My Unopened Oculus Rift and Why the Vive Stole My Heart

Opinion

May 10, 2016

rift-banana-1280 — The author's unopened Rift.

I have a confession to make: my Rift CV1 arrived two weeks ago and I only just opened it. You see… I was busy the night it arrived, and then the next day the Vive arrived, and it has room-scale, so I set that up, and it’s super fun, and maybe Vive is all I need, and what if instead of unboxing my Rift I just sell it instead?

See Also: Oculus Rift Review: Prologue to a New Reality — **See Also:** Oculus Rift Review: Prologue to a New Reality

Are these the actions of a mad man? Perhaps. If you told me a year ago that not only would I not rip my Rift open immediately but that I’d consider leaving it unopened altogether, I’d have told you you’re out of your mind. And yet here we are. How did this happen?

For me, there were a few contributing factors. And bear in mind that some of these are the expression of personal preferences, that different people like different things, and all that.

Room-scale: For me, room-scale tracking of head and hands is “next level” VR, and the Vive has this in spades. A large portion of floor space in my two car garage has been cleared off and made available for VR fun times. Using a garage for VR probably isn’t ideal for many who live outside of Northern California — I know when I lived in Florida I would’ve succumbed to heat stroke in about 20 minutes — but you can pull it off here comfortably maybe 9 months out of the year. Valve’s Chaperone system provides peace of mind that I won’t smash the washing machine or tumble over the treadmill. There’s enough flexibility in the lighthouse system that I was able to place base stations near power outlets while still providing full coverage.

I relented and opened the Rift three nights ago. There are a few Oculus-exclusive titles I was itching to play, mainly The Climb, Lucky’s Tale, Eve:Valkyrie, and Chronos. After two hours on the evening I unboxed it and another hour the next day, I unplugged the Rift and set the Vive back up. The simple fact is that room-scale is essential to me, and while it appears to be technically possible with the Rift, Oculus has been public about focusing on seated or limited standing experiences. Vive ships with the capability to track head and hands in a ~ 15′ x 15′ space. Oculus ships with positional head tracking only. Touch controllers will ship later this year, and we expect Oculus will offer the option to add another sensor for room scale, but as of right now, May of 2016, this is the apples-to-apples comparison of shipping consumer VR products.

The question you should ask is what matters to you, and make the best selection based on how you play. Room scale? Vive. Lighter headset? Oculus. Hand tracking (even if it’s a sometimes-awkward stick)? Vive. Willing to wait for a slick controller that wraps around your hand? Touch. Bad ass space pirate ninja moves? Vive. Gorgeous-looking multiplayer galactic battles in your own spaceship? Oculus. You get the idea.

For every room-scaler like me, there’s someone who wants to just sit and chill. The best thing about competition is that it offers us choice. What do you choose?

Follow Brian on Twitter at @vr_bhart.

koka1n

Definitely oculus :) I just dont care for room scale at all. Gonna be more than happy with Touch.
- Heimdal
  
  Without having tried it I’m sure .
  - PrymeFactor
    
    And with the right to his opinion without being challenged, I’m sure.
    - ESKJC
      
      There is no such right
      - Full_Name
        
        Yeah, the only way to keep your opinion unchallenged is to keep it to yourself :)
      - bschuler
        
        Yeah, but what if he is paralyzed from the waist down. People call the Oculus the wheelchair simulator.. but in some cases.. maybe it is the perfect VR for a person in a wheelchair. Bet you didn’t think of that. So maybe he doesn’t need room scale or large controllers for a reason.
      - ESKJC
        
        That has nothing to do with the right to have an opinion unchallenged. No such right exists. Disabled people don’t get special rights to ignore logic
      - VirtualBro
        
        What are you guys getting out of room-scale anyway? It’s great in Hover Junkers, theBlu, and Job Simulator, but IMO it doesn’t add anything to Vanishing Realms, the Brookhaven Experiment demo, the Lab, or Space Pirate Trainer.
        
        If a game has teleportation, you basically just end up standing perfectly still in the center of your room and teleport everywhere, since walking at all ever will randomly result in approaching a wall. If a game DOESN’T have teleportation, your options appear to be: Sit in a cockpit, fit the whole game world in your room, or get horribly sick (“work on your vr legs”)
        
        In SPT and Brookhaven Experiment you can dodge things, but the games would work fine without that mechanic
        
        Is there some amazing room scale experience I’m missing here? All these games would be fine with an Oculus Touch and a second camera so I can turn all the way around, except that I’d have to play Hover Junkers with a “tiny”-sized ship.
      - ESKJC
        
        I’m addicted to shooting arrows so holopoint
      - Sky Masterson
        
        What do you get out of sex anyway?
        
        Masturbation is so much better. I can do it sitting down and without moving around. I don’t like moving around. I do enough of that at work. When I get home I just want to sit down and RELAX!! Getting sweaty when the entire point is just to ejaculate?? LAME!
        
        Masturbation is better than sex! Hence Rift > Vive!
        
        QE fucking D
      - Bryan Ischo
        
        To be totally honest, I can’t quite tell if my experiences would be hampered without the full room scale. In games with teleportation, you do definitely get used to teleporting around and this has the natural effect of reducing the incentive to walk over to a nearby place instead of just teleporting to it, especially because you so often end up facing the edge of your play space and have to teleport anyway. So you kind of get used to leaning on the teleportation more than walking.
        
        That being said, I do try to force myself to walk around instead of teleport whenever I can. If I didn’t force myself to do that, I might not even notice the difference between room scale and standing scale for those types of games.
        
        However, space pirate trainer and similar games (holopoint, that arcade game in the lab, etc), as well as experiences that are specifically made to encourage walking by keeping the play area small (the portal room demo in the lab, job simulator), definitely benefit from the room scale and would not be the same wiithout it.
        
        I finished Call of the Starseed last night (it was really cool, only wish it were longer), and my play was a mix of teleportation and walking around. I think the experience would have been slightly less with just standing scale.
        
        So to summarize: room scale is clearly better than standing scale in some games, only a little better in other games, and not much different at all in still other games. It’s still better to have than not have but I don’t think it’s a requirement for enjoyable VR. Tracked hand controllers on the other hand …
      - RavnosCC
        
        I really liked how I could choose the orientation of my teleportation square, I think Cloudhead is definitely onto something that I hope to see more often utilized in games of these type. That also addresses the “I got too close” to the object or thing I wanted to interact with if you can see your play space before you blink.
      - DougP
        
        I find myself jumping around in Space Pirate Trainer, Brookhaven & Zombie trainer if I get swarmed, as well in Vanishing Realms (only teleport when moving a great distance). Holopoint is another that gets you hopping around. Heck, I’m even walking around the entire VR “play space” in Final Approach.
        
        I’ve found that I walk around in a majority of the Vive games, including all that you mentioned.
        I guess it’s just down to a person’s preferences.
        For me – IF I can walk, I do.
        
        Vanishing Realms –
        I wouldn’t even have purchased/played that game if it weren’t for VR & room-scale support.
        
        Lastly, your mentioning Touch & 2nd camera being “the same”.
        The remains to be seen & is looking doubtful.
        I’ve seen reviews with people with both Facebook’s & HTC’s systems complain a bit about tracking with the camera (occlusion/losing tracking) & that it has a narrower cone/area of tracking – it’s designed to sit in front of you on a desk, NOT scan an entire 120-degree at a distance. [ Side note: you can’t even *mount* that camera at say opposing sides of room. ]
        
        It’s more likely the 2nd camera will be for opposite ends of same desk/area – for more-or-less front-facing. Facebook as already told developers to develop for “front facing”.
        Unlike the Vive’s setup where you’ve got tracking *everywhere* – you can bend down & pick something up off the floor (how does that work from a camera on your desk?).
        
