For me the issue with VR headsets isn’t the price, but the lack of a relevant killer app.
If I were super-into flight sims, I could totally see going VR – makes more sense then the many-monitors setups that fans have done for decades – but most game genres just don’t, IMHO, gain that much. And there hasn’t been a new genre that really blows me away that leverages VR.
I can believe that it might be professionally-useful for architects.
I have a Q3 and I’m also feeling that right now. Most of the games for VR aren’t even really games. They’re “experiences;” Interactive movies where the only interaction is that you can move around the scene. The other biggest type are practically mobile games. Alyx was great. But it’s been long enough that it needs something to surpass it or at least learn from it.
Some of those aren’t even games in any sense of the word. fpsVR and OVR are both just utilities for overlaying things while playing games (and there are free options).
It’s also the most expensive way to play a game, so I do understand the lack of demand compared to the normal gaming space, but there seems to be plenty of people in VR to sustain a good market. So where is it?
Check out Arizona Sunshine. It’s a post apocalypse zombie shooter that I really enjoyed. They just released the sequel a couple months back too, so if you enjoy the first you’ll have another to follow up with. It was the first, and honestly only, VR game that I really enjoyed that wasn’t beat saber or a sim.
For me the issue with VR headsets isn’t the price, but the lack of a relevant killer app.
If I were super-into flight sims, I could totally see going VR – makes more sense then the many-monitors setups that fans have done for decades – but most game genres just don’t, IMHO, gain that much. And there hasn’t been a new genre that really blows me away that leverages VR.
I can believe that it might be professionally-useful for architects.
I have a Q3 and I’m also feeling that right now. Most of the games for VR aren’t even really games. They’re “experiences;” Interactive movies where the only interaction is that you can move around the scene. The other biggest type are practically mobile games. Alyx was great. But it’s been long enough that it needs something to surpass it or at least learn from it.
Hmm. Yeah, that’s a thought too. To put some numbers on that, if I go to Steam and do a search for VR-only games and rank by User Rating, I get:
https://store.steampowered.com/search/?sort_by=Reviews_DESC&vrsupport=401&supportedlang=english&ndl=1
Half-Life: Alyx, 2020 release
VTOL VR, 2017
COMPOUND, 2022
UNDERDOGS, 2024
Hot Dogs, Horseshoes & Hand Grenades, 2016
Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes, 2015
Half-Life 2: VR Mod, 2022
The Room VR: A Dark Matter, 2020
Walkabout Mini Golf VR, 2021
fpsVR, 2018
The Last Clockwinder, 2022
Blade and Sorcery, 2018
Vertigo 2, 2023
I Expect You to Die 2: The Spy and the Liar, 2021
Vermillion - VR Painting, 2021
Beat Saber, 2019
The Lab, 2016
The Thrill of the Fight - VR Boxing, 2019
OVR Advanced Settings, 2020
I Expect You To Die, 2017
So of the best-of-the-best out there as of this writing, we have in releases-per-year:
2024: 1 (understandable, year is only about three months in)
2023: 1
2022: 3
2021: 3
2020: 3
2019: 2
2018: 2
2017: 2
2016: 2
2015: 1
I mean, that’s just not really an exponential explosion.
Some of those aren’t even games in any sense of the word. fpsVR and OVR are both just utilities for overlaying things while playing games (and there are free options).
It’s also the most expensive way to play a game, so I do understand the lack of demand compared to the normal gaming space, but there seems to be plenty of people in VR to sustain a good market. So where is it?
Check out Arizona Sunshine. It’s a post apocalypse zombie shooter that I really enjoyed. They just released the sequel a couple months back too, so if you enjoy the first you’ll have another to follow up with. It was the first, and honestly only, VR game that I really enjoyed that wasn’t beat saber or a sim.
Also, Meta