Valve reveals its VR Headset

B

Blade-Runner

Supreme [H]ardness
Joined
Feb 25, 2013
Messages
4,354
https://store.steampowered.com/sale/valve_index/

https://www.pcgamer.com/au/valves-vr-headset-is-called-index-and-its-coming-soon/

Even though it was heavily rumored, I'm a little surprised we're seeing Valve's headset so soon. Over the past several years, Valve seemed to be flirting with the idea of becoming a hardware company, but not fully committing. With its own headset, it's taking a big step toward those Nintendo dreams. (Also, the "upgrade your experience" line is bold. I like it. Wonder how HTC feels, though?)

And yeah, we are aware that it's almost the First of April, but Valve tells us "it's real" and that there'll be "more news soon." (Also it'd be a bit weird to announce a VR headset that looks just like those leaked photos as a joke.)
Click to expand...

HALF LIFE 3 INCOMING!!!! :wideyed::jawdrop::woot:
 
Gabe has it out for Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines 2, the original VTM:B launched on the same day as Half Life 2 and now shortly after they reveal the sequel and make a joke about not having to compete about Half Life this happens.

So Half Life 3 or Half Life VR confirmed Q1 2020
 
how about upgrade your black levels, sheesh...
 
Valve actually announces something new. Hell really has frozen over.

Day 1 purchase.
 
ANOTHER VR Headset? No thanks. If anything we need to standardize to some degree. At least for PC.
 
Hopefully this uses the 2160x2160 panels that the HP Reverb uses (or even higher resolution).
 
Not sure how feasible this is with the current tech, but it would be incredible if this could be a real monitor replacement. I can kinda do it with my Rift but its still too blurry.
 
I'm glad to see a new player. I still haven't entered the VR world - I somehow resisted the urge to purchase a Rift or Vive (so far). Heck, I was at Microcenter a while back and they had an open box Vive with a reduced price.
I grabbed it - but decided to put it down and walk away...
 
TangledThornz said:
Oasis here I come!!

Seriously though, no interest in VR till I see a game that I really want to play that uses it well.
Click to expand...
Arizona Sunshine was totally that game for me.

A bright map with zombies is still pretty unconventional.
 
Grimlaking said:
ANOTHER VR Headset? No thanks. If anything we need to standardize to some degree. At least for PC.
Click to expand...

What do you mean? Most if not all current gen headsets work in SteamVR, that not standard enough?

I don't see any reason to not keep pushing the technology forward and have competition and options.

If I can get this with the Knuckles controllers for a decent price (using my existing Lighthouses), I'm in.
 
I guess it depends on pricing for me. I definitely want the Knuckles controllers, but given I own a Vive Pro already, I am not exactly looking to getting a new HMD. Still if the resolution is good and the SDE is gone, I can see me buying it. The Vive pro is clearly better than the Vive, but I still want a better PPI count.
 
For me it depends on the specs and price (assuming that Valve uses the same open source SteamVR SDK underlying the whole thing).

I've been wanting to get into VR for some time and was seriously considering the Vive Pro Eye (whenever it comes out - the eye tracking an FOVeated rendering is a big feature in terms of hardware power requirement. I wonder if older Vive Pros can be updated with Eye modules?), but I've been put off by the insane pricing of the Vive Pro compared to the time since original Vive launch and hardware evolution. The original Vive came out at around $800-900 and in a year or two could be found for half that or less on Amazon Warehouse or Black Friday specials. Vive Pro started well past the original Vive's price and didn't even come with hardware for new users, instead offering 3 configs - HMD only, HMD + Old Vive 1.0 controllers/tracking, or Vive Pro HMD + Vive 2.0 Controllers/Tracking (The last of which until recently was only displayed on the Business/Enterprise side of the Vive page) To get the full 2.0 package it costs $1400, even over a year after launch and beyond! If they would have priced the full 2.0 package in the 800ish range that the original Vive launched, given that it was literally 4 years later (and tech for higher res displays are commonplace and cheaper compared to 2015), I'd probably already own one. This is to say nothing for the $300 Wireless module! We still don't know anything about the Vive Cosmos - if it is supposed to be a new high end replacement for the Vive Pro Eye or if its a mid-grade common-access replacement to come in below Vive Pro in price but above Vive in specs?

