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Comment by calessian | Hacker News Reader

VR has so far failed to reach an amount of people to make developing games for it really worthwhile, and the metaverse really doesn’t have much going for it either.

I don’t really see much momentum in that space, and the consensus among my friends is that it’s a gimmick to try a few times - with their vr headsets collecting dust since.

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Can confirm, I have two VR headsets, and they're both collecting dust. Was a neat gimmick for a few days some years ago..

Same. I have the index, plus special eyesight amendment lenses accessory that I had to fork out on. grudge #1.

The second, offline games are cool but with only 2MB ADSL, I can't enjoy anything online with them. It's like waiting for a custom map to download on CS:S when I was on 56k. Only to join just as the server changes the level.

where in the world are you still on 2MB ADSL?

Probably in the US, in an area that only ATT services.

UK in the City centre. No fibre

It's all I can get for now.

VR gaming is niche enthusiast stuff, it will never be a thing for everyday casual gaming.

Flight sims, racing sims and most other sims where there’s stationary hardware involved can and do benefit greatly from VR, but most games are not simulations and never will be.

This is why I can't understand current VR goggle design. Why aren't there any lightweight wired display-only goggles? Stuffing all the hardware in the goggles seems mindbogglingly stupid to me. Poor performance, high weight and high price. For what advantage?

Even the selling point of a non-wired headset is questionable. I want to sit down comfortably when I game. Not walk around and crouch and crawl.

So the Bigscreen Beyond 1 and 2? They've optimised entirely for weight at ~100 grams.

There have been numerous such goggles for the past ~25 years with little improvement in performance or price, and the fact that you're not aware of any of them suggests what the advantages are...

I think it's a price issue. VR is fun, but a headset costs more than it's worth. Prices aren't out yet, but the whole foveated streaming thing seems like cost-cutting tech, and it'd be smart for them to position themselves as "the affordable one."

For me... I can only play for 10-15 minutes before my eyes are burning and my face is hot. The eye strain is ridiculous. I don't see how people do it.

The problem for me was more a software issue than hardware or cost. It (Quest 2) just felt awkward, the software selection was meh, IPD bad for me, resolution only so-so, but most of all it felt isolated from the rest of my gear. I've been planning to give it another go recently but don't have much enthusiasm for it, but a Steam headset with my collection is something I'm very keen to try.

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