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Xbox to stay out the VR space, believe software will scale better but applauds Sony, Oculus, Valve

DeepEnigma

Gold Member
But I´m talking of gaming related companies, this reply from MS is huge, they are basically telling everybody that there is no money to be made on this.
Especially when they spent several conferenced with HoloLens and Minecraft hype (to combat the PSVR hype), only to have nothing to come of it in the retail space.
 
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Especially when they spent several conferenced with HoloLens and Minecraft hype (to combat the PSVR hype), only to have nothing to come of it in the retail space.
I highly doubt that Hololens was made because of PSVR (What hype btw?). Microsoft experiments a lot with technologies that never make ot to the mass market. Remember IllumiRoom? Also i think HoloLens was more for business or military than for gaming, Minecraft was just a good demo.
 

DeepEnigma

Gold Member
I highly doubt that Hololens was made because of PSVR (What hype btw?). Microsoft experiments a lot with technologies that never make ot to the mass market. Remember IllumiRoom? Also i think HoloLens was more for business or military than for gaming, Minecraft was just a good demo.
No shit. I never said it was MADE because of PSVR, they just wasted E3 stage space for a product that would never see the light of day in the retail space.

I am sure that was pure coincidence since that is never done at an E3 gaming conference, but just so happened to be done when PSVR was revealed earlier and to be shown at the same E3. You know, an actual gaming product to purchase. Save that shit for GDC or better yet, CES and the like.

I remember this place and all over the internet claiming that it was going to come to Xbox (HoloLens and Minecraft), going to be better than VR, etc, then VR will come to the 1X when Spencer said it would as well. All ended being vaporware in the retail space.

Anyways, old news and PR gonna adapt and market.
 
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Kacho

Gold Member
People have been saying this for 10 years........yet here we are. They are watching to see what needs to be done and will step in when needed.
Yeah I remember the chicken littles doomsaying when the One X wouldn't support VR. Since then nothing has changed. The VR space still sucks and is full of endless shovelware. Hell, even the major publishers aren't supporting the platform and I don't see Microsoft changing their tune until they jump in.
 

K2D

Banned
Watch Facebook use VR to train AI on human behavior. Facebook doesn't only want to own the virtual social arena. They want the lion share of AI-assistant technology as well.
 
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No shit. I never said it was MADE because of PSVR, they just wasted E3 stage space for a product that would never see the light of day in the retail space.

I am sure that was pure coincidence since that is never done at an E3 gaming conference, but just so happened to be done when PSVR was revealed earlier and to be shown at the same E3. You know, an actual gaming product to purchase. Save that shit for GDC or better yet, CES and the like.

I remember this place and all over the internet claiming that it was going to come to Xbox (HoloLens and Minecraft), going to be better than VR, etc, then VR will come to the 1X when Spencer said it would as well. All ended being vaporware for the retail space.

Anyways, old news and PR gonna adapt and market.
Must have been a coincidence, since it was never made for a home console if you think of the high costs. I think it was like 4.000 Dollar when tehy started selling them. Just a cool feasibility study for gaming like IllumiRoom. Here is what it really was made for: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/31/microsoft-wins-contract-to-make-modified-hololens-for-us-army.html
 

DeepEnigma

Gold Member
Must have been a coincidence, since it was never made for a home console if you think of the high costs. I think it was like 4.000 Dollar when tehy started selling them. Just a cool feasibility study for gaming like IllumiRoom. Here is what it really was made for: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/31/microsoft-wins-contract-to-make-modified-hololens-for-us-army.html
You're speaking to the choir here. Reread what I wrote. None of this was known until AFTER their little E3 spectacle. Those of us who saw through it at the time, and said as much... can goofy pat each other on the back.

But yeah, waste E3 space with a non consumer product, sending the impressions to gamers that it would be because they needed a PR slot at the time. But I am sure it was all a coinkidink.
 
Id rather them focus game design on PC and Console than VR...I don't really care for VR personally. I'll buy psvr2 but it always feels like a novelty.
 
You're speaking to the choir here. Reread what I wrote. None of this was known until AFTER their little E3 spectacle. Those of us who saw through it at the time, and said as much... can goofy pat each other on the back.

But yeah, waste E3 space with a non consumer product, sending the impressions to gamers that it would be because they needed a PR slot at the time. But I am sure it was all a coinkidink.
I don't think it was a waste. It was interesting and entertaining, but each to their own. I believe they wanted to show some cool stuff and it was a coincidence and you think it was some evil plan to deceive gamers and compete with PSVR. That's fine.
 
Is there a source for this statement?

