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[Yurikerr]

Great article about the event that Valve set up for press last week, with a extensive write-up (and videos) of the games that they played.

Some selected quotes below, much more at the link:
http://www.polygon.com/features/2016/2/2/10885790/valve-htc-vive-preview-games

Valve and HTC created a sort of church for virtual reality in Seattle last week.

While the companies have done a strong job making sure developers and the press have been able to try the hardware, questions remained about the Vive's game selection. It's hard to even care about the device's price when we've only played a few actual games on top of the expected tech demos and experiments.

Valve's developer showcase was meant to answer those questions. There were 12 demo stations, and the press was invited to try each game and speak to the developers. We were given a bit over six hours to jump from virtual world to world while grilling the developers on what it was like creating games for the Vive. In many ways this was the hardware's proper coming-out party, and Valve and HTC seemed content to let the developers speak freely about the experience of making games for the machine.

This was a chance to see what the Vive could do in the hands of the developers working in the trenches. One advantage of the Vive became apparent very quickly: It ships with two controllers that deliver perfectly tracked motion controls in 3D space. Nearly every game took advantage of this fact, which created an array of demos and experiences that felt more real due to the ability to directly manipulate objects in the game, rather than with a standard controller.

These weren't just tech demos; each station contained a functional game that will hopefully be available near the Vive's launch or sometime during 2016.

The event was an unqualified success. This is some of what we played, with a focus on games we had never seen before.

SPACE PIRATE TRAINER

"We're going for a Space Invaders / Galaga game," developer Dirk Van Welden told Polygon. "It's very arcade-y.

Space Pirate Trainer has a very simple concept: You're trying to defend your ship against laser gun-wielding drones. You can hold a gun in each hand, and can select between semi-automatic and fully automatic fire, as well as a railgun setting that requires you to aim carefully before letting loose with a single devastating blast.

This is one of those games that seems obvious in retrospect, but shows off what the Vive can do well. The motion controls make aiming and firing feel as natural as it should when using lasers to blow drones out of the sky, and I was told the team is now working on drones that can protect you, boss battles and additional levels.

But the core mechanic already feels amazing, and Space Pirate Trainer was one of the most discussed demos of the show.

CLOUDLANDS: VR MINIGOLF

You can't fly a spaceship in real life. You probably can't set up a few hundred drones to shoot down with your laser guns. But you can play minigolf, which makes this a bit of an odd choice for virtual reality. Why simulate something you can already do?

"We wanted something that was accessible and more familiar while kind of taking it to the next level," Justin Liebregts, CTO and co-founder of Futuretown, told Polygon. "Not everyone wants to throw knives at robots. I like it, but we wanted something that was for everybody. All ages appropriate, that everyone can get into."

Cloudlands is played completely by motions and a button press that is understood instantly; this is something that anyone can pick up and at least try, no matter their knowledge of games or controllers. It felt like the promise of the Nintendo Wii taken all the way to its logical conclusion.

You'll be able to pass the Vive around for hotseat multiplayer, and you will also be able to play against friends online. Cloudlands should be released around the launch of the Vive.

BUDGET CUTS

Having a gun pointed at you in virtual reality is uncomfortable.

Budget Cuts is a stylized, Portal-esque game of sneaking and assassination, played out in a very lighthearted manner. If that's even possible.

Budget Cuts, based on this demo, is one of the best games you've never heard of. It's going to blow up among VR fans once it's released for the Vive, and I wouldn't be surprised if it sold quite a few pieces of hardware on its own. While having even a stylized robot point a gun at you is scary, my initial reaction of jumping backward and taking cover was correct. Your body translates your basic survival instincts into motions that will help you win the game, which is a very odd thing to type.

SO WHAT DID WE LEARN ABOUT THE VIVE?

We learned plenty. We spent an entire day playing games and talking to developers about the system, and there is more coverage coming throughout the week. This was a dense event with many demos and insights about creating VR games in general and developing for the Vive in particular, and it's worth taking the time to really dig into what we saw.

