This Is How Oculus Will Sell VR To The Masses

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Will free games, apps and other content be the key to selling virtual reality headsets to the average Joe? Honestly, as long as they are quality games, I don't think it can hurt. Besides, there is nothing worse than getting a brand new system and having nothing to play on it.
 
So...2 minutes of gameplay in a game that it wouldn't matter one bit if it was VR or not. Yea..that will bring them running to the door. :rolleyes:

VR's problem isn't going to be software. It is the simple fact that only a very small minority of people are going to be willing to wear it for extended periods of time. The rest of us will get some kicks out of 10 minutes at the "dave and busters" and continue gaming normally.
 
Dekoth-E- said:
So...2 minutes of gameplay in a game that it wouldn't matter one bit if it was VR or not. Yea..that will bring them running to the door. :rolleyes:

VR's problem isn't going to be software. It is the simple fact that only a very small minority of people are going to be willing to wear it for extended periods of time. The rest of us will get some kicks out of 10 minutes at the "dave and busters" and continue gaming normally.
Click to expand...

This is my take. Still seems like a gimmick. I would not wear something on my head for hours to play a game. Just like 3D tech, it isn't quite perfect yet, would be nice to not need glasses for instance. For a movie though I'm fine with wearing glasses for a limited time. I don't want this to fail, I just don't see who the target consumer is for VR at the moment.
 
I'm pretty excited about VR. I've played around with the Oculus Rift dev kits - cool stuff (except the motion sickness). I'm going to be doing my best to avoid being an early adopter. I have been the early adopter many times - the first iteration is usually clunky and not guaranteed to survive.
I don't think they can make this go mass market yet. Several problems against them (at least on the PC):
-How many people have a GPU that is good enough to run it? On this forum, maybe lots. If you are talking mass market, not many.
-Will the masses even know what the games are or what VR is capable of?

The consoles (PS4?) might have more luck. You need a PS4, controllers, and the VR headset (whenever it comes out). That's a lot less money to shell out

Anyway, I'm excited to follow this. If the motion sickness can be overcome/greatly reduced, I will enter this market. I plan on sitting out the initial wave...I don't want another 3DFx Voodoo Card :)
 
xX326Xx said:
This is my take. Still seems like a gimmick. I would not wear something on my head for hours to play a game. Just like 3D tech, it isn't quite perfect yet, would be nice to not need glasses for instance. For a movie though I'm fine with wearing glasses for a limited time. I don't want this to fail, I just don't see who the target consumer is for VR at the moment.
Click to expand...

Target consumer should be the medical, Aerospace, CAD and space industries. VR has the potential to be absolutely game changing in these industries. It doesn't have any chance at being anything more than a niche product in video gaming. Is it cool? Well yes..but there are lots of "cool" peripherals that I'm never going to be willing to drop $300 on or use for extended periods of time.
 
steakman1971 said:
Anyway, I'm excited to follow this. If the motion sickness can be overcome/greatly reduced, I will enter this market. I plan on sitting out the initial wave...I don't want another 3DFx Voodoo Card :)
Click to expand...

I used to get god awful motion sickness playing Doom/Quake and other early games.

Either my body adapted the way astronauts do to space motion sickness, or the games somehow changed.
 
"Masses" is a poor term for the number of customers they'd end up with if Facebook ever managed to actually put the dumb thing up for sale. Maybe "dozens" would be more accurate.
 
I have a Dk2.
I have also been invited to the pre-alpha of valkyrie. Though I missed the first playtest.

VR's main problem is that most people don't "get" it until they put on the headset and play. I have a few friends that were skeptical. When I put them in the headset, they went from "meh" to OMGTITBTE!

I've played a lot of games in VR, I do believe that games "made for VR" are the only ones that will succeed. I tried fallout 4, skyrim, and Star Citizen in VR and it will make you sick quickly, but I've logged hours at a time in other games.

probably my favorite VR experience is piloting the Huey in DCS. it is absolutely incredible.
 
xX326Xx said:
This is my take. Still seems like a gimmick. I would not wear something on my head for hours to play a game. Just like 3D tech, it isn't quite perfect yet, would be nice to not need glasses for instance. For a movie though I'm fine with wearing glasses for a limited time. I don't want this to fail, I just don't see who the target consumer is for VR at the moment.
Click to expand...

try it first VR is a hard sell you really have to see it first hand
 
FalconSS said:
I have a Dk2.
I have also been invited to the pre-alpha of valkyrie. Though I missed the first playtest.

