Comment by ChuckNorris89 | Hacker News Reader

Comment by ChuckNorris89 | Hacker News Reader

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>That doesn't explain why someone who has an Index doesn't use it. [...] It's just a matter of putting on the headset and go.

It definitely is not (saying as a PC gamer for over 15 years). If you don't already use your gaming PC regularly for other stuff so that the whole loading, update and maintenance is part of the daily experience anyway, then, you first have to fire up the gaming PC, wait for it to load, login to Windows, then you might have Windows nagging you for an update, then maybe Nvidia gaming hub or whatever they're calling it nowadays nags you for an update, then maybe you have to reboot, then open the steam launcher, then maybe that also want some updates, then fire up the game, then you have to clear your surrounding environment to make room for the cable tether and make sure you don't trip on it, then put on the Index, then finally you can play.

To most people that wohle ritual gets annoying and puts off the casual gamers who want a quick gaming session every now and then without dealing with any of that crap. The Quest is literally just put on and go since it's just like a console, which is also more popular for gaming than PCs for the convenience and the lack of friction.

If you only use your PC one day a month then yes, you may have to wait sometimes for updates. If you use your PC a few hours every week, nope. If you only use your Quest 2 once a month you've demonstrated my point: there is a barrier to using it.

Windows updates don't prompt anymore. They download automatically and apply at the next reboot. Steam starts at boot and updates every thing in the background. Never had an Nvidia popup, don't use anything else than a driver for my GPU. As soon as you put on the headset and turn on the controllers it wakes up, starts SteamVR and you can play. I don't care how long you've been a PC gamer in the past. The time that gaming on Windows was a chore is long gone. Stuff just works on Windows now.

>If you only use your Quest 2 once a month you've demonstrated my point: there is a barrier to using it.

Which barrier? People can game twice a month due to lack of time, not because of a barrier from the device. And those two times a month they have the time to game, they want to jump into the game directly, not do OS/driver/game updates first.

That's one of the reasons the Quest destroyed the Valve index in sales and why consoles are more popular then PCs for gaming.

That’s actually not my problem with it; my big problem with it is that the whole thing gives me a headache after about 15 minutes. And you can’t use your phone, have something on in the background, etc. Also basically every game was way easier to play outside VR.

In my mind it’s a novelty you will be far more productive without.

I think maybe because you haven't played any great titles bespoke made for a fun experience in VR. I think this is where the Quest shines. It's not trying to play PC games in VR, but it has great titles made bespoke for it wich are great fun in VR. Same how you don't buy a Switch to play PC games, but you play the games made by Nintendo for it which are also great fun. Quest has the fun factor through its library of great VR titles. Without any fun VR titles, the Index is just an expensive peripheral. The ecosystem makes the whole experience make or break.

>And you can’t use your phone, have something on in the background, etc.

I don't get what you meant here.

The Index has plenty of VR titles; there’s a whole VR section in steam with all the standard ones (there really aren’t that many native VR games, maybe a hundred give or take), Half Life: Alyx, Serious Sam VR, etc.

My favorite VR experience was actually a game that wasn’t designed for VR but sort of serendipitously worked extremely well (Elite: Dangerous). Space dogfights in VR are incredible and super-immersive. It still gave me a headache after a bit of playtime but I usually pushed through until my ship was out of ammo and I needed to reload.

But after playing E:D in VR, most VR native games like Space Pirate Simulator, Beat Saber or Superhot VR just feel like shallow toys. E:D is closer to an immersive experience than any of them; I actively wanted to stay in VR longer but my eyes would not let me.

> I don't get what you meant here.

I meant that it’s hard to simultaneously perform VR and non-VR activities (or switch back and forth between them quickly).

Anecdotally, I know people with both Indexes and Quest 2s, and from my experience the Q2 gets way fewer strain/headache/motion sickness complaints than the Index.

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