Valve also told members of the press that we could expect Vive Pre units to be sent out soon, so we can begin to demo some of these games in our own offices in much greater detail.

What was most interesting about the day's demos was the fact that nearly all of them used the Vive wands in interesting and even necessary ways. Since the Vive is going to come with motion controllers as a standard part of the system, everyone who buys a Vive will be using the same control interface. That means developers will all support it as the default control mechanism, which is a huge advantage over Oculus' strategy of launching with a standard console-style gamepad before adding the Touch controllers later this year.

That makes all the difference. The games I played at the event all benefited greatly from the use of motion controls, offering experiences and emotions that would be hard, if not impossible, to replicate on a standard screen or even in VR with a standard controller.

In a war of VR platforms, the Vive is more or less shipping as a complete holodeck. The Rift will launch as a product that may feel, compared to these games, incomplete.

 

[The Elite]

By the time these two devices are priced competitively for the mass market I imagine they will both have motion controls packed in.

Right now, I don't think anyone is beating anyone.

 

[Dreamwriter]

Polygon is arguing that because Vive comes packed with motion controllers and Oculus doesn't, developers will develop for them on Vive but not Oculus due to guaranteed ownership, so this is an advantage. Here's the point where that argument all falls down: Any game developed for Vive works on Oculus Rift. So a developer who makes a game for Vive's motion controls is going to need very little work to make it work with the Rift. In fact, more than one of the games shown off at the Vive shindig have already been announced as coming to Rift when Oculus Touch is released.

 

[The Elite]

Polygon is arguing that because Vive comes packed with motion controllers and Oculus doesn't, developers will develop for them on Vive but not Oculus due to guaranteed ownership, so this is an advantage. Here's the point where that argument all falls down: Any game developed for Vive works on Oculus Rift. So a developer who makes a game for Vive's motion controls is going to need very little work to make it work with the Rift. In fact, more than one of the games shown off at the Vive shindig have already been announced as coming to Rift when Oculus Touch is released.

Yeah. I think their argument weighs heavily on touch controllers being packed in with the Vive while it's an extra expense for people buying Oculus.

In the long run, I really don't think it will make much of a difference as an Oculus packed with touch controls will probably be a reality by the time these units are competitively priced. Also, like you mentioned, games designed for Vive don't require much effort to be playable on Oculus.

I don't think there is any "x beats y" scenario yet.

 

[Yurikerr]

Polygon is arguing that because Vive comes packed with motion controllers and Oculus doesn't, developers will develop for them on Vive but not Oculus due to guaranteed ownership, so this is an advantage. Here's the point where that argument all falls down: Any game developed for Vive works on Oculus Rift. So a developer who makes a game for Vive's motion controls is going to need very little work to make it work with the Rift. In fact, more than one of the games shown off at the Vive shindig have already been announced as coming to Rift when Oculus Touch is released.

I think what Kuchera is trying to argue is that having motion controllers at launch will be Vive's advantage. Assuming that the Vive package launch before Oculus Touch (I don't remember what's the estimate launch date for Oculus Touch)

I personally would argue that the room-scale VR enabled by the lighthouse system is a bigger selling point than motion controls.

 

[Pie and Beans]

Yeah this is why Vive feels like the complete product, especially now with the camera's Tron Mode for usability.

With Oculus a dev is forced to include gamepad controls to reach that whole userbase (which gets fractured in year one, genius!) and also not be able to rely on too much if any room tracking. Thats not very conducive to entirely new methods of control and gameplay :/

The downside to Vive right now is Valve doesn't seem to be really making anything themselves so Oculus first party studio work and bought up exclusives give them the quality software edge.

I'm disappointed VR is launching in this weird way and Oculus didn't get their input shit together a whole lot earlier so they didn't have to sell a 70% there/incomplete product.

