Reggie: current state of VR isn't fun

http://www.polygon.com/2015/6/18/8803127/nintendos-fils-aime-current-state-of-vr-isnt-fun

Earlier this week, I had a chance to chat with Fils-Aime about his take on the industry, Nintendo and the state of things to come in gaming. In light of Microsoft's HoloLens, the Oculus Rift, the PlayStation's Project Morpheus, I wanted to know if Nintendo was reevaluating its take on virtual reality. Is there a Virtual Boy 2 in our future?

Probably not, at least not yet. Nintendo, it seems, remains pessimistic about the current state of the technology.

"We have knowledge of the technical space, and we've been experimenting with this for a long, long time," said Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime. "What we believe is that, in order for this technology to move forward, you need to make it fun and you need to make it social.

"I haven't walked the floor, so I can't say in terms of what's on the floor today, but at least based on what I've seen to date, it's not fun, and it's not social. It's just tech."

Do you agree, SW? Does VR need to be social to be fun? I kinda see his point, but I also think that gamers are willing to try something different. The Wii was pretty gimmicky, and still succeeded with some very successful titles. So was the original Kinect. VR can be social by watching other's play and experiencing it.

He hasn't walked the floor, yet he already concludes it's not fun?

I saw that article yesterday when my friend told me about it. At least your topic title isn't as click-baity as IGN's "Nintendo of America Boss Says VR Isn't Fun."

I asked what his actual quote was and this is what stuck out to me:

"I haven't walked the floor, so I can't say in terms of what's on the floor today, but at least based on what I've seen to date, it's not fun, and it's not social. It's just tech."

He's not saying VR can't be fun, nor is he saying the VR games or technology that was on display at E3 wasn't fun (how could he, he hadn't walked the floor?), but those games and demos that he has seen on display for VR to that point have merely been... tech demos, or games made to showcase the technology rather than built to be fun, social experiences.

I don't see any problem with what he said. Then again, I haven't really been keeping up with the VR library / news.

"Make it social"

Which is why Nintendo still hasn't caught up to the early 2000's standards with their online?

When youve been working with VR for over 20 years, yeah, im sure he knows whether its fun or not.

VR is dead on arrival, and Nintendo just helped save some from falling victim to the gimmick. Now with even Nintendo stating VR is weak, people will second think what VR can do for the industry.

Bullshit. Especially considering how far VR has come. I'd rather take the word of the many journalists that did check it out for themselves over Reggie here, who didn't bother.

VR still carries two massive drawbacks - the lag-induced nausea and the external sensory deprivation. It's a real shame, because while no technology in the near future could provide a more immersive experience, those two flaws are going to prevent its mainstream success.

I reckon AR is a much more promising direction for console companies to be taking, but I don't know what kind of game designs would be feasible and compelling enough to sell the hardware.

He's got a point though, VR at present seems like a bit of a gimmick. Where are our worth-while games that use VR?

@freedomfreak: Its your money mate, but i dont think gaming in a box isolated from the world could ever possible be fun. Everything about VR sounds like a chore instead of a luxury. How do you eat, smoke, drink, think, , you are cut off from the world and stuck in a box, only way to do anything is to take it off. But then why even have the helmet on in the first place. Your mind is too smart for VR to work. AR can do something, but again, we have already tried this from Nintendo also, it was fun at first for like 10 mins playing with AR, but then its boring.

Also having a screen right at your face and close to your eyes for extend periods of time will cause tunnel vision. Theyre so many health risk involved and i bet these companies dont even care.

You can't compare this technology to what we had years and years ago. The jump in quality substantial.

@freedomfreak: Im not, im using info from developers who have tried it. Big developers who laugh at the ideal of VR, not long ago one was on Gamespot laughing about it saying he couldnt even use it cause his mind kept rejecting it. He said the whole thing just kills immersion because the VR cant trick the mind. If VR cant trick the mind into it working, then it will never work. The whole purpose of VR is to make you feel in a different world, but its clear these do not do that.

HoloLens is not VR, though.

....NX will use VR as standard. when nintendo deny something it means they are working on it :P j/k.

seriously though we shall see. it hasnt been properly field tested with the latest tech in a long long time.

something like eve valkyrie or elite dangerous would be amazing with VR. racing games could also be brilliant as could FPSs (especially games like arma).

for the games nintendo makes the only games i can think of that could benefit are metroid prime (which would be quite a sight), starfox (if its in cockpit mode the whole time) and Fzero too perhpas (again from the cockpit).

for games in 3rd person, isometric games or 2D side scrolling games i dont see how VR could benefit really....but i would like to be proven wrong.

Yet the developers and journalists that were on Giantbomb during this E3 had the exact opposite to say.

@freedomfreak: Thats true, some are happy about it. Matter of fact, many are happy about it. But i still dont think it will ever work. Valve seems to have the best so far from what i heard.

The way i look at it is, Nintendo has been working on VR and AR for awhile now, long, long time. But yet even they are still waiting for it to be better. To me this is a sign that VR is not ready.

