Carmack: “There’s a bunch that I’m grumpy about” in virtual reality
arstechnica.com
arstechnica.com
2018-2020: barely limping along compared to the early hype, but still getting 2-3 “groundbreaking” titles per year that mostly live up to expectations
Spring 2020: Half Life Alyx is released to a flurry of (mostly deserved) 10/10s across the board
October 2020: FB releases the Quest 2 and proceeds to beat the combined lifetime sales of the rest of the VR industry in under 18 months. Essentially moving the same number of units as the PS5 during that period (to be fair, Sony had shortage issues)
Winter 2020-Present: imagine a tumbleweed lazily rolling through a deserted casino town
Most of 2021 was a cope period where enthusiasts believed the drought was due to game publishers pivoting to the Quest’s mobile chipset. But at this point, especially after the Quest Pro reveal and the second Connect with no updates on the two announced AAA titles (Assassin’s Creed and GTA:SA), sentiment seems to be shifting towards a desperate hope that PSVR2 will save the VR gaming industry.
What happened? 2020 brought the first AAA 10/10 VR exclusive title AND new hardware that absolutely demolished the sales of everything else released to date. And yet the market is SIGNIFICANTLY more dead than it was in 2019.
I can’t explain it. It’s not even a Nintendo Wii situation where it became clear the massive install base wasn’t interested in third party titles: there hasn’t even been a single big third party title released! RE4 VR and Bonelab come the closest and, by all accounts, they both sold extremely well.
A new generation of people realised it's not that great, uncomfortable, hard to share in person, and expensive. The novelty wore off and the machines got shelved.
My point is that it would be extremely weird for every developer to simultaneously exit the VR market immediately AFTER Alyx gets multiple GotY nods and new hardware sells multiple millions of units.
And yet, apparently, this is what happened. On some level I suspect FB buying up a dozen of the biggest VR game studios and letting them languish is a big part of the problem.
Facebook trying to muscle in was likely the nail in the coffin, but if you compare Alyx to other platforms then a couple million sales for the biggest and most anticipated game on the platform ever is pretty damning.
That's very similar revenue to a switch port of a decade old game like captain toad treasure tracker.
I have little hope for most VR stuff, especially the Metaverse. AR seems like a more interesting and useful realm to me.
- Loop Hero
- Crosscode
- Brotato
- Slay the Spire
- FTL
- Rock of Ages
- They are Billions
- Super Auto Pets
- Inscription
- Unpacking
- Enter the Gungeon
- Coffee Talk
- Undertale
- Human Resource Machine
All these games have super unique game loops.
I can't think of another art form / medium in history where it was so easy to discover and enjoy the work of relative outsiders.
It's likely a stretch to say that The Witcher 3 is an indie game, but The Witcher 2 is an indie game and that also sold very well.
Looking over the list of top selling games of all time, many of them are indie games.
I consider video games contemporary art, particularly when they come from small (or single-dev) studios, you can really see there's a conscious effort to extrude some sentiment or story through this medium, and the results is usually amazing!
A couple personal favorites to add to your list:
- Cuphead (ok, this one had a big budget from the start but I wouldn't consider it AAA)
- Crypt of the NecroDancer
- Factorio
- Fez
- Getting Over It
- Journey
- Monument Valley
- Stardew Valley
- SUPERHOT
- Sword & Sorcery
- VVVVVV
Yes some people choose to ignore it but having studied the arts - painting, writing, even filmmaking at this stage are more and more subservient to videogames. Virtually everything that’s new and exciting in art in the last 20 years have been videogames.
If you’re brilliant and you want to make art these days you generally go for videogames I’d say.
As a Filmmaker myself it’s interesting that reading the history of film it similarly wasn’t recognised as the dominant artform of its age / in fact quite the opposite it was considered commercial product only. It was only with a Frederico Fellini film being banned for instance that freedom of expression was allowed in film. That was because in breaking with precedent courts decided that film was art! It took Fellini to make them do that. Or so goes the history I’ve heard.
Coincidentally, it has a fantastic VR mod called NomaiVR. Just do yourself a favor and avoid all spoilers before playing it.
Definitely in my top 5 games of the decade and one that I wish I could erase my memory to play again.
Thanks! That looks like the kind of game I'd enjoy!
I have this special place in my heart for games that set out to deliver a specific experience and succeed spectacularly, and FTL is one my favorite examples. You really feel like the spaceship captain, or maybe like a ship AI, making these quick decisions about how to distribute power among your ship's systems, and swapping out equipment for different situations. There are just all these little maneuvers you learn that fit the theme so perfectly - like when you vent oxygen from a part of the ship to put out a fire, or when you vent oxygen while manipulating bulkheads to suffocate enemy boarders. When you pull some power out of the shields to get a quick evasion boost by powering the engine when a missile is fired. Or mind control the enemy pilot to reduce their evasion before you fire your lasers. It just does such a great job of delivering that spaceship experience.
Some other games that I hold dear among my "delivers their intended experience" category include Subnautica (experience of being dumped into an alien water world, gradually gaining comfort in the environment, discovering a mystery), DOOM 2016 (experience being an insane unstoppable demon slayer), and Batman: Arkham City (experience being the goddamn Batman).
I realize that _all_ games are delivering some experience, but I think these are special standouts in a special sense. They go for some specific thing and use the gameplay to really put you in that scenario. There are many fun and good games that don't do this in the same sense and are more focused on mechanics or story than "experience".
Looks silly as fuck. Why would anyone want to watch a half-body ghost avatar shaking like they're high on coke in a cartoonish 3D setting when you can just video stream the real guy?
God, that MZ avatar looks cringe af.
I really love VR. It's still in that period (maybe it never leaves?) where as amazing as it is, its just too much of a hassle to "set up" or "tear down."
Maybe I'm just lazy tho, lol