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[Wonko_C]

And the fourth pillar is none other than Meta. No no, wait, don't leave yet!

I know VR is not huge, and somehow it's looked at with disdain or resistance by some of the most hardcore gamers, yet they ironically are the ones who are supposed to keep up with the latest trends. (Xbox was seen with opposition when they were new too.)

But at the very least, with as many consoles sold (arguably more, no updated info on this) as the Xbox Series combined, Meta Quest is a legitimate console with its own ecosystem, it even has a "Games with Gold" style subscription in Meta Quest Plus. It's basically a console at this point.

And it's backed by a multi-billion company which in the past acquired several big studios who are their first party developers now, a company that is very similar to Microsoft in that they use the same bullish, monopolistic tactics to get what they want.

Meta is already a player in the console space alongside Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft, and seemingly nobody realized this yet.

 

[The Cockatrice]

Meta is already a player in the console space alongside Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft

 

[Heisenberg007]

I can get behind that.

Meta Quest 2 sold ~20 million units, if I am not mistaken in ~2-3 years? That's roughly the same number of units that Xbox Series X|S sold. I don't think "VR is niche" is an argument that is as valid as before - especially if we're just talking about gaming platform companies in the industry.

We can't say that Meta is a "console" manufacturer because of the technical differences, but as a gaming platform, it certainly deserves recognition.

 

[Punished Miku]

I said for the last couple years they should set up at E3. But now E3 is toast anyway.

 

[Romulus]

I can get behind that.

Meta Quest 2 sold ~20 million units, if I am not mistaken in ~2-3 years? That's roughly the same number of units that Xbox Series X|S sold. I don't think "VR is niche" is an argument that is as valid as before - especially if we're just talking about gaming platform companies in the industry.

We can't say that Meta is a "console" manufacturer because of the technical differences, but as a gaming platform, it certainly deserves recognition.

And I think what people like to ignore is the growth of VR. The previous bestselling VR headset was psvr1's 5 million lol. That took 5 years compared to Quest. 4x more Quest sales in half the time.

 

[Davevil]

 

[NeverYouMind]

I thought the fourth would be Steam...

P.S. My brother has a Quest 2, but it collects dust after RE4 and has terrible streaming options for wireless PC interconnectivity. It uses WiFi instead of Bluetooth! WTF?

 

[Omnipunctual Godot]

This would be like calling Tiger Electronics the big third in the 80s.

 

[IlGialloMondadori]

I don't think "VR is niche" is an argument that is as valid as before - especially if we're just talking about gaming platform companies in the industry.

I'm still unsure. I know multiple people who bought a Meta Quest 2, and never use it, and advise people not to buy them, and wouldn't buy another VR headset right now.

 

[Wonko_C]

I thought the fourth would be Steam...

Speaking about console manufacturers here. PC is not a console.

 

[TheInfamousKira]

Bleach, One Piece, Naruto, and Velma?

 

[Romulus]

I'm still unsure. I know multiple people who bought a Meta Quest 2, and never use it, and advise people not to buy them, and wouldn't buy another VR headset right now.

And I've known tons of people that have owned the best consoles of all time that didn't use them.

 

[Wonko_C]

This would be like calling Tiger Electronics the big third in the 80s.

The third was NEC with the TurboGrafx-16. Its Japanese counterpart, the PC-Engine, was actually pretty big in Japan.

 

[Humdinger]

It's an interesting argument. The sales figures are more substantial than I realized (I don't pay much attention to the VR market).

This is the only part I disagree with:

It's basically a console at this point.

Is it, though? How are we defining console?

Heisenberg called it a "gaming platform," rather than a console. That makes more sense to me -- although, I've always considered PC a "gaming platform," and there is some distinction between Quest and PC.

 

[IlGialloMondadori]

And I've known tons of people that have owned the best consoles of all time that didn't use them.