 

[Buggy Loop]

I think what Kuchera is trying to argue is that having motion controllers at launch will be Vive's advantage. Assuming that the Vive package launch before Oculus Touch (I don't remember what's the estimate launch date for Oculus Touch)

I personally would argue that the room-scale VR enabled by the lighthouse system is a bigger selling point than motion controls.

Having a dedicated VR room is more of a hassle than a selling point imo. Its nice on paper and demos at an electronic show, but really, it'll be a minority that will even be able to do that.

 

[habithipster]

Here's the point where that argument all falls down: Any game developed for Vive works on Oculus Rift. So a developer who makes a game for Vive's motion controls is going to need very little work to make it work with the Rift.

It's not that simple. Read what the developer of Budget Cuts has to say about it:

The more we found out about them, the less likely it seems that we can run the game in its current design for the Touch, and even less so in the PSVR.

You can technically do room-scale in the Rift, but, not practically for the end-user.

That being said, we won't be limiting the Vive version this way. Getting the full experience on at least one platform is more important to us, than consistency between all platforms.

From here: https://www.reddit.com/r/oculus/com...t_cuts_a_heartpounding_vive/cyztzrj?context=3

 

[The Elite]

Having a dedicated VR room is more of a hassle than a selling point imo. Its nice on paper and demos at an electronic show, but really, it'll be a minority that will even be able to do that.

Yeah, it's a great feature, but I don't expect it to be something most people can achieve with their current setups.

 

[KingSnake]

That was a good read. And it really seems like Vive is offering a full package and there are a lot of games that seems so have great ideas on how to use the proprietary controls for a great immersion.

The only unknown now is the price. But as a complete experience Vive sounds wonderful from all the comments I've seen about the games and the HMD itself.

 

[ncsuDuncan]

You'll be able to pass the Vive around for hotseat multiplayer,

In a golf game? After every swing? Yeah that sounds like it won't get old fast.

 

[jaypah]

In a golf game? After every swing? Yeah that sounds like it won't get old fast.

Wouldn't the turn-around only be that fast if everyone only gets hole-in-ones? Plus it's not that bad. I'm out the Rift in 3 seconds and my wife is in it in 3 seconds. Doing that once every 30 seconds would get kind of annoying, I'll admit.

 

[Sleeping Lesson]

Wouldn't the turn-around only be that fast if everyone only gets hole-in-ones? Plus it's not that bad. I'm out the Rift in 3 seconds and my wife is in it in 3 seconds. Doing that once every 30 seconds would get kind of annoying, I'll admit.

That's not how golf is played. You take turns teeing off, then the player furthest from the hole goes until everyone is finished.

 

[The Elite]

That's not how golf is played. You take turns teeing off, then the player furthest from the hole goes until everyone is finished.

If they're smart they will just change the way it's done. Let people play until they sink their ball and then pass it on to the next person.

It would be less tedious.

 

[mnannola]

If the vive is $1000+, everyone will be thanking Oculus for not including motion controls.

 

[Sleeping Lesson]

If they're smart they will just change the way it's done. Let people play until they sink their ball and then pass it on to the next person.

It would be less tedious.

That's not a great trade off though, changing the game in such a way. Part of the fun of golf is teeing off, and then seeing how your friend tees off immediately after. Either way isn't ideal, really, but I don't have a good solution to offer.

 

[parcali]

http://youtu.be/qWVG4_0bdDc
funny

i like that man.

 

[Arulan]

For what it's worth the best VR experiences I've tried have been room-scale, and everything from HTC/Valve's decision to include the controllers and the design of their tracking system only reinforces how focused they are on it.

If the vive is $1000+, everyone will be thanking Oculus for not including motion controls.