VR's main problem is that most people don't "get" it until they put on the headset and play. I have a few friends that were skeptical. When I put them in the headset, they went from "meh" to OMGTITBTE!

I've played a lot of games in VR, I do believe that games "made for VR" are the only ones that will succeed. I tried fallout 4, skyrim, and Star Citizen in VR and it will make you sick quickly, but I've logged hours at a time in other games.

probably my favorite VR experience is piloting the Huey in DCS. it is absolutely incredible.
Click to expand...

try Elite they have done a great job with VR for it
 
FalconSS said:
I have a Dk2.
I have also been invited to the pre-alpha of valkyrie. Though I missed the first playtest.

VR's main problem is that most people don't "get" it until they put on the headset and play. I have a few friends that were skeptical. When I put them in the headset, they went from "meh" to OMGTITBTE!

I've played a lot of games in VR, I do believe that games "made for VR" are the only ones that will succeed. I tried fallout 4, skyrim, and Star Citizen in VR and it will make you sick quickly, but I've logged hours at a time in other games.

probably my favorite VR experience is piloting the Huey in DCS. it is absolutely incredible.
Click to expand...

I get it and have said from day one, games like these will be awesome in VR, others not so much. Like you said DCS is a prime candidate, no more futzing around with TrackIR.
 
If they can get VR to be interactive enough across a wide range of categories they shouldn't have too many difficulties selling it (as it becomes portable) ... gaming is a 70 billion dollar industry ... other possible uses of VR could be interactive exercises, others have already mentioned the Porn industry, VR would be a great way to do cooking if it showed the recipe and analyzed the ingredients as the cook prepared them ... still lots of opportunities
 
steakman1971 said:
I'm pretty excited about VR. I've played around with the Oculus Rift dev kits - cool stuff (except the motion sickness). I'm going to be doing my best to avoid being an early adopter. I have been the early adopter many times - the first iteration is usually clunky and not guaranteed to survive.
I don't think they can make this go mass market yet. Several problems against them (at least on the PC):
-How many people have a GPU that is good enough to run it? On this forum, maybe lots. If you are talking mass market, not many.
-Will the masses even know what the games are or what VR is capable of?

The consoles (PS4?) might have more luck. You need a PS4, controllers, and the VR headset (whenever it comes out). That's a lot less money to shell out

Anyway, I'm excited to follow this. If the motion sickness can be overcome/greatly reduced, I will enter this market. I plan on sitting out the initial wave...I don't want another 3DFx Voodoo Card :)
Click to expand...

Early Adopters DO drive product development though. If nobody was an early adopter, products would never succeed. Oculus seems to have their heads on straight in terms of creating a complete ecosystem. I've had the DK2 for awhile now and just got the Gear VR (already had an Edge+). The Gear VR app automatically starts as soon as you plug your phone into it. The app links to your existing library and the Gear VR store where you can download apps. Each app has a 'comfort' rating and the worst I've experienced so far is Temple Run which is rated as 'Comfortable for some'. When the dude really gets going my stomach pinches a little bit....but nothing like some of the experiences I had with the DK2. The much higher resolution of the Edge+ screen has an effect I think and I didn't notice any performance spikes or ghosting. The screen door effect is still there though much much less than the DK2. The DK2 is lighter and the simple addition of....depth tracking?...makes a world of difference in the experience. It's incredible the change you get even in simple, non-3D geared experiences like Netflix where you don't really gain anything but it's jarring going from DK2 where every little movement you make that moves your head (adjusting in your chair, tilting your head, etc...) to the Gear VR where I can move around in the real world and it has no bearing in the virtual environment (aside from head tracking up, down, left, right).

