VR gaming is a flop. Lots of people bought headsets, played with them for a day and now they're all gathering dust. Apple is right to ignore it.
Basically, a Game Boy or Switch for VR.
"Exclusive" in games consoles is a loaded word that means "exclusive to this platform and not available anywhere else".
If the intended meaning is what you suggest, then I'd recommend removing the word "exclusive" and just saying "there is no affordable VR console with lots of big games".
The problem with Valve is that their platform is PCs, and a gaming PC + VR headset is too expensive for most people, who often don't already own a proper PC. The problem with Sony is similar: The PSVR 2 is not a standalone console, but just an add-on to a PS5, and PS5+PSVR2 is too expensive for people who are just interested in VR. It's like trying to sell a Game Boy which requires you to already own an SNES for it to function. It would be a flop.
The Meta Quest 2 is in a better position, it's standalone and rather affordable. But Meta can't support it with big games like Sony or Valve could. Meta doesn't have the expertise and probably also not the will to develop expensive AAA games in order too push Quest sales. They are more interested in the metaverse than in becoming a games company.
Nintendo could perhaps make a successful VR console, but it would require massive investments in AAA titles, which would be very risky for them, given their size. And Sony isn't interested in a standalone system.
Microsoft would be more likely. They have huge cash reserves and can afford to lose large amounts of money until they become profitable, as they've shown with the first XBox. But I they haven't shown any ambitions so far to invest billions into an "XBox VR" console and corresponding AAA games.
VRChat, Superhot, Simpleplanes, Flight Sim, Ultrawings, Phantasmagoria, Htiman, Nearly all VR compatible racing games, Rec Room, Euro Truck Simulator, Most VR compatible horror games like Phantasmagoria, etc etc etc.
Did you even try to look it up?
I do not need to "look it up", I own and play Superhot on the Oculus for example.
What in your knee-jerk reply would you say contributes to the conversation about whether "VR exclusives" are needed for a given platform to succeed?
I'm going to help you by providing the context for this conversation (not written by me, but in the initial comment I was replying to), which is:
> "The adoption problem seems to be that there is no affordable VR console with a lot of big exclusive games."
There you go. What do you think "big exclusive games" means in this context? Do you think it means "exclusive" as in "Nintendo exclusive" or does it mean "exclusive" as in "it's designed for VR first, regardless of headset brand"? Or something else maybe?
something that people will look at and think “I need VR so I can play that”. The closest so far is half-life alyx, but that’s really not cutting it.
I was really impressed by the Oculus "First Contact" (or whatever the one with the robot is called). I wonder by there are so few games that feel like it.
Beat Saber is pretty cool, but what killed it in my family is that you cannot see what the other person is seeing, so it's a bummer when you're not donning the headset. Unlike with a regular videogame, where you can watch the screen even if you're not playing.
I had just showed him WA state and no ill effects, but I didn't have issues on a pre-release vive prototype or release occulus OG while doing barrel rolls and back flips or movement vluprs.
So I crank up the details to super high and enjoy the awesome rendering detail and save myself from motion sickness.
Elite Dangerous is the only VR app that gives me any motion sickness at all and is also my favorite app in VR so far.
Incidentally Google Earth has comfort options exactly due to that reason, such as the option to narrow the field of view when moving around. I wonder if that option was enabled?
Interestingly I tried out F1 2022 in PCVR mode with it and was surprised to find that didn't make me feel ill. A lot of it comes down to the refresh rate and quality of tracking as its the lag that causes a lot of the nausea.
Is this the same team who came up with a phone that bends in the pocket?
- 1 Their customers have historically chosen metal and aluminum for their products, and Apple is in the business of building what their consumers prefer.
- 2 Glass and Aluminum conduct heat better than plastic. The 2hr battery suggests thermals are a great consideration where the materials chosen were not just for aesthetics. Perhaps plastic could've worked, but see point #1.
In some cases they use it well, like Beat Saber. But how much is that worth to people?
What is even more impressive is when a VR version of a big, popular game is the best version of that game.
Affordability is somewhat relative. If something is truly compelling, people will spend a lot of money to get it.
The resolution on the Q2 is also just way too low for certain games, I think a MtG-type game would be super cool on the Q2 (and the games I tried in this vein had /massive/ potential that was thrown away completely due to blurry text). In the ends the Q2 has way too many downsides and not enough upsides to keep me using it. I will be getting a Vision Pro at launch though, the resolution alone almost would sell it for me but the emphasis on AR and productivity are the clincher.
But there are clearly still problems to solve. And some of them do involve hardware capability. Basically for the mass market they’re just not there yet.
The apple headset certainly appears to have significantly more power and capabilities in many ways. It will be interesting to see what pops up.
Though obviously a future version with a lower price will be necessary for it to truly go main stream.
Meta was proudly boasting about how the Quest 3 will have "Over 500 titles" - thats not something to boast about, it's just highlighting how incredibly poor the platform has been from a developer adoption standpoint.
Why? No, seriously, why? People say this as if it is a given, but how would VR improve a game serious that is built around strategy as it's main selling point. How does VR improve Civ as a game? In fact, there are very few genres and types of games that the immersion VR brings is worth the limitations: Weird controls, isolation, headaches, wearing a mask, expense, physical exertion etc.
I'm so tired of people who don't seem to know anything about either video gaming or VR gaming parroting this empty hype of how VR magically makes all games better.
VR is a peripheral, not an advancement in rendering technology.
It's a city. I live in a real city. SimCity is this flat set of graphics on a screen. I'd much rather be able to view my city that I created and see what it looks like on a human level.
I get your point, and many things would not be good.
But for me at least, SimCity would be. So would Call of Duty (and I know that because I've played 1st person shooters in VR before on multiple occasions).
But that's just me.
I get why they didn't want to go the controller route, but they'll surely be very aware that it greatly limits what can be done with games.
Remember, the iPad doesn’t come with a controller, but you can use a Pencil with it if you want.
Same thing will likely happen with the Vision products.
Moreover, making elaborate games like civilization wouldn't be economically feasible even if they could be appropriately controlled by default. The price for the headset is so high that not many people will buy it. Then elaborate games can't sell enough copies in order to be profitable. For example, it seems unlikely that even a success like Half Life Alyx made its development cost back. The hardware install base is too small.
I think Apple is playing the long game here. Moore's law and manufacturing improvements will cause the price to go down over time.
Remember, the first Macintosh cost $3,000 in 1984. Today most Macs cost less than 2/3 of that price before adjusting for inflation.
My point was that it would be like walking around Madurodam while playing a game.
And standing would be optional. Apple showed most people sitting down, so I’m presuming you could do that.
But you should be able to do VR while sitting down and "walk" using gestures or a controller.
[0] - https://www.kat-vr.com/
But isn't it still the most succesful application of VR?
I don't see another application of VR / AR that will prevent the device eventually gathering dust once novelty has faded. Certainly nothing in the presentation from Apple.
A flop indeed. /s From [0]
"Standalone VR headset Quest 2 from Meta (formerly Oculus under Facebook) has outsold Microsoft's Xbox Series X/S consoles, according to the latest information from the International Data Corporation (IDC)."
> Apple is right to ignore it.
Incorrect.
Apple didn't ignore it because they cannot ignore it. Apple is targeting both gaming and for work just like how the Meta Quest Pro has done so.
[0] https://www.thevirtualreport.biz/data-and-research/65297/que...
Either way, if I was gaming, playing a new single player 2D (Last of Us, etc) game on a MASSIVE screen on the Vision Pro seems so exciting. Beat Saber and throwing my hands around? Not so much.