The price of the Vive is irrelevant. A input device made for 3D-space interaction and ideally room-scale to experience it in is the VR dream, and I believe is what the best VR experiences will offer. Not every game will use them, but I feel it's such a necessary part of VR that excluding them, and then including a Xbox One controller of all things is a mistake. And for what? To reduce the price shock a little? VR is expensive even at cost. The sooner the corporate armchair role-players stop throwing "dead on arrival", "mainstream", "average consumer" to try and argue for why it's going to fail, perhaps in large part because they can't afford it, the better. Not everyone is going to be able to afford it. I can't afford that 4K OLED 120Hz monitor with a $5K price tag that was announced at CES, but I want it. What do I do? I wait. Gear VR (low-end) and PlayStation VR (middle-road) are targeting these people, but they're also not offering the same fidelity experience.

 

[Durante]

Polygon is arguing that because Vive comes packed with motion controllers and Oculus doesn't, developers will develop for them on Vive but not Oculus due to guaranteed ownership, so this is an advantage. Here's the point where that argument all falls down: Any game developed for Vive works on Oculus Rift. So a developer who makes a game for Vive's motion controls is going to need very little work to make it work with the Rift. In fact, more than one of the games shown off at the Vive shindig have already been announced as coming to Rift when Oculus Touch is released.

That's not really true. Games which make full use of room-scale tracking will require significant adjustments or even re-engineering to work with the setup endorsed by Oculus for Touch.

 

[DirtyLarry]

I am probably in a very small minority here, and I am super excited to check out VR asap (I have Oculus pre ordered) but I am currently of the belief video games are meant to be enjoyed in a stationary position. Either sitting down and/or standing in place in front of an arcade cabinet.

Perhaps Vive will change this view of mine once I witness it in action, but I am also not getting any younger and there is something about imagining myself 5-10 years from now, either almost or over the age of 50 years old, running around a room waving my hands that I just cannot envision being enjoyable at all. I just cannot get over needing an entire room and using that room to play a video game.

I actually do hope I am proven wrong. Or perhaps, a very small perhaps, I will one day outgrow video games if this is the path they do indeed wind up taking. Outgrowing video games is something just a few years ago I swore would never, ever happen. So we shall see.

Perhaps I am just old fashioned in my thinking, but if I think of my own personal experience with video games, which pretty much goes back to the beginning of when they were available for public consumption, and especially when looking at the playing in one's own home video game market, it really has not changed all that much in over 30 years. Sure, the hardware has changed dramatically and considerably, but the act of holding a controller and sitting in front of a TV and/or using a keyboard and sitting in front of a monitor is pretty much all I have ever known. The Wii is pretty much the biggest exception I can think of, and I ultimately really disliked the Wii.

So for now I am team Oculus for the simple reason it more or less retains what I am comfortable with. The big difference being is the TV and/or monitor is replaced with Goggles, but I am still relatively stationary, and still have a controller or keyboard in my hand.

 

[Monger]

It's hard not to be excited for what the Vive has going. The lighthouses are a much easier implementation in a room(not requiring usb) and won't suffer from the issues the touch controllers will have using cameras for tracking.The larger vertical fov using round screens is also an advantage for the seated experience. If IQ or price don't end up being an issue, I have a hard time seeing what advantages the Rift offers right now.

I'm sure most of my gaming will be done seated, but either headset will do that and I already have plenty of controllers. I have experienced the traditional seated VR games using Oculus dev kits and the additional opportunities presented by room scale are just too cool blow off. Not to mention the shared experience of those games with family and friends.

 

[Dreamwriter]

That's not really true. Games which make full use of room-scale tracking will require significant adjustments or even re-engineering to work with the setup endorsed by Oculus for Touch.

I was specifically referencing what the article was talking about, which was the motion controls, not room-scale. The article said that since the Vive is packed with motion controls, every user is guaranteed to have them so developers will choose to support them, while they won't with Oculus. So my point was that by using the OpenVR SDK that Vive uses, developers are already basically making those games for Oculus Touch, so there's no problem here unless all developers choose to only develop exclusively for Oculus Rift.

