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Despite Hype, VR Investment Fades In Q1 2017
- Thread starter keraj37
- Start date
justsomeguy
Member
For me, VR provides amazing experiences but it's not something I want to use for sustained gaming.
I've had my mind blown several times using Vive. I love the experiences I've had, the adrenaline of robots surrounding you and laser-sword fighting you, or exploring a cliff edge or looking up from a sunken shipwreck. Awesome. Mind blowing.
But not something I want to spend several hundred quid on for the kit plus more again for a pc.
The "value" for me is at £200 it'd be a no brainer. At £300 I'd probably be swayed.
Like with AR, it's the form factor too. Get it to a small portable spectacles-style FF and we're in business.
I've had my mind blown several times using Vive. I love the experiences I've had, the adrenaline of robots surrounding you and laser-sword fighting you, or exploring a cliff edge or looking up from a sunken shipwreck. Awesome. Mind blowing.
But not something I want to spend several hundred quid on for the kit plus more again for a pc.
The "value" for me is at £200 it'd be a no brainer. At £300 I'd probably be swayed.
Like with AR, it's the form factor too. Get it to a small portable spectacles-style FF and we're in business.
chrisPjelly
Member
No shit it wasn't going to be a huge success. A lot of people forget that a huge reason why the Wii was so successful was that it was significantly cheaper than its competitors and had a VERY simple marketing campaign/message. VR has a plethora of hardware configs and ALREADY the market is getting spread too thin with the number of model kits and brands available out there. It's a cool technology that I very much still want to see a future with, but it's going to remain niche and honestly would be better in reviving arcades.
I've actually gotten more impressed with Farpoint over the past couple months of showcasing. Thought it was going to be arcadey but that story trailer was quite good. Might even have to bite for a Pro upgrade if the performance differences are substantial.
...
Anyway, I just want to say my piece among the VR gloom and doom. I knew it would be a niche product going into my purchase and I was completely fine with that. I've probably spent around $700 or so in total on my PSVR+ software and I feel like it has been justified. RIGS and Rez in particular have been great showcases of what the tech can do for those fuller experiences. There's some really great, unique stuff out there and I would recommend a purchase IF you go in with proper expectations.
I had a feeling the VCs were overestimating the potential impact of VR, so the drop in funding seems like the deflation of a bubble instead of a complete collapse.
And if it doesn't get better or fades as this article implies? Just another failed Sony product that they would henceforth drop like a hot potato when support was lost.
They don't need to ruin themselves making bad decisions and investments like this, atleast wait until something is proven to be a hit or a success on the market before implementing your own spin.
Foxy the Fox
Member
I REALLY want to like VR but:
-Current Headsets are heavy/bulky/uncomfortable
-Too expensive
-Not a great selection of software
-Bad news everywhere
-The need to own a PS4 or a mid-high PC
Too much hassle
-Current Headsets are heavy/bulky/uncomfortable
-Too expensive
-Not a great selection of software
-Bad news everywhere
-The need to own a PS4 or a mid-high PC
Too much hassle
thekiddfran
Member
People don't to wear shit on their head. Simple.
This is bullshit, you know if these headsets were 300$ people would be gobbling this shit up.
He probably would still call those people idiots. I imagine when he said future he meant long term, not a year.
I personally don't find the funding drop all that surprising. You had $800 million in Magic leap and than you probably had this gold rush mentality to VR even though I think most enthusiast realized it was going to be a long time before the kinks get worked out. There was little hope of these things ever reaching mainstream adoption.
Luckily it still seems like the major players (FB, Google, Samsung, Microsoft) are investing in VR/AR.
PeakPointMatrix
Member
I hope the Vive 2 is still on the way.
Mr. Poolman
Member
But GAF told me (and even mocked me) that VR is not a gimmick.
AllIsOneIsNone
Banned
Yeah, those headphone things are never going to catch on.
Maybe what you meant to say is the current iteration could use some work ergonomically and weight wise. People wear shit on their heads/faces all the time, the question is whether the benefit outweighs the discomfort.
VindicatorZ
Member
It's not a gimmick whatsoever. You were correctly mocked.
There is a ton of gimmick software but VR itself is not a gimmick.
Mr. Poolman
Member
gim·mick
ˈɡimik/
noun
a trick or device intended to attract attention, publicity, or business.