I just looked up the specs for the consumer rift vs. the Edge+, the Edge+ has a screen res of 2560x1440 which is 1280x720 for each eye. The consumer Rift is supposed to be "...2160×1200 at 90Hz split over dual displays..." which leaves me wondering if that number is per eye. If it is, then I'd wager a hefty sum that the screen door effect (SDE) won't even be a term that the general population is aware of.

As far as GPU requirements go, Oculus has posted minimum system specs for their consumer release:

•NVIDIA GTX 970 / AMD 290 equivalent or greater
•Intel i5-4590 equivalent or greater
•8GB+ RAM
•HDMI 1.3 video output supporting a 297MHz clock via a direct output architecture
•2x USB 3.0 ports
•Windows 7 SP1 or newer

It'll be interesting to see what kind of games can run effectively pushing a total resolution of 4320x2400. It's also a beefy GPU requirement but I kinda think the bigger hurdle for the general population is going to be the USB 3.0 requirement. 8GB of RAM is pretty hefty for prebuilt systems but is fairly simple and cheap to upgrade to. Just go to the manufacturer's website/call center and it'll hook you up pretty easily. USB 3.0 adapters on the other hand may not be as simple to get ahold of and install (again, talking about the general population, not [H] ), let alone replacing a motherboard.

The one thing I am hoping happens with Oculus or the devs who implement Rift support is being able to analyze hardware and recommend upper limits on graphics settings for a given game/hardware. The worst thing that could happen is to get people who have the recommended hardware and then be turned off by the experience because they had the graphics settings set too high causing them to vomit all over the place, lol.
 
I have a Vive and a successor prototype to the DK2.

There won't be any problems selling VR headsets to the average joe once they try them out. VR is the future and is amazing.
 
FalconSS said:
I have a Dk2.
I have also been invited to the pre-alpha of valkyrie. Though I missed the first playtest.

VR's main problem is that most people don't "get" it until they put on the headset and play. I have a few friends that were skeptical. When I put them in the headset, they went from "meh" to OMGTITBTE!

I've played a lot of games in VR, I do believe that games "made for VR" are the only ones that will succeed. I tried fallout 4, skyrim, and Star Citizen in VR and it will make you sick quickly, but I've logged hours at a time in other games.

probably my favorite VR experience is piloting the Huey in DCS. it is absolutely incredible.
Click to expand...

What games do you use to demonstrate to people unfamiliar with VR? I'm tempted to take my Gear VR to Xmas or something and let them try it out but I haven't found that 'killer app' yet. I wouldn't be against moving my PC either for the DK2 demonstration but I don't want to go in with something that's too much for casual players or too clunky.
 
Cant wait... Games will never be the same.
Porn industry is recording 3D porn like 360 sky diver stunts... crazy.
 
FalconSS said:
probably my favorite VR experience is piloting the Huey in DCS. it is absolutely incredible.
Click to expand...

I'd rather have a Track IR. Uses a regular monitor (less powerful GPU) and nothing on my head. Though it does have its down sides (what is behind your PC) and maybe minor head movements can be a neck pain. But I'd rather have that than a VR thing strapped to my face.
 
USMCGrunt said:
I just looked up the specs for the consumer rift vs. the Edge+, the Edge+ has a screen res of 2560x1440 which is 1280x720 for each eye. The consumer Rift is supposed to be "...2160×1200 at 90Hz split over dual displays..." which leaves me wondering if that number is per eye. If it is, then I'd wager a hefty sum that the screen door effect (SDE) won't even be a term that the general population is aware of.
Click to expand...

1080x1200 per eye
 
Flogger23m said:
I'd rather have a Track IR. Uses a regular monitor (less powerful GPU) and nothing on my head. Though it does have its down sides (what is behind your PC) and maybe minor head movements can be a neck pain. But I'd rather have that than a VR thing strapped to my face.
Click to expand...

You must not have ever tried a VR HMD then. I have a TrackIR 5 for Arma III (use it for flying), and its great, but there's simply no comparison to the "WTF holy shit" immersive experience of a VR HMD.

I think everyone needs to try an HTC Vive and its amazing spatial tracking at least once before deciding they know everything about VR.
 
FalconSS said:
I have a Dk2.
I have also been invited to the pre-alpha of valkyrie. Though I missed the first playtest.