But do those people actively campaign against buying videogame consoles? Probably not.
I know its anecdotal, but I'm just saying I've been talked out of it by multiple people who say they wished they didn't spend the money on VR and don't want to use it in the future. And this is my opinion, but it still feels like an extra-sometimes, not a main thing like a computer or a console, or like a phone or a TV.

 

[Heisenberg007]

I'm still unsure. I know multiple people who bought a Meta Quest 2, and never use it, and advise people not to buy them, and wouldn't buy another VR headset right now.

I can see that. VR does have a bit more of a novelty value than traditional consoles.

But to be fair, I have also seen plenty of posts like "I haven't powered on my Series X since Hi-Fi Rush released 7 months ago" or "I haven't powered by PS5 since God of War Ragnarok 4 months ago," etc.

For what it's worth, I have been using my Quest 2 almost daily . You gotta find that one game/software that would have you keep coming.

 

[FunkMiller]

Not until they start producing more full length AAA games. If VR is to succeed it needs to substantially increase its offering of high quality, long, immersive experiences with decent narratives and replay value. We should have many, many games of the equivalent to Alyx, instead of virtually none.

 

[NeverYouMind]

Speaking about console manufacturers here. PC is not a console.

Ahem...

 

[IlGialloMondadori]

Not until they start producing more full length AAA games. If VR is to succeed it needs to substantially increase its offering of high quality, long, immersive experiences with decent narratives and replay value. We should have many, many games of the equivalent to Alyx, instead of virtually none.

I somewhat agree, but I also think there will be people who just do not want an isolating headset strapped to their face for long periods, and never will. I think Apple and Meta are trying to solve some of that, but we'll have to see.

 

[brian0057]

 

[IlGialloMondadori]

Ahem...

That's not a console. It's a PC. And no, that's not semantic games.

 

[Robb]

We’ll see. I don’t think sales matter much. It’s more about image. Remains to be seen if they’re actually serious or not.

Technically I guess Apple makes the most money on gaming out of all of them, but no one gives a crap because it’s 98% shovelware and tied/related to phones/tablets.

 

[Unknown?]

Meta is such an evil company that shouldn't exist. Hoping they get out of gaming.

I somewhat agree, but I also think there will be people who just do not want an isolating headset strapped to their face for long periods, and never will. I think Apple and Meta are trying to solve some of that, but we'll have to see.

They'll come around when we get holodeck technology!

 

[winjer]

 

[Mowcno]

20m headsets sold in around 3.5 years. Estimated to have sold between 100m and 114m units of software in 4 years and a software revenue of over $2 billion. It comes out favourably when compared to the WiiU anyway. Pretty decent but we'll have to keep watch to see if it's a market that grows or not.

 

[NeverYouMind]

That's not a console. It's a PC. And no, that's not semantic games.

 

[Magic Carpet]

2023 Ive bought more games on Quest 3 than all three of the other consoles combined.
Games were older and cheaper but still.

 

[Grildon Tundy]

I thought the fourth would be Steam...

P.S. My brother has a Quest 2, but it collects dust after RE4 and has terrible streaming options for wireless PC interconnectivity. It uses WiFi instead of Bluetooth! WTF?

Does Bluetooth have the bandwidth needed to support the amount of data used for streaming? My Quest 2 streamed fine over WiFi.

 

[HoofHearted]

 

[Romulus]

But do those people actively campaign against buying videogame consoles? Probably not.
I know its anecdotal, but I'm just saying I've been talked out of it by multiple people who say they wished they didn't spend the money on VR and don't want to use it in the future. And this is my opinion, but it still feels like an extra-sometimes, not a main thing like a computer or a console, or like a phone or a TV.

Well they're doing on horrible job on the whole if there's some effort out there to campaign against VR. Despite their efforts it's grown exponentially in a very short time.

 

[NeverYouMind]

Does Bluetooth have the bandwidth needed to support the amount of data used for streaming? My Quest 2 streamed fine over WiFi.

Yes. No?

