I bought a Vive at launch. I've had some incredible experiences, things that will stick with me for years, but the tech isn't quite to the point where the real usefulness of VR can shine. The headset is heavy, tethered to my PC, and most games look like you're standing inside a PS2 game. Giant Bomb hasn't been super great at keeping up with the best games on the platform, but even those can only be played for an hour or two at a time before the heat and weight start to be an issue, and that's not even thinking about all the technical issues and framerate hiccups that plague the software.
One, maybe two more iterations of hardware and software, and you'll probably have the next revolution in videogames. Today, it's a carnival show for the most part, or the hobby of the idle rich or gadget fanatics.
If you are into sim racing or flight sims, it's a no brainer. If you have no idea what you want to play in VR, you're probably not going to stick with it for long.
I've never felt more like a badass than when I played Robo Recall and Superhot. I love my Rift, but I don't think we're quite there yet when it comes to ubiquity of worth for all kinds of people.
Side note: I just boxed my rift back up about an hour ago, because it was in the way and I hadn't used it in a while.
At $399 if you had a PC I feel that VR is pretty easy to recommend.
There is a good amount of fun content out there and there are good games coming this year on the horizon. If you decide to get the headset, make sure to check out Echo Arena it is fantastic.
Ugh. Super-tempted by the sale, but I've been pretty dead-set against buying an Oculus due to my dislike and distrust of Facebook.
I'd probably pick up a Vive if it were even $100 more, as I can reconfigure my office pretty easily for room-scale... but they seem pretty content with the $799 price point with an occasional $100 off - which besides being spendy on it's own, is more than I'd like to spend for year-and-a-half-old tech.
Pretty good take on the situation, Jeff. I agree. I love my Rift, but it is hard to recommend to people that don't already have a lot of interest in the tech and an understanding of the state it is currently in. With video card prices the way they are right now it makes it even harder to recommend. If this deal had hit a couple months ago, when the 1070 was at an all time low, it would be a lot easier to recommend. And, sadly, anything less then a 1070-class card I don't think would be ideal for VR at this point in time. If people aren't willing to jump into VR fully understanding its current state it is best to wait and see where things unfold in the future.
I just got my rift a few days ago. Holy crap Asetto Corsa looks amazing in it, I truly feel like I'm in the car.
Project Cars, while being a better looking game, actually renders poorly in the rift compared to AC.
The issue I currently have with the rift though is my glasses are too big and get pushed in really hard I fear I may break them. I ordered a smaller pair to hopefully fix this.
I just got my rift a few days ago. Holy crap Asetto Corsa looks amazing in it, I truly feel like I'm in the car.
Project Cars, while being a better looking game, actually renders poorly in the rift compared to AC.
The issue I currently have with the rift though is my glasses are too big and get pushed in really hard I fear I may break them. I ordered a smaller pair to hopefully fix this.
If the second pair doesn't work look into VR Lens Lab. They make custom lenses for the Rift and Vive for prescriptions. I'm planning to get a pair of lenses from them in the next couple months, once I find a new place for my Rift, with more space, since I have the same problem.
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