VR's main problem is that most people don't "get" it until they put on the headset and play. I have a few friends that were skeptical. When I put them in the headset, they went from "meh" to OMGTITBTE!

I've played a lot of games in VR, I do believe that games "made for VR" are the only ones that will succeed. I tried fallout 4, skyrim, and Star Citizen in VR and it will make you sick quickly, but I've logged hours at a time in other games.

probably my favorite VR experience is piloting the Huey in DCS. it is absolutely incredible.
Click to expand...

Exactly this. People wait in line at E3 for 3-4 hours to play the oculus for 3-4 minutes for a reason.

I have people in my work who were meh to the idea and I show them google cardboard. Not an oculus rift, google fucking cardboard, and they are blown away. VR is something that has to be experienced and I have yet to meet someone who has used an Oculus Rift and said "eh, it's ok i guess".

Every single person I know that has tried it in real life has said "holy fucking shit, just take my money".
 
Seventyfive said:
Every single person I know that has tried it in real life has said "holy fucking shit, just take my money".
Click to expand...

There's a big difference between that's freakin cool, and here's some serious cash.

I'm sure I'll think it's cool. The problem is at what price? I'd kind of like a 30"+ 4k monitor, I'd also kind of like a rift. So, is it cool enough I actually pony up my money and forgo the nice monitor.

Everyone is making trade offs like that.
 
USMCGrunt said:
What games do you use to demonstrate to people unfamiliar with VR? I'm tempted to take my Gear VR to Xmas or something and let them try it out but I haven't found that 'killer app' yet. I wouldn't be against moving my PC either for the DK2 demonstration but I don't want to go in with something that's too much for casual players or too clunky.
Click to expand...

Im not sure about whats available on the gear. I usually start them off with cyberspace and judge their reaction. i might then pull up epics showdownVR demo. I have also demoed elite:dangourous if they are into space sims.

recently I added cryteks "Return to Dinosaur Island" to the mix. If all goes well, I'll let them try to beat "I Expect you to die".
 
Flogger23m said:
I'd rather have a Track IR. Uses a regular monitor (less powerful GPU) and nothing on my head. Though it does have its down sides (what is behind your PC) and maybe minor head movements can be a neck pain. But I'd rather have that than a VR thing strapped to my face.
Click to expand...

I own the trackIR. it is now gathering dust. besides, you still have to wear the trackclip pro on your head anyway to get decent headtracking. The rift is an absolute gamechanger in a flightsim.

I mean, when you can look at the ground by actually moving your head to the window and looking OVER the window seal, you get the sense you really are inside a machine, flying 5000 feet above the ground. I've flown real single engine prop aircraft and this is as real as it gets. especially if you have a hotus, yoke, collective setup. The current only downside ( at least with the dk2) is the resolution is a bit poor. so that its difficult to read the numbers on some gauges. Thats easy though because you should know where the numbers are anyway and your mind sort of "takes care of it" at least for everything but the compass. You can also lean into the gauges so you can see them better.

This should be fixed with the consumer version or most definitely the CV2.
 
Speaking of Arma and Track IR, does anyone have a clue if Arma might support OR? That would be my dream come true. If there were ever a game that was made for VR... Oh man, I would buy 3 GTX980TI's for that.
 
USMCGrunt said:
What games do you use to demonstrate to people unfamiliar with VR? I'm tempted to take my Gear VR to Xmas or something and let them try it out but I haven't found that 'killer app' yet. I wouldn't be against moving my PC either for the DK2 demonstration but I don't want to go in with something that's too much for casual players or too clunky.
Click to expand...

Not sure about the Gear, I have DK2.

I have had great experiences with Elite, Dying Light (load them into the part where you climb up the bridge towers, its fantastic on VR), Payday 2 VorpX, and the vanishing of ethan carter.
 
So, when you''re happily immersed in your world, how do you control things?

I can't imagine that you can see the controls. So only touch typists should apply?
 
Elios said:
1080x1200 per eye
Click to expand...
Kinda seems odd that they'd glue two screens together...I'd imagine that would require additional circuitry and programming to get them to sync the separate displays together. They're the smart ones though, I'm confident they know what they're doing.


