This year, Oculus has sold more headsets than Microsoft did Xboxes
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I have 2 Oculuses and have the app downloaded on 5 devices at least.
Anyway, I feel like the popularity of Oculus is pretty limited. Unlike consoles, you have to be pretty physically active to play most games on it. I do think it's an excellent fitness device, though.
I think Google made a huge mistake discontinuing Cardboard/Daydream. They should bring it back. It really doesn't make that much sense to have another device when phones already are more or less as powerful as an Oculus anyway. Not to mention that the Quest runs on Android to begin with.
Google collectively as a company suffers from some kind of mental illness whereby if 20% of the world's population doesn't immediately love their product, it's considered a massive failure and abandoned in short order, instead of lovingly worked on until improved enough to be truly popular.
Considering then that the Quest 2 came out October 2020 it doesn’t seem like the graph can be far wrong. As the devices are very close to each other on the graph though it’s hard to say if the headline is correct.
It was perfect to check a YouTube VR video for instance. There needs to be more to VR than that, but I think it was still nice to have.
E.g. The Sony Xperia 1 III has a 4K 120hz screen and can be used as an external display for a Sony camera, would make sense as part of a headset too.
- Performed better than GearVR with a far slower SoC than the Galaxy handsets because the thermal solution could be designed around the headset.
- Cost $200 vs the $1000 for a Galaxy handset + GearVR
- Was more comfortable with higher weight because of better distribution across the headset instead of being concentrated in the front where the phone attaches.
- The display was sharper with lower resolution than GearVR, because you design the panel differently for headset than a handset.
The result is that to dodge items in the game you must make the corresponding movements like ducking, tilting, bending, etc in reality.
Many games like super hot and pistol whip take advantage of this. The result is that playing oculus games is much like exercising.
Other games like audio trip and synth riders explicitly make it exercise focused.
I own most of the oculus games and I’d say audio trip on cardio mode is probably one of the most physically demanding. Unfortunately it’s not super popular so there aren’t a lot of songs.
The common example is Thrill of the Fight; it's a (shadow)boxing simulator. Users have reported over 3k calories burned from this in a day[0][1]. It's intense exercise, and you quickly build a heavy sweat.
TL;DR: It's much more intense than I'd imagined. Imagine playing badminton, but in a smaller area.
[0] https://www.reddit.com/r/ThrillOfTheFight/comments/rjrcze/hi...
[1] https://vrhealth.institute/portfolio/thrill-of-the-fight/
The Quest 2 stock strap sucks. You really need an "elite strap" or something like it. For Beat Saber or anything even vaguely like it, you also want knuckle straps for the controllers, so you don't have to worry about holding on to them or about failing to hold on to them.
( and considering the eco-system arround discounted games and the prices i'm seeing in the Oculus store. I don't expect it to change anytime soon.
Also, i'm not going to help their VR monopoly ( much) on games - since they are buying a lot of VR game creators)
But yeah, i bought the device before I saw they are trying to corner the market.
Still an interesting data point, but misleading on its own.
It's somewhat weird that the PS5 has had so many more units though.
Only time will tell if people will continue to use them beyond their initial novelty.
Personally, I purchased an Oculus Quest 2 and a Valve Index about nine months ago because I couldn't find a Playstation or Xbox system in stock. I wasn't expecting much from either system (especially the Quest 2, since it is basically a cell phone with goggles and a couple of hand controllers) but they've both grown on me. I love the Quest's portability and the Index's screen resolution and adjustability are excellent. Meta's customer support for warranty issues has also been excellent (much, much, MUCH nicer than Sony's). I've also found a lot of games I like, such as:
- Death: Unchained - Alyx - The Room VR - Obduction - Myst VR
I've enjoyed both VR systems to the point that I haven't bothered to check the availability of Sony's or Microsoft's offerings recently. I'm enjoying what I have.
I don't know why Sony and Microsoft never seem to be able to predict the market and create enough products to meet demand, but they always seem to struggle with this (I know there's a global chip shortage at the moment, but Sony especially has had this problem for years). Now that decent enough competitors exist, Sony and Microsoft might find their marketshare eroding due to their inability to satisfy market demands.
The market success of Quest 2 in comparison to Oculus PC-only headsets and the Index+WMR ecosystem makes it pretty clear which is the more appealing option to most people.
