I don't get the amount of concern on how you're going to look while you play. Have you seen people play the kinect? It's not flattering. But who cares? For the most part we are alone when playing games. You're the one enjoying the experience and if someone makes fun of you for wearing goggles for flailing your arms around, then maybe that is not someone you should associate yourself with.
A reputation to uphold? lol In all honesty, I'd rather someone see me playing with the rift than posting on a gaming forum.
OK there is a lot of stuff just being thrown at the wall here. I'll go through it one by one.
If any people claim motion controls are faddish and dying out, no way VR helmets will catch on...huh? So if any person can just open their jaw and spew words about motion controls being a gimmick, than VR headsets are doomed? Please elaborate on this because this seems like a false correlation to me...
The cost is there, sure, and it may not for everyone. So are you saying that because not everyone can pay $300 for a headset, it will fail? There is a very enthusiastic market and development community for the Rift and we'll see how it pans out when the gaming community goes nuts for it upon commercial release. Once your average joe experiences it, word of mouth is going to permeate the world.
Have to strap the thing on your face and "need" headphones and mic. So if because you need to wear a headset with mic when playing on live, does that render the service useless or bad? Snowboarders wear ski-goggles, snorkelers wear water goggles, and virtual reality users will wear display goggles. I can bring those goggles anywhere. Say I have a gaming laptop, I can bring the laptop on a business trip with my rift and be in another world in my hotel room. You see, if you get past the stigma of wearing goggles you start realizing all the positive applications.
3D tvs cannot be compared to the rift just like motion controllers can't. Both of these comparisons are apples to oranges. The thing is with 3d tvs, is the cost/benefit is just not there. 3D tvs give users a flat layering effect on a box 10 feet away. So your backgrounds look a little in the background and objects appear in a couple different layers in the foreground. Not to mention all the ghosting that happens still due to glasses trying to fake a 3d image with active shutters.
With the rift, you ARE there. The tree on the left? It really
is 40 feet tall. That boat in the distance? It
is 500 yards away. The sense of scale alone is just not something we've ever seen before. Then you start talking about how 3d works with the rift and it is even more exciting. The Rift displays virtual reality...exactly like reality. Each eye is given a different perspective depending on how far apart your eyes are with the display and the 3d becomes natural. So you perceive virtual reality just as you do real reality. And finally you get 1 to 1 head tracking. Look around all you want with no humanly perceivable latency. 3d tvs are an augmentation to how we experience media, virtual reality is a revolution.
Playing locally is kind of a pain due to the hardware needed. However, with the advancement of mobile technology, it is not very difficult to think a smart phone/rift hybrid in the future that would allow a all in one wireless VR device. Until then, go to a virtual club and go around meeting and talking to people in VR if you want a social experience.
Watch this too to see what new input devices could mean as well. Just so freakin amazing. As a gamer, how can you not get excited for this?