        While Facebook will be at least enabling a form of motion tracking, to say it will be comparable or equal is incorrect.
        Facebook’s is looking to be: front facing, sitting but a little standing (not crouching/reaching floor) type of experience.
      - Jason
        
        It seems like he would have said “because I’m paralyzed” instead of “I just don’t care for room scale at all.”
        
        Edit: And now I see below that yes, the simplest explanation was the actual one.
      - DougP
        
        Ummm – you do realize that just because the Vive’s tracking system let’s you play games that support room-scale & standing with 360-degree tracking….that you don’t HAVE to play those games, eh?
        
        A person in a wheelchair would have the same capabilities with either system, except better tracking if they turned beyond 180-degrees.
    - Heimdal
      
      No one is immune to have their opinion challenged. That’s not a right.
- Pistol Pete
  
  I am someone who order both Rift/Vive and have owned every Rift DK version. I can tell you that you don’t realize the advantage of room scale until you try it. It is definitely the “next level” of VR as it brings a Holodeck feel to VR.
  
  Great article, I feel exactly the same way!
  - John Miller
    
    Me also cv1 ordered got pushed back to june i really could care less if it comes in now just getting it so i have the set and maybe play a few games with the kids having two computers ready
    - John Beaton
      
      Why do Americans use the expression ‘I could care less’ when what they actually mean is ‘I couldn’t care less’. To say that you could care less…means that you care enough to care a little (or lot as the amount of caring is not specified) more. You mean that you could not care less surely? Thus conveying to the reader that you have reached the ‘zero point’ of caring and the value of the statement suddenly makes sense! You have access to the greatest, most expressive and versatile language on the planet. Do treat it with care. Won’t you?
      - Bryan Ischo
        
        Because we could care less.
        
        Just kidding. The misuse of that phrase annoys me too.
      - RavnosCC
        
        I think it might have something to do with the fact that 90% of folks who say something, don’t think first. They simply spout. Or if they do think, they don’t think that hard. Especially when folks resort to colloquialisms that they’ve “heard before” and never really understood.
      - Bryan Ischo
        
        American English is particularly fond of eliding syllables and words. That’s why we say “wanna” instead of “want to”, “gonna” instead of “going to”, etc. We’re masters of butchering syllables just to make the words flow more easily. Saying “couldn’t care less” is an extra syllable over “could care less”, and what’s more, it’s an extra syllable of consonant weirdness that is hard(ish) to say. So the “n’t” gets elided and everyone understands what you meant anyway.
        
        I still prefer conscious effort to speak correctly over unconscious butchering of the language for convenience, but it’s a downward slide that nobody is going to stop, so you might as well get used to it.
      - DougP
        
        Re: “Why do Americans use the expression ‘I could care less’ when what they actually mean”
        Sure…how typical – you non-Americans telling the Americans how much they should *care*! ;)
- koka1n
  
  I dont have the room for Room scale in the first place ;)
  
  Second, I like driving/flying games….
  
  and third, and most important…I did not hear about any interesting big game for VR in the first place, the ones I tried are boring, so Ill be spending my money on new graphic card and and enjoy the good old games, while using my dk2 for porn, which is by far the best content for VR right now :)
- Stephen Gower
  
  Have you tried both Vive and CV1? I own both a Vive and a Rift and find the Vive to be much more enjoyable. You can play a lot of those seated Oculus titles on the Rift now also. I originally was way more enthusiastic about the Rift….until I got to try both headsets.
- DougP
  
  The thing I don’t get about this rationale is that it’s a bit like:
  1) I don’t want a car that can go over X mph/km because the town I live in had speed limits
  
  Why “Definitely oculus”?
  You just want to make sure that you’re never even *tempted* to stand up & do a 360 degree virtual experience?
  Better play it safe & get the system that doesn’t support it.
  
  The ironic part is that you mention Touch. If you’re going for motion controllers the Vive system is a far superior system for tracking (larger area in 360-degree space). Again, why not better tech for what you’re purchasing.
  
  I could half-way understand your “Definitely oculus” statement, provided you’re not a Facebook employee or such, if you said:
  1) I don’t want motion controllers (or to stand/turn-around)
  2) I’m only playing seated games w/dedicated controllers such as Steering Wheel / Flightstick
Rocquito

Nice article, it’s good to see that room-scale VR is impacting people. I tried it and it’s a real step forward. In fact, it’s the only “VR” existing nowadays.

I have been following Oculus for more than 3 years now, absolutely loving the idea of playing Skyrim, Fallout, Arma, Outlast and hundreds of games more in the immersive world of VR. Really, I would have spent the $600 or $800.

However, just in the last year, information has been coming about the games, and no Fallout or Skyrim or Arma appear anywhere to be seen. No AAA titles, in fact. The dream started to fall when you ask developers and PR and everyone says ‘it has to be a specific VR title’. And all the line up is populated with indie games and, if you are very lucky and love them, some nice driving or flying games.

If we have to forget playing or adapting ‘normal’ games to VR, then both Vive and Oculus are very expensive devices to play very cheap games in a new, outstanding fashion that is much more immersive: VR. However, if you are spending the money just for the immersion and the feeling, at least Vive goes all the way. Oculus is just in the middle of being an expensive device, with cheap games, to play in a “not-so-special” way.

Maybe in the future if both devices have an amazing catalog of games of every genre, saving $200 to play only the seated experiences can be a very valid option. At the moment, if you play only for the immersive experience, saving $200 to go half the way doesn’t sound too good to me. I just prefer to save the entire $600/800 and wait for the games I want to play.
- beestee
  
  Star Wars Battlefront for PSVR is arguably a AAA title in the same vein as the franchises mentioned, but it is an exception to what seems to be the rule of limited or no in-game locomotion systems that may induce nausea. I imagine that it is for this reason that we have not seen any of the first person AAA games center on VR yet…a breakthrough needs to happen before we will see that.
  
  Although it may be that creativity used to work around this limitation in particular may lead to a new watermark for AAA titles, and the franchises that you mentioned will end up in a race to catch up. Casual and brief experiences in gaming have been by far more popular in recent years with phone and tablet app gaming.
  
  It is tough to say, but I feel that these casual experiences are leading up to something and I want to be able to say that I was there when it happened.
- OneOkami
  
  For me, the truly amazing thing about VR (as well as AR) is its potential application and the impact it can make on various people and the world. Gaming is but one of those in world of health care, education, communication, exploration, entertainment (beyond gaming), architecture and more which can benefit from it and that’s what really interests me in VR. So personally, the value of these devices doesn’t entirely hinge on the library of games playable on it. As I often say, if you think VR = gaming, you’re thinking too small. VR (and AR) can be, and increasingly are, so much more than that.
  
  When it comes to gaming, a rule of thumb is to not expect big budget publications without big sales potential. You’re not gonna say a bunch of “AAA” titles until there’s a large install base to buy those titles and put the money back in the producers pockets. That’s gaming in general. That’s why console launches are oftentimes relatively “dry” in content compared to later in their lifespan when more people have the hardware.
  - Rocquito
    
    “You’re not gonna say a bunch of “AAA” titles until there’s a large install base to buy those titles and put the money back in the producers pockets. That’s gaming in general.”
    
    Absolutely agree. And that’s why I am sure the only way to enjoy big AAA games is making it easy to ‘port’ normal games to VR, not expecting ‘exclusives’ or games “made for VR from the ground”.
    
    If porting a normal AAA game to VR is such a hussle, then they have a very big problem that they should have sorted waaaay before releasing.
    - BennyFackter
      
      It’s easy enough to make a game “work” on a VR headset, what’s not easy is making the gameplay fun, compelling, and comfortable for all users. You can’t throw someone in GTA V first person mode with artificial locomotion and head bobbing. Not only will they puke from sim sickness, but many people find that level of graphic violence much more disturbing/less fun in VR. That’s not a software or hardware design problem, it’s a game design problem.
      