As for room-scale tracking, once the Touch is out the Rift will fully support room-scale, Palmer Luckey has already shown it to be working with two cameras at opposite sides of the room, and it will not require significant adjustments or re-engineering. The real question is, how many users are willing to use that much space for either Vive or Oculus. Personally I would love to have a dedicated VR room, but my 300 square foot studio apartment can't quite handle it

It's hard not to be excited for what the Vive has going. The lighthouses are a much easier implementation in a room(not requiring usb) and won't suffer from the issues the touch controllers will have using cameras for tracking.The larger vertical fov using round screens is also an advantage for the seated experience. If IQ or price don't end up being an issue, I have a hard time seeing what advantages the Rift offers right now.

I don't see how a slightly larger vertical FOV (Vive) is any better than a slightly larger horizontal FOV (Rift). Different games will have different needs. And what issues will the Touch controllers have using cameras for tracking?

 

[lmimmfn]

"In a war of VR platforms, the Vive is more or less shipping as a complete holodeck"

I really hate it when current VR is described as a holodeck, its nowhere near a holodeck and won't be for a very long time, if ever, possibly with neural interfaces, but its setting peoples expectations too high. Only your visual and audio senses are being tricked and that's not enough for the holodeck we all know.

 

[{insert code here}]

Yeah but how much does the Vive kit cost? Oculus is already at $599 and earlier reports had the Vive kit costing substantially more than that. All this being said I think both will be successful short term. Long term, I think we will be having Rift vs Vive list wars for at least a couple years.

 

[family_guy]

Games are nice, but I think Occulus so far has better non-gaming application support if the Rift is anything like GearVR.

 

[AwesomeMeat]

I'm thankful that Vive is packing in the motion controls since Oculus doesn't have theirs ready for launch. For VR it is all about content right now and having a HMD on the market that has the motion controls will get developers thinking about games and experiences using them.

It will not take much work on the developers part to add in the Oculus Touch controller support down the road and since the install base for VR will be rather small for awhile - they will have incentive to do so.

I was originally very high on the Vive but I just don't trust HTC. Who knows if they will even be around in a year or two. I pre-ordered the rift since I know Oculus is in for the long haul. I'm still very thankful for the Vive coming along so nicely though for the sake of VR.

 

[Durante]

Yeah but how much does the Vive kit cost? Oculus is already at $599 and earlier reports had the Vive kit costing substantially more than that. All this being said I think both will be successful short term.

Vive will cost more, but the fair comparison is really Vive vs Rift + Touch, not Vive vs the initial Rift package.

In that comparison, the difference might end up not being all that great (Vive will likely still be more expensive though).

 

[xir]

Budget Cuts looks legit fun.

But fun more than 10 minutes?

what was that konami arcade shooter where you dodges bullets by moving your body? you were a cop?

 

[Arulan]

Another advantage for HTC/Valve's tracking solution is that in all it'll only require a single USB 2.0 or 3.0 port for headset and controllers. Contrast this with Oculus' requirement of 3x USB 3.0 and 1x USB 2.0 port. It's not that immensely significant, but certainly convenient for those who are already using most of their USB ports, or would have to buy an expansion card for USB 3.0 ports.

 

[Brofist]

Another advantage for HTC/Valve's tracking solution is that in all it'll only require a single USB 2.0 or 3.0 port for headset and controllers. Contrast this with Oculus' requirement of 3x USB 3.0 and 1x USB 2.0 port. It's not that immensely significant, but certainly convenient for those who are already using most of their USB ports, or would have to buy an expansion card for USB 3.0 ports.

While a hassle, you are talking about $10 card. Not really a deal breaker

 

[ashecitism]

A bit too early to declare anyone beating anyone. We still don't know the price of the Vive. (It's going to be more expensive than base Rift.) We still don't know the exact launch library and the content going forward. Oculus is more aggressive on that front while it's totally possible Valve won't deliver anything themselves anytime soon.

