Why VR Is Here To Stay

2016 will be the year of Virtual Reality in the gaming industry. Mark Kriska from Mammoth Gamers explains why through his experience with PlayStation VR.

[KenBorter]

Great Article, I can't wait to get some VR stuff. Maybe when the price goes down.

[TLG1991]

What is the price?

[BigBosss]

If I can remember correctly, they said they are willing to lose profits from the VR to sell a lot, but make a lot of money from the contents. So roughly around 300USD which is great price. Don't take my word for it though, it's what I read somewhere.

[TLG1991]

BigBosss

Yes I know I was being sarcastic as KenBorter said "when the price goes down" but we dont know what the price is. we could all be surprised and they release at £100. stranger things have happened.

[LOSTHeroes13]

No confirmed price point yet, we may find out at GDC.

[Eonjay]

They really need to spill the beans on the price already.

[Timesplitter14]

"The price of a new console" according to Sony

$300 most likely

[uth11]

@LostHeroes

We may find out today at the Sony CES press conference.

[amiga-man]

I have no doubt VR will take off, once the genie is out of the bottle there will be no putting it back, it will evolve over time to encompass alsorts of media with it becoming more powerful and user friendly.

Those thinking VR will disapear really have no idea what it offers or it's potential.

[Gazondaily]

Let it arrive first!

[UserNameIsNotTaken]

It has..

It's called the oculus

[ApolloTheBoss]

It could go one way or the other. If Sony's real smart when it comes to marketing it, and I mean really push it through the window and get consumers to buy it, it'll be a huge success. If not, it won't flop but won't sell as much as they would want.

[mcstorm]

I think it all depends on hat they a success. For me I don't see VR selling mad like the Wii or Kinect did. I think it has a market but I don't think it is with home consoles esp with the teenage audience. I could wrong but that is what I think as everyone I have spoken to about it have said they don't want to game with a device on their face and would rather relax in front of a TV. Time will tell though.

[Bdub2000]

Just like how Microsoft pushed real hard with Kinect? New tech isn't always received well. I'm excited for VR, my biggest concern for the masses is all the motion sickness testers complain about. And the short play times before you have to stop and rest.

[Wallstreet37]

VR is definitely the future of gaming, it is an evolution of it. Gaming in general strives to be more immersive as the years go by albeit with Polygons turning into 3D models, 3D gaming and movies in itself, better graphics always held as an objective, better sound to immerse players, and now VR where you can finally feel like your in a world.

The question imo isnt if VR is the future of gaming, is whether or not it is viable yet to be that future and the impressions of Oculus and PSVR are very positive and promising.

VR was alway being pushed forward behind the industry lines. I remember over a decade ago in NYC stores that had VR kiosks (full body VR suits and headsets too)but of course back then it was too expensive for the average consumer to buy.

[Timesplitter14]

You're wrong about two things.

- VR isn't an evolution of gaming. Most of the types of games we know today don't work well in VR, and most VR games won't work well with regular screens. VR is something that will branch out of regular gaming, not replace it.

- Immersiveness isn't the ultimate goal of games. Most games have fun as their goal, and 'fun' games continue to be successful. Also, the most popular games in the world are LoL, CS:GO, Hearthstone, Mario, etc... and it's certainly not because they are immersive

[Wallstreet37]

I tried to read your response but no no no no! i couldnt finish. We all have opinions but yours are definitely just a no!

[sorceror171]

@Wallstreet37: Dude, he's not insulting your children, he's making points about VR and gaming. The advent of mobile gaming didn't kill PCs or consoles, and motion controls didn't take over everything. Not every video on YouTube is, or should be, a 360 VR experience.

VR makes sense for *some* types of games, not all. It's finally gotten to the point where ordinary humans can (just about) afford the hardware needed to make it workable.

In short: VR is cool, I plan on pre-ordering the Rift tomorrow... but it's not "the" future of gaming, gaming has a *lot* of different futures ahead.

[TLG1991]

here come the future readers saying "it'll go one way or the other", no sh*t, how did you know.

Im personally looking forward to it, i've experienced a brief bit of gameplay on PSVR and it left me wanting A LOT more.

[Skankinruby]

I'm buying this for sure, but I'd be really shocked if it took off any time soon. This doesn't seem like a daily used item for your average person, seems a little impractical in most settings. I wish it the best though and props to sony for giving it a shot.

[OpieWinston]

Yeah when VR gets off the ground it'll be here to stay. But I'm not sure about PSVR

Since HTC Vibe and Oculus Rift both have access to Porn VR which is seller feature for a lot of people who I talk to about VR.

[sactownlawyer916]

So you only talk to 15 year old boys about vr?

[OpieWinston]

So you're saying Porn is reserved for teenagers? What world do you live in?

[fanboysmackdown]

Fad

[sprinterboy]

I think all vr devices will have heathy sales but the year 2020 is where it really gets that mass adoption imo

[PizzaSteve]

VR will come
VR will be bought
VR will be fun
VR will get boring
VR will collect dust in a dark closet
VR will be on ebay

[Wallstreet37]

Games will come
Games will be bought
Games will be fun
Games will get boring
Games will collect dust
Games will be on Ebay

Like dude you literally explained all the things that happen even with regular games like Witcher 3, COD, Assn Creed, etc...... I have like over 100 games and mainly play like 4 that will then collect dust for the most part once i start playing new games. The exception are maybe bo3 mp, Drive Club, Uncharted and Bloodborne.

[DLConspiracy]

When I see people get hyped about VR I always scratch my head at the ones who say they hate first person shooters. Typically most games will be 1st person in some variety. Perhaps not all of them but mostly along those lines.

[DigitalRaptor]

"the ones who say they hate first person shooters"
"most games will be 1st person in some variety"

Care to discuss how most VR games are going to be of the shooter variety? Otherwise the parallel you are trying to draw is completely baseless and pointless.

[DLConspiracy]

I said it in the sentence I wrote but I will elaborate for you. I've found most people who are not inot first person shooters like 3rd person games. Most people I know and have talked to seem to lean that way.

You sound offended by my statement and opinion/comment. Care to share with me how that is baseless? Or are you upset because I said something negative about VR? Because I wasn't saying anything bad about VR.

[DigitalRaptor]

"Elaboration" you call it? Firstly, your original comment said nothing about third-person games to elaborate on. You added that in after you realised it didn't make much sense. It still doesn't make sense because you're trying to find some connection in the reason why people hate first-person SHOOTERS, and why those same people are liking first-person VR games, as though they are all going to be shooters. What is it about the shooting mechanic that should be stopping them enjoying a first-person game in VR?

Not offended in the slightest, I just think it's odd that what you wrote in 2 consecutive sentences implied that most VR games are going to have the same problems as the reasons why people don't like FPS games.

[DLConspiracy]

You sure do seem to be rather upset. In no way shape or form was I trying to be rude to you. It seems like you are trying to back me into some corner. I guess.. Not sure why it matters what I say. You obviously don't agree. *noted* for future conversations.