Heck, Nintendo is even working on Dream gaming, its where you go to sleep and dream of amazing dreams. J/k, they call it the Dream Machine, its suppose to help you sleep and relax and ike have good dreams. Could be the future of gaming ;)

We could play games in the daytime and then go to sleep and play games also.

I just rather trust Nintendo who spends millions in research and development, then some company who takes money from rich investors and tries to sell the world the next great thing.

Oculus?

He's probably right.

I don't see the appeal.

The Valve HTC one, its the one that developers are happy about, they say it also is best at curing motion sickness.

VR is not even out yet so hard to build a opinion on real experience

@aroxx_ab: This is true, this is another reason VR will fail like Reggie is hinting at, its not social. You have to try it.

Call me crazy, but I'm not too keen on the idea of wearing giant snorkeling goggles when playing videogames. And I don't see what it's going to add to gameplay.

Wasnt Facebook's goal to make Oculus very "social"?

@aroxx_ab: So far i havnt seen it. And thats its downfall, we cant experience it. Without social interaction, how do we know if its good? We have to try it. Are they ready to set up displays all around the United States for people to try? I doubt it.

Well you know Metroid Prime fucking federation force isn't fun.

@bobrossperm: After i try it, ill let you know ;)

If he didn't walk the floor and actually see it for himself, then I couldn't care less about what he says because it holds no real weight.

All I know is that I'm really eager to see more of the Hololens, because it seems to strike a nice middle ground between VR and traditional gaming.

@drinkerofjuice: You can try AR on Nintendo 3DS/N3DS. It gets boring fast, but its cool. I just bought me a new AR card not long ago, it was a take pictures with Mario AR thing. Sounded so good, i really wanted to take pictures with Mario, but just isnt fun for long, it gets old quick.

The only games that seems to be really appealing for this new tech are Horror games, and even those are kind of gimmicky, so yeah not entirely disagree with Reggie on this one.

That's funny coming from the company that makes the most anti-social and gimmicky consoles. Yoshida is praising Microsoft and Halo, Spencer is praising back. And this disrespectful muppet who doesn't play games goes out on another hypocritical tirade, just like when they said people don't want to play online games.

Why do you keep defending Nintendo as hard as you defend your virginity? You're on every Nintendo article, 600+ posts and counting in little more than 10 days. You're a devoted little fanboy, aren't you?

@ultimateimp: Cause i love Nintendo. And i love bout 90% of their games, im sure ill love Metroid Prime: Federations Force also. Why do others keep hating on Nintendo like it stole their virginity?

I don't see the practical use of VR in its current form, seems like a gimmick. Things like head tracking and the Wii mote circle controllers only work really well when standing. I tried a DK1 version of Oculus and didn't like it, although I know that it has improved now the experience is a similar thing.

The idea of putting on goggles and headphones just doesn't seem appealing, I feel immersed enough with the current experience we have with a TV and surround sound.

The day I start giving the slightest **** about VR is when the technology becomes advanced enough to the point where you're actually able to suspend belief and the supported games seem damn near life-like.

That and when you no longer have to wear a goofy, clunky fucking headset on your face.

Until then, VR can choke on a giant bag of dicks.

Well at least we know VR won't be the gimmick they go with.

Well guess we gotta wait and see until the thing get released to consumers

Your console isn't fun, Reggie.

As it stands, he's absolutely right. It'll take some doing to prove otherwise. We aren't there yet.

-1 Reggie, system wars is not for you.

Meh, people who don't see the fun in VR have no imagination.

lol

Do you know what you just wrote?

You say you want it to advance towards something actually cool (iyo)

Yet, you want it to fail because it's not there yet

A technology can't advance without getting there in the first place. You have to be supportive.

Lorne on VR. Good shit.

Listened to Palmer commenting the "it's not social"-thing (not specifically Reggie if I recall correctly). Basically his claim was that VR is the most social form of distant communication as it's the only tech that allows you to feel like you are in the space with another person. Also OR is backed by FaceBook, too little social will be the least of the platform's problems.

That said there's an issue that so much processing power is needed to get the games running that it seems (from what I've seen so far) there will be less complex games. Also the graphics look way simpler than something like say Uncharted which has very rich spaces packed with details.

guess how's your 2nd screen gimmick and waggle in 2015? How fun is it, Reggie?

Well motion control and your tablet controller aren't fun either,

Where did I say that I want it to fail?

All I'm saying is that the technology still isn't there yet. None of these games I've seen demonstrated with the OR look realistic enough for you to suspend belief.

It might be a game changer 3-4 years from now, but it's nothing that impressive at all at this stage.

I might pick one up a couple years down the road for stuff like horror games, but I have zero interest right now.

I though VR was about immersion, not fun... think he is missing the point, but then again Nintendo games are not exactly known for being immersive so maybe that's an alien concept.

I'd say once they sort the issue with FOV, and the amount of hardware needed to play anything immersive on it (not everyone is going to run out and spend a few K on a PC), in a few years time then it will become more popular.

He's probably right. I never saw the appeal in this VR.

Virtual Boy.

Sheesh people here are salty.

My thoughts on VR is wait and see and I believe it ain't ready yet.