Is VR Really Worth it?

[RadCazz]

I remember purchasing a 3D TV back in 2010, I think.  The 3D was cool.  The glasses cumbersome.  Today, I just watch 2D movies and programming.

So, should I jump in and purchase a VR device for my pc?  Or will VR become a gimmick of the past, like 3D?  (I remember my PS3 had very few 3D games and now the PS4 has none, I believe.)

If I do dip into VR, what peripheral do you recommend?  Occulus or Hive?  Something else?

Please share your input.

Note:  I haven't completed my profile, but my Legion pc has enough USB inputs and the only thing I think I need to do is upgrade my graphics card (currently have a 1050Ti). 

Thanks!     

[TheKDub]

Depends on the person. Some people like it, some don't.

 

Check to see if there's a VR Arcade or something near you or in a nearby city you could go to to try it out.

 

As for the system, I'd personally go with an Oculus Rift S (https://amzn.to/2Obh8p1) mainly because of price ($399 instead of $499 for a HTC Vive (https://amzn.to/2Lz25mV))

 

The Rift S requires no external sensors (Vive requires 2), has great controllers, offers a 2560x1440 resolution (compared to 2160x1200), and includes built in headphones + a headphone jack for you to use your own with it. (whereas the Vive only includes the headphone jack).

 

Though on the Vive's side, it has an AMOLED display instead of LCD, so the colors are a bit nicer, and it has a 90Hz display instead of an 80Hz display. (Not that big of a difference, but it *might* be noticeable in VR)

 

The Rift S offers software based interpupillary distance adjustments, while the Vive offers physical adjustments.

 

Of course there's also the used market, though I wouldn't touch any of those headsets without giving them some heavy cleaning first.

[Fortekko]

I've enjoyed Beat Saber a ton and its made it worth it for me. Other than that, there's not too many games that interest me but I've bought Pavlov VR recently but haven't tried it yet. My advice: check what games you could potentially see yourself playing long term and decide whether or not its worth it for you.

 

As for which device: I've tried both the original Oculus and Vive and enjoyed both quite a bit, so its up to you depending on games and support.

 

Of course, you'll want to upgrade your GPU to avoid the motion sickness as well

[jones177]

The Rift s is worth it to me but I have been a Skyrim modder since 2011. I will do over 1000 hours on that game alone.

For games like Elite I still need more resolution to make it worth while but with games that I can track objects at medium distances it is great.

 

 

 

 

[Fasauceome]

Got my Vive when it dropped and never regretted it since day one. Now, the Rift S is my recommendation for a good VR experience without excessive cost, but if you've got money to waste, the Index is the way to go.

[Cypher-Jackson]

Vive is really cool. But you really have to play VR with the maximum hardware or looks awful.

You will constantly desire more power, because a lot of games will look pixelated and choppy framerates are unacceptable in VR

[FinrazielNL]

I have a CV1 Rift (not the current S) with the touch controllers and I love it. Especially now that I got a new PC I'm playing a lot. 

As someone said Beat Saber is absolutely awesome and I play that quite a bit (although the Rift seems to have an issue with the batteries becoming momentarily disconnected with fast big moves, but for a solution: https://imgur.com/a/QrfrZ). I've also got the Croteam bundle with all the Serious Sam games and they're awesome (it's great fun holding two guns in your hands and spraying hordes of monsters with bullets), and The Talos Principle VR which was also included I got a bit bored with the game itself but it was great to train myself in for full locomotion (moving with the analog stick), which I can now use without any issue.

Since upgrading my PC I'm playing loads of Fallout 4 VR which I absolutely love. In VR for some reason I am much more impressed with the detail of the world, I regularly find myself looking at a car or a lawnmower or something, or even just the rubble in an empty bookcase. It's also great to sneak into a room and use 'Deliverer' (a silenced pistol) to clear out a couple of bad guys, really gives that 'professional hitman' vibe

I'm still looking forward to picking up Skyrim VR, I still have ADR1FT, Detached and Doom VFR waiting for me, would like to pick Eagle Flight back up again as well as Dirt Rally and Robo Recall, Elite Dangerous if I ever build up the courage to learn how to play that game... and plenty that I haven't even looked at yet because I already have this list waiting for me.

 

But if it's for you? Well it really depends what games you like to play and if you think you'd really like the games that are available. For people that can withstand VR well and that have a broad taste in games there is plenty to play, but if you're more particular about your games you may find the games on offer to be a bit sparse.

 

As for which headset... if money is not an object and you don't mind mounting the lighthouse units in the room where you'll play then I'd say definitely the Valve Index. But it's expensive... If you want to cut costs then probably the Rift S, but the tracking on it is slightly less reliable.

