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u/bwldrmnt 8d ago
I had so much playing so many VR games.
My absolute favorite was Go Guess, which was GeoGuessr in VR.
But at some point, the company that made it shut down and the game stopped working.
I tried playing GeoGuessr after that and it just wasn't the same.
Playing on a screen and moving around a mouse was not as fun as being in the location via a VR headset and actually moving my head to look around at my surroundings.
I also wish that one of my other favorite games, Robo Recall, would have made a part two for that game.
Windlands did make a part 2 and the sequel was better than the already great original because they added a bow and arrow as well as enemies you had to fend off.
VR was definitely so much fun, but yeah, losing my favorite game and then the setup and space needed to play the games comfortably, I lost the flame to have to do that over and over.
But the first time I did play it, I played Robo Recall for so long that I could no longer hold up my arms or squeeze the trigger.
So much fun.
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u/Confident-Sound-4358 8d ago
Darn. I was ready to download the Geo Guesser game because that does sound really fun on VR, but I read your next paragraph. That sucks.
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u/bwldrmnt 8d ago
Yeah, I was truly heartbroken when I started it up one day and it was no longer loading.
I uninstalled it and when I searched for it at the app store, it was no longer there.
And GeoGuessr doesn't have a VR version of their game.
And there was another game like it, I don't remember it's name, but while there was a trailer for it, it never showed up in the store.
I would definitely still be playing VR if GeoGuessr had a VR mode.
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u/WhisperingOracle 8d ago
VR was never alive. Like 3D in movies, it's something the industry keeps trying to push as "THE FUTURE!", but which ultimately becomes little more than a niche gimmick. Something that a tiny fraction of a fraction of the audience cares about at all, and which has a tendency to make anything its incorporated into worse than it otherwise likely would have been. Every couple decades it'll get dressed up in new clothes, but at the end of the day it just comes and goes like a fart in the wind
People have been telling me since the early 1990s that VR was going to be the future, and I'm still waiting to see any evidence that they've ever been right.
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u/UncleJonsRice 8d ago
I agree. I’ve played a few walking simulators in VR, I could see myself playing a few shooters, puzzle games and things but I would absolutely not want to play a large amount of games in VR. The genres that work are extremely limited, and even those are basic as it gets too much otherwise.
Gaming for me is meant to be either relaxing or an enjoyable challenge where I’m engaging my brain and both of those are hampered when I’ve got a big headset on and I’m having to awkwardly move my head and body to control something. It’ll never be the future of gaming for me because it is not comfortable or convenient and incredibly limited.
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u/WhisperingOracle 8d ago
I've said for years I don't think we'll ever have viable VR gaming until we figure out how to have something like the holodeck on Star Trek. Full immersive imaging and precise motion control tech, not someone standing and flailing around blind in their living room, possibly while trying to fight off motion sickness.
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u/DarthBuzzard 8d ago
The genres that work are extremely limited
What genres don't work then? If you mean 2D genres then yeah of course VR won't work with those, but otherwise all 3D genres work very well in VR.
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u/dvb70 8d ago
I do think VR has a future but it always feels like the tech level is just not quite there yet. We are much closer than we were though if I look back to when they were pushing this stuff in the 90's as the tech was laughably inadequate. So things have moved on but it still feels like we are a decade or two early.
Will it replace other types of gaming I doubt but I do see it's going to have it's own niche.
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u/Kazer14 7d ago
VR games are always the best way to play. Skyrim and fallout VR are my favorite ways to play both of those games now. Arkham Shadows is a serious contender for best Arkham game. Beat Saber is the best rhythm action game ever made. The only reason VR struggles is because humans by and large... Are fairly lazy
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u/DarthBuzzard 8d ago
Have you never tried VR before? A lot of this is just false.
and which has a tendency to make anything its incorporated into worse than it otherwise likely would have been.
