Support NeoGAF

[Lockjaw333]

To be honest, if this is the price of VR then I'm out, at least for the first several years.

Only one I'm keeping an eye on at this point is psvr.

 

[plagiarize]

So glad I got in on first Rift preorder wave, everything about the Vive feels off. Random location to announce the price - Mobile World Congress, really? Even that got botched with a leaked early press release. Job simulator as an included game? Ummmm... ok. $799 price point, final straw that broke the camels back for me.

So disappointed in Valve. They had the chance to build up hypes to insane levels - announce at a gaming focused conference, $599 or lower PP, and casually announce Half Life 3 as the included game. People would have gone crazy and their servers would have melted from preorder frenzy. Instead everyone is just kinda looking at each other going "huh..."

Valve didn't price the Vive. It is a piece of hardware made by HTC. A company that makes mobile devices, that has a large presence at MWC. It is being sold for a profit, almost certainly, unlike the Rift which is being sold at or close to cost. But then Oculus expect to make money on software sales through Oculus home, something HTC don't have the luxury of.

If you thought the Vive might be priced the same as the Rift or cheaper, you were dreaming and hadn't looked at the two pieces of hardware.

 

[teokrazia]

It's the last VR device I've tried.
The first one that gave me the truly impression of being in the virtual reality.

It's cheaper than what I was expecting.

 

[Gurrry]

I really hope that the success of VR isnt based upon early adopters because I just dont see this being something that the casuals buy yet. Especially since it requires a PC that costs a grand or more.

Sigh.. Please dont let this be the 2nd death of VR!

 

[Danlord]

Some news sites assume they were talking about their fiscal year, and the first half of Sony's fiscal year ends in October.

I saw, but an interview with Yoshida stated they're releasing in the first 6 months of 2016. Again it could be interpreted different with fiscal year or calendar year of course. Shame there's already some weird uncertainty and they've not clarified it.

I'm hoping it is June alongside no man's sky but that's me.

 

[plagiarize]

I think they will aim for the lowest common denominator in terms of gameplay features, so I agree that I don't see a lot of support for room-scale in the near term.

Having said that, I do think you will get the benefit of higher resolution (compared to PSVR) and larger field-of-view in most if not all games. Ease-of-use features like the camera and phone integration will matter, too.

I really have two points of hesitation about the Vive:
1. In comparing the Oculus and latest Vive dev kit, people say the Oculus is more comfortable. HTC says they are improving ergonomics with the consumer edition, but that is yet to be seen.
2. We don't know yet how much third-party content will be Oculus-exclusive on PC.

If I had satisfactory answers to both of those questions, I would be willing to go with the Vive.

Room scale's lowest common denominator isn't so much based around what headsets can and can't do but based around what kind of space people can setup for VR. I don't have a great roomscale space in our house, and there isn't much I can do about that. I hope that roomscale, well... scales down even though that will limit what you can do with it in larger spaces.

But if a hypothetical game needs 4.5m x 4.5m (and I expect next to no games will need such a space as a requirement) I'm not going to be able to play that game no matter which headset I own.

 

[orthodoxy1095]

Probably a very fair cost for the quality of tech, but too rich for my blood unfortunately.

 

[Golgo 13]

Absolute commercial suicide. Good luck with that.

 

[elcuervo75]

very few people will buy it which means very few companies will develop software for it which means this is doomed to fail.

 

[Mr. Giggles]

Absolute commercial suicide. Good luck with that.

Maybe not, on the consumer side pick up may be slow but perhaps business applications will spring up making it worth the price

 

[SolidSnakesMyStepDad]

Some of you guys really expected the Vive to be cheaper than this. I'm surprised at how cheap it is.

 

[lifa-cobex]

3D-TV's technically did not bomb, since the majority of high end sets are all have 3D features. It is pretty mainstream now, like BluRay is. Now wether people use it or not, is another scenario. I still know people who use progressive scan DVD players on their nice sets, lol.

I mean in terms of gaming support.
Remember that E3 (the one with killzone 3). Sony was full on 3D.

I don't think it gets a whisper from anyone anymore.

 

[etta]

very few people will buy it which means very few companies will develop software for it which means this is doomed to fail.

Aren't VR games universal/interchangeable between Oculus and Vive (and any other full VR headset)?

 

[DjRalford]

DoA

 

[DieH@rd]

-AFAIK the playstation camera at 240fps captures a resolution of 160x100.

Actually it is 320x192, but I don't think they are using that framerate. My vote goes to 120hz. That plus much faster internal sensors = enough tracking info. DK2 used 60fps camera.

 

[cyrok]

Have the Minimum Requirements come out yet? Would be interesting to see

 

[Dreamwriter]

Aren't VR games universal/interchangeable between Oculus and Vive (and any other full VR headset)?

