As per the title.
I wouldn't say racers are my favourite genre, but I enjoy them enough to have a pretty solid collection spanning most major releases, and got hooked on some obscure titles along the way (F355 will always hold a special place in my heart).
So, a few months ago I picked up Project Cars for the Rift in a sale, and a few weeks ago Driveclub for the PSVR, but what happened next was completely unexpected.
I gave them a quick play when I first purchased them - thought, like most people, 'huh that's pretty neat' and then moved on to other things.
Maybe it was the lack of other games, but for whatever reason, I kept returning to them, and over time I noticed the way I played them was starting to shift. At first, I treated them like any regular racer; did a few challenges or ranked up then called it a night.
Then after a few evenings I changed the camera to the cockpit view and brought in a comfy chair to sit on, I've raced using nothing but bumper-cams for the last 20 years, but for some reason, it just felt right to do this in VR. Between races, I'd find myself moving my head around just taking in all the little details, the trim on the chairs, the mirrors, the fancy little dials and widgets on the dashboards. It feels like your inside your own little safe space.
Then after one particularly shitty day at work, I picked an empty track and just sort of went for a drive. I drove around Japan a dusk, pulled up along some neon signs and just sat there, with the engine humming, looking around for a good 20 minutes. Watching the dynamic leaves flow between the gaps in the wooden fence rather than clipping through them.
Now I find myself "playing" them most evenings, and the majority of the time I don't even bother racing apart from to unlock things, and that's the other weirdness - apart from maybe when I first got the TVR at as kid in Gran Turismo, I've never been excited about unlocking stuff. But in VR, every car and track feels like it actually has worth - it's another sandbox to play in, another location to visit.
I'm pretty sure I'm done with regular racing games now.
It's also got me thinking, does VR simply make the entire videogame experience better? Given the lack of 'bad' launch titles on the PSVR, I'm wondering if just the sense of presence alone adds something to the title; pretty sure titles like Sports Bar VR would be pretty shite if it were not for the VR aspect, and yet the VR aspect somehow raises it.
I wouldn't say racers are my favourite genre, but I enjoy them enough to have a pretty solid collection spanning most major releases, and got hooked on some obscure titles along the way (F355 will always hold a special place in my heart).
So, a few months ago I picked up Project Cars for the Rift in a sale, and a few weeks ago Driveclub for the PSVR, but what happened next was completely unexpected.
I should totally write click-bait videogame journalism...
I gave them a quick play when I first purchased them - thought, like most people, 'huh that's pretty neat' and then moved on to other things.
Maybe it was the lack of other games, but for whatever reason, I kept returning to them, and over time I noticed the way I played them was starting to shift. At first, I treated them like any regular racer; did a few challenges or ranked up then called it a night.
Then after a few evenings I changed the camera to the cockpit view and brought in a comfy chair to sit on, I've raced using nothing but bumper-cams for the last 20 years, but for some reason, it just felt right to do this in VR. Between races, I'd find myself moving my head around just taking in all the little details, the trim on the chairs, the mirrors, the fancy little dials and widgets on the dashboards. It feels like your inside your own little safe space.
Then after one particularly shitty day at work, I picked an empty track and just sort of went for a drive. I drove around Japan a dusk, pulled up along some neon signs and just sat there, with the engine humming, looking around for a good 20 minutes. Watching the dynamic leaves flow between the gaps in the wooden fence rather than clipping through them.
Now I find myself "playing" them most evenings, and the majority of the time I don't even bother racing apart from to unlock things, and that's the other weirdness - apart from maybe when I first got the TVR at as kid in Gran Turismo, I've never been excited about unlocking stuff. But in VR, every car and track feels like it actually has worth - it's another sandbox to play in, another location to visit.
I'm pretty sure I'm done with regular racing games now.
It's also got me thinking, does VR simply make the entire videogame experience better? Given the lack of 'bad' launch titles on the PSVR, I'm wondering if just the sense of presence alone adds something to the title; pretty sure titles like Sports Bar VR would be pretty shite if it were not for the VR aspect, and yet the VR aspect somehow raises it.
