Vive Team at HTC Refutes Claims That VR Is Dying

cageymaru

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The HTC Vive team has taken offense with an article by Digital Trends that showed VR is dying by linking third party Amazon sales numbers. The Vive team explains their lower Amazon sales numbers are due to the headset being currently sold out on Amazon's website for weeks at a time. This is partially due to the recent China launch for the HTC Vive Focus where they lead the VR market and unprecedented consumer demand. HTC says that they are in the process of ramping up production to better meet demand.

VIVE has paced at its highest sales velocity of all time, for weeks on end, and we sold out. For a consumer electronic product in its third calendar year, this continued trajectory is nearly unheard of. Our stand-alone product, VIVE Focus, is gaining traction rapidly since its China launch. It's the number one stand-alone in China, and our WaveVR platform runs on three of the top four AIOs in China. We'll have much more on Focus soon as we bring that product to additional markets.
 
Dying, not at this point though the growth I'm sure isn't where developers would like it. But the content is improving and there's no lack of it. I do think the price of the Vive Pro was off putting to many though I think it's actually a fairly significant upgrade.
 
It's not ready for mass market yet. We need better, cheaper hardware.

Pretty much that, prices need to come down a lot for mass adoption. I really like Vive and we not have Vive Pro at work for molecular visualization and it's really great (however I didn't quite see as much difference between IQ on Pro vs regular as much as I hoped, definitely not enough to justify the cost of $1000 more). However given limited scope of use right now, I'm just not feeling like investing into one for personal use. It's definitely not a fad like the 3D screens were, it really does add a lot to perception.
 
They are right, it isn't dying. That would imply it had any chance of living to begin with. Gaming VR was Dead on Arrival. It served the purpose of advancing the technology enough to make it a game changer in many other industries though. VR has a bright future in Medical, Aerospace, Astronomy and many other industries. Its only future for video games is Dave and Busters.
 
I will admit that game-wise it feels like it has been stagnating a bit. But overall, no, the tech is continuing to improve and we have some really cool things on the horizon.

It's no more expensive than a good gaming monitor right now. How cheap does it need to be?

I believe the big reason there isn't more growth is people still don't like the idea of strapping something to their face.

I think it's a number of things. First, originally a Vive was like $800 which is quite a bit more than many decent monitors, and the Vive Pro is still very expensive. Additionally, to get the full experience you basically need a dedicated space for room scale, which is a big ask depending on your living arrangements. Finally, you need a pretty beefy PC, and for a long time (until recently) high-end video cards have been either out of stock entirely or extremely expensive.
 
I believe the big reason there isn't more growth is people still don't like the idea of strapping something to their face.

Bingo

My wife tolerates my gaming time with my family of four kids. If I strapped a brick into my face for hours a time, and checked out as VR is designed to do...she’d be much less tolerant. — and how can I fault that?
 
I own a Sony PSVR, an HP WMR and the Oculus go, Truth is I'm bored. All new tech goes through this from WOW! to OK to Meh...... the Buying public has a really short attention span, look at tablets 2-3 years and they are i n the bargain bin..... I find the Oculus go the only VR I really like at all, simplicity and NO tangle of wires and cables hanging off my head. No it's not the greatest graphically, but it is fun to use. I also think people are a bit frightened and start feeling isolated in VR and that really turns some people off. Dying no, but definitely becoming a niche market.....
 
I have an Oculus Rift and while I think it is extremely cool, many of the games feel more like tech demos than full-featured games. I do think there is a lack of quality content right now and who knows when or if it will really take off.
 
Not dead. Gen 1 adoption rates probably aren't where the industry forecasted, but we're still getting a trickle of new content and new technologies. I think we're another generation or two away from the holy grail of VR (full body presence + haptic feedback), and a lot of folks were disappointed because Gen 1 Rift and Vive weren't quite there. Personally, my entire immediate family just picked up Rift + touch sets ranging from $200-350 used and new, and we're having a blast in co-op.

On the other hand, I couldn't care less if consumers who haven't experienced room-scale VR think or say it's dead. Keep wishing for its death on forums while my family and I are having a blast in VR. (y)
 
VR has been niche for almost as long as I can remember, and for gaming even more so. I do not see VR (nor AR) being driven forward by gaming, but from the industrial and commercial sectors. I know there are now a number of projects in process to already delivered that leverage the VR/AR experience to train employees, provide an onsite demo of your product (see how it can integrate with theirs), among others.
 
VR has been niche for almost as long as I can remember, and for gaming even more so. I do not see VR (nor AR) being driven forward by gaming, but from the industrial and commercial sectors. I know there are now a number of projects in process to already delivered that leverage the VR/AR experience to train employees, provide an onsite demo of your product (see how it can integrate with theirs), among others.
Not driven by gaming? It's a primary use of it. I don't even know how people can enjoy 2d gaming. It's bland after playing VR.
 
