Oculus Rift - Ask GameSpot

@PS2fweak

It's HIGHLY unlikely that MS or Sony could develop a better VR headset than a dedicated VR company like Oculus can achieve.

Especially not at an affordable price. If MS or Sony do decide to go that route I can virtually guarantee you that they will want the device to be as cheap as possible. They don't want an accessory that costs nearly as much as the console itself. This means that they will have to cut corners and when you consider that Oculus is already way ahead of them, it becomes pretty silly to think that a console centered VR headset would be superior.

Oculus's VR hardware on PC will also continue to advance and there will almost certainly be more advanced versions of the Rift released periodically. This wouldn't happen on a console. One, because the consoles don't have the graphical grunt to handle ever greater display resolutions and other technical advancements. Two, because it would cause too much confusion for consumers expecting standardized console peripherals. If they do create VR headsets it will be much like the Move or Kinect in which there is one single standard device that is supported throughout thhe console generation.

In any case, Kinect is also available on the PC, as well as several other motion tracking devices.

@gpm23 So true. I could not be more excited about this but the politicians are going to come after it. They might have good reason. From what I tried, the level of immersion is like nothing I've ever felt before. It is completely surreal. Something like that could gear people towards greater displays of violence.

Personally, I don't care to worry about it because the prospect of playing my favorite games on this is too damn exciting. Also, like you said, the non gaming applications have so much potential.

@arqeOne of the things is we now have a convergence of technology. PC's with the capability of delivering high end graphics with high frame rates and low latency to a device that is relatively low cost and that has (will have) high quality screens with a wide field of view.

On top of that we have most of the top game companies promising content that supports the Rift. Then we have media distribution with sites like this and YouTube that are actively showing people having a great time with the device - that's compelling marketing!

A lot of people want a kind of Start Trek `Holo-Deck' experience - and this is so far the closest thing to it... and it's good, even at this stage!

It's not necessarily about delivering a delivering a more realistic Gaming experience as opposed to a more IMMERSIVE experience (although the two do tend to go hand in hand).

The thing with Kinect is that nobody was really yelling out for someone to bring gesture control to gaming. Now the world wasn't exactly screaming for VR either, BUT... Ask most people if they would like to be placed DIRECTLY into middle of their fav game, to see and experience it as if they were really there - then I think most would say - hell yea!

That's a bit more compelling that being told you can wave your hands and dance about in front of your screen. Not putting Kinect down or anything - it's just a different value proposition.

That is why (in my opinion) the Rift and VR in general is now getting the attention you see.

@DarckArchon Because nothing has been announced about price, but it's common knowledge that Oculus wants to keep the rift around $300.

@Meta-Gnostic seriously, I've watched a lot of interviews and read some articles about it. This was a piss poo job of explaining anything of value.

@danielcliment Sad. Would make the Kinect not-worthless.

@firedrakes http://i.imgur.com/FwsTYFJ.jpg

Saying, "they had this in the 90s..." is stupid.

http://i.imgur.com/FwsTYFJ.jpg

@firedrakes They had portable phones in the 90's too. Now look- we have smartphones that are more powerful than full-sized consumer computers were in 2002.

@firedrakes They did, it was called Virtual Boy

@gehwesij There is no heat at all. I've hav the dev kit turned on for over 10 hours at a time and not one bit of measurable heat comes from it. Super lightweight as well.

@dhsk8sb "After the internet, anybody can just make up a phrase and quote it by anyone they want"
-Isaac Newton

@ChiefFreeman Sure does.

@morderwrath There's already a mod for it. Supposed to be pretty good.

@morderwrath It's pretty friggin' sweet with 3D Vision.

@nathanmaxtro You can get a DK2 now, and receive it September or later, or try to hold out for the actual consumer version. Be wary though, it is explicitly meant for developing. It is a Development Kit (DK2). It is not very user friendly, and a lot of its content is half-made so far. If you're not keen on troubleshooting, and have a good gaming PC, or not a developer and/or enthusiast etc., then wait for the consumer version.

@nathanmaxtro I heard that around next summer might be the release date - or you can buy the dev kit now which has a MUCH lower res and no positional tracking for around $300. I'm in the UK and have the dev kit - I paid another $50 for postage.