Just got mine, immediately stopped studying to unbox it and get things running. Responsibility is my life.
I've played ADR1FT, Lucky's Tale, Dreamdeck, and Mythos of the World Axis so far. About 40 minutes of the first two, and 15 of Mythos. I also tried Lucky's Tale on both my Vive and Rift back to back, in an attempt to get something close to a direct comparison of the screens/optics. Some initial impressions:
Packging
A amazing work here. I was pleasantly surprised by the Vive packaging and it's a great experience, but Oculus nailed it. The white on black is beautiful, the reflective black Oculus logo on the black box is stunning, the retractable cloth handle is fantastic, and they way it just unfolds into the hardware is so stunningly simplistic. Despite what is arguably going to be a difficult setup process for a lot of consumers who haven't previously had to deal with PC peripherals, the process of opening your Rift infers a subtle yet powerful sense of simplicity. It seems so basic, so inviting. Everything neatly coiled up, yet with room to breathe. My only criticism of the design here is that the adhesive plastic wrapped around the cabling is, if anything,
too adhesive. I expected it to feel like the Vive or Apple cable packaging, and it was almost annoyingly difficult to peel off.
Setup
Delightfully simple. I felt that setting up the Vive was straightfoward and enjoyable, but it did take a solid 20 minutes (not including the time it took to rearrange/empty the room I intended to use it in). Comparatively, the Rift is barely any effort at all. Plug in the camera USB cable, HMD USB and HDMI cable, and it's ready to go. The app takes you through things nicely, although at times it was unclear when I should be wearing the headset. When the app tells you to fit the headset, I assumed it made sense to leave it on, but to get the IPD settings to display, I had to take it off and put it on again to trigger the face detection sensor (almost definitely not what that's called, but it does have something like this).
After this, it runs you through Dreamdeck, which is where my first issue arose. A lot of people are going to be experience VR for the first time through this, as it is the first thing Oculus throws at you. There are definitely cool moments to be had with Dreamdeck, and I particularly enjoyed the miniature city and T-Rex moments. That said, the entire process (including the unboxing, setup, and most of the things in Dreamdeck) are incredibly, painfully serious.
The entire first hour with my Rift screamed "VIRTUAL REALITY IS SERIOUS BUSINESS". Comparatively, the first hour you have with the Vive is quirky, whimsical, borderline magical experience, from the Bendy's House setup theme to batting balloons around like a kid. It's still a premium feeling marvel of technology, but infused with an amazing energy. I didn't get this feeling at all from the Rift.
Hardware
So the Rift feels great. There are much more eloquent ways of phrasing that, but at it's core the hardware is just stunning from every perspective. The cloth exterior feels amazing, the balance is impeccable. The rear portion cups your head in a way that's almost unnoticeable, but takes the vast majority of the weight off of your face. The Rift feels great. Wearing it is something you can easily forget after a few minutes, and it's awesome. The Rift neatly exceeds my only two hardware expectations: It does what it says on the tin, and it looks good doing it.
The built in headphones are comfortable as well, and sound incredibly good for what they are. I can't see myself using my own headphones; the integrated audio is just too convenient and comfortable.
The screen was a surprise. It feels like there is much less of a SDE than the Vive, and the overall image quality has a softer, more natural feel to it. It's a delightful upgrade from the previous hardware (especially DK2), and I cant' shake the feeling that it looks slightly better than my Vive's screens. The sweet spot is slightly larger as well, which helps quite a bit for eye movement.
Unfortunately, it's not all perfect. It pains me to say this, but the FOV is, at best, lacking. Out of all of the VR HMD's I've used in the past few years (DK1, DK2, Galaxy Gear, Vive), CV1 has the most distinct "I'm wearing goggles" feeling. It dramatically impacts presence. Compared to the Vive, despite how insignificant the numbers may seem on paper, it's much worse. The Vive feels expansive by comparison, and the vertical FOV (when adjusted properly and not wearing glasses) is taller than what I can see. It takes up my entire vertical FOV, which is incredible. The Rift is hard to go back to for this alone.
The screen is also... somewhat dim. Playing through ADR1FT, I started to realized that it was almost as if the screen was on standby. Everything feels oddly darkened, and despite the heat concerns I much prefer the Vive brightness levels.
I won't delve into the control issues right now, as I'd like to give the Rift more time before delving into the more controversial side of things. I will say that when I jumped from ADR1FT on my Rift to Space Pirate Trainer on my Vive, I went from constantly thinking about where I was and what I was doing (namely, sitting in a chair holding a controller trying to convince myself that I was actually floating around a space station), to being completely consumed by my attempts to avoid getting shot. It's a radically different feeling.