I believe Mark Cerny talked about how Tempest audio is an adaption of PSVR's audio API as well, in the speech where he talked a good hour about it.
 
But I´m talking of gaming related companies, this reply from MS is huge, they are basically telling everybody that there is no money to be made on this.
And Sony, the bigger player in the industry, is fighting back against that claim, if we assume that this is why Phil is implying.
 

jaysius

Banned
Smart move, Sony's first VR was an awful waste of money and time, barely had any titles worth playing, yea yea Astro and Moss... 2 titles ok ok.

Who knows what the PS5 VR will look like, hopefully more than a simple half-step up from the last PSVR mistake.

Quest is a neat idea though, that contained unit is neat, but it's just creating plastic waste really and giving people a half-assed VR experience.

VR is still early days despite all the SKUs from various companies. Is VR the next logical step in entertainment? Nope, but it's an interesting sidestep that some richie riches that own great PCs and tons of money get to experience, all the other VR things are a waste of time and money. Early days VR looks pretty silly, placing points around your room, using cameras to get good room location stuff. When VR matures maybe then it'll be worth buying.
 

Wonko_C

Member
Well If they're really going to focus on software like they claim, then support Forza Horizon 5 on PC with a VR mode like they did with Microsoft Flight Simulator.
 

Deerock71

Member
kane rob GIF
 
I get their software support argument. Nintendo doesn't dive into a market where the market is niche due to exotic tech and it's pricing.

Also, don't they already have some support already for VR from their IP's like Minecraft VR on PC and PS VR? Bethesda had Doom and Skyrim VR too before the acquisition.
 
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I'm kind of surprised that they won't chase VR, because MS in general sticks their fingers into every pie. Maybe their R&D is so far behind everyone else that they're just going to coattail when the tech is actually ready ready.
 
Me too. I'm surprised they never worked out a deal with Valve or Oculus to connect to the Xbox Series X or something.
After all the heat they got over TV TV TV and Kinect MS wisely is focusing on games and only games. I'm pleased with their current direction.
 

reksveks

Member
I'm kind of surprised that they won't chase VR, because MS in general sticks their fingers into every pie. Maybe their R&D is so far behind everyone else that they're just going to coattail when the tech is actually ready ready.
I think their AR/MR/VR is just fixed onto developing stuff like Hololens. They need to work on widening the FOV on the hololens (amongst other things) to make it practical for consumers.
 

Anime-Vix

Member
It the right move. VR is not going to take off until the end of this gen. With Facebook and now MS getting involved in this whole Meta thing. I definitely see VR taking off
but not into the end of this gen. For Xbox, it would be best to get into VR at the start of the next gen of consoles.
 

Romulus

Member
or maybe it is not really much of a system or game seller.

Even Half Life Alyx, which sold incredibly for a VR game, sold poorly compared to other AAA games.


Yes, but we have to consider there were only about 7 million PCVR capable people to sell it to also. Having said that, 2 million is nothing to squeeze at when those numbers are a year old. That's probably around 3 million now with all the new Quest 2s sold. That's over Bloodborne and approaching some of the Horizon games. If there were just a piddly 30+ million headsets, it would have done crazy numbers, even compared to regular console games. That time is fast approaching though.
 
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Romulus

Member
VR should and will remain secondary. Its simply not ready for the mainstream.


I kinda of agree, but I don't really know what mainstream is at this point. Quest 2 is outselling N64, xbox, gamecube, and many more lower/mid tier mainstream consoles.

The issue is the pace its setting. Psvr was by far the previous market leader in VR, and Quest 2 is decimating it by over 7x.
 

EverydayBeast

thinks Halo Infinite is a new graphical benchmark
Instead of competing they’re staying out of VR concentrating on software if they change their minds and participate in VR I think the opportunity is there. SONY is delivering strong VR experiences now.
 

JLB

Banned
i’ll do a bold prediction, and will eat all the crows i deserve if im probed wrong.
Considering the current chip shortages, and that psvr2 will potentially reduce the stock for ps5, i wouldnt be surprised if the device will be heavily rescheduled for a much later date, or even canned. Pure speculation of course.
 

Romulus

Member
Kinect played games too. Doesn't change that it was pretty niche just like VR. A wireless solution seems to be best and right now MS focus on traditional games is wise.

The sales graph for kinect and VR was completely different though. Kinect sold like hotcakes and literally died within a couple of years. VR is a slow increase, about 25% per year.
You could argue the recent quest 2 surge is similar to kinect, but even then it's a constant increase.
On top of that, kinect didnt have a chance with the hardcore. A game built from the ground up like Alyx would just never happen. You're limited to casuals, whereas VR can do both.
 