 

[Synth]

Hmm... This bit here:

Since the Vive is going to come with motion controllers as a standard part of the system, everyone who buys a Vive will be using the same control interface. That means developers will all support it as the default control mechanism, which is a huge advantage over Oculus' strategy of launching with a standard console-style gamepad before adding the Touch controllers later this year.

Seems a bit like arguing that because the Kinect comes with an Xbox One developers will all support it, making the requirement to buy the PS camera separate a disadvantage. What actually happened in this case though, was that developers ignored it so they could make games that worked with both, causing the added hardware to become a disadvantage.

 

[DHC-Shannow]

Oculus is showing the more polished traditional type of games (third person action adventure, platforming and space sims) probably due to the controller whilst the Vive stuff certainly seems to be pushing the VR boundaries much more but have a low budget indie look. Reading that article however really puts across how Budget Cuts and Hover junkers make you feel more involved in the experience.

 

[mrklaw]

I do think it is better to have motion controls packed in - I think it is fairly safe for most developers to assume PC owners either have, or can easily buy, a standard 360/XB1 pad - whereas with OR you literally don't have a motion option until Oculus ship theirs. You can't buy the vive controllers separately.

So while I think motion controllers aren't necessarily a winner (many of the games I want to play will be seated with HOTAS/Steering wheel/pad), I do think packing them in as default is the best route.

 

[KampferZeon]

I prefer Valve complete setup offering.
But I expect Racing / Flying / space sim to be system sellers for the VR first adopters. ( no talking about porn pls ) and we have driving wheels / flight sticks for those games.
Only when the prices for VR devices come down will casual touch control based games take off.
So i think Oculus is not going to worry about the lack of motion control

 

[Dreamwriter]

I do think it is better to have motion controls packed in - I think it is fairly safe for most developers to assume PC owners either have, or can easily buy, a standard 360/XB1 pad - whereas with OR you literally don't have a motion option until Oculus ship theirs. You can't buy the vive controllers separately.

So while I think motion controllers aren't necessarily a winner (many of the games I want to play will be seated with HOTAS/Steering wheel/pad), I do think packing them in as default is the best route.

While PC owners can buy the controller on their own, you'd be surprised at how many PC owners do not have gamepads and are unwilling to buy one. The company I work for made a PC game that requires a gamepad, the gameplay is built entirely around it with motions you can't really emulate with mouse/keyboard, and we get a *ton* of hate on Steam and people asking for refunds because of that.

 

[bj00rn_]

Why do motion controllers appear to be locked under some arbitrary key anyway? Shouldn't we be able to buy motion controllers separately from HMDs built around a standard which developers can follow?

 

[KingSnake]

Why do motion controllers appear to be locked under some arbitrary key anyway? Shouldn't we be able to buy motion controllers separately from HMDs built around a standard which developers can follow?

Rift and Vive use different tracking systems for the motion controllers.

 

[Renekton]

If you can get the peripheral separately, I don't think pack-in value should be a consideration in this greenfield scenario.

Should just go for whichever gives the best VR experience.

 

[Dreamwriter]

Why do motion controllers appear to be locked under some arbitrary key anyway? Shouldn't we be able to buy motion controllers separately from HMDs built around a standard which developers can follow?

It's because the Vive and the Rift have entirely different methods of tracking objects in 3D space, so different it wouldn't really be feasible to make generic controllers that supported both. In the end to developers the Vive controllers and Oculus Touch are going to be very similar to develop for (although their button/directional controls will be different), but to use Vive controllers requires lighthouses, to use Oculus Touch requires cameras.

 

[bj00rn_]

Rift and Vive use different tracking systems for the motion controllers.

You're missing the point. I'm talking about protocols. Again, why are specific HMDs directly linked to specific motion controllers. The drivers should take care of the translation methods into a standard.

 

[Graphics Horse]

Why do motion controllers appear to be locked under some arbitrary key anyway? Shouldn't we be able to buy motion controllers separately from HMDs built around a standard which developers can follow?

Yes.

give it 10 years or so.