      That said, some AAA games will happen to work very well in VR. Cockpit based games like Project Cars and Elite: Dangerous are good examples of this.
      - John Miller
        
        I play grand theft auto v its fun for a few hours. Most fun i had was blocking trains with buses. Vorpx works well for AAA games
- Jean Thompson
  
  I agree. I don’t see it being that hard to implement VR for FallOut or other AAA tiles. I mean, For VIVE we could use the Teleport system to get around and the hand controllers for a gun, hand, flashlight, i mean ANYTHING!!! Image VATS mode!!! You could doge the slow motion bullets! It would be insane! walking around and looting, but actually walking and bending down to grab stuff to pick it up! Just insane.
- Stuntmonkey
  
  What developers have generally found is that adding VR support to most games doesn’t work very well. Most first-person games tend to rely on rapid controller-based movements, and this style of movement tends to overwhelm you in VR and/or make you feel motion sick. An exception is cockpit-based games (driving sims, Elite Dangerous, etc.), which adapt reasonably well to the HMD.
  
  Where this leaves us in terms of games is that developers (mostly indies) are experimenting to see what works. At this point it isn’t even clear what a AAA title would look like in VR. I liken this period to the 80s and 90s in monitor-based gaming, when there was a long period of experimentation while the main genres of games were being sorted out. It’s pretty clear that VR won’t inherit those genres as-is.
  
  Speaking personally I tend to find that VR experiences are more tiring than monitor-based ones. Part of it (with the Vive anyway) is that you’re standing and moving and physically interacting. Another part is more mental or sensory: The experience is all-encompassing in the way that a blockbuster movie on an IMAX screen is. (We’ve all had that experience of exiting the theater and needing a few minutes to readjust to reality.) I think we may see developers migrating away from the “40 hours of playtime for a $50 game” model we have in non-VR games, and going for experiences that are shorter and potentially less expensive. We’ll see. I think it’s fun to see (literally) how this all emerges.
  - DougP
    
    I disagree. Maybe it’s the case with some people, but from my experiences I can spend hours in VR and just want to spend more.
    
    I get the “out of shape” ( like say your avg American ) argument – not wanting to stand or use body. But it’s not because of VR.
    
    I’ve been getting more exercise since getting my Vive & am all the happier for it.
    The more I’ve played the longer I can play.
    Still become winded in several games after long sessions.
    For most people (& your avg gamer) – that’s a good thing! :)
- John Miller
  
  Try vorpx you can play a lot of AAA games
  - jlschmugge
    
    This^^^
    
    I’ve watched reviews from gamers on VR, and they tend to find “comfort stuff” counter intuitive. I figure just removing the y axis on the right and leaving in everything else is the only thing needed to make it a comfortable enough experience for those whose brains are already wired to translate thumbstick movement as voluntary when in an HMD. I understand developers are super cautious because they don’t want any bad word of mouth coming from the most sensitive to motion sickness, but it is hampering development from any truly immersive experiences, that I believe can only come from thumbstick movement. Roomscale and transporting work, but you are left to only freely roam in whatever space you can afford in your home, and transporting does not really give you that sense of moving from spot to spot.
    
    Touch controllers however are essential. It is a gamble that Oculus is holding it off to favor their current developers, as it is now launching the popularity of the Vive.
    
    I have a Rift still on the way in preorder. I am not one of those who will buy both as most commenters here (and I could guess as the minority). I am one of those who would rather just sit, like I do with my traditional games. Roomscale, while the immersion sounds incredible, does not fit how I want to play games most of the time, maybe try it once in a while at an arcade or someone’s mansion. When the Touch controllers come out, having both headsets will be redundant. At that time, it will come down to tracking functionality and ergonomics preferences to distinguish the two.
    
    I am patient, as this technology is in its infancy. Those jumping on the Vive wagon right now and dismissing the Rift are premature. But if it is essential that you have to be an early adopter of VR, then yes, you will get the most out of the Vive.
OneOkami

I preordered the Oculus Rift day one but my Vive has gotten all the love so far mostly because my Rift literally just shipped yesterday (*sigh*)

Speaking to the theme of this article, I can strongly relate having several weeks experience with the HTC Vive and room-scale virtual reality and finding the wait for my Oculus Rift go from “frustrating” to “patient” over the course of that time. And that is simply because, even though I fairly expected it to be the case, I find the sense of presence and immersion that is enhanced via room-scale tracking to be quite wonderful and on another level from stationary experiences.

I recently finished The Gallery Ep.1 and I remember a particular point where after solving a puzzle, a fantastical elevator platform was raised in front me and simply from the sense of room-scale exploration I’d built up throughout the experience, I intuitively knew I needed to walk onto the platform and eventually activate a function by placing my hand onto a surface. It was that sense of physical presence leading to the intuition for me to actually physically “walk” onto this platform and be subsequently transported through this fantastical world that was the biggest highlight on the experience for me. This is on top of the tremendous amount of time I spent literally just walking and looking around the environments, picking up and examining objects on the ground, reading markings on walls, shooting a ball into a hoop then walking over to it, picking it up, and shooting it again. All these seemingly little things that I’d normally would spend little time paying attention to (if I’d even bother at all) help create what is a wonderfully immersive experience at a level that I just don’t quite get with seated and/or limited standing experiences.

While I know the Rift is technically capable of room-scale, as the article mentions, Oculus intentionally doesn’t push it, and I’d argue even if they did, the Vive’s room-scale experience is still advantageous in that the play-area can be larger, and the chaperon system is a brilliant way to help keep you from damaging yourself or your equipment while you’re in the middle of forgetting what world you’re actually in.

My Rift arrives tomorrow and I am still excited for it, but having had seated experiences with Google Cardboard and as well those which support the Vive HMD but not the Vive’s controllers (and, yes, having to use a USB Xbox 360 controller instead), I know such experiences can still be wonderful and immersive, but just not on the level of room-scale for me, and room-scale experiences are what I feel I will continue to seek primarily going forward.
- random_name
  
  I tried my buddies Vive out over the weekend. I didn’t anticipate it blowing my mind. At first, I thought it was a cool toy, but wasn’t convinced yet. When he had me start up that castle defense archer game, I forgot what reality was for a few minutes. The fluid motion of using the bow on fictional characters had my heart pumping and didn’t realize I beat the game on the first try (yes, it’s a short game.) till balloons started going up everywhere. After that experience, i don’t think I can dedicate myself to a sit down game without looking for standing ones first. I now just need to move a few things around and get rid of this pesky thing called a family.
  
  The chaperone system is awesome btw. After a little while, I didn’t even see it but never hit anything either.
  
