Topic: The people who have used VR impressions thread

I'm a long term sceptic of VR, and man I dont quite know how these initial psvr, vive and oculus titles will do. Today at EGX I got to try the vive and rift and the sense of being there is all consuming. The sheer sense of scale, I'm so used to everything being on the same plane - I just stare at the box in the corner and tilt the stick to look up and down. However Looking up at a humungous door or climbing and looking down it actually feels daunting. I will admit the wires, cumbersome set ups (of the vive and rift) and pixelation of the screens could be better, but this tech is going to explode at some point. Everyone needs to try it.

That seems the main problem with VR at the moment, as consumers we are constantly being told how revolutionary it is, but without easy access to try it most of us just dismiss it as another fad. It doesn't help we've been burnt so many times in recent memory - the Kinect was advertised in the same manner, PS move fizzled out when quickly when no one took it up, the Vita was hailed as a home console in portable form, but quickly got relegated to a device that is mainly supported through indie games and so on.

VR will only make it if it is easy to try out and well supported, the former is not true at the moment and the latter usually depends on whether it sells well. Of course that leads to a catch 22 of good sales only if there are (lots of) games and lots of games only if there are good sales. I think VR might survive, but only if the likes of Sony are willing to take a hit while the technology finds its feet. Given how much tech we've seen abandoned though I fear VR will die out before the public are convinced it is not a gimmick.

I have no doubt that VR will take off with gaming being a small part of what will happen with the tech. As VR becomes more affordable it will hit more and more audiences. Already we have seen Occulus come in at £550 and now PSVR at £350. Sony being the most affordable. This is effectively the first accessable generation of Vr so from here it will only get better. I can this tech being used in schools when the price goes down more. Once they have better screen for VR it will pretty much eliminate the need to go to the cinema. What can be done with VR will only be limited by the machine behind it.

I am not sure Sony has done a good job so far of getting the tech out there. They are doing a roadshow and thats only hitting 6 UK cities. I thought I would be seeing it in shopping malls and all over the place but thats not been the case. In fact the only opportunity to try it near me is in November and its at a scifi convention. This is one piece of tech though that I would just buy without trying. But for other people they need to try it to see what all the fuss is about.

There is a goo thread on reddit for PSVR of people who have tried it and the different tech demos and its getting a very positive response. Its worth checkong out if anybody is interested in PSVR.

https://www.reddit.com/r/PSVR/

I cancelled my pre order for PSVR a few days ago because so many games had not put a firm date on being released. So will now pick it up later in the year. It was a hard decision as I have been waiting for this since the 80's.

@Dichotomy: Agreed on the point you need to try it. I went to egx especially for that reason. In fact I dont even know or care if this first wave of VR headsets will be profitable initially, most games will probably be rubbish as gaming experiences. Yet if the tech catches up as in wirefree and designed bespoke for your head then it definitely will take off. Its too good. Its different to a Vita which is in direct competition with the ds family and mobiles, VR is its own thing. Move and Kinect where never good enough to follow through on their promises and I have serious reservations about the controllers of VR as one of the vive controllers wouldn't show up on screen initially. But the immersion is crazy realistic, just sticking one on your head and looking around a room is crazy. If they can follow through on a few games which use this immersion properly you wont want to play first person games any other way.

@dryrain: Good call I would wait until gen 2, the wires really really get in the way. Some dude was carrying the wires behind me to stop me from falling over. That said in the confines of battlezone or driveclub vr it would still work.

@themcnoisy: My problems with it were more to relate to the general public than me, but having said that even I would be wary of a £300+ investment in to a device that might be dropped a year or two down the line. The Vita may have failed as it was competing with the 3DS, but the same principal of sticking by your products (or not) applies. 3D was another example of something being hyped and then dropped (I actually thought 3D in games was a good addition so it was doubly annoying to see yet another concept dropped).

