School me on virtual reality machines

[Irving]

In what ways is the Vibe the best, and by how much?

[asmo]

In what ways is the Vibe the best, and by how much?

The tracking and room space on the Vive vastly superior - its not even close to the PS4. When things don't track smoothly it totally destroys the experience.

That said, when you buy into the Vive its a big chunk of change and I get that (Nvidia 1080s aren't cheap). But having played with both, I own a Vive and have no desire for the PS. My friend that has a PS says he prefers playing on my Vive.

[asmo]

The HTC Vive is only $1500 right now https://www.vive.com/us/

Its only 799 on Amazon.
https://smile.amazon.com/HTC-VIVE-Vi...dp/B00VF5NT4I/

then you can get Onward:

So Onward is downright awesome if you like detail. Nothing like messing up a reload in the middle of a firefight and watching your mag fall to the floor. Or forgetting to charge your AR and doing a tap-rack-bang drill while someone is shooting at you. But the limited number of people playing makes it painful to catch a game; its a multi-hour commitment.

Of course VR porn will likely be the end of the human race.

The stuff out now is boring, but its neat for the first 5 mins, then its meh. Once they get the computer generated stuff looking like 'real life' - then all bets are off. I will never leave the house again.

[Irving]

The Vive requires a computer powerful enough to run it though right?
I don't need another desktop, but am in the market for a laptop for work. Is there a laptop out there that could handle the duty without costing me over $1,000?

[asmo]

The Vive requires a computer powerful enough to run it though right?
I don't need another desktop, but am in the market for a laptop for work. Is there a laptop out there that could handle the duty without costing me over $1,000?

That's the rub - the Vive needs a PC. With a sweet ass video card (get an Nvidia 1080 - be happy). If you want to get to VR under 1K, and don't already have a PC capable, then that is the area of the PS4. Its a niche Sony identified and targeted and that is where they are going to continue to push.

For a laptop I don't think you are going to find one under 1K, at least not now.

http://www.laptopmag.com/articles/vr-ready-laptops

[Irving]

Okay, that's pretty much my impression of everything. Don't need to spend the money for a gaming capable computer that won't see other uses. Thanks for the reviews everyone.

[Guylee]

I recommend something along these lines http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-n...t-lets-7698685

[RblDiver]

Okay, that's pretty much my impression of everything. Don't need to spend the money for a gaming capable computer that won't see other uses. Thanks for the reviews everyone.

One thing you can look into, on Steam there's a free app (I forget the name) which checks if your system is Vive-capable. You can always get that and see how your computer will run.

So again, yeah, somewhat gimmicky, so you can always wait (and it'll continue to be improved), but if that's at least part of your concern...

(Side note, I have this weird issue where, when I hit Reply With Quote, it doesn't let me type in spaces. I have to copy/paste the quote into my own reply field to get it to work)

[Zundfolge]

Its only 799 on Amazon.
https://smile.amazon.com/HTC-VIVE-Vi...dp/B00VF5NT4I/

The Vive requires a computer powerful enough to run it though right?
I don't need another desktop, but am in the market for a laptop for work. Is there a laptop out there that could handle the duty without costing me over $1,000?

That's the rub - the Vive needs a PC. With a sweet ass video card (get an Nvidia 1080 - be happy).

The $1500 one I linked includes the computer.
https://www.vive.com/us/

[cfortune]

I bought my Vive at microcenter for $700. I run it off my desktop which has two 980ti's in it. I just picked up a "VR ready" laptop though that has a 1070 in it for $1699. I haven't tried it on the laptop but I'm willing to bet the experience is better than the 980 setup (considering a lot of games lack proper SLI support).

The Vive is really cool but I've only used it a few times (I'm out of town a lot). I'm actually planning on taking my unused basement and mounting the light houses down there for a better experience. Right now it's in a room that is roughly the minimum size for room scale play.

Onward is really freaking fun. I will say though, shooting is much harder without all the points of contact that a real rifle gives you but it's fun none the less. Even if it's just having some beers and messing with people:






The videos really don't do it justice and Onward's engine has a limitation of only being able to capture the left eye (hence why it doesn't look like I'm using my optic in the second video). The immersion is pretty unreal. I've actually tried to set the controllers down on tables that only exist in the game and stuff. Also, walking up stairs without picking up your legs will make your head explode.

The biggest downside IMO is the lack of clarity. The resolution just isn't there yet but I'm excited to see what's on the horizon for VR, especially when AAA title makers start getting involved.