If you can stomach forking over all that tracking data with Mark Zuckerberg's promise that he isn't going to use it to get better at hacking your lizard brain, the Quest 2 is an otherwise unambiguously great product.
My Index is fantastic, but setting it up is usually a 10+ minute process (dig out and hook up the tracking cubes, get Steam and SteamVR patched and working again, clear a space next to my gaming PC). Meanwhile, last time I had a Quest, I could just put it on and use it in my back yard at night, or clear some space anywhere in the house and use it there. Practically no setup or BS involved.
oof
Maybe you should consider whether or not it’s a good idea to publicly identify as such?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_race
It would not be unreasonable to e.g. fire someone for making these sorts of statements. Most people exist outside of your 4chan-adjacent subculture and probably wouldn’t be very understanding of someone identifying themselves as a member of the master race.
Except for the more than 99% of non-gamers who don’t hang out on boards like /v/?
I’m not accusing anyone of being a Nazi, just pointing out that outside of a very specific subculture this is a very risky joke (and not a particularly funny one in any context).
You probably wouldn’t call people -fags (newfag, macfag, eurofag, etc…) either, even though “master race” carries far worse connotations than “fag”.
I think the term is a bit more normalized than you make it out to be.
Welcome to the Internet?
I’m not trying to criticize anyone, just offering a friendly reminder that letting these injokes leak outside of 4chan or reddit can have unfortunate consequences since most people won’t be as understanding as you or me.
Godwin’s law isn’t about mentions of Nazis, but specifically about using them in analogies.
GP compares gamers to right wing ideologues. QED
Edit in response to your edit:
> GP compares gamers to right wing ideologues. QED
It really doesn’t, there’s no suggestion that gamers are similar to right wing ideologues.
The comment just points out the fact that a specific group of gamers has decided to borrow Nazi terminology for the name of their group, it does not imply that the gamers and nazis are similar or even somehow comparable.
This is an understandable mistake, Godwin’s law is frequently abused.
The man himself has frequently criticised people for abusing his “law” in the way you’re doing now.
I do not mind focus on casual users, in fact I used to shove VR in any context I could. But the moment Facebook announced their current plan, I stopped advocating VR entirely.
I don’t suggest possible VR integrations anymore, I don’t go into VR development, I don’t bring up VR compatibility when speccing a PC, I don’t mention use cases in VR for every tangential technologies, I mostly behave as VR was a 3DTV.
Who’s still talking about Quest 2 anyway? Q1 sold like hotcakes in Japan, coincidentally where I am from, and Oculus/Facebook was proud of it that they said extra stocks are assigned for Japanese market when Q2 launched - I don’t see them. And that launch happened after the announcement to shut down Oculus accounts and services.
I think Q2 will and needs to be extinguished even if it will risk jeopardizing VR as a whole, and that will be possible by PCMRing, and I am sure that is what is happening.
not sure if that's true because I sold mine for more then what I paid for it...
What matters more is broad, international appeal, to multiple age ranges and both genders, on as many platforms as possible.
In particular, having social experiences in order to replace what has been lost due to COVID lockdowns.
Add to that over 20m Nintendo Switch and 20m various PlayStation models (plus all the popular (S)NES, PSone, Genesis, etc mini consoles) and consoles are selling well over 50m consoles a year. The home console market hasn’t been this diverse and healthy in a while.
Do you need a Facebook account or not to use an OQ2?
As a matter of fact I still have an Oculus account from Go days and I just checked - it's still active apparently.
Got the following disclaimer after logging in:
################################################################
Enhance Your VR Experience With a Facebook Account
To access social features, you need to log in with a Facebook account by going to Facebook Settings in the Oculus app.
What Happens if You Don’t Log In With a Facebook Account
You can use your Oculus account until January 1, 2023, but you will not have access to social features with your Oculus account. Starting January 1, 2023, we will end formal support for Oculus accounts, and you will need to log in with a Facebook account to access full functionality on the Oculus platform.
################################################################
Still have very very fond memories of the Go. Virtual virtual reality and Wander f.x. were amazing experiences. But I sold the device in anticipation of a newer model and having been can't waiting now for it since several years ago. So that's due.
Until it actually happens, and until we know exactly what the caveats are (maybe it will be just as bad or even worse than having a Facebook account) - there's very little reason to take any action based on this information.
