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Comment by mmanfrin | Hacker News Reader

This + a video of people playing 'Job Simulator' have me wanting to cancel my Oculus Rift preorder and get a Vive instead.

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Platform exclusives will be the bane of VR.

When I see interesting exclusives X on Vive, Y on Oculus and Z on Playstation VR, I won't buy all three platforms. I'll just say 'screw you all, I'll pass'.

Valve has developed and supports the OpenVR platform[1], which is designed to allow different hardware on the backend. Rift/Facebook seems to be primarily pushing a closed platform with exclusives. Playstation VR is obviously Playstation-only. Make your purchasing decisions accordingly.

[1] https://github.com/ValveSoftware/openvr

Oculus has exclusives because they partner with developers, offering money and support. Vive has exclusives because there's stuff you can do with the Vive's native VR controllers that you simply can't with the Rift's Xbox One controller.

When Oculus releases its Touch controllers (hopefully before the end of the year?) you might see Vive titles ported over to Rift. Movement in the other direction depends on what terms and conditions are in the contracts studios agreed to sign.

Having played both, I would strongly recommend you do. When I took off the vive my first thought was "no way I'm getting an oculus".

I see this sentiment a lot, but I've yet to see anything more. Could you elaborate on how you find the vive is better than the dk2?

The ability to walk around something makes it seem so much more real. With vive you can duck below and look under a table, lean around, view something from all angles. With oculus you're limited to seated experiences so it doesn't feel much different than sitting at a desk with a 3d monitor.

Also, moving your character with a controller or keyboard can be nauseating. This is why the best oculus games are going to be "cockpit simulators" or they're just going to have a"virtual screen". The vives ability to move yourself with your own legs keeps nausea in check.

The Vive's entire ecosystem is set up for moving around, using your hands, and really being 'VR' like we've all imagined. The oculus is your head as a camera in comparison.

So if the Oculus SDK integrated well with something like the Microsoft Kinect - things would perhaps be on more equal footing?

I've used all of the different headsets and the Vive is the standout.

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