I really hope the Valve Index at least offers tech universally on par with the Vive Pro Eye (or Vive Cosmos) with some new feature and overall better pricing. I'm heartened by Valve's previous support for their hardware in the Steam Controller and Steam Link - both of which getting huge upgrades post launch - but there are some potential downsides based on hardware on those and I hope that the Index doesn't slip up. There's a lot of discussion about the Knuckles controllers and whatnot but I'm curious how it will stand up to other modern (Vive Pro 2.0 controllers/sensors, Vive Cosmos Controllers, Oculus stuff etc) VR controllers and especially versus next-gen 3rd party elements like full haptic gloves. After all, full haptic gloves are probably the next big leap forward in this regard and it would be awesome if Valve could be the one to bring a first party implementation aboard. What would be best of all is if the Index was designed with modular user upgrades in mind, so that down the road users could replace existing hardware and add new functionality.

Aside from the tech there's a lot of discussion about Valve's VR titles which I approach with caution. They could range from anything from a "VR version of old half-life / portal titles" to new next gen titles but no matter what, I think the hardware and underlying (hopefully open source) platform/compatibility is more important than a few games. Valve more than anyone knows that strong hardware/platform is way more important as there are fewer people who will buy VR for a single title - no matter how awesome, at this point - versus knowing that it has the best hardware and compatibility for current and future titles alike.

In any event, I'll definitely be waiting and hopeful. Though the HTC Vive as a "brand" has been what I feel is the best PC-centric VR system to support (as opposed to Oculus or Windows Mixed Reality etc), that is because of its mainline open source SteamVR base and best specs of mainstream headsets. Unfortunately, since the original iteration they've made incremental improvements but have been WAY overpriced which leads to less uptake for the platform. Valve stepping into the market with their own branded hardware I can hope will motivate HTC to consider this fact and with luck will also provide a superior iteration compared to existing headsets and platforms.
 
Grimlaking said:
ANOTHER VR Headset? No thanks. If anything we need to standardize to some degree. At least for PC.
Click to expand...
Not sure what your on about? All the major pcvr systems run on steamVR giving a very nice standard. Sure both rift and wmr have their own stores but all of them work on 1 common platform.

I personally buy any game I can on steamVR with my rift knowing that if I leave the Oculus ecosystem it will still work with another one.
 
more details needed.
i bought the controller and steam streamer... they NEVER get used.
not going to buy more useless hardware from steam
 
SeymourGore said:
Same here. Excited for the tech but waiting for that killer app.
Click to expand...

that's pretty much what i kept saying til they added VR into x-plane 11 and warthunder.. so i finally jumped on the VR bandwagon when the samsung odyssey+'s went on sale during Christmas but then i found beat sabre and i've just played the shit out of that instead.
 
I am interested, I've held off on upgrading my vive for a true gen 2 device. This might be it since oculus doesn't want to carry that torch.
 
funkydmunky said:
Inside joke?
Click to expand...

sorry I thought the "experience" was clear, here it is boosted a bit... see it now?

Untitled-1.jpg
 
sirmonkey1985 said:
that's pretty much what i kept saying til they added VR into x-plane 11 and warthunder.. so i finally jumped on the VR bandwagon when the samsung odyssey+'s went on sale during Christmas but then i found beat sabre and i've just played the shit out of that instead.
Click to expand...
Yes me too! I bought it because it was/is the best for sim games but all my friends want to see/play is beat saber! LOL
 

Hmm...if that's even true, I wonder how accurate that could really be? I'd be skeptical at how limb tracking would work.
 
it's just bad "photoshop" on that graphic, causing the blacks to be horribly banded... likely not indicative to the quality assurance of the actual product, but still a gross oversight for what should be a pretty important reveal.
 
I've been holding on VR purchases because I've been waiting for the tech to mature some. No specs yet but I am willing to bet Valve has taking a long view on this and their headset will be a winner on all fronts. Just waiting to see the pricing. ;)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top