The key things that need to go are the real name requirement and the arbitrary account banning (often for reasons out of users control and with no recourse) causing loss of past Oculus purchases.
https://www.theverge.com/2021/10/28/22751297/meta-oculus-que...
I'm not aware of an announcement that is regarding the present. All announcements I am aware of are regarding plans for the future.
I had a couple guests over a couple fun evenings, but just like other cool feeling pieces of tech - like my Xbox Kinect - the glasses are in a box somewhere.
This feels again exact like that: cool at first sight, but the novelty wears off quickly and I realize I don't want more imersion or more escapism. I just want better quality media on simple devices.
My sister has a Quest 2, which at least seems to eliminate some of the setup headache and the need for an expensive PC and all the cables, albeit at the cost of some visual fidelity, but she still doesn't use it very much. And personally I will never buy another VR system from Facebook.
But I agree with the "not buying the Facebook one" part.
I considering getting a Quest 2 this year, as the price is a lot lower that what my friends setup would have cost, but after looking at a few "Top VR games" videos on YouTube I decided it wasn't for me. The videos were full of FPS and fighting games, which I can understand in VR would be a completely different experience and fun if you enjoy that, but that really isn't my thing. If more casual games come out then I could see it becoming more mainstream, but right now it does seem a bit of a fad.
Aside: The relatively low friction involved in starting game play has me playing this far more than I ever did with my rarely used X-box One. It remains to be seen whether this lasts beyond winter here in the northeast US.
It's not really about the improvements in technology, rather than the inherent limits in its use cases - there's only so many games and media experiences that truly benefit from VR, and as a rule, they're designed for VR from the beginning.
Without a doubt, VR is a huge leap and a drastically different and exciting medium, but that doesn't mean it's ever going to be more than gimmick worth a couple evenings' entertainment to most people.
3D movies actually look great in VR. That might be a way for it to be popularized again.
I would wait to make a final judgement on VR until Apple ships.
(NOTE: I'm not saying I like the Quest 2 more than the Index. That isn't the case. The Index is an amazing system and the best VR experience I've had. I'm just saying I use the Quest 2 more often due to convenience, so, for me, it has its place.)
My Quest 2 has really grown on me and I'd buy a Quest 3 without any hesitation. Having said that, I only use the Quest 2 to play single-player games. I have no interest in online multiplayer games nor in VRChat. If those features are important to you, perhaps the Quest 2 isn't a good option.
The Room VR
Myst
Death: Unchained
Until You Fall
Tales From the Galaxy’s Edge
The third Vader Immortal (the Dojo part and not the actual game though)
The Walking Dead game is OK, but there’s too much wandering around and returning to the school bus for my taste.
Red Matter
So what gives? Why do users in your circle regret it? And where does the vr community hang out, so I can learn more?
As a current Index and former Vive Pro, I can tell you that my Quest 2 has the most game time because of one thing: wireless. The other issue is Steam VR doesn’t have nearly as many people on multiplayer.
VR Chat is interesting, but most people in VR don’t spend a good portion of their time there.
Only VR Chat and one game take advantage of full body tracking. I wouldn’t focus to much on it.
The other obstacle is full body tracking. Turns out this just works much better if you have lighthouses to begin with, plus a headset that uses them.
As a gamer with a lot of gamer friends (split among PC & console, though more console than PC, I play on both) I know quite a few people (close to 10) who bought both VR headsets (some Oculus, some not) and Xbox Series Xs over the past year and a half.
Every single person I know including myself used the VR headset a lot for about 2 weeks and then barely touched it except for occasionally pulling it out to show friends/family. Meanwhile we all play games on the Xbox nearly nightly.
I love a good VR game but it just feels like though the headset hardware is pretty close to "there" that its still really difficult to deliver good experiences in a flexible way due to input/tactile feedback (or lack thereof) concerns. So most people that try out VR will play a lot of beat saber, tool around with a shooter like Arizona Sunshine, and then go back to playing traditional non-VR games.
Who ever said VR was, or even should be, for people who identify as "gamers"? It's a wholly different interaction style, and there's no obvious reason why anyone should expect "gamer" games already highly optimized for their existing platforms to fit it. Aiming a gun precisely in VR is a pain in the ass, but you just can't do anything that feels like Beat Saber anywhere else.
