VRFocus reports on the news that Crytek has released its original virtual reality (VR) tech demos, Back to Dinosaur Island, for Oculus Rift owners to try.
So many "tech demos" and so few AAA games on Oculus + wicked system requirements is going to be why Oculus will remain a niche gadget for PC gaming. Not to mention cost of the unit itself.
not a chance. You do realize the OR isn't out yet ? Once the CV is released, and motion controls (Occulus Touch) come out, things will start falling into place. There are a ton of projects in the works of OR, and we'll start seeing them come out too.
As it is, the OR people bought was only a devkit ! You do realize this, right ? The thing isn't out yet. Even so, it's been wildly popular. The biggest youtubers used devkits and showed it off extensively to millions of people.
Even at this stage there are soooo many games for it, many of which are AAA games ! Some genres, like racing (pCars, AC) or space sim (Elite Dangerous) fit perfectly. Other games can be made to work with OR and still provide thrilling experiences.
As for system requirements. It's the same as PC gaming in general. It's not like all devs are going to make OR games that only work on insane rigs. There are tons of games that people with normal PCs can play. Ofcourse, insanely good looking games will have insane requirements. Virtual Reality is just another step forward, and as always, these things do require more processing power. Like everything else, we'll see this improve over time, as people get better and better hardware.
The requirements as of now are not cheap. Not everyone who games on a PC owns a "gaming PC". The MINIMUM req's for a PC that supports the headset is going to cost roughly $700 (and that's for people who can build their own PC's and know how to find good deals on parts) as of right now. Then the headset itself is $350. Now add on the touch controllers. How much are they going to be? Now the cost of games. Additionally, I just think the marketplace is going to be filled with half finished "early access" games like the Steam marketplace is becoming filled with. It's not going to appeal to someone who wants to sit down and throw in a game.
Here is what I mean by niche, the people interested in VR gaming are a SMALL sub-group of PC gamers comparatively speaking:
* People who own a PC * People who game on their PC * People who know how to build their own gaming PC for cheaper than what a pre-assembled PC would cost * People who are interested in VR gaming
The people you are talking about are a sub-group of a sub-group of a sub-group of a sub-group. That is niche.
Those minimum hardware recommendations.....