 

The hardware you need really doesn't have to be that impressive. I have a Ryzen 2600 running at 4 GHz with a 1060 6GB myself. Sure, I'd like a beefier videocard, especially for Fallout 4 VR (it runs at 45 FPS usually, not the 90 you'd ideally want for the CV1's 90 Hz refreshrate), but in general it performs just fine and I'm really happy with my setup.

[Anomnomnomaly]

7 hours ago, RadCazz said:

I remember purchasing a 3D TV back in 2010, I think.  The 3D was cool.  The glasses cumbersome.  Today, I just watch 2D movies and programming.

So, should I jump in and purchase a VR device for my pc?  Or will VR become a gimmick of the past, like 3D?  (I remember my PS3 had very few 3D games and now the PS4 has none, I believe.)

If I do dip into VR, what peripheral do you recommend?  Occulus or Hive?  Something else?

Please share your input.

Note:  I haven't completed my profile, but my Legion pc has enough USB inputs and the only thing I think I need to do is upgrade my graphics card (currently have a 1050Ti). 

Thanks!     

The long answer is 'No, it's a niche within a niche, within a niche' the cost of the gear and the hardware needed to run it properly is still far to expensive and the amount of decent software is limited.

 

The short answer is 'Fuck NO!!!'

[Princess Luna]

It'll depend who you ask to... there are some enthusiasts that will tell you it's worth all the investment and hassle.

 

Myself? Ain't one of those... VR is a waste of time

[RuffRuffmcgruff]

49 minutes ago, Princess Luna said:

It'll depend who you ask to... there are some enthusiasts that will tell you it's worth all the investment and hassle.

 

Myself? Ain't one of those... VR is a waste of time

Partly agree, right now for me VR isn't worth it at all. I'm just waiting for that SAO/ Ready Player One VR to kick in.

 

The day that happens no ones ever seeing me again I'm too busy killing orcs and selling herb to hobbits.

[Drak3]

No. Hardware is meh and it's alot of money for a software ecosystem consisting of only a small handful of good games and ALOT of what are effectively tech demos.

[birdjoy]

I agree with Drak3... I guess VRs will be super cool in 10-15 years, when the games will be super realistic (graphics) as for now, it's something square' ish and very soapy blurry. 

[TheoryInPractice]

Form was amazing... If you haven't tried Transpose yet, I would recommend trying it. Pairs really well...

[DumDumMango]

I don't know if buying a VR is such a good idea, because I bought a VR, used it for like 4 months and got bored of it, now only use it if some friends come over.. so, if you never had one and want to try, maybe buy a used one and then update to newer one? because it might be a huge waist of money imho

[Bastola]

I think that VR is not "ready" yet I hade a VR headset once it gets boring afterward Mabey if there was more games for it then that would be fun 

[circeseye]

we recently got the rift s

if you have a system that can run it already, usb 3.0 is the biggest the rift s will max the 3.0 out power wise so if the mobo doesnt have a strong usb 3.0 you will need to get a add on card

if you have extra cash you can burn

and you dont mind dealing with crap software (games are fine its the actual software that need work)......... oculus and steam vr like to crash each other

 

its fun to use even for watching movies and shows

.you will be looking for upgrades for it, like controller extenders..some of the damn buttons are placed horrible, constantly pressing them accidentally which pulls you out of game

the foam part that forms around your eyes and head band..expect it to get soaked in sweat............if you wear glasses you have to wear them for the rift s or buy add on lenses that can be made for your prescription (this is actually sweet for 65 dollers)

the pluses are the price, not needing the external sensors, and very responsive

[Kisai]

On 7/22/2019 at 7:18 AM, Anomnomnomaly said:

The long answer is 'No, it's a niche within a niche, within a niche' the cost of the gear and the hardware needed to run it properly is still far to expensive and the amount of decent software is limited.

 

The short answer is 'Fuck NO!!!'

I have to agree with this.

 

The gear is very low quality and expensive for what you are getting. VR can try again when it has 120hz 8K per eyes. The current generation of equipment is half-HD resolution, blurry, headache-inducing and doesn't look convincing.

 

To that effect, the problem is that the software (eg Unity, Unreal, CryEngine) is just poor. Games aren't designed for stereoscopic video at all, because it quadruples the hardware requirements where a 60fps video is the minimum passable framerate for PC/Console games. We won't hit viable VR hardware until it's possible to do 8K at 240fps on the $300 GPU. Considering we can't do 4K at 120fps yet, that's still two generations of GPU hardware out.