  Edit
- Jortiz3
  
  Please let us know what your impression is when you try both!
Marcel

I have the Vive since a week now but I’m still waiting for my Rift and hope it’s coming soon. I have comfort and visual problems I hadn’t with my DK2, which is strange.
OkinKun

None of those are negatives of the hardware.. and PURELY symptoms of Oculus being a young company. The hardware is amazing and comfortable, and everything will get better.
Just give them time, the software will get much better.. And later this year Touch will come out, which will put it beyond the Vive’s controllers, and bring more Hand-presence and even finger tracking. Touch is as close to VR gloves as a controller/tool can be.
The Oculus Rift may be a bit behind right now, but later this year it will blow Vive out of the water with Touch.
- OneOkami
  
  I need to do more research on the Touch Controllers, but what about them will blow the Vive’s controllers out of the water?
  - OkinKun
    
    They focus more on being hand-presence controllers.
    The way they’re designed, smaller and more ergonomic, they know exactly how you’re holding it, as they’re more shaped to keep your hands in a predictable grip.. And so they can more accurately map the virtual hands onto your real hands.
    Also, Touch can still function like a tool, in fact it’s designed perfectly for guns and tools like that, but when you’re not using a tool in-game, you don’t see floating controllers, you see floating version of your hands, which actually line up properly. This also means those hands can grab onto a larger variety of objects, and feel like you’re naturally holding things.
    Touch can also sense what certain fingers are doing, and allows for some finger/gesture input. And seeing your fingers move around, greatly enhances hand-presence!
    A lot of it is just subtle design differences, but they make a big difference in VR. IMO, they’re as close to VR-gloves, as we can get with a controller-like device.
    - Adam Stasiak
      
      So basically all your capable of doing is spouting Oculus rhetoric.
      I guarantee you they will NOT in any way shape or form blow the Vive controllers out of the water. Maybe be an alternative to or comparative to each other but they will not EVER blow the Vive controllers out of the water. You should actually try using both controllers (I have, I own a Vive and recently tried out a demo of touch) or failing that go see the reviews from people who have tried them. The Touch currently has numerous tracking issues (which I have to assume will be resolved prior to launch, is too small for people with bigger hands. In some games they do appear to feel better when it comes to smaller item manipulation (once you work them out) and are great if you have to punch something but in games where you’re supposed to be holding a gun or sword for example, the Vive wins hands down (not the Touch..which feels like a terrible gun). Also the track pads on the Vive are superior in every way to the stick controller on the Touch..but that will end up being a preference thing for most people.
      
      You can have all the opinions you want but they are just that. One controller works well in x type of games and the other in y types of games. In an ideal world you’d have both types and swap accordingly but I’m very happy with the Vive controller and much prefer it for my gaming style…especially paired with leap motion.
      
      Better systems will come out in the future but here and now…the Rift (even taking Touch into account) is just not up to the level the Vive is in over all experience. but thats just my opinion.
      - Full_Name
        
        Unfortunately you will get plenty of fanboys spouting off their opinion on stuff they have not even tried yet.
      - OkinKun
        
        More developer than fanboy. Sorta have money in the game.. ;p
      - John Beaton
        
        Hear here! they both fall way, waaaaay short of the holodeck, so lets all just calm down. They each have their merits and they have their short comings too.
      - Bryan Ischo
        
        “The Touch currently has numerous tracking issues (which I have to assume will be resolved prior to launch)”
        
        This must be why the controllers are so delayed. Obviously they have the ergonomics and controller design worked out. But it must be so hard, if not impossible, to get really good tracking of hand controllers when they move in front of each other or in front of the headset (or both at the same time), and the camera has to try to disambiguate which dots in the clump of dots it is seeing go with which device.
      - OkinKun
        
        I can confirm that there is not “numerous tracking issues”. That claim is outdated at best, and a lie at worst.
        The only tracking issues I’ve encountered with Touch, are when there are other significant sources of IR interfering with tracking. We sometimes have to unplug the Vive lighthouses, to stop having Rift issues. Sunlight from a window directly in the camera’s view, can also sometimes be an issue too. But those are about it.
        As long as you stay within 6-8 feet or so of at least 1 camera, the tracking works just as good as the Vive’s. (Vive has plenty of it’s own little issues too, and lots of occasional tracking hiccups.) If you put 2 cameras on opposite sides of a tracking space from each other, it works basically identically to the Vive.
        AND In my experience, if you just use the Rift+Touch for seated/standing games, and you remain close enough to the camera, the tracking quality (in resolution per inch or whatever), can actually exceed the Vive’s, and provide an even more accurate tracking smoothness. Tho that is a limited use scenario.
      - Bryan Ischo
        
        It’s not a claim, it’s a theory. So it cannot be a lie.
        
        Have you tested occlusion situations like I talked about? Like, bringing the touch controllers up close to your face in configurations that don’t necessarily occlude one or the other, but that might cause the camera tracking to get confused (like, putting the touch controllers right next to your headset, or only partially overlapping)?
        
        If the tracking works as well as you say, and the design as ergonomic as people claim, then what is YOUR theory about why Oculus hasn’t shipped them yet, or even announced a shipping date?
        
        By the way, I can verify that the Vive tracking sometimes goes haywire. It was much worse for me before I covered my floor-to-ceiling mirror right at the edge of my tracking boundary with a sheet, but it’s still present from time to time.
      - OkinKun
        
        The tracking shouldn’t get confused, in the way you’re suggesting, because each device’s IR LEDs pulse at different times, and each individual LED has a different remembered brightness, so the camera knows exactly which LED on which device it’s seeing. So that scenario shouldn’t be an issue.
        
        My theory? Oculus hasn’t shipped yet, because Touch simply wasn’t ready yet. Not really much more to it.
        It’s not a matter of problems with the technology, just a matter of putting the final polish on it, and producing enough units for launch. They started producing the CV1 units for this current launch, last fall, to give you an idea of how long it can take a young company.
        
        Also, in the early DK2 days, when talk of the CV1 was just starting, I think it was pretty much assumed by everyone, that Oculus was only focusing on launching an HMD, by itself, for the first consumer launch. Most people thought it would look and function similar to the DK2. Yes, there was talk of motion/hand controllers, but most of it was around 3rd party controller makers like the razer hydras or stem.. Any talk of Oculus making their own controllers, was mostly about further down the line, after launch.
        It wasn’t until Vive started talking about their controllers, that Oculus really started to switch gears and work on their own controllers more seriously. But they had never planned for Touch to be part of the initial launch, during the R&D stages, so rather than rush to get Touch out, or hold back the HMD even tho it was ready, they stuck with the original plan. Launch the HMD by itself, then later put out their own controller, once it’s ready. It’s not a matter of technology problems, and just a matter of ‘these things take time’. They’ve had more time to make the HMD, than the controllers.
      - Bryan Ischo
        
        I can see how pulse timing could help in disambiguating dots, although I do wonder what the edge conditions really look like, and how well they are handled. Also I would think that this approach would be less scalable since you can only have so many disambiguating timing patterns making having more tracked devices (like arm tracking, leg tracking, finger tracking, gun tracking, etc) harder.
        
        However, I have never used them and to be quite honest, every one who ever has given their own direct experience with the Oculus Touch controllers says pretty much the same thing – they work really well without problems. So, I’ll take that as fact at this point.
        
        I agree with your assessment of Oculus’ history with their touch controllers and how they ended up here, in fact I have espoused that theory myself from time to time.
        
        As I have said in the past, my first gen VR dollars went to HTC/Vive, but I have this feeling that my second gen dollars will be going to Facebook/Oculus — because I have this feeling that after getting a little burned on Gen 1 (which let’s face it, they have been), will only motivate them to knock the ball out of the park and ensure that every single detail is well taken care of and on time, for gen 2.
      - CazCore
        
        could be as simple as the fact that it was mostly gamepad-based games that were ready for launch. not enough Touch stuff. and they want a decent selection of Touch titles from day one.
      - OkinKun
        
        I HAVE tried both.. (Why does everyone jump to conclusions/assumptions/insults, that’s kinda rude..) I know someone with a Vive.. And recently I’ve started getting occasional access to use Touch to test certain things.
        I’ve seen games, which technically/legally haven’t been publicly announced yet, including my own, which use Touch in ways that I would certainly say rival anything Vive can do. Sorry I can’t be more specific for now, but wait till all the news drops around E3. ;P
      - John Miller
        
        Actually people who have used both say the oclus touch controllers are a lot better to use problems going to be is all thier games are for sitting no point for those controllers lol
    - Full_Name
      
      Ask anyone who tried both, and they are not “blown away” by the Touch controllers vs Vive controllers. They both have strengths and weaknesses. Honestly, if I want hand presence, I’d rather see a glove developed, or use tracking technology of my actual HAND instead. Again, we shall see in a year, when hopefully Touch is out.
      - OkinKun
        
        I HAVE tried both.. (Why does everyone jump to conclusions/assumptions/insults, that’s kinda rude..) I know someone with a Vive.. And recently I’ve started getting occasional access to use Touch to test certain things.
        I’ve seen games, which technically/legally haven’t been publicly announced yet, including my own, which use Touch in ways that I would certainly say rival anything Vive can do. Sorry I can’t be more specific for now, but wait till all the news drops around E3. ;P
        
        Glove controllers or direct-hands would be great and more ideal for VR.. But those technologies are nowhere near ready yet. So Touch is IMO, the best we’ll have for a while yet, in consumer tech.
      - Sky Masterson
        
        Why have you been using touch controllers before release and you don’t own a vive if you are a developer?
        
