So, VR has come to Steam...

[Misery]

...and it wont bloody well shut the hell up about it.   Seriously.  That's all it wants to show me.  OMG VIRTUAL REALITIEZ LOOK HOW SHINEY TEHY R!!!!11

It's probably not going away anytime soon either.  All that Occulus Rift stuff and all, ugh. 

I'm curious though, partly because I'm bored, what do you all think about all this VR stuff? 

To me it's all a bunch of unnecessary fluff; more games that are just going to rely on visual spectacle combined with motion controls (again, ugh) instead of... absolutely any other damn thing.  It looks like Kinect all over again, except you have to put a helmet on.  And then you cant see your actual surroundings.  ....Yay?  It also looks like a splitting headache waiting to happen.

But what do you guys think about this sort of thing?  Are any of you looking to get something like that, or are you uninterested?

[Mick]

I was trying to find a way to filter it out. I don't own VR hardware so all VR games are no interest to me.

[Cinth]

Once all the kinks are out and the real competition among the different companies start, then it might actually be worth playing with.  Until then it''s just a novelty.

[KingIsaacLinksr]

I think this has real potential to be a game changer for more immersive experiences and new genres. I'm personally looking forward to it....when all of the kinks have been worked out. It definitely has more legs to stand on than 3D, typical cheap motion controls and whatnot that have always relied on gimmicks rather than actually good hardware to work. There are some barriers to entry: It costs a lot and you need a decent amount of space to work in. Which I'm not sure if we'll ever get around that or not. But yeah, as far as new gaming tech goes, VR is the one I'm most interested in.

[Mánagarmr]

I'm super excited about VR. But I'm not gonna bother getting into it until the kinks and bugs are worked out, the prices come down and there's more support.

[Aklyon]

I'm super excited about VR. But I'm not gonna bother getting into it until the kinks and bugs are worked out, the prices come down and there's more support.

Also when you don't need a superior computer to run things smoothly.

[Wingflier]

Life tip for anybody interested in life tips: Never buy the first generation of ANYTHING. As cool, unique, and amazing as it may sound, you're basically paying to be a guinea pig (usually for some faceless corporate enterprise).

VR, in my opinion, is basically the new "console". In fact, I predict that within the next 10 years it will completely replace consoles to the point that the current console companies will either need to make their consoles VR-compatible, or drop out of the competition. In fact, this new technology may really hurt the console market because PCs are so much more affordable, and the technology can continually be upgraded to fit new demands. Mediocre graphics and hardware (consoles) probably isn't going to cut it any more in the VR world, where realism and aesthetics will be even more sought after than they are already, by quite a margin.

Though, the "PC market" may soon be replaced by "the VR machine market". VR machines essentially being extremely powerful PCs in a compact (mobile) format that you can take with you anywhere, and which have all the same functions of a PC, but are specifically designed as Virtual Reality Ready, the way many "Gaming PCs" are designed specifically for gaming today (even though you can still do all the same things on them as any other PC). In this sense, "VR machine" will essentially be a marketing gimmick, but a powerful one since the generally computer illiterate person won't know the difference.

Within the next 5 years I'm predicting an operating system (probably made by Windows) which can be operated well (key word) without a mouse, and this will of course come standard on these new "VR machines".

To be honest, my true moment of interest in this market will come when they can actually tap into your brain instead of strapping a screen to your face and calling it "virtual reality". No, that's a screen taped to your face. It isn't reality until I can feel it.

[Draco18s]

My tip:
If you're going to get (or already have) a VR headset, also get a Leap Motion controller.  Leap is a hands-free control system and while most things aren't set up to handle its input (because it can't be directly correlated to mouse/keyboard input).  But when things are set up for it, it's lovably amazing.

Second problem with VR is heads-up-display info (all those health and ammo bars we're so used to) cannot be displayed well on a VR device because the farther away from the center of the screen something is, the blurrier it is.  And you can't just turn your head to look because it moves with you.  Same problem applies to FPS games, where "looking" and "shooting" have become disconnected.  TF2 has fourteen freaking settings on how to handle this and I like none of them.

[Aklyon]

Within the next 5 years I'm predicting an operating system (probably made by Windows) which can be operated well (key word) without a mouse, and this will of course come standard on these new "VR machines".

I'd predict it being a linux distro (or someone else), myself. Microsoft is too busy trying to drag people off of vista, 7, and 8 onto their super special free* newish Win10 version to make a decent VROS.

[Draco18s]

That and Microsoft has stated that Win10 will be the last version of Windows.  It'll just get updates like OSX

[Aklyon]

That and Microsoft has stated that Win10 will be the last version of Windows.  It'll just get updates like OSX

What about when they inevitably brick things with a bad update you can't avoid getting? If they're doing that they can't just vista themselves out of it if there isn't a 7 to put out.

[Misery]

VR, in my opinion, is basically the new "console". In fact, I predict that within the next 10 years it will completely replace consoles to the point that the current console companies will either need to make their consoles VR-compatible, or drop out of the competition. In fact, this new technology may really hurt the console market because PCs are so much more affordable, and the technology can continually be upgraded to fit new demands. Mediocre graphics and hardware (consoles) probably isn't going to cut it any more in the VR world, where realism and aesthetics will be even more sought after than they are already, by quite a margin.

Ugh.  Well, that'll be the end of consoles for me if that one happens, that's for sure.

To be honest, my true moment of interest in this market will come when they can actually tap into your brain instead of strapping a screen to your face and calling it "virtual reality". No, that's a screen taped to your face. It isn't reality until I can feel it.

Yeah, I've had this thought before as well.  I think this is the *only* thing that'd get this to catch my interest; right now, it's just a gimmick.  It doesn't matter how shiny the damn graphics get; it's just another stupid Wiimote to me.  Or Kinect, which is going to be what I keep comparing this all to for years to come.   With a helmet.

But if that bit were to happen, then things might be different.... maybe.

[Draco18s]

What about when they inevitably brick things with a bad update you can't avoid getting? If they're doing that they can't just vista themselves out of it if there isn't a 7 to put out.

Already happening.  Windows 10 will automatically remove any software or driver that it feels is slowing down the system, without asking.
This includes pieces of the Catalyst suit, which breaks the rest of it.

[Mánagarmr]

What about when they inevitably brick things with a bad update you can't avoid getting? If they're doing that they can't just vista themselves out of it if there isn't a 7 to put out.

Already happening.  Windows 10 will automatically remove any software or driver that it feels is slowing down the system, without asking.
This includes pieces of the Catalyst suit, which breaks the rest of it.

That's just Microsoft in a nutshell. It treats you like a gibbering moron, while simultaneously BEING a gibbering moron.

[Wingflier]

What about when they inevitably brick things with a bad update you can't avoid getting? If they're doing that they can't just vista themselves out of it if there isn't a 7 to put out.

Already happening.  Windows 10 will automatically remove any software or driver that it feels is slowing down the system, without asking.
This includes pieces of the Catalyst suit, which breaks the rest of it.

That's just Microsoft in a nutshell. It treats you like a gibbering moron, while simultaneously BEING a gibbering moron.

It does take one to know one after all.