You may not like the connotation the word has, but VR IS a gimmick.
thekiddfran
Member
Nope, VR headsets are obtrusive, blocks out your home environment. shit graphics and the barrier to entry it way too high.
Literally no single reason as to why this would be a runaway success.
Like google glass, people just don't feel comfortable wearing tech on their face.
3 of my non gamer friends came around last week and i decided to show them Eve Valkyrie.
1 friend said "Why is it blurry and I feel sick" "The graphics are not as good as I thought they would be" 3rd friend loved it and said "Wow, it is cool but too expensive and too many wires everywhere"
Clarkus Darkus
Member
Havent touched mine since completing resi 7, Really waiting for something to whisk me back into VR. Hopefully farpoint and star trek are worth it.
VindicatorZ
Member
Nope, not at all. It is not for attention or publicity. It is a fundamentally game changing medium. If you can't see the difference between playing a game on a TV versus playing inside a virtual reality world, then there's no need to try and convince you. But I promise you, within the next 10 years, and especially 20, you will see that this was no gimmick.
AllIsOneIsNone
Banned
Give me a break, you know what people mean when they say gimmick. According to that definition, near any consumer device ever is a gimmick.
Clarkus Darkus
Member
So much bull in that post, I was fine wearing my headset, Graphics are fine and in no way shape or form does it block my home enviroment.
More AAA games is what it needs.
VindicatorZ
Member
Yeah speak for yourself. I'm perfectly fine wearing the headset, blocking out my home environment is EXACTLY the point, I am looking for complete immersion. Shit graphics you say, well it's the very first generation of VR, why don't you check back in a few years?
friskykillface
Banned
More_Badass
Member
If you can play something like the Sorcery series or Device 6, and then consider them timewasters, I'd love to know how you'd classify games as timewasters
VindicatorZ
Member
Same here, haven't touched it since RE7, I have since lent it to my niece and nephew so they can play it while I await the release of Farpoint. I find people to be far too impatient with VR. This is the first gen, I'm more than glad to be an early adopter and wait for the content to come. This medium is going to be absolutely incredible in the coming generations, but some people are being too short sighted to give it that chance.
lmao this is spectacular
mckmas8808
Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
If VR fails, AR doesn't stand a chance in the video gaming space. Believe that!
VindicatorZ
Member
It will be free of wires soon enough, but for me the biggest breakthrough will be in screen quality. Once we are getting 8k resolution per eye, along with a 200 degree field of view, at 90 FPS with games made in the newest engines of the future (Unreal Engine 5, Cry Engine 4, etc) I expect this to be absolutely incredible. This may take 5-10 years from now, but it WILL happen one day, and it's going to be amazing.
Yoda
Member
I'm not sure about gobbling, but lowering the barrier in any fashion from where it now stands will certainly help. The price of the headsets also don't include the hardware to play it on, which is still expensive itself. There's also the problem that current top tier hardware produces underwhelming VR graphics. VR may need a few more generations of optimizations before it has to wow factor it'll need to convince the masses it's worth the investment.
mckmas8808
Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
If it fades then they'll pull support. But so far they are making a profit off of it and they are selling what they make hardware wise, so it's not a bad thing.
And how can PSVR "ruin" Sony or the Playstation brand? Again it's making net positive money.
Played PSVR for the first time in months this weekend and actually had a good time. Playing Korix was a very comfortable and fun experience. Took me back to one of my favorite strategy games of all time, Comet Crash! It was very close to that in VR. I'd love to try it again with multiplayer.
So I once again want a PSVR, but I want a massive price cut before I grab one... most VR made me uncomfortable after an extended time. But the right experiences totally make it worth it.
So I once again want a PSVR, but I want a massive price cut before I grab one... most VR made me uncomfortable after an extended time. But the right experiences totally make it worth it.
Because people have been dreaming about the equivalent of the Matrix ever since it was even remotely a possibility, before that, even, and because that's the ultimate idea of immersion.
And immersion is at the basis of story telling, be for escapism, or even to inhabit someone else's shoes for deeper purposes.
VR, it being a simulation of an alternative reality as close to the source as possible for our senses, is exactly that end point.