        If your game is exclusive to oculus, then I think you have a vested interest in the success of their hardware and thus your opinion is irrelevant.
        
        If it isn’t exclusive, why don’t you own a Vive? A quick glance at google trends will show that the mindshare between the two platforms has almost reached 50/50, and since I’m a betting man, I’m willing to bet that Vive in the next two months will pass Oculus in google trends.
      - OkinKun
        
        Cause I’m basically just an indie dev, but working with friends who have more access to these things than I do, and can sometimes share.. I can afford a Rift for myself, because that’s just the HMD I’ve wanted to buy, and I like it’s design choices and Touch. But I can’t afford a Vive ontop of it, so I’ll keep using my friends for testing that, tho I don’t need to much.
        And also yeah, there’s a good chance that we’ll be focusing on an exclusive for the Rift, not because of money or contracts, but simply because Touch will be a better hand-controller for VR, more hand-presence, and has some features that Vive cannot do as good. Not saying it can’t work, or won’t be ported to Vive, but it simply won’t work as well, it’s a lot harder to get hands to line up right on Vive.
        We’ve also got some cool ideas for using the finger tracking. When you can move your fingers and do stuff with them in VR, and it matches your real hand/fingers, that is hugely powerful for enhancing hand-presence. IMO, Touch is almost like a VR glove, at least as far as a gun-controller can be. lol
        I don’t care so much about potential markets, what I care about is the best VR experience and comfort, and when Touch comes out, pushing what those VR controls can do, to it’s limits, which goes beyond Vive.
        If we make a good enough game, that makes Touch’s unique features a must have, maybe that will encourage more people to get the Rift + Touch. ;P
      - OkinKun
        
        In my opinion, Touch works equally well for hand-presence, and tool/gun usage. It is not a downside.
        And considering how much people talk about how room-scale is everything for VR presence.. Hand-presence is also HUGE. When Vive first came out, the importance of hand-presence was all the vive-fans talked about. But now it looks like Touch will do that better. ;P
      - DougP
        
        Re: “But now it looks like Touch will do that better”
        
        Palmer, you sneak – why don’t post under your real name/account?!
- Full_Name
  
  The Touch controller will perhaps mimic hands a bit better, but the Vive controllers mimic guns, bows etc better. The tracking approach of Oculus is subpar if you look at accuracy, ease of set up and size/tracking area (when used for room scale). So far they only promote 180 degree controller tracking for instance. Your last sentence I must just smile at. Let’s see how that goes in a year or so ;)
  - OkinKun
    
    I wouldn’t say that’s true at all.. See this image: http://i.imgur.com/ETRO3cG.jpg
    The Touch controller seems FAR more like a gun, IMO. Guns aren’t normally a straight wand, held up/down through your hand, like Vive is. Touch seats nicely in the palm of your hand, and is a lot less intrusive/bulky. Although for a Bow, as a hobby-archer, I think they’re both equally a bit awkward for that use. lol
    Also, there is a pretty big difference, which isn’t as visible in this image.. If you’ve ever watched people hold the Vive controllers, everyone holds them slightly differently from everyone else. While most people hold Touch the same way, because it’s shaped to properly encourage being held that way. This means developers can predict where a gamer’s hands will be positioned on Touch, and make the VR hands match up better. And that doesn’t work as well on the Vive’s controllers.
    The reason I favor Touch, is that while it can still work as a tool/gun, it’s small enough, and comfortable enough, to just *become* your hands, when needed. Being your hands, and seeing your hands properly line up, allows you to pickup anything naturally, even if the object doesn’t match Touch’s shape, it still feels natural to use Touch like a hand. Vive, IMO, always just feels like holding a wiimote.
    - DougP
      
      Seriously – do you work for like Facebook’s PR/damage control team?
      - CazCore
        
        he’s making specific, legit points.
        
        do you work for HTC/Vive?
        
        just showing you how that works both ways.
      - DougP
        
        “he’s making THINGS UP” – there, fixed that for you. :)
        
        So that guy who says – “I own a dev kit for Touch, can’t afford Vive” spouting all kinds of BS made-up “Touch is so much far superior” …when pretty much all of the big-time devs say the opposite, Lighthouse motion controllers is far more accurate & has less issues w/occlusion & are amazingly comfortable.
        I’ll trust the people who can afford to buy both & don’t just spout – “the one I can afford is better – coz!”.
        
        Oh – and his reply to me, which appears to have been edited/taken down( or elsewhere?) was “F**k off”.
        
        Seriously, read all those replies & take the response as a whole. Either: Facebook headset fanboi or works for them.
      - CazCore
        
        regardless of any side tangents you want to talk about that has nothing to do with the issue (objective product differences which inherently means that there are advantages/disadvantages for each product), he made specific relevant points that DID.
        
        you could prove to me that he’s the reincarnation of Hitler (or that Facebook/Oculus is), and it doesn’t erase the points he made.
    - Raphael
      
      I like the vive lightsabers. They feel like you’re holding a gun in those particular games. They are lightweight and comfortable. I can’t assess the octopus touch because i haven’t tried it and i don’t want to guess because i see how often people get it wrong especially when they tend to overthink.
beestee

Weighing the pros and cons of each is difficult at this point because many of them are temporary, including availability.
Steve Dennis

I look forward to later this year when we are closer to feature parity with motion control and can evaluate the options on other factors.
- Nizzzy
  
  Maybe by then Vive will have ATW
- Doctor Bambi
  
  Couldn’t agree more. So ready to stop hearing this argument against Oculus. Investing in a headset means understanding the long term affects of your purchase decisions. If you have enough disposable income to afford both of these headsets, then great. Sadly, most of us have to make a choice on one or the other. The choice we make will be one we live with for the next few years, at least. With that in mind, we have to consider the Oculus with its touch controls vs Vive with its motion controls. And that comparison is not getting discussed as much as it should imo.
  - Akuma211
    
    Reason for this is the oculus touch isn’t available yet, and won’t be for several months.
    
    You can compare the consumer version oculus set vs the Vive set right now though.
    
    More VR competition is better for the consumer, and I hope oculus the best, when they release their touch then review their touch.
Sam Reynolds

Usually I bash peoples reviews for failing to recognize Oculus’s potential and bash the writers for wanting the right here right now, rather than the more refined experience 6 months down the road with the Touch controllers but Id say this article is pretty bag on. It grasps the exact choices that people need to make. Theres not much between the devices if anything at all. In the long run it will be the games, and not the device manufacturers that make the difference.
mellott124

I’ve had a similar experience. Received my Oculus first. Used it for about 2 weeks. Then the Vive came and I haven’t used the Oculus again. Room tracking and the controllers take VR to another level. I like both systems but Oculus really needs the touch controllers to provide an experience like the HTC Vive.
Mike McLin

I am one of the lucky ones that have both systems. Honestly I don’t think there is a clear winner (even with the lack of touch controllers). A lot comes down to the type of games and experiences you want to have. Most of my favorite Rift experiences aren’t available for the Vive. So, while technically the Vive can do everything the Rift can, it actually can’t if there isn’t software to do it in.