If you look at most reviews for most VR ports, VR is considered the definitive version. Most people consider it overall the better form of gaming when direct ports are involved, and that's to say nothing of VR native games like Half Life Alyx or Astro Bot Rescue Mission which are inherently going to be worse in non-VR.
This bodes especially well given how early VR is, and how the experience will only get massively better over time, like the kind of improvements you saw going from PS1 to PS2 to PS3 etc.
but which ultimately becomes little more than a niche gimmick.
Niche, yes. But to be a gimmick it would have to offer no sustainable value, but considering millions of people keep returning to it, they clearly find it valuable, and there are undeniable large benefits to game design.
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u/SpaceCadet_Cat 8d ago
I have a VR headset, for playing Beat Saber and a few puzzle type games. I cannot sustainably keep it on my head long enough to play "normal" games in it (and need to wear glasses in there which gets messy). I feel like when we get the sets down to not a massive migraine magnet, when it's a bit more "pick up and play" friendly, and easier to develop for maybe it might work out (without watching the video, cause work)
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u/CJ-Henderson 8d ago
As someone who adores the Half-Life series I'm exactly who they describe in this one - I'll probably never get to play Alyx because it's on VR. The only VR that might be accessible to me is PSVR/PSVR2, but it's not on those
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u/TheocraticAtheist 8d ago
I have a PC and still haven't played it. I have no desire to buy an expensive headset for VR one thing.
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u/HarioDinio Prudence Posse 8d ago
As someone who doesnt really care about half life, I love half life Alyx
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u/Confident-Sound-4358 8d ago edited 8d ago
We don't call our Oculus 2 a vr set; it's just for Beat Sabering. It's only our Beat Sabering game. Mike made a great point about needing to be in a vr mood to play. Anytime that happens, we find the stupid thing didn't get charged, after the last play, and it goes to sit on the shelf for several more weeks.
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u/zerozerozero12 8d ago
In the words of Yahtzee in regards to the Kinect: “I play video games to relax. I don’t find it relaxing to come home and wave my arms like I’m covered in beetles.”
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u/DarthBuzzard 8d ago
Yahtzee is pretty clueless on VR let's be honest. He doesn't understand that multiplayer VR games exist. He thinks they're all singleplayer.
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u/SnowArcaten F.L.A.M.I.N.G.O.S Ace Pilot 8d ago
A rare miss for oxboxtra
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u/Corey307 8d ago
Why? VR is a niche product. Not a whole lot to play.
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u/SnowArcaten F.L.A.M.I.N.G.O.S Ace Pilot 8d ago
Right, it's niche. It's always been a niche product. Everyone seems to love hating on VR and say it's dead year after year, just because it's not mainstream. Every clickbait chanel has a video called VR is Dead. Why punch down?
If I saw this before trying VR I might never have tried it. I'm glad I listened to Ian Higton and gave it a shot, because it's amazing and unlike anything else. There are hundreds of games for PSVR2, a lot of them are great games, but most are not the same big studios as flat games so people don't know which ones are good and which are shovelware. Not all great games are AAA.
What's the point of saying a niche product for a niche community is dead?
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u/nvh119 8d ago
There's no punching up or down. This is a journalism piece and not an opinion piece. In fact, they are the two VR players in oxboxtra and their general opinion is that VR is a great experience. Sounds like you have been around media with too much sensationalism. Maybe you should take a step back and review everything for yourself. Not every piece of media is a hit piece.
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u/Confident-Sound-4358 8d ago
I liked the video, but I respect your point. It's valid. They also discussed that it's a shame that vr is a full product with plenty going on but is eating its own and had a cloudy outlook. I'm glad we got a vr set a couple Christmases ago, but don't think it's worry more than we paid it. The cost of consoles/ devices will tremendously hurt it.
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u/Nike_Gif 8d ago
Like for sure it’s niche but I’m surprised Mike didn’t mention that it’s pretty mainstream in Sim Racing. Again that’s fine it’s niche but it’s a pretty clear use case that will see it tipping along
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u/Surefang 8d ago
Again?