Too, the "gamer"-identified market is both deeply saturated and extremely whiny, typically demanding an endless stream of trivial iterations on existing franchises while broadly spurning on this ground alone anything that dares to attempt novelty. EA and Ubisoft are exactly what the "gamer"-identifying market deserves, and also the world leaders in being EA and Ubisoft. Try to disrupt that and you just rehash Windows phones vs. Apple and Android.
And, in both cases, why should this be something you want? Look at the Wii, which had no more use for "gamers" than they had for it, and profited handsomely by that disdain. If I were trying to get a VR studio off the ground, that's the kind of lightning I'd be chasing - try to win by doing something new, and happily leave the "gamer"-identifying niche to the more-of-the-same it so loudly insists upon.
Today, though, I only play games on my Quest 2 and Valve Index. I don't even own a console anymore. Admittedly, this is partially due to console availability issues, but now that I've been using my VR systems for almost a year, I find I'm not really motivated to buy a console.
Maybe this is just a case of "settling" because neither the Playstation or Xbox systems are readily available. I'm not sure. Perhaps I'll feel differently when I can actually go to the store and impulse-buy a console, but for now, I'm content with VR.
Mark my words, retail investors and speculators with everything to lose will get sucked into buying the tokens people like him promote and be left with nothing of utility.
"Web3" as it is being proposed now is essentially an unregistered securities offering. The SEC is asleep at the wheel and A16Z is taking full advantage of it, as is their capitalistic right. This is the 2017 ICO craze rebranded.
If I have to try multiple smartphone to pair Quest each device counts as a Quest.
Compare that to the Switch which is selling significantly more than the Oculus, has the worst support for “VR” out of any of the listed, and is the lowest end hardware (bar the Oculus) too and the real conclusion one can make is that graph is that casual gaming is still a massively lucrative industry.
it reminds a little of the gameboy in the 90s, some of the comments here are dismissive to the point of being absurd
SOME apps you can buy as gifts, others you can't and there seems to be little rhyme or reason to it. the search engine is completely useless not showing anything anywhere near what you are looking for. The interface requires a shit ton of scrolling before anything useful shows up on the screen... It made me want to send the two i bought for my kids back.
There are very few games that won't work -- or have performance issues -- with the previous generation. Most are just the regular FIFA/NHL/Madden stuff, with the occasional overhyped mishap like CP2077.
It's the same situation as with the Xbox 360 -- as long as the previous generations can play the currently popular games, people won't upgrade. Hell, in the Microsoft Store, it's still remakes of 360-era games like GTA V and Skyrim that are being used to advertise the new consoles. No thanks my 360 still works fine! :D
The supply chain issues are only making it worse.
When you do have a 4k TV and it's large enough, a PS5 can look a lot better. Especially versus the regular PS4 (rather than the PS4 Pro).
But historically the Playstations are known for upgrades every 6-7 years (from 1994 to 2000, to 2006, to 2013, to 2020), and then a support of about 3-4 years after, for a 10-year lifecycle.
The PS5 has been out for a year, making a PS5 exclusive at this time that's totally specialised for the hardware makes little sense. There's 14 million PS5s out there, and 115 million PS4s.
But the big games are in the pipeline that utilise the PS5 hardware specifically, and after a while these new games won't run on 4 anymore, or will, but will look a lot better on the 5 or be very slow on the 4.
Paying scalper prices makes no sense at the moment, but the PS5 will eventually take over the 4. If you can get one at retail prices, I'd rather have one sooner than later, if you're switching some day anyway. The loading-time improvements are quite nice.
The thing with the supply chain issues is that they keep many gamers on XB1/PS4. Until the target audience grows, we're stuck in circle with FIFA N+1 and the game of the year 2011 ported to yet another platform.
Really ridiculous. Surely no one can believe Vr headsets out sold Xbox consoles? Who here honestly actually believes the concept that VR headsets are outselling xboxes? No one.
Where’s the actual proof?
And even if it’s true it’s just because of the chip shortage which makes it meaningless.
Fake news.
Even though XR2 chipset in Quest 2 is weak in comparison to beefy PC with NVIDIA RTX 3090, the games are optimized for it and runs smoothly at 90/120Hz. A lot of games are made in low-poly style exactly because of poor hardware, but some games can pull off some pretty decent looking graphics (Eleven, Climb 2, Robo Recall, etc.). I expect that graphics will get much better (HL Alyx better) on standalone VR headsets with Apple's take on this segment.