 

[I'm new be nice]

"In a war of VR platforms, the Vive is more or less shipping as a complete holodeck"

I really hate it when current VR is described as a holodeck, its nowhere near a holodeck and won't be for a very long time, if ever, possibly with neural interfaces, but its setting peoples expectations too high. Only your visual and audio senses are being tricked and that's not enough for the holodeck we all know.

I always roll my eyes when I see that too. It's like, really people?? Room scale VR isn't impressive enough? We have to call it a holodeck because people just won't be on board otherwise? Very silly.

They might as well be calling it the matrix at that point.

Did these people even watch Star Trek?

Spoiler

It's not a big deal but come on guys

 

[Skulduggery]

Seems a bit like arguing that because the Kinect comes with an Xbox One developers will all support it, making the requirement to buy the PS camera separate a disadvantage. What actually happened in this case though, was that developers ignored it so they could make games that worked with both, causing the added hardware to become a disadvantage.

Every time I see someone compare VR to the Kinect or 3d TVs, a little piece of me dies inside.

You're missing the point. I'm talking about protocols. Again, why are specific HMDs directly linked to specific motion controllers. The drivers should take care of the translation methods into a standard.

You're basically talking about OpenVR. It's a VR API made by Valve for the Vive and everything else. Handles almost any headset/controller, allows developers to make games without having to target a specific hardware. Device agnostic, it's a beautiful thing.

But also, as it stands right now, Rift and Vive both communicate with their controllers directly through the headset, not a USB dongle (Vive DK1 excluded). I do believe however Vive will definitely make their controllers available separately for people with OSVR or something. Lighthouse is going to catch on in a big way once they open the technology to 3rd parties (royalty-free!)

 

[Synth]

Every time I see someone compare VR to the Kinect or 3d TVs, a little piece of me dies inside.

You're basically talking about OpenVR. It's a VR API made by Valve for the Vive and everything else. Handles almost any headset/controller, allows developers to make games without having to target a specific hardware. Device agnostic, it's a beautiful thing.

Haha, sorry... the comparison wasn't supposed to be about the tech itself (I especially dislike the 3DTV comparison too actually), more the idea of having something as standard vs it being a peripheral.

 

[Seiru]

Like somebody else said in this topic, nobody is going to 'beat' anybody for a long time, unless HTC goes out of business. Even as somebody who preordered a Rift, I'm glad that the Vive exists, and it's pushing some cool tech. But I feel like the price reaction is going to be even worse than it was for the RIft. Like full-on meltdowns.

 

[Bsigg12]

Like somebody else said in this topic, nobody is going to 'beat' anybody for a long time, unless HTC goes out of business. Even as somebody who preordered a Rift, I'm glad that the Vive exists, and it's pushing some cool tech. But I feel like the price reaction is going to be even worse than it was for the RIft. Like full-on meltdowns.

This is a very real possibility.

 

[Guardian Monkey]

Like somebody else said in this topic, nobody is going to 'beat' anybody for a long time, unless HTC goes out of business. Even as somebody who preordered a Rift, I'm glad that the Vive exists, and it's pushing some cool tech. But I feel like the price reaction is going to be even worse than it was for the RIft. Like full-on meltdowns.

Thats why they are splitting off as a subcompany. The future of the Vive and HTC are independant of each other.

 

[Sleeping Lesson]

Thats why they are splitting off as a subcompany. The future of the Vive and HTC are independant of each other.

They are not doing that.

 

[Foggy]

This "war" between the 2 pc headsets(and even PSVR) is a storm in a tea cup. It'll be a couple years before there are actual stakes in who "wins" and "loses". Right now, just pick what works for you. You have the space and a full wallet, get a Vive. If not, get a Rift. I don't think anyone will regret their purchase.

Personally, I don't have space for a Vive so it doesn't mitigate whatever the "premium" price point is. It's just a non-factor for me.

Also, has there been any momentum on the rumor that the scheduled release is actually for the Vive Pre dev kit?