 

[Romulus]

20m headsets sold in around 3.5 years. Estimated to have sold between 100m and 114m units of software in 4 years and a software revenue of over $2 billion. It comes out favourably when compared to the WiiU anyway. Pretty decent but we'll have to keep watch to see if it's a market that grows or not.

20 million was in 2 years time. Quest 1 sold almost nothing.

 

[IlGialloMondadori]

Well they're doing on horrible job on the whole if there's some effort out there to campaign against VR. Despite their efforts it's grown exponentially in a very short time.

Headset sales have been on the decline, not an increase. Quest 3 and Apple, we'll see what happens. But Quest 3 hasn't been selling great.

Meta Quest 3 sales forecast predictions slashed by industry analyst

The Meta Quest 3 is set to sell less than half the units that were originally predicted this year by industry analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

www.pcgamesn.com

 

[Romulus]

Headset sales have been on the decline, not an increase. Quest 3 and Apple, we'll see what happens. But Quest 3 hasn't been selling great.

Meta Quest 3 sales forecast predictions slashed by industry analyst

The Meta Quest 3 is set to sell less than half the units that were originally predicted this year by industry analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

www.pcgamesn.com

Quest 2 is the frontrunner and most recent headset. It crushed the previous leader by 4x in a much shorter duration.

That quest 3 article is rubbish. They were making jokes about it on reddit bc no one in their right mind expected that many sales.

 

[K' Dash]

I always call them Nintendo and the rest.

 

[SimTourist]

It's actually the big one. MS considers Playstation, Nintendo, Meta, Steam, EGS, Wallmart, Obama all part of the their ecosystem.

 

[AV]

 

[StueyDuck]

It's all gonna be the big one anyway so it doesnt really matter.

Can say anything now

 

[daclynk]

Meta is already a player in the console space alongside Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft

Soon they will say Apple is now part and Google. oh wait!!

 

[Kenneth Haight]

No no, wait, don't leave yet!

 

[porkchopexpress]

Based on my dealings with my son and his friends and my nephews, I am convinced that quest has become that "what else can i get him?" device that people buy when they have nothing else to buy the "gamer" in their life and it ends up getting used for a few days or weeks and then collects dust.

 

[analog_future]

 

[Wildebeest]

The real "big 3" are Tencent, Sony, and Apple. Microsoft is a "big 5" company and Nintendo is a "big 10" company.

 

[diffusionx]

Meta is definitely a platform, Quest is definitely a console by any definition. The question is, is it up there with Nintendo/Sony or closer to I don’t know 3DO. Right now it’s quite far from both and could go either way.

 

[Little Mac]

And the fourth pillar is none other than Meta.

 

[justiceiro]

More like "the big 3 and the midget".

I like VR, I really do, but the VR market barely has complete games, let alone studios that can make a living out of it.

 

[16bitwarzvet]

Ahem...

I was about to mention Steam. Maybe not the deck by itself…at least not yet. But with the arrival of the steam deck and others arriving from ROG and Lanovo, I do believe Steam will possibly become that 4th pillar. Especially once Steam OS is available to run on devices other than the deck.

 

[Alexios]

Nah, hopefully doesn't ever happen and we just get VR growing more widespread and mainstream on every other gaming platform instead, just as there are vidya games on every platform even if they're also on mobile phones but nobody (sane) calls Apple or Google the big 4th and 5th over that.

And no, portable PCs aren't consoles either, that's dumb, Steam/PC is most certainly a large if not the largest part of gaming outside mobiles and it doesn't need to somehow become a console for that to be the case, nor can it anyway, regardless of what laptop, small box or handheld form it takes.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

LMAO if anyone is the new member of the Big 4 it's Apple, the company which actually makes all the money in gaming.

Visualizing Apple’s Rise to the Top of the Gaming Business

In 2020, Apple generated an estimated $13.5 billion dollars in gaming revenue, despite the fact it doesn't make any games or gaming consoles.

www.visualcapitalist.com

 

[BrunoCoel]

Eww