After demoing them to both family members and friends, it seems that most people actually think the Vive headset is more comfortable, which contradicts many reviews. Also, in a demo type environment, the room scale Vive apps really shine, especially with non gamers. I did demo it for a friend that is a gamer, and while he thought the Vive hardware and potential was better than the Rift, he also thought the Rift games were better than the Vive games.

Personally, today, as they stand, I would pick the Vive, but by no means would I ever want to sell my Rift. Who knows what my opinion will be tomorrow. I don’t think you can make a bad decision buying either headset as of now.
- ejw3330
  
  Mike, thanks for the info. I am a Vive owner, waiting for a Rift set to arrive in a few weeks. Seated gaming (sim racing) got me into this VR world in the first place, and now I am unsure whether to cancel the Rift preorder.
  
  My question to you, if you can answer, is whether you agree that Vive is more comfortable. I found the Vive to be heavier than expected (heavier than my DK2), and I hear the Rift is lighter, but can also get uncomfortable. How is the Rift lighter and less comfortable? Edges too sharp? Not enough padding?
  - Mike McLin
    
    Well, first off, I would say they are comparable. I think that is evident in the fact that opinions vary. I would say that the Vive feels more cushy, and the straps are stretchy. The Oculus is lighter (I don’t know that i feel that much of a difference, and nobody mentioned weight when I asked for their opinions). The oculus straps are not stretchy, but instead it relies on a spring type component on the sides that allow the strap to be pulled back and then it tightens (you’ve probably seen this when reading reviews, etc).
    
    Personally, I would say that comfort to me was not distinguishable enough to have it factor into my decision. They both are comparable comfort wise, even though they do feel different. Also this might not matter once I put a VR cover on the headset to protect from sweat, etc.
    
    Since you mentioned sim racing, I should note that I also bought a Logitech G29 and racing seat, and of course Project CARS. The Project Cars experience was easily my dad’s favorite out of everything he tried. I think it is really good, but you’ll realize that when you don’t actually feel the G force from acceleration and turns, it doesn’t quite feel like you are actually in a car. So when you see these guys on YouTube saying it feels like you are actually in the car… Take those comments with a grain of salt. However, it is a great experience regardless.
    - ejw3330
      
      Awesome, I really appreciate the reply, especially from someone that appears very objective.
      By the way, I really geek out with racing, so I have a motion setup. With that, racing in VR is phenomenal :)
      - Mike McLin
        
        I looked into that, but it seemed like the only way to do it at a reasonable cost was to build your own (xsimulator?). Then I was reading it might not work very well, because you are stationary in the car (sitting), but the Rift camera sees you moving because the platform is moving, and therefore makes you move in the game. Did you experience this issue?
      - ejw3330
        
        You’re right about the cost; I dumped a boatload into a D-box motion setup. But no regrets and with enough use it will be worth it.
        I’ve used the DK2 with Project Cars and motion, and although PCars is not my favorite sim, it was great. The motion doesn’t toss you to where your head is moving more than a few inches at a time I suppose, close to what a real car would do. So, I don’t see it as a problem, as long as the motion sensing camera is fixed and not jostling around. Here is a sample video if I am allowed to post:
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALTQ5dBmnOE
  - Matt
    
    I have both as well – I prefer the Rift for sim racing as does my friend who is big into it. Main reason I’m keeping it!
- Bob Oblong
  
  My hype of my vive being delivered next month has fizzled out. My DK2 rarely gets used anymore. Steam store is littered with nothing but devs milking the cashcow with their overpriced techdemos. Youtubers after youtubers are all covering the same content over and over. Only so many times a viewer wants to watch a video of audioshield or a painting program.
  
  Last year was an amazing experience with Oculus Share. Was always looking forward to the innovative shareware people came up with each week. But once those 5 minute experiences became $20, $30, $40 .. i’m like .. No. I feel like within a year, I went from feeling like an eager kid wanting to experience as much as I could to an old man who’s had enough of it.
  
  The DK2 was given to some family members awhile back who have kids, they are all kind of like the same way. The newness of seeing amazing demos like Birdy King Land long died off. None of them ever mess with it anymore.
  
  If devs keep pushing paid garbage out like this, I just see it being like another Kinect, Wiimote, PS Move that nobody wants to use anymore and just prefer traditional gaming.
  - JoeD
    
    Overpriced tech demos? You lost all credibility.
  - Walter Sharrow
    
    You’re totally right, most of these Oculus offerings in the store are only minorly upgraded versions of the same demos they put out months or even years earlier on Oculus Share for free, but with radically exaggerated prices. This is true on both the GearVR and PC Oculus store. Hopefully these hype-prices will die down to something more reasonable. I don’t expect everything to be free, like the Android market, but if it’s only 1 hour long, it better not cost more then a $1.
    
    Btw, the Unreal Engine 4 is pretty easy to learn and supports all forms of VR. If your a kid who misses the candy shop, why not make your own candy?
    - RSIlluminator
      
      Have you never paid more than a dollar for an hour of entertainment? I think quality is always better than quantity. At the same time, the argument could be made that the 99 cent pricing is the worst thing that could’ve happened to the mobile market. Not only was it flooded with so-so games, it also made it easier to transition to IAPs in games because no developer can survive at 99 cents per sale + support.
      
      At this point, I’d rather support the devs because I know there is plenty of potential in this technology. Once it matures, the games will be better and better.
  - Akuma211
    
    The problem is consumer VR is literally in its infancy, it takes time to produce games. I’m going to assume with the attention these headsets are getting, I wouldn’t be surprised if many upcoming games dont add VR capability options to boost sales…. Hopefully sloppy half baked, nausea inducing addons will not be the norm, do it right or don’t do it at all.
    - Raphael
      
      Nausea? Really? Lol.
  - Raphael
    
    Sounds like Vr isn’t for you at all. There are some amazing titles supporting Vr like elite dangerous, project cars, dcs world and those 3 titles alone some people are buying Vr for.
    
    I’ve had dk2 since last year and wouldn’t be without it. Vive is amazing also and even more impressive.
    
    I would suggest Vr isn’t your thing.
    - Bob Oblong
      
      Raphael: wtf.. Unwanted suggestions?
      
      Look man. I want VR to succeed just like everyone else. But you’re being shallow here, just like vicious console kiddies trying to defend something at any cost.
      
      My Sony Portstation 4 rarely gets used, and have a backlog of a bajillion quality titles I still havent, and probably won’t ever get around to playing. But oh boy, when I mention that to a Sony Pony about whatever the game-of-the-week Indie title on PS4, and would prob rather finish playing Bioshock or the countless other good games .. they always, always get defensive and cry (WELL YOU CAN’T PLAY UNCHARTED 4 ON PC) .. heck I havent even finished the first 3.
      
      So here you are … Slandering me because I’m not a big Project Cars fan. That game sucks. It blows big time. The handling, everything about it. It’s like driving on ice. But oh boy, I’m not in love with the 3 games you mentioned .. because its the ONLY AAA game titles on VR … I must be Anti-VR.
      
      Get a clue. Indie crap is garbage and can’t sustain any system. And ALL VR Enthusiasts won’t find game A, B, or C appealing or enticing to play and replay on a daily basis.
      - Raphael
        
        You hate everything it seems. I guess you’re waiting for call of duty or chess in vr.
        
        Must be a lotta fun in your house.
        