I hope HTC addresses the support horror stories I hear by the time I can afford a proper setup.
 
I have zero interest in VR. Or AR for that matter.

I often go into topics I don't care about to read and then comment about how I don't care about it. lol


I do agree that the price of the new pro is a bit high and is doing nothing but causing VR to be for the higher spenders only. I like my vive, it gets about a couple hours of use a week on average and have had it about 7 months.

My games of choice: Beat saber, gorn, serious sam, arizona sunshine.
 
I'll be honest the VR division at HTC should be more worried about being tied to the rest of the sinking HTC. Hopefully they get sold off to a company with money to continue the VR pursuit.
 
I don't think it's quite dead yet, but it is more of a novelty at this point. The simple fact is, in it's current state it is too expensive and is not even usable by a third of the population.
 
I'll be honest the VR division at HTC should be more worried about being tied to the rest of the sinking HTC. Hopefully they get sold off to a company with money to continue the VR pursuit.
I wouldn't be surprised if Valve catches them when HTC goes under.
 
The whole VR sector needs better wireless solutions before I'll invest. HTC has been showing off their Intel based solution for a while but no ETA on shipping. I'd also like to see treadmill tech advance and become cheaper. If that happened, then Skyrim VR could be an exercise routine as well as a game for me.
 
My games of choice: Beat saber, gorn, serious sam, arizona sunshine.
Are those brands of booze?

Seriously I think this is the problem with VR, big games can't afford to be VR only, because it restricts the player base to a few dozen early adopters. And if VR is optional then it is nothing but an afterthought.
For it to be really immersive the game needs to be designed around the idea. It's a catch 22 really. VR is a sub-category of an already divided market.
 
Are those brands of booze?

Seriously I think this is the problem with VR, big games can't afford to be VR only, because it restricts the player base to a few dozen early adopters. And if VR is optional then it is nothing but an afterthought.
For it to be really immersive the game needs to be designed around the idea. It's a catch 22 really. VR is a sub-category of an already divided market.

haha!

Agreed. No company wants to dump 200million in development on a vr game to go after a small market. The profit simply isn't there. IMO vr needs to stand on its own. While it rides on a pc gaming market or ps4 or cell phone, it cannibalizes your customers. If you make the new elder scrolls vr only, not many would buy it. If you make two versions, people will buy one or the other. If you make it compatible with both then you invest more money with not much of an increased sales to offset it.

Vr is like steering controllers but it takes a ton more development to make it usable. If there were an engine out that would make native vr play almost effortless to add to a game, the low cost of that would enable a larger selection of fun games to play which would then start to entice more people into vr.
 
It's no more expensive than a good gaming monitor right now. How cheap does it need to be?

I believe the big reason there isn't more growth is people still don't like the idea of strapping something to their face.

This is something that will be used less than a gaming monitor. It's more of a luxury. Let's not forget the cost of a GPU to run the thing. Couple that with the weight, cables, light houses, and setup - and we just lost the mainstream consumer.

I have an Oculus Rift and while I think it is extremely cool, many of the games feel more like tech demos than full-featured games. I do think there is a lack of quality content right now and who knows when or if it will really take off.
Check out "Pavlov VR" and "Arizona Sunshine"
 
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Months of battling with support for reasonable exchanges and repairs. I really can't effectively represent it, I recommend you go look it up ;)

Thanks, just wondering. Fortunately I've had no hardware issues with any of my VR setups to date (knock on wood) but I have heard about such issues myself.
 
Well, I'm talking about the support/warranty process, not so much the hardware quality.

Like, for me, I'd probably go with HTC over Occulus anyways ;P

Thanks, just wondering. Fortunately I've had no hardware issues with any of my VR setups to date (knock on wood) but I have heard about such issues myself.
 
Make VR like the Oasis in ReadyPlayerOne, and i'll go for it. :) (But that's a LONG time away..lol)
 
Cost seems to be a common complaint. In the world of toys, it's not astronomically expensive. One day at the auto race track costs what an entire VR setup would be. I mean, I guess it just depends on what your frame of reference is.

It's not cheap, to be sure. But then, most hobbies are not cheap.
 
Cost seems to be a common complaint. In the world of toys, it's not astronomically expensive. One day at the auto race track costs what an entire VR setup would be. I mean, I guess it just depends on what your frame of reference is.

It's not cheap, to be sure. But then, most hobbies are not cheap.
The new Vive is pretty pricey and IMO not worth it unless you have money to burn.
The Rift is way cheaper and not a whole lot less quality resolution than the new Vive. It is a great entry into VR as well as the old Vive.(I think the old Vive is priced good still?)

I think the new Vive is over 1K for it all?
 
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