FalconSS said:
Im not sure about whats available on the gear. I usually start them off with cyberspace and judge their reaction. i might then pull up epics showdownVR demo. I have also demoed elite:dangourous if they are into space sims.

recently I added cryteks "Return to Dinosaur Island" to the mix. If all goes well, I'll let them try to beat "I Expect you to die".
Click to expand...

Aireoth said:
Not sure about the Gear, I have DK2.

I have had great experiences with Elite, Dying Light (load them into the part where you climb up the bridge towers, its fantastic on VR), Payday 2 VorpX, and the vanishing of ethan carter.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the recommendations guys. I personally haven't tried any of that with the DK2 so I will give them a spin tonight and see where I get. For the Gear VR, Gunjack is excellent...I spent one mission looking around in the turret for about 5 minutes and for a few seconds I experienced 'presence'. The detail they put into the turret, even the back that you won't see outside of a few minutes is really good. You've got worn down warning labels and signs that you can read a bit of which definitely adds to the immersion.
defaultluser said:
So, when you''re happily immersed in your world, how do you control things?

I can't imagine that you can see the controls. So only touch typists should apply?
Click to expand...

Nope, controls are invisible at the moment. For the Rift, it will be released with an Xbox controller. They're working on a controller that fits in each hand that is also tracked by the Rift camera so it can motion track your hands, and possibly with some clever programming, map your arms realistically as well.

To be honest though, if your playing an FPS game that uses the standard WASD key mappings, you don't really need to see your keyboard. Of course, this varies depending on game, player, and player experience with a given game.
 
I'll also add that with the Gear VR, developers are toying with what I would call "stare controls", where staring at something causes an action. Obviously this doesn't work universally, but it works pretty well where they've implemented it.
 
USMCGrunt said:
Kinda seems odd that they'd glue two screens together...I'd imagine that would require additional circuitry and programming to get them to sync the separate displays together. They're the smart ones though, I'm confident they know what they're doing.
Click to expand...

to get the best use of the pixel space do to warping needed for the optics
 
How is VR going to be accepted when the [H] of the house are away in virtual reality? Completely closed off from everyone and everything else for extended periods of time. Doesn't matter if the technology is a pair of contact lenses or sunglasses. People want to interact with you or at least not feel incredibly awkward while you're in their proximity. Climbing a virtual ladder or pointing at things that aren't there isn't going to go over well when others are around.

It's also going to take a healthy paycheck to afford all the hardware a Rift requires. Some people are willing to buy a console for a few hundred dollars to keep the kids entertained. Will those same people drop $1800 for a Rift and capable PC for one of their kids? How about more than one setup per household? $300-500 a year just in new video cards?

IMHO VR and/or augmented reality will need to get cheap and become as prolific as the smartphone to succeed at all. If everyone participates it will change the world. You can't have that one wierdo on the couch that is oblivious to real life. If the whole family is a bunch of wierdos then it's acceptable.
 
Dekoth-E- said:
VR's problem isn't going to be software. It is the simple fact that only a very small minority of people are going to be willing to wear it for extended periods of time. The rest of us will get some kicks out of 10 minutes at the "dave and busters" and continue gaming normally.
Click to expand...
Says who? You?! Please present me this indepth study you did to get to such conclusion.

Its hilarious to see the reaction from people to a piece of technology trying to get us closer to reality in gaming. Its always the same people with the same BS reaction. remember then video cards were pushing 32bits over 16...yeah there were people claiming it was a gimmick too...always the same old crap.
People complaining about $300 is even funnier. We spent $600s or more in video cards just to add some more frames and extra eye candy ONLY to still experience the games in the same old and tired 2D Flat experiences.
Yes, millions of dollars spent creating amazing 3D games yet we still play them for the most part in 2D...well that makes whole lot of sense! :rolleyes:
Of course, the first people always to comment against are the ones that have never actually tried it..is like they want to convince themselves they dont need it.
Whatever....you want to continue throwing money at gear and end up with the same type of basic display from the past..be my guest.
Leave the rest of us enjoy finally a more immersive gaming experience. ;)
 
USMCGrunt said:
To be honest though, if your playing an FPS game that uses the standard WASD key mappings, you don't really need to see your keyboard. Of course, this varies depending on game, player, and player experience with a given game.
Click to expand...