        I guess you havent looked on frontier forum vr section.. People playing elite on a daily basis. Problem is you’re a casual gamer and can’t comprehend anyone liking one game enough to buy vr and yet that is precisely what’s happening.
      - Bob Oblong
        
        Raphael: there ya go.. making assumptions again. Reading through your comments on other people yer just a jackass. Whatever.
      - Raphael
        
        I nearly voted for you back in your campaign for presidency.
        
        Since you have a substantial list of games you hate… Im wondering if there’s anything you approve of on vr.
- Matt R
  
  At last someone else thinks the Vive is more comfortable. I thought it was just me. The foam around the rift is harder and has shaper edges. The foam on the Vive is soft and rounded and really comfortable. I too own both headsets and My Vive is on everyday. Rift got used on day 1 for a full day and hasn’t been out of the box since. My office at home where I have my roomscale set up, is at the smallest end of the space needed to play roomscale and I still have a huge amount of fun because the chaperone system works so well. I’m curently looking into cable extensions to make it extend to the lounge without moving my computer. HDMI extension works fine but still not found a good USB extension.
- Pistol Pete
  
  Don’t forget there is ReVive software now, so the Vive can play the Rift exclusives too. :)
Mateusz

I have Vive and the only games I play are Oculus Home games using hacked Vive Injector. It feels dumb to be playing with a controller when you have motion tracked wands but what can you do. SteamVR is populated with a ton of weak to very weak titles. Gallery must be fun but with my 1.5 x 2m I don’t feel like my room is ready.
- RavnosCC
  
  I play Gallery in 1.5m x 2m with very little to none problems. Excellent game, itching for Episode 2…
  - random_name
    
    that’s about the size my buddy uses for his and didn’t run into any problems. Just don’t have a 3rd party step into the rectangle.
    - glyphery
      
      It’s interesting to hear you folks (and many others before you) mention that even the 1.5 x 2 metre footprint is more than sufficient.
      
      I could only afford to get either the Rift or the Vive, so after some further research and a slightly agonising decision, I went with the Vive. Got caught up in the Digital River credit card processing sadness, but emerged in mid-April with a lovely Vive installed in the largest bedroom in my house. (Don’t get too excited, peeps; I live in Britain so we’re still not talking huge tracts of land here!)
      
      Anyway, I just barely managed to clear enough furniture to max out the 5 metre diagonal between the basestations, so I figured I’d done all I could to approach a full-on, holodeck-like experience. (And it is.) Yet before I don the HMD, the space looks cavernous, but once the headset is on, it feels weirdly smaller.
      
      Don’t get me wrong; I absolutely adore being in there, not least of which because this is the first implementation of VR I’ve experienced (and yes, I’ve tried Dactyl Nightmare all the way up through the DK2) that doesn’t make me simsick. Several times now I’ve Vived for 4-5 hours straight without feeling the slightest ill effects. (Well, except for when I gave InCell a go…)
      
      So I feel rather awkward and greedy admitting that I already want a much larger VR playspace. Chaperone’s a brilliant system but it reminds me that at all times I’m only a few scant paces from the nearest barrier. I’ve dialled it down to dev for now, though I have to remember to re-enable it when I demo the Vive for family and friends so they don’t go careering into walls.
      
      The immersion and sense of kinaesthetic presence is bloody fantastic, but so very often I wish I could just roam a bit more freely without having to rely upon repositional teleporting. (I know there are many groups working on consumer-feasible infinite locomotion solutions, so it’s only a matter of time.)
      
      I suppose my real question is this… am I the only one here who has (just about) maxxed out the “official spec” Vive room-scale area and thinks it looks slightly smaller once you’re in VR? I’m sure it’s a just a perceptual illusion on my part, but it makes me wish I lived in the States and could actually dedicate a double-car garage to this pastime. ;-)
      - VirtualBro
        
        I don’t think that filling a two car garage or a huge back yard would be satisfactory either. The critical problem with “Room Scale” is that the whole game world has to fit inside whatever real-life space you have available, or else you may as well not bother with it at all.
      - RavnosCC
        
        I completely disagree. I love the teleport/explore mechanic that most good Vive games have implemented (Budget Cuts, Gallery, The Lab), it works extremely well, and I kind of wish more of the Vive games implemented it in their design so you could explore bigger and bigger physical environments. I barely feel constrained. And even though I live in the US, I only have 1.5 x2m space to dedicate to VR, and it’s not even dedicated space, I have to move two office chairs out of the way, and restrict access to my wife’s computer when we play! Last night I finally tried out Hover Junkers, and after I got used to the control scheme it was just amazing to zoom along the landscapes, cruising for other ships to attack and using strategies of boxing in my opponents, ducking and weaving in order to avoid getting shot, and reaching over barriers to fire blindly when cornered… I mean, talk about a workout!! can’t wait to have some more time to fine tune my game… :D
      - glyphery
        
        Hover Junkers looks amazing. I’ve been finishing up a PhD so haven’t had quite as much time as I would have liked to spend on the Vive since it arrived last month.
        
        I also love the teleport mechanic, but nonetheless have this odd feeling that the virtual space (as defined by the Chaperone bounds) looks smaller than the corresponding physical space.
        
        I probably just need to spend a bit more time in there, though! ;-)
      - RavnosCC
        
        I’ve never felt it was smaller. Make sure when you complete the room set-up that the outline follows your room. I have the smallest space required for room scale, and it follows almost 1:1 w/the wall and the chaperone bounds. On a related note I have heard that some folks tend to misinterpret distances to objects/etc inside VR more so than in reality. That might be effecting your perception of the chaperone boundaries, I don’t know.
      - DougP
        
        Re: “whole game world has to fit inside”
        No it doesn’t – there are MANY systems that avoid this.
        Examples:
        1) teleport
        2) moving from area to area via a transport (vehicle or such)
        3) re-direction – step into another room & appear other side/middle/etc, elevator (enter one side, exit other)
        4) even traditional controller locomotion – move pad to run/jump/fly ( like windlands )
        Lastly – Hover Junker’s approach is that your entire playspace moves, as it’s a ship. [ similar to #2 above, but dedicated vs say something you jump into/out of to move from 1 scene to next ]
        
        That’s just some examples the demonstrate you don’t require the whole game world to fit.
        VR space does not have to feel small or be traversed in some narrow/disruptive fashion.
      - random_name
        
        To be honest, you’re not taking a sprint from one side of the room to another. I didn’t move much at all minus in the Hover Junkers game. It never felt small to me because I didn’t feel it was necessary to move all that much despite having lots of opportunities TO move. Though, I am wondering if it may have been a little bit bigger than I’m saying it was.
        
        I have only had an hours experience with it due to me not making it over to my buddies place again.
Andreas Aronsson

For me I think the main problem with the Rift is that it offers the kind of games I’ve been playing in the DK1 and DK2 for now three years! For an enthusiast like me it just feels half a step above screen gaming. I got my Rift for free as I was a backer, and I am thankful, but after I got my Vive a week later I haven’t used it much.

That said I do love me some AirMech when I can bother to switch which headset is connected. To use both headsets frequently I need two machines. There are a few other games in the store I want to play as well, but as someone that is used to Steam sales I’m awfully cheap when it comes to games and I’m definitely waiting for sales on those titles.

Already in the Rift DK1 with the Hydra I had head tracking and decoupled aiming in Half-Life VR. Two-handed decoupled aiming with Crashland. These experiences gave me the dream of wireless tracked hand controllers. Later with the DK2 I stretched the tracking space as far as I could, and that gave me the dream of tracking in my entire room, as much freedom as possible.

Oculus gave me these dreams, what I hoped consumer VR would be, but Valve and HTC have been first to deliver on those dreams. For me room-scale is just hyper compelling, and with the tracked hand controllers I’m in wonderland. I will probably be forced to move soon (second hand contract stuff) and I’m definitely looking for a place with an extra room or a large enough living room to fit a VR space. It has had that impact on me.

