Oculus does not drag its feet too much and get beaten to market, and can keep the price to a level that mainstream consumers can stomach, I still think they have the edge due to the press/name recognition they have had up to now. If they come to market late, they'll probably lose their momentum.

The Valve/HTC one will likely do more to push the tech forward but sound like they'll be niche due to the price-point.

I wonder if Morpheus will be as under-utilized as Move was. The other two have the benefit of being PC-focused, which is where I imagine the bulk of the interesting software for VR will come from.

I'm happy to sit on the sidelines and watch it all play out. I'm not interested in VR past the spectacle of watching the market reaction and competition of these three big players.

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deactivated-5b031d0e868a5

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Oculus has Carmack

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monkeyking1969

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A few months ago I would have said Oculus, but I am convinced that some of the pundits have it right with Sony ability.

VR to work needs three things: the headset and controls, computer hardware, and the games. Sony's seeming weakness of requiring the PS4 could be, if the pundits are right, the most simplified way to make sure the person has the RIGHT hardware at hand. You can't just hook an Oculus to you family computer and expect good results, at least not until all PC come with even "modest" GPU hardware. If you hook a Oculus up to you 2013 family PC you will watch a slide show. Also, Oculus has yet to show VR control hardware....where are the controls?

- Sony can say: "You need a PS4, you need a PS Camera w/ Dual Sock 4, Morphous, and a 3D compatible PS4 game" PS4 + PS4 software + Morpheus & PS Camera w/ DS4 = Good known quantity/quality experience with all requirements fulfilled. Sony has sold what 20 million units of PS4 sold through, they are likely to sell about 100 million units by 2019. SOny has a camera and DualShock4 system for controls. Sony has Morpheus in a state that it appears they could have it out by 2016. And, Sony can likely get the games with 3rd parties participating without much arm twisting.

- Oculus can say, you need a gaming PC (nope we can't sell you one), then you need a PC game that works with our system...oh and runs on your gaming PC you must have, and then you need an Oculus too. Oculus has good hardware, not the best...it woudl be nice if the goggles flipped up like Morpheus....but hardware in not their big issue. Oculus has to somehow make it easy for people to know if their computer is good enough, and that will be a hurdle.


I say the companies that will end up doing something are that goes anywhere are Oculus, Sony, and Samsung. Oculus on PCs, Sony on consoles, and Samsung will fill in the other spaces with simple less interactive VR. Passive VR with just head turning will be easy, but for games you need controls. If you want a Canary for you coal-mine look at if anyone tries or succeeds at buying a company called Sharper3d. They hold patents on 3D input devices that are popular in industry, academia, and science. If anyone scoops up Sharper3d, or makes a very strong partnership you know they are making a play.

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#6  Edited By Dregdon

The one that will come on top is the one that people can afford to buy it is really that simple. If 1 of them is 200$ and all the rest are 800$ it really doesn't matter which one is the best cause the 200$ one will be the thing people care about cause it will be the one people can actually buy. In an ideal world the adopted standard would be the best one but lets not be crazy this debate is basically 90% price.

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Probably Oculus. I'm not really sure what Valve's headset does that the Rift doesn't, but I'm sure those who despise Facebook or have Gaben Shrines will be more likely to go for that one.

If Sony's support for literally all their past peripherals is anything to go by, Morpheus is destined for failure. I'm also not really sure the PS4 is powerful enough to handle anything but the most rudimentary VR games. (Like, shooting galleries or something) I will admit that downhill game thing they showed at e3 looked pretty cool though.