Holiday Specialtacular 2017: East Meets VR

A bit bummed that they're doing UPF/Playdate-esque videos again this year instead of going back to skits. I miss those, and these aren't terribly different from what we get the rest of the year. Also bummed that since last year also had an "East Meets VR" video, that they didn't call this one East Meets VR 2: Electric Gornaloo.

Doesn't mean this isn't enjoyable, though. And at least the Will Smith sweater makes a return.

The body physics in Gorn reminded me of Stretch Armstrong toys.

Ben's face during Kazoo Kid is priceless.

No, the challenge is to have lots of different people use it in succession with NO ONE cleaning or drying it. Who is the toughest?!

Cumbersome is one issue, price is another.

Some people get sick to their stomach with VR and no one really knows the long term affects of using it - Lorne Lanning had some fascinating thoughts on the possible impacts it may have on brain chemistry on one of the previous Giant Bomb E3 shows (can't remember which one, sorry.)

Of course there is the social aspect as well. Video games already have the stigma of being antisocial, and that's was without strapping a device to your head that literally blocks out everything around you.

The big issue in the gaming community though seems to be a lack of compelling, innovated, high quality games. That's not to say there aren't any good games, Rec Room is a great example of one. But small, indie-like downable games aren't going to make mainstream audiences pay the large entry fee for the hardware. And for every Rec Room there seems to be 10 generic rail shooters. Even John Carmarck, one of VR's biggest supporters said last year that "VR is coasting on novelty."

None of this is to say VR is bad, I don't think it is. But I do think saying "The press has been waaaaaaaay too down on VR since day one. Complete mismatch with reality. No idea why" is a bit hyperbolic.

Remember the night we danced in the moonlight...

Screaming turn the fuck around and go into the options, while they were playing Gorn. You can turn on smooth movement aka touchpad movement, makes the game 100% better.

The foam insert on the Vive just pops out and you can sponge it dry with a paper towel pretty easy even if it's pretty wet. Just press down on a paper towel and squeeze it out instead of trying to do it while it's still in the headset.

Also there are third parties that sell inserts that are easier to clean or just buy a bunch and swap.

Replaceable face cozy things. There some washable ones out there that are quick swap. Would really help with the sweaty face and sharing situation.

Their sweater game is godlike!

As a brand new PSVR owner I'm gutted that Duck Season isn't out on it.

Dan, I can literally see sweat on you. Stop that shit.

In Duck Season, it looks like you get your ending path after the end of the 8th level, so they still had 3 levels to go when they called it. I would have liked to see it to the end here, but it does take a while.

@curryspiced:

Price is no longer an issue as far as I see it, and I'm a pretty poor guy. During black friday, people got the PSVR with everything for 249 bucks. For what you get, that's an incredible deal. I bought the Pro and the PSVR last year at launch, and blew essentially my whole funtimes budget for last year, and I never regretted it. About once a month I play a game that I've never seen the likes of before.. That's incredible.. Because over the last 10 years I'm not sure I've had 10 "oh maaan..." experiences in ordinary games. I'm actually playing games that feel completely new and fresh, and that's like the first time since WoW came out..

A lot of people forget this: The first 18 months of the PS4 was just a wasteland of remakes and failed games. We're 14 months into the PSVR at this point.. And there have been FAR more enjoyable games in those 14 months than the first 14 of the PS4. Now, you could easily make the argument that buying a PS4 at launch was foolish, and it kinda was, but people still bought it. There may have been a good reason to not buy the PSVR at full price a year ago, but those reasons are kinda gone now.

Motion sickness passes exactly the same way that it passed with head bobbing in Doom. People were queezy as all hell when that game came out, but it was awesome, and people powered through. They got their stomachs under control in no time at all. Same with VR. I suffer from car sickness unless I sit in the front seat. VR caused me discomfort the first day or 3, then I was fine. Some games still get me, they are poorly made, but it's still possible to get used to it. "VR legs" is an actual thing in the same way that sea legs is a thing. You just have to work on it by playing short bursts over time. Never let yourself get ill, just play a bit, pause for a while, play again etc. Your brain adapts, then you're good.

The reason I don't think calling out the press on this is out of place is that people who believe the press on this still walk around with the same ideas you fronted. No games, people barf, too expensive, anti social(that's the biggest myth. A: People don't sit in the living room playing CoD to be social with other people in the room.. B: VR multiplies the intimacy of the social aspect of multiplayer gaming by a million and a half. If you play with your friends, it's easily the most social experience you can have in an online game.) If people were kept informed about the development of VR they would have had those misconceptions crushed more than a year ago. But, as long as the press overlooks the good games and goes "shooting galleries bla bla" instead of actually listing some of the good games, the impression that there's nothing to do on these things remains.. And that truely does not reflect reality. That's not hyperbole, that's just factual. The press did the same with phone games back in the day. They spent a few years trying to convince everyone it wasn't gonna take off because the DS and 3DS and Vita were better... Then they were left looking foolish when it turned out that none of that actually mattered to a lot of people. Now everyone plays phone games to a certain extent, and the phone game publishers are just printing money.

Back in the 90s, in the early 3D days, I was sitting around reading dev logs and imagining an amazing future of multiplayer extravaganza. I'm back to that again, I look at games like Firewall Zero Hour and go "wow, that's a horrible name..." but I also go "man, that game.. looks like the old Rainbow 6 games... The ones from the 90s.. The serious ones!" And I am so excited.

Anyways, I could ramble on forever about this.. I love VR so fucking much it's ridiculous and I don't want to drive people insane with my zealotry, but, if you want to check out some of the actually good games for PSVR, I would advise you to check out Statik, Skyrim VR, Super Hot, Res Evil 7(I could not deal with this game.. Absolute crippling fear, too damn wussy to deal with it!), Dirt Rally (pixelstravaganza, still amazing), Sparc (looks slow in videos.. It's FAST in VR. Everything feels much faster there), Thumper, Polybius, Bridge Crew (ranges from hilarious to enraging), Rec Room (obviously), Rez Infinite, and Battlezone.

Also, Dreams is coming out for VR.. This is the thing I'm looking forward to more than anything in life at the moment. I can make my own worlds, my own games.. My own pets.. My own everything. I've got so many designs for games I want to try to make in VR.. And making things in VR with your hands is seriously among the trippiest things I have ever experienced. So intuitive and empowering. I fully believe that the future of creating stuff will be VR and AR based. Once you make things in 3D with your hands, it's really hard to ever go back to a mouse on a flat surface..

Sorry, this got long.. Enthusiasm = overflowing.

There should be a bonus for letting the assassin kill Ron Clump.

I wish they' do more VRodeo's, they are always pretty much pure gold.

Jeff really needs to get some of the leather covers (there are some good ones). More comfortable. Wipe off sweat instantly.

Ok. Give Vrodeo to the east. Please just let Vinny do it

Help, I can't stop watching this part.

Duck Season is really cool but the way in which you are forced to hold the "rifle" is kind of annoying and it takes a while to get to the really good parts of the game.

I bought Gorn super early and was really down on it at the time but I need to go back and check on it.

@rigas I love VR...its just not for everyone and its not suitable for everything. There are some seriously fantastic experiences in VR.

Duck Season is special.

GORN is legit my game of the year!

Video games are still good! Great job this year guys.

hey psst @danryckert: maybe look into that Minority Report game Ben was telling you about during the Just in Time Incorporated segment. Just trust me on this.

Glad I got to watch you guys enjoy the Chicken in a Biskets!!!