If a game is written using OpenVR, the Vive's SDK, then it will run on both Vive and an Oculus Rift, though not as well as if the game was written using Oculus' SDK. If a game is written using Oculus' (more advanced) SDK, it will not run on a Vive. Oculus themselves are acting as a first-party game developer, and all of their games (20 of them in 2016) are exclusive to the Rift.

 

[DeepEnigma]

I mean in terms of gaming support.
Remember that E3 (the one with killzone 3). Sony was full on 3D.

I don't think it gets a whisper from anyone anymore.

I agree, but I also think it was more to push the 3D tech. They use their gaming platform to push a lot of tech into mainstream saturation. Since now almost all non budget BluRay's have a 3D option as well. And almost every blockbuster movie has a 3D/IMAX option too.

I must say though, MLB The Show was a treat when we focus tested it in 3D in 2011. The depth felt like you were at the parks. I would not mind a come back option for it.

 

[AcademicSaucer]

Yeah, I mean, this the full fledged VR experience unlike the PSVR or Oculus.

Hefty price, but expected.

Occulus is fine if you dont care/dont have a room you can clear for gaming but psvr is in a lower tier.

 

[DieH@rd]

Have the Minimum Requirements come out yet? Would be interesting to see

Vive and CK1 use same screen setup and same display refresh rate [90hz], so expect same sysreq.

Valve actually recommends always rendering at higher res so that some aliasing can be removed with downscaling.

Spoiler

[PSVR is 127mpix/sec at 1080p60 before devs removes invisible areas [so it is even lower than that]

 

[Smushroomed]

Can't wait for VR to come out and for all the price complaints to go away

 

[Dreamwriter]

Have the Minimum Requirements come out yet? Would be interesting to see

They only gave the graphics card, GTX 970, same as Oculus.

 

[Mihos]

Is HTC still going to be in business in 3 years?

While their headset is not that much more expensive than Oculus, I would have serious concerns about an $800 product that might not be serviced or supported down the line because its parent company has been sold off or gone bankrupt.

HTC is making the nexus, they aren't going anywhere. This is barely a blip on their financials

 

[ashecitism]

countdown: http://htcvr.com/us/

 

[poodaddy]

The people calling this commercial suicide apparently haven't seen what high end PC components and peripherals go for and how they sell EXTREMELY well.....
For example; my GPU alone cost me a bit over $600 and I got it on sale, and I absolutely fucking love it and consider it a great value. I won't make any sales predictions on the Vive, but I don't think the price is as big a problem for the enthusiast market as some people are saying it is. It's a different market than casual media consumers altogether and the price thresholds for customers interested in these goods is vastly different than the console costumer base. I'll be waiting on the 2nd or 3rd generation of anything VR, but these prices aren't unfair at all and are actually reassuring of the product's quality.

 

[dark10x]

I really hope that the success of VR isnt based upon early adopters because I just dont see this being something that the casuals buy yet. Especially since it requires a PC that costs a grand or more.

Sigh.. Please dont let this be the 2nd death of VR!

PSVR could really help bridge that gap. It will be cheaper and the experience is similar to, but slightly better than, the DK2. It's a great entry point into VR.

 

[murgo]

Why do people still spell Oculus wrong

 

[Golgo 13]

Maybe not, on the consumer side pick up may be slow but perhaps business applications will spring up making it worth the price

It's possible. Wonder what the projections are, and the long-term strategy for profitability is.

I understand it's new tech, but it's going to need more than gaming to make any money, currently.

 

[Crzy1]

All these VR headsets are just too much to jump right in on. $600 and $800 for a device that you can't even test out except for in a handful of very limited events just isn't going to work for me. I don't have the space for Vive's setup anyway, although it does seem to be the most compelling of the first three out the gate. Perhaps in a few years I'll convince myself to take the dive on one of them.

 

[etta]

If a game is written using OpenVR, the Vive's SDK, then it will run on both Vive and an Oculus Rift, though not as well as if the game was written using Oculus' SDK. If a game is written using Oculus' (more advanced) SDK, it will not run on a Vive. Oculus themselves are acting as a first-party game developer, and all of their games (20 of them in 2016) are exclusive to the Rift.

So can't third party developers use OpenVR to maximize userbase, or at least use both?

 

[AlphaDump]

Needs some really compelling software to justify this price tag. This is some NeoGeo level shit.

 

[YuShtink]

All these VR headsets are just too much to jump right in on. $600 and $800 for a device that you can't even test out except for in a handful of very limited events just isn't going to work for me. I don't have the space for Vive's setup anyway, although it does seem to be the most compelling of the first three out the gate. Perhaps in a few years I'll convince myself to take the dive on one of them.

Just wait a while until you can actually try one for an extended bit of time at a friend's place or something. I bought both Oculus dev kits (were only $300 and $350 respecitvely) so I at least know the baseline of what to expect when I'm dropping $1400 on these two devices. I don't think I would be willing to do so if I hadn't spent significant time with the dev kits personally.