Right, unless you're like me and will hit the wrong button if you're not at least stealing an momentary glance at the keyboard.

I know all you hotshots like to pretend that everyone else has the same impressive muscle memory as you, but it just isn't so. If I'm in a twitch firefight, I'll mash the wrong key all the fucking time, unless I remap WASD to the arrow keys (they have dead space around them).

Until they perfect alternate reality for more than just your head (i.e. FULLY render and ACCURATELY simulate the control surfaces in-game), VR will be the choice of a select group of diehards. I'm not sure that tiny group will be enough to keep it alive though!

And don't even both bringing up motion or sight controls, that's just half-assing your way through the issue.
 
Flogger23m said:
I'd rather have a Track IR. Uses a regular monitor (less powerful GPU) and nothing on my head. Though it does have its down sides (what is behind your PC) and maybe minor head movements can be a neck pain. But I'd rather have that than a VR thing strapped to my face.
Click to expand...

Why do people care about wearing that thing on their face while playing a game? In terms of simulation a pilot would be wearing a helmet. Gamers have no problem putting on those giant gaming headsets...I don't know, but it seems like an odd thing to complain about when the pay off is better immersion/game-play experience.

I understand that the requirement are a bit high, but GPUs are only getting more powerful.

I also find it funny that people seem to think for something to be successful it must appeal to everyone, that's not how markets work.
 
shaolin95 said:
Says who? You?! Please present me this indepth study you did to get to such conclusion.

Its hilarious to see the reaction from people to a piece of technology trying to get us closer to reality in gaming. Its always the same people with the same BS reaction. remember then video cards were pushing 32bits over 16...yeah there were people claiming it was a gimmick too...always the same old crap.
People complaining about $300 is even funnier. We spent $600s or more in video cards just to add some more frames and extra eye candy ONLY to still experience the games in the same old and tired 2D Flat experiences.
Yes, millions of dollars spent creating amazing 3D games yet we still play them for the most part in 2D...well that makes whole lot of sense! :rolleyes:
Of course, the first people always to comment against are the ones that have never actually tried it..is like they want to convince themselves they dont need it.
Whatever....you want to continue throwing money at gear and end up with the same type of basic display from the past..be my guest.
Leave the rest of us enjoy finally a more immersive gaming experience. ;)
Click to expand...


I think if a gamer can eat supper and play uninterrupted for several hours straight then VR may be the next coming of Christ for them. Most people I know have structured their days to require frequent interaction and distraction that will really diminish the enjoyment of a virtual reality.
 
ochadd said:
How is VR going to be accepted when the [H] of the house are away in virtual reality? Completely closed off from everyone and everything else for extended periods of time. Doesn't matter if the technology is a pair of contact lenses or sunglasses. People want to interact with you or at least not feel incredibly awkward while you're in their proximity. Climbing a virtual ladder or pointing at things that aren't there isn't going to go over well when others are around.

It's also going to take a healthy paycheck to afford all the hardware a Rift requires. Some people are willing to buy a console for a few hundred dollars to keep the kids entertained. Will those same people drop $1800 for a Rift and capable PC for one of their kids? How about more than one setup per household? $300-500 a year just in new video cards?

IMHO VR and/or augmented reality will need to get cheap and become as prolific as the smartphone to succeed at all. If everyone participates it will change the world. You can't have that one wierdo on the couch that is oblivious to real life. If the whole family is a bunch of wierdos then it's acceptable.
Click to expand...

Makes me even more glad I don't have kids. Can't wait for VR to come out, looks fun to me!
 
ochadd said:
Most people I know have structured their days to require frequent interaction and distraction that will really diminish the enjoyment of a virtual reality.
Click to expand...

Or the enjoyment of any vaguely immersive experience, such as watching a two hour movie or reading a good book. Those people are unlikely to be engaging with experiences which would benefit from VR in the first place. But that's OK, as suggested elsewhere, it’s not necessary for VR to appeal to everyone.
 
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