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sendit

Member
So no Xbox fans want to play MS Flight Sim or Forza in VR? I find that surprising because the technology is there. I honestly don’t know how this decision can be deemed as a good one for gamers.
MS Flight Sim would be a great application for VR. Anyone disagree?
 

CobraAB

Member
Pretty much this

wired VR will NEVER be big

Oculus is on the right track, I am frankly a bit shocked Sony will have a wired headset again..
Of course you can game for more than two hours before the battery takes a crap. Yeah, I know you can do the external battery thing…

I have a Quest 2 and had a Sony headset too. I liked it. The headset was very comfortable and had a pretty decent library. THe controls were very lacking though And of course the screen was not the quality of the Quest 2 of course.

Has Sony 100% confirmed wired?
 
Of course you can game for more than two hours before the battery takes a crap. Yeah, I know you can do the external battery thing…

I have a Quest 2 and had a Sony headset too. I liked it. The headset was very comfortable and had a pretty decent library. THe controls were very lacking though And of course the screen was not the quality of the Quest 2 of course.

Has Sony 100% confirmed wired?

It has one wire, yeah
 

Markio128

Member
MS Flight Sim would be a great application for VR. Anyone disagree?
Tbh, there would be loads of possibility on xbox - Bethesda have already released Skyrim VR, so could apply it to Starfield; then there is Halo and Forza - big games to raise the VR profile.
 
i’ll do a bold prediction, and will eat all the crows i deserve if im probed wrong.
Considering the current chip shortages, and that psvr2 will potentially reduce the stock for ps5, i wouldnt be surprised if the device will be heavily rescheduled for a much later date, or even canned. Pure speculation of course.
nah. It's already planned I'm sure. Teams are working on games. They're losing marketshare to Quest 2 the longer they wait. It'll just come out and push for chips like everything else.
 

GHG

Gold Member
Even Half Life Alyx, which sold incredibly for a VR game, sold poorly compared to other AAA games.

This sums up the issue with the industry as a whole at the moment.

  1. Chase AAA blockbuster money
  2. Budget according to AAA blockbuster money they are chasing
  3. Run out of budget near the end of the project and shove it out the door in a poor state hoping to recoup costs ASAP
Repeat 1-3 until bankrupt or a studio needs to be shut down.

There is a lot more room for titles that have a smaller budget and focus on innovation than people think. The big publishers are so obsessed with chasing the big bucks and scaling up as much as possible that they never stop to realise this.

Kinect played games too. Doesn't change that it was pretty niche just like VR. A wireless solution seems to be best and right now MS focus on traditional games is wise.

You're pleased no matter what they do. Don't worry, I'm sure one day Phil Spencer will give you permission to like VR.
 
The sales graph for kinect and VR was completely different though. Kinect sold like hotcakes and literally died within a couple of years. VR is a slow increase, about 25% per year.
You could argue the recent quest 2 surge is similar to kinect, but even then it's a constant increase.
On top of that, kinect didnt have a chance with the hardcore. A game built from the ground up like Alyx would just never happen. You're limited to casuals, whereas VR can do both.
The point with Kinect is that it only appealed to a subset of the broader audience. Those resources would have been better spent on traditional games and that lack of focus is one of the biggest pain points with the X1. The X1 would have been much better off if it never had Kinect even though MS wanted to use that as a differentiator.

Game Pass is a much smarter way to differentiate and it keeps MS' focus on where it needs to be, games. At the end of this generation we can see which direction has the greater market penetration, Game Pass or VR. I'm ok with MS' focus right now.

You're pleased no matter what they do. Don't worry, I'm sure one day Phil Spencer will give you permission to like VR.
And you'll hate whatever they do. I have no problem giving credit where it is due. MS shouldn't be worried about VR and sales numbers prove it.
 
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Romulus

Member
The point with Kinect is that it only appealed to a subset of the broader audience. Those resources would have been better spent on traditional games and that lack of focus is one of the biggest pain points with the X1. The X1 would have been much better off if it never had Kinect even though MS wanted to use that as a differentiator.

Game Pass is a much smarter way to differentiate and it keeps MS' focus on where it needs to be, games. At the end of this generation we can see which direction has the greater market penetration, Game Pass or VR. I'm ok with MS' focus right now.


Oh absolutely. If I had to choose gamepass or VR, I would choose gamepass for MS every time. But choosing one or the other? They could jump on board as VR continues to exceed later.
Its safer for MS to just rebuild at this point anyway, they're barely doing console gaming right up until the past year or so, no sense jumping on VR until they climb back up the mountain.
 
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