No Vive 2 At CES, HTC Confirms

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HTC has just put all those rumors of a Vive 2 announcement at CES to rest today. The company told UploadVR that it is focusing on "building out a strong and growing ecosystem" for the current Vive and has no plans to make a Vive 2 announcement at this time.

HTC confirmed to UploadVR that it will not be announcing a “Vive 2” at this year’s show. “There is no truth to the rumor of launching Vive 2 at CES 2017,” the official statement from HTC reads. “At Vive, we are laser focused on building out a strong and growing ecosystem for current and future Vive owners so they can experience the best room-scale VR with the most compelling content available.”
 
Figured as much...I think they said something similar awhile back as well. Works for me, more value from my current setup.
 
The Vive is already pretty far ahead of the other sets, and this is coming from someone who owns one of the others.
While the tech could certainly be better across the board, I think the use of what we have right now probably needs to catch up first.
Hopefully we see more games supporting what we have in 2017. Once we have people and devs on board, then the new tech will mean more.
 
As a Day 1 owner I've been really happy with my Vive and I'm glad they're not fragmenting their customers yet. I would like to see better, sharper displays (Maybe 1440 is next?) but would hope there's an option to upgrade the panels in my unit. I know things don't typically work that way, but a man can dream...
 
This is a good thing. What we really need now is content, not new headsets.

Now that there is some parity with Oculus and HTC from the arrival of touch, and developers are starting to figure out what works, time to open the flood gates!

I'm an Oculus owner, with touch and the extra sensor setup for Roomscale. What a blast! Ironically, I'm having the most fun with the stuff initially developed for the Vive. Onward is friggin awesome and that guy deserves a medal for figuring out the locomotion issue (for most). Doom 3 BFG VR blew my friggin mind, like just wow - that is how Doom is meant to be played. We should start a petition for ID to hire the guy that made the VR mod for Doom 3 and incorporate it into Doom 2016..

Actually, I have so much VR stuff to play now I don't even have a single flat border game installed anymore..
 
I agree with everyone else, the first gen just came out, give it some time to work before looking at a newer version. On top of that if I was a developer and saw that every year htc would be making a new headset that may make the current ones obsolete why would I program for it? This way a developer knows that any game they develop will be going onto a system that has some legs.
 
The true second gen of VR is at least a couple of years out, but probably more like 3. What's needed is eye tracking for foveated rendering coupled with improvements in lens design to avoid god rays and the use of crappy fresnel lenses that are prone to chromatic ring artifacts. Top tier Graphics card tech 2 to 3 years from now should be up to the task of 4k rendering per eye if foveated rendering is applied to reduce the workload. Won't be cheap though - I predict at least $1k for a next gen HMD/sensors setup. Cheap *and* good VR is still at least another 5 years out.
 
Didn't they just release a wireless upgrade to the Vive? That in itself is pretty much a "Vive 2" IMO. Besides putting in a pair of higher resolution screens, I don't know what else they could do.
 
Didn't they just release a wireless upgrade to the Vive? That in itself is pretty much a "Vive 2" IMO. Besides putting in a pair of higher resolution screens, I don't know what else they could do.

It's a third-party accessory and hardly ideal, I would say. But it's a step in the right direction.
 
Lots of things that need to be improved, like wireless, better headphone solution, increased resolution, etc. But I'm beyond impressed with the Vive so far. Bought a bunch of VR games, Serious Sam The First Encounter is pretty sweet. But I've gotten a blast out simple things like air hockey and bowling. I think that for now it's best to have large generational leaps with clear and obvious improvements of faster incremental changes.
 
Was tempted to get a Vive... but mortgage and car payment are priority... by the time the Vive2 comes out I'll be ready to dip my toes into the VR pool probably, what I've seen looks super fun.
 
I want to get into the VR circuit, but I am in no hurry. I feel that I want battrypowered wireless solution and a solution to the grid-effect. When I have tried todays system it is better than expected, but the cable-thing and the grid effect really distract me time and again. A further dream would be good fingertracking for certain things, but that seems like it's further down the road at reasonable costs. Also, free choice of headphones with some different settings if you want in-ear or over ear would be great. Or none. If you use the kit in your movie-room you already have surround, so a way to track sound around you like that would be nice. Should be possible to implement with mapping the trackers i relation to speakers.
I also feel that when I talk to friends that this is the way many feel. They are simply waiting for the next gen that is factory made ready for wireless and that solves the grid effect, not necessarily with higher resolution. That carries another obvious problem forward, but I guess that is the easiest solution available.
 
I don't mind either about the Vive 2 not coming out. I doubt they could put the higher PPI lenses on a new headset and keep it the same price. Right now VR adoption is going to depend on word of mouth and price, so it's better if things stay about the same hardware wise for now so costs can come down on the current gen hardware.

Though I won't lie, I do want those new prototype controllers for the vive. They look much better for grabbing things in VR. The only real complaint I have about the current vive controller are the side buttons. They work but they feel unnatural as a grab input
 
That's a bummer. I had a Vive but couldn't get over the weight of the headset and the annoying narrow FOV. Plus the lens distortion is terrible. I'll jump back in with the Vive 2 if they hopefully improve those things.
 
This is a good thing as I have yet to see much content worth a damn for any of these VR headsets.
 
That's a bummer. I had a Vive but couldn't get over the weight of the headset and the annoying narrow FOV. Plus the lens distortion is terrible. I'll jump back in with the Vive 2 if they hopefully improve those things.

Fair statement. I've often said for the Rift and Vive that the specs were just "good enough" for first gen product. I really would have liked 4k resolution and a wider FOV, but that would have raised the minimum specs far too high. People were already bitching pretty hard about the cost of entry as it was with a recommended 970 ffs. To be honest, I also viewed the Vive as an effective development kit. Don't get me wrong, I think the Vive is great but I think the gen 2 product will be much better. I'm looking forward to what the Gen 2 products will be like, but I definitely want it to be a massive step forward not just a small incremental improvement - especially considering the cost of these things.

This is a good thing as I have yet to see much content worth a damn for any of these VR headsets.

My HD is getting pretty full with plenty of excellent content. Onward / Doom 3 BFG VR / Serious Sam VR (Onward locomotion version) / Elite Dangerous / Dirt Rally / Assetto Corsa. I don't even have anything not VR installed on my machine anymore... I just couldn't be bothered to waste my time playing anything that isn't VR anymore, I can't go back to playing games on a monitor anymore (And I've got a 40" 4K!), it just does not compare to experiencing this stuff in Virtual Reality.

I had some friends and family over to try out my Rift w/ touch & 3 sensor roomscale over the holidays. Doom 3 BFG in VR blew everyones mind. My friend last night, who is a very avid gamer and was pretty critical of VR previously tried Doom 3. He straps on the headset and grabs the controllers, I load up Doom and put him into an action level right away. First thing a demon comes around the corner at him and he brings up his shotgun and shoots it in the face and says "Holy fucking Shit" in a very shaken tone of voice, then says "This is the way Doom was meant to be Played!" then proceeds to move his way through the level battling demons, getting the shit scared out of him and genuinely having a blast. I didn't think I would be able to get him out of it after that. Now, he wants to buy one and regrets spending all that money he dropped on that expensive G-sync monitor he picked up recently..
 
Fair statement. I've often said for the Rift and Vive that the specs were just "good enough" for first gen product. I really would have liked 4k resolution and a wider FOV, but that would have raised the minimum specs far too high. People were already bitching pretty hard about the cost of entry as it was with a recommended 970 ffs. To be honest, I also viewed the Vive as an effective development kit. Don't get me wrong, I think the Vive is great but I think the gen 2 product will be much better. I'm looking forward to what the Gen 2 products will be like, but I definitely want it to be a massive step forward not just a small incremental improvement - especially considering the cost of these things.



My HD is getting pretty full with plenty of excellent content. Onward / Doom 3 BFG VR / Serious Sam VR (Onward locomotion version) / Elite Dangerous / Dirt Rally / Assetto Corsa. I don't even have anything not VR installed on my machine anymore... I just couldn't be bothered to waste my time playing anything that isn't VR anymore, I can't go back to playing games on a monitor anymore (And I've got a 40" 4K!), it just does not compare to experiencing this stuff in Virtual Reality.

I had some friends and family over to try out my Rift w/ touch & 3 sensor roomscale over the holidays. Doom 3 BFG in VR blew everyones mind. My friend last night, who is a very avid gamer and was pretty critical of VR previously tried Doom 3. He straps on the headset and grabs the controllers, I load up Doom and put him into an action level right away. First thing a demon comes around the corner at him and he brings up his shotgun and shoots it in the face and says "Holy fucking Shit" in a very shaken tone of voice, then says "This is the way Doom was meant to be Played!" then proceeds to move his way through the level battling demons, getting the shit scared out of him and genuinely having a blast. I didn't think I would be able to get him out of it after that. Now, he wants to buy one and regrets spending all that money he dropped on that expensive G-sync monitor he picked up recently..
For me playing on the monitor type games is not affected. I will be able to enjoy both types of content. VR is way different way of playing games but good old fashion game playing on a monitor is still good as well.
 
A new 970 gtx will costs 500 shells. Used can be had for about 300. That's not including the cost of the headset. I'm glad to see the headsets entering the second generation. But I hope they start of setting some sort of standardization rules for Headsets, controllers, and sensors. When we cross this threshold, VR will actually be something worth investing for me. I may not like the Oculus headset, but their touch controllers feels soo good.

VR will take on. I have no doubt about it. The ability to do VR can only do is too compelling not to take off in the mainstream as long as the content is there to drive the cost. The content creation is still a bit weak, too. VR isn't just about the visual component. There's also the sound that needs to be 360 degree to really immerse a person into whichever scene they're in.
 
I hope an upgrade kit is provided as well as the Vive 2 when it comes out. Wishful thinking though.
 
I hope an upgrade kit is provided as well as the Vive 2 when it comes out. Wishful thinking though.

I guess it depends on if the base stations and controllers will be backwards compatible with the new headset. My guess is that that might well be though perhaps missing some features? Obviously the headset will have to be a whole new deal.
 
So what are the supposed improvements for the HTC Vive 2?
There isnt one so there arent any.
It has been debated what needs changing and what we would like but it is necessarily a long way off so theres not much point yet.
 
As a Day 1 owner I've been really happy with my Vive and I'm glad they're not fragmenting their customers yet. I would like to see better, sharper displays (Maybe 1440 is next?) but would hope there's an option to upgrade the panels in my unit. I know things don't typically work that way, but a man can dream...

How would a new Vive fragment their customers? Do you think a new Vive wouldn't support old content or vice versa?
 
How would a new Vive fragment their customers? Do you think a new Vive wouldn't support old content or vice versa?

Without a doubt old content will be forwards compatible to new hardware and I'm guessing old hardware will be forwards compatible sans anything tied to new hardware or apps that are specifically geared towards new hardware, which I would think be the exception at least in the next few years as it's already such a small market.
 
Without a doubt old content will be forwards compatible to new hardware and I'm guessing old hardware will be forwards compatible sans anything tied to new hardware or apps that are specifically geared towards new hardware, which I would think be the exception at least in the next few years as it's already such a small market.

I only see that remote possibility extending to peripherals. Headset itself, no way. People are still able to play new games on 1080p monitors despite 4K right..?
 
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