I still have my Rift though, they started this rebirth of consumer VR, I just can’t completely ignore what they are doing. Their Facebook attachment still gives me mixed feelings, but they have produced a very neat piece of kit. When I’m sick of jumping around my room shooting robots, cooking gourmet dinners, slaying skeletons or painting in 3D… I will sit down and do some Rift gaming.
- John Miller
  
  I have two VR computers for this reason and so I can play with my kids soon like elite dangrous. Agree with ya havetn gotten my cv1 yet but have the vive the differnces are insane. Room scale makes VR even more fun
  - Andreas Aronsson
    
    If I get a 1070 or 1080 I can put my 970 in my old machine, it has an i7 in it so the CPU is fine. I will need to get a USB-card to support the Rift though, they’re awfully stingy with what USB host is supported and my old motherboard while having USB3 doesn’t cut it, apparently.
- M Glaser
  
  Vive still does seated gaming besides its roomscale. I’ve been playing Elite:Dangerous (SteamVR) Alien:Isolation(VorpX), ARMA 3(VorpX), & Fallout 4(VorpX) all seated. It’s just that there are more features you miss out on if you only play this way.
  - Akuma211
    
    ^This, I don’t understand why the media assumes the Rift can only do seated, and the Vive only do roomscale-only.
    
    The Vive can do both, you do room scale when you want, and do seated when your lazy. Ive played space pirate sim while sitting, and just dodged attacks bobbing around on my chair, still had a blast lol.
    - Morawk
      
      its hard to have the vive setup for both tho. almost in all situations you have to re-locate the lighthouses when you wanna do seated.
      - Raphael
        
        No. I have Vive and I don’t have to relocate lighthouses. They are attached to wall and track for seated and standing.
      - sirlance
        
        Wrong
  - Andreas Aronsson
    
    Yup, but I mostly own the seated games on Oculus Home and room-scale games on Steam :P That’s why for me the two kinds of experiences are split between the hardware.
    
    If I could I would love to have all the games on Steam, to keep stuff in one place, many seated games still only has support for the Rift though even if they are on Steam.
    
    So yes, technically the Vive can do seated, of course, but there is this weird thing about software support and store availability.
    - Tyler
      
      If all VR games were on steam and all rift games were playable on Vive. Would you still use a rift?
      - Andreas Aronsson
        
        Probably not, unless I have a very easy way to switch between them, which I don’t today. I would use the headset with the least restrictive features, which would be the Vive with the room-scale tracking and bundled motion controllers.
        
        When the new Nvidia cards ship I will set my old PC up for use with the Rift, that will probably get me using that more often, it will be dedicated to the racing seat though, probably, and perhaps movies in a bean bag ;)
      - Edward Bishop
        
        Nope.
      - Purist
        
        Eve Valkyrie is coming on vive so what at are people fussing about with oculus? lucy’s tale?? lol. The games coming in November will likely be working on both platforms.
    - Raphael
      
      I was on oculus store via my DK2 and there was very little of interest for me. Having been a fan of Oculus for a long time, the oculus store mostly consisted of some crappy platform games, demos and a rock climbing game that was way overpriced. Only thing I wanted to was eve valkyrie and that is coming to Vive.
  - FinBarLay
    
    How is ARMA3(vorpX) on the Vive ?
  - Card
    
    Would you be willing to help me get Arma 3 (VorpX) setup? I’ve been trying to figure it out but everything I’ve found so far is inconsistent.
    
    Thank You.
- Tommy
  
  Do you have a PlayStation? Imagine if you had the PSVR lying in your room too. Might as well completely forget about the Rift lol.
  - Andreas Aronsson
    
    I don’t own a PS4 right now and am not sure if I want to venture into the console space again, bought my last console nine years ago. I do think they will get some high quality exclusives, but I don’t really like buying a platform solely for hostage-ware :P
Psycold

I had both preordered but cancelled my Rift because of the closed off eco-system they are touting. My Vive got here 2 weeks ago and I have zero regrets…every single game that I want to play that is currently only available on the Rift is being made available on the Vive, and I can’t stop playing Space Pirate Trainer dammit.
- Ipssan
  
  This. I’m really really disappointed in Oculus. After making a ton of statements about how competition will be good for VR they’ve gone and resorted to ‘hostageware’ as someone eloquently put it. Why? Can’t their hardware hang on its own against the competition? Wouldn’t it be better for VR if developers had a larger consumer base composed of the owners of both sets?
- DougP
  
  Re: Space Pirate Trainer
  
  I think there’s a support group – you can get matched-up & call a buddy any time.
  “Hey…I’m feeling like skipping work again today to get a *fix* – any words for me?!”
  :)
  
  j/k aside – I gotta ask, what level you get to?
  Drat …just talking about this – I’m gonna have to go play again as I know I can beat level 15! ;)
Alex Kieft

I’m ashamed to admit it, but I’m in the exact same boat. My Vive and Rift both arrived on the exact same day about 3 weeks ago, but I went straight to the Vive and still haven’t even opened my Rift box. I still plan to, but until I can order Touch controllers, I’m just not that excited. The Vive definitely took some time to set up, and I lucked out being able to borrow some brackets just in time to mount the Lighthouses. But once it’s up and running it is amazing, and it blows the mind of everyone who comes over to try it out. I feel bad for folks still waiting on their Rifts while there’s a group of us just sitting on ours!
Jean Thompson

I also pre-ordered each head set right when they released. However, My VIVE came a while ago and my rift will be here tomorrow. 5/11 I love the vive. Room-scale and hand controllers are amazing. Its actually comfortable to, and i wear big glasses. I put on the DK2 and i get a headache and my face hurts. I know the CV1 is way better but just saying. I can’t wait to compare CV1 to Vive. I know that making games for VIVE is going to be alot more fun!!! I just started over the last few days getting everything working. ITS AMAZING! Xbox controller with VR just doesn’t work and totally takes away from the experience. If i need an xbox controller i’ll just play on my monitor. So, unless i’m playing a top down RPG game or a game that would not work with a hand controllers then I’ll use the Rift. Otherwise VIVE all the way.
- DougP
  
  This guy sums up the “traditional controller” for VR the best:
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CoDJttJofg&feature=youtu.be
Konchu

When they 1st offered pre orders. I reserved the Oculus. I was afraid I couldn’t make room scale work for my space. And liked the thought of the quality better cable design etc that they put in the device. But with potential delays (I ordered at about 1hr of launch of reserves,) I jumped on the Vive as quick as I could. Time went by still unsure which unit I would ultimately keep and then I got my Vive shipment notification. And after dealing with FedEx to get my package I took it home and started playing. I set this up in the living room my pc ripped from its normal home in the bed room.I think I played for 4 hrs straight no motion sickness. I felt like a kid the experience was amazing.

Over these 1st days I download more and more content trying games native to steam and external, trying controller centric games to the many motion controlled games. And the magic for me is room scale and Vive controllers. I liked seated experiences for some games Radial G, Life of Speed Elite Dangerous and others. And I look forward to both seated and room scale games. But Vive has me sold me for now.I don’t think the camera is a killer as Chaperone doesn’t even have this enabled by default so there is still room scale hope for Oculus they could make Oculus “Fences” Reg. Tradmart Konchu Inc.

My main points for picking the Vive are

Immersion – room scale nails this more than seated.
Openness – I realize this is not 100% accurate but feels more so to me.
Cleanliness – Not even something I thought about before the Vive but any headset made that doesn’t let you remove and clean the gasket is disgusting. Especially with sweat Inducing games but really even with no sweat how much of you friends body