 

[nubbe]

Why do people still spell Oculus wrong

because they will change their name soon since no one cares

 

[SwordStruck]

Is HTC still going to be in business in 3 years?

While their headset is not that much more expensive than Oculus, I would have serious concerns about an $800 product that might not be serviced or supported down the line because its parent company has been sold off or gone bankrupt.

If previous reports are to be believed then their VR business will be spun off into its own company.

 

[ashecitism]

If previous reports are to be believed then their VR business will be spun off into its own company.

They came out and denied that.

 

[lifa-cobex]

I agree, but I also think it was more to push the 3D tech. They use their gaming platform to push a lot of tech into mainstream saturation. Since now almost all non budget BluRay's have a 3D option as well. And almost every blockbuster movie has a 3D/IMAX option too.

I must say though, MLB The Show was a treat when we focus tested it in 3D in 2011. The depth felt like you were at the parks. I would not mind a come back option for it.

Too true.
In the film area I can't mock it too much. I enjoyed going around my mates and watching the odd 3D film but I can't rightly say I felt push to go out and buy a new TV at the time.

But I don't think it it went the way early adopters hopped it was gonna go. I remember a couple of threads stating the 3D gaming was the next thing. No two ways about it.
Ether it was buyers remorse or they really believed it . 3D gaming just died one day.

 

[border]

HTC is making the nexus, they aren't going anywhere. This is barely a blip on their financials

My point is not that the Vive will kill them, but that their poor phone sales will kill them and thus result in poor support for the Vive. Last I checked their financials were in awful shape, to the point that they were refusing to issue guidance for investors.

 

[Camp1nCarl]

Everyone's freaking, but this is better than expected honestly. There were rumors it could have been near the $1000 price range

 

[Chairmanchuck]

Too true.
In the film area I can't mock it too much. I enjoyed going around my mates and watching the odd 3D film but I can't rightly say I felt push to go out and buy a new TV at the time.

But I don't think it it went the way early adopters hopped it was gonna go. I remember a couple of threads stating the 3D gaming was the next thing. No two ways about it.
Ether it was buyers remorse or they really believed it . 3D gaming just died one day.

Did you try out VR before?

 

[Mr. Giggles]

It's possible. Wonder what the projections are, and the long-term strategy for profitability is.

I understand it's new tech, but it's going to need more than gaming to make any money, currently.

Totally agree.

For what it's worth, I've been to one conference and saw at least 2-3 non gaming companies using VR so it'll be interesting to see where this goes

 

[DeepEnigma]

Too true.
In the film area I can't mock it too much. I enjoyed going around my mates and watching the odd 3D film but I can't rightly say I felt push to go out and buy a new TV at the time.

But I don't think it it went the way early adopters hopped it was gonna go. I remember a couple of threads stating the 3D gaming was the next thing. No two ways about it.
Ether it was buyers remorse or they really believed it . 3D gaming just died one day.

Definitely agree with this.

 

[ChronotriggerJM]

A little sticker shocked, but honestly the price isn't too bad considering the cost of the Rift. Seems like you get significantly more for your money.

That said, $800 is not cheap lol.

 

[doby]

Saying 'DOA' is such an ill-informed statement given the market they're targeting.

It can't die in a mainstream market because they don't intend it to 'arrive' there in the first place!

Software support is a different matter though and it could suffer from vive specific original content

 

[lifa-cobex]

Did you try out VR before?

No and that's my problem with it.
I really want to but I can't see anywhere having demo stations set up so I can try and judge for myself which is best.

My mate got a dev kit and says it will be the future. But I can't let that amount of money go without trying it first.

 

[ashecitism]

HTC are specifically talking about how this is not just gaming

But it’s not just about gaming. In addition to these launch titles, HTC is working with developers to foster the creation of content that spans multiple sectors including entertainment, retail, education, design, healthcare and automotive that will ultimately transform people’s lives.

 

[Theonik]

About what I expected.
Getting one.

 

[DeepEnigma]

No and that's my problem with it.
I really want to but I can't see anywhere having demo stations set up so I can try and judge for myself which is best.

My mate got a dev kit and says it will be the future. But I can't let that amount of money go without trying it first.

And that will be it's biggest obstacle. It is something that has to be experienced, especially at this cost. (I do agree since The Lawnmower Man, lol, and trying VR in a trade show 20+ years ago that this is the next evolution in gaming.)

I expect Sony to have a demo station in most major retailers as well. Just like the Wii did, and Move/Kinect.

Cell phone entry level will help VR more so as well.

 

[AstroNut325]

For first gen tech, that is a good price. I don't get the hate. NOT everything has to be mass-market friendly in order for it to be a success. There is business sense in doing it this way.

 

[benny_a]

NOT everything has to be mass-market friendly in order for it to be a success. There is business sense in doing it this way.

While I agree with you, I don't think HTC is in a position where they can sustain themselves on low volume products.

 

[jmga]

Still no price for Europe?