It may not be through bulky headsets, it may not even be through more lighter and portable "glasses", it may be some form of holodeck or more direct neuro connections like the Matrix,
but you can't seriously think that a 2d screen is the apex of interaction, when are senses are so much deeper.
family_guy
Member
They skipped putting these things at amusement parks like Disney and went straight to the home consumer market. I think that was a mistake. They are making a little headway with Gear VR, but Apple's one of the biggest players in the cell phone market and they can't be bothered to make an investment in it; which for some people unless Apple does it, they won't pay any attention to it.
Sgt. Kabukiman
Banned
Well, no surprise there. Most of us saw that coming a while ago.
Maybe it'll take off in a few years, when Nintendo finally releases the Virtual Boy Classic.
Maybe it'll take off in a few years, when Nintendo finally releases the Virtual Boy Classic.
Sleeping Lesson
Member
We're getting wireless for Vive in literally a few months.
GeordieMark
Member
I borrowed an Oculus and the touch controllers from work for a week, and 3 days was all it took for the novelty to wear off. After that I barely touched it. We've got every VR kit at work, and after a flurry of activity last year, nobody really uses them anymore. That tells me that the cost isn't the only issue. They are just too fussy to set up, and there are very few games that people want to go back to. Everyone who has used it comes away suitably impressed but the novelty is short-lived and they soon stop coming back.
sounds like what my PS4 went through back when it launched
No he pretty much has it. For VR to truly succeed in the mainstream the implementation has to not include a headset.
Anything more obtrusive than a pair of glasses is a nonstarter.
Well the problem is content. I had both headsets and sold my Vive and kept the Rift. I haven't really played it much at all in the last few months.
Last week I decided to play Arizona Sunshine with a friend and it was a blast. Another friend bought a Vive so we are going to Rec Room.
Other than that there is much on the horizon except for Oculus stuff, Budget Cuts, and whatever Valve is working on.
I ask myself what would happen if PS5 came with PSVR2 in the box with all games requiring support for it... and I realize it would simply go through what XBO did with Kinect2. People wouldn't want it, it would block sales, and eventually we would get a sku with it removed entirely.
And it would take something as bold as including it in every box to give it another major shot in the next 2 years... but I just can't see that working.
Much like the Kinect, there will be people who want their hands on one for development. And as we see Kinects continue to be used for interactive advertising, maybe schools, etc, we will continue to see VR used in "attraction settings" and schools. It will forever be a useful tool when appropriate. But I feel it has been proven to not be desired for home entertainment.
And it would take something as bold as including it in every box to give it another major shot in the next 2 years... but I just can't see that working.
Much like the Kinect, there will be people who want their hands on one for development. And as we see Kinects continue to be used for interactive advertising, maybe schools, etc, we will continue to see VR used in "attraction settings" and schools. It will forever be a useful tool when appropriate. But I feel it has been proven to not be desired for home entertainment.
MR ARCADE FOREVER
Member
I also think that my purchase was justified. However, I am concerned about the lack of AAA titles in the horizon. Other than Farpoint I saw only vaporware and a lack of "proper" games to keep me interested. I honestly am waiting for this upcoming E3 to see if more titles are announced, otherwise I don't see any reason to keep a VR white elephant in my room....
Sleeping Lesson
Member
I also think that my purchase was justified. However, I am concerned about the lack of AAA titles in the horizon. Other than Farpoint I saw only vaporware and a lack of "proper" games to keep me interested. I honestly am waiting for this upcoming E3 to see if more titles are announced, otherwise I don't see any reason to keep a VR white elephant in my room....
Expect a big Fallout 4 VR presentation by Bethesda. I have high hopes for it! There's also Valve's projects, but who knows when we'll hear anything about those.
AllIsOneIsNone
Banned
I don't think it should necessarily be included with PS5, but the Kinect comparisons never cease to amaze me. It's a completely different thing that has gotten a completely different response from developers. The consumer base for VR is also at the near opposite end of the spectrum. If it would be helpful to give more details about this I can, but in all honesty if you are posting in a VR thread and don't know this already then I'm not sure how much I can sway you to pay attention to the details.
mckmas8808
Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
Games that are 60 fps, have been fine also. 90 FPS isn't a "must have" per say.
It may not be the apex of interaction, but it is the easiest and cleanest solution. And there's literally ZERO wrong with it. TVs were made 65 years ago and we are still watching TV the same way for a reason.