Having said that, I am optimistic that if I get a chance to play on one it will be as amazing as everyone says (and, a bit off topic, despite it not doing great I still like my Vita). I'll still return to the risk/cost thing afterwards though and I'm sure many others will think likewise. It really does look to me like Sony will have to eat a loss to begin with and stick with it to make VR work, I hope they do, but history says otherwise.

I have no doubt that the technology works - I've read enough people's reactions that I don't think its a scam. The Kinect really worked too, as advertised... the question is will it make games more fun, and will AAA companies decide that it is economically viable to require it.... The day that VR is a competetive advantage in CoD (or similar) is the day it'll really be mainstream. Like the Kinect we have technology that works but until it gets put to good use making fun games, it'll not take off.

In terms of game design I read that movement is kinda an issue to be solved, because if the immersion is complete you'll want to walk around, and unless you are a floaty ghost moving around without walking is weird. Curious how they'll get around this. More space games and jetpacks perhaps.

Sony seems to think there will be enough software to support its existence, but we'll see.

@Mega-Gazz: unless you are a floaty ghost moving around without walking is weird.

Spot on. Due to the fact I could walk around albeit in the confines on the sensor box it worked better than I could of thought. The speed of the head tracking is nigh on perfect. That's why maybe simulation games would work better with psvr, the likes of Gran Turismo or better still for movement there's a few competing multi directional treadmills - but the wire would 100% be an issue on all of them.

Maybe the immediate future for vr is in the entertainment sector you do need someone to watch over you whilst you meander around. In your own house stuff will break as you lose where you are in real space.

So how does psvr run on a bog standard PS4?

@themcnoisy: At EGX I played... I think four games on PSVR, all running on a standard PS4 (or so I assumed - there was nothing to suggest the Pro was running the demos). PS VR Worlds (the cage diving experience), Battlezone, Tethered, and Windlands. As far as I could tell, there were no performance hitches at all.

I think Sony has laid down a rule whereby any game releasing on PSVR must be running at a consistent 60fps

@Quintumply: Cool, psvr for Chrimbo this year then!

I was a skeptic of VR being "good" since 3D (of any kind) is at its best a resounding meh, and it used to be advertised and hyped as the best thing ever. I wanted to try it for myself though, so I got a GearVR and I was immediately impressed by the immersion. It lacked a decent FOV, and I can never quite get the adjustment right to not be blurry (and there are very few games that are more than bite-size), but it impressed the hell out of me. I pre-ordered a PSVR when the orders became available.

Ok, so I went to one of the Sony try PSVR events today. I'm still slightly frazzled by it so will write a meandering summary/first impressions.

Firstly, the setup at the event was quite spiffy, hi-tech and was very much in line with what I imagine EGX had (I would guess the same kit is being toured around). It was in a large shop interior with a LOT of Sony blue t-shirt staffers wandering around. Some of them even did something.

Anyway, I had pre-booked a session and then got in line. They were pretty busy and they had a bouncer on the door (albeit one who seemed a little on the old side. - I weighed up whether I could nab a VR kit or PS Pro and make it past him but thought better of it). I decided I really wanted to play Battlezone after @get2sammyb recommendations and because, as one of the fewer 'full' titles, I thought it was worth playing. They pushed me to try Until Dawn: Rush of Blood several times and Batman once but I think that was because those booths were free. I politely stuck to my guns, as I really wanted to try Battlezone and because I didn't want my first impression of VR to be tainted with me having shat my pants playing Until Dawn.

While waiting I got a daft gif made of me twirling my head pretending to be in VR with the see through VR kit on like in those the pre-release trailers. My wife said I looked like a mole when I showed her. I also got a chance to see a Pro with the Horizon demo on a whopper of a screen. No gameplay allowed.

Anyway, my time came and the pretty enthusiastic chap got me set up. All the cables and bits were kept behind a case so I could only see the DS4 controller, headphones and wire to the headset. It sit snugly on my head though I had some issues in getting my focus right and I am still not 100% sure I got it perfect but I would agree with the reviews that it was very light and absolutely comfortable. Bear in mind that the last time I tried VR was in the early to mid 90's and the helmet weighed a ton and would slip down your bonce unless tightened till your head went blue (insert pun here).

I went straight into a game and I must say that it was very different to how I expected it to be...in a good way. I am not sure what I expected but I think the thing that impressed me most was just how different a gameplay experience it was. I was doing the same things I would in a normal game, such as point and shoot but the space I was doing it in felt very private and all encompassing. I was truly immersed in that world - to the point that one of my feet could feel a wire on the floor but I looked down and wondered to myself why there was a lump in the cockpit of my tank. It being Battlezone the graphics are deliberately blocky but the experience was really really smooth. The game itself was good enough that I could see myself getting into it and wanting to go through everything, possibly even online mp which I don't often do.

At the end of the 15 minute session, including the tutorial, I wished I had more time and I wanted to go on it again. It felt like an experience which is probably the highest praise I could give it. Unlike the Wii or Move, this didn't feel like a one trick pony but a tool that could be exploited in multiple ways.

I have a preorder for PSVR and I have been hovering over the cancel option for some time now. I think I posted on another thread that the cost is hard to justify so I really wanted to try first and see how I felt then. So what are the downsides for me? Firstly, I have a minor prescription for reading as my left eye is a bit weaker then my right. I have been meaning to get them checked again soon but boy did this highlight a problem in it. My left eye has been feeling strained ever since which I suppose makes sense because of the way the image is split. So, at the very least, this has made me book another opticians appointment.

Then there is the cost - I need the camera and probably move controllers so lots of kerching. I'm also concerned about the PSVR setup. I have young children around so even more wires plus a new box and camera are a concern. I think I would need to move my PS4 into the bedroom where I can hide it away better. Plus the additional noise is a worry - my PS4 already sounds like a hover board being ridden by Griff. Another fan might make my setup sound like a boeing coming in to land. I also have the general worry about games - most are elongated tech demos and we only have a handful of full titles.

I'm still not sure if I will keep the pre-order as the cons are significant. That said, I really want to dive back in and play it some more. I am pretty torn... I feel that if I did cancel the pre-order, I would still be looking to get it in future. because I think there is something worthwhile there. Sorry for the rambling post - I tried to explain it all to the missus but she was only interested in the price element of it.

@Rudy_Manchego: I'm glad it surprised you in a positive way. As I've reiterated so many times on this site, it's really, really difficult to convey what VR is like until you try it. I suspect there'll be a lot of people who will have a similar reaction.

@themcnoisy: I'm reviewing everything on a standard PS4 (and I know it's standard because it's the one I bought at launch) and it all works great. Honestly, considering how many people were sceptical the PS4 could pull this off, Sony has pulled off an engineering marvel here.

@get2sammyb I played the Virtual Boy a few times and it was murder on my eyes and head. Is the same issue present with modern VR technology?

@Rukiafan7: Comparing the Virtual Boy to PlayStation VR is like comparing a vintage rotary dial telephone to the iPhone 7.

@Rukiafan7: Don't worry, I also played the Virtual Boy back in the day and several other of the arcade 'VR' machines and you don't get the nauseating flickering and juddering that really hurt your eyes. The movement is really smooth.

If you are worried, definitley give it a trial somewhere but this is no way like the Virtual Boy.

You guys realize that Virtual Boy was not aimed nor credited as a VR system even by Nintendo, it was a 3D system. Somehow over the years people have mistaken it as a VR machine, I am guessing due to the name. IN all honestly it closer in comparison to the 3DS more so then PSVR or other types of VR.

@Tasuki: We could probably talk all day about the failure of the Virtual Boy but while you are right, VR was how it was interpreted. The original aim was to make something akin to a virtual reality set, largely to keep Nintendo relevant while it waited for the N64 to release a year or so after its main competitors. The VR point was downgraded to 3d when they realised that the tech just wasn't there. There were Virtual reality arcade systems out there and everyone was thinking VR would be the next big thing. By keeping the Virtual name, Nintendo was trying to tap into that interest. You are completely right, it was something they perfected for the 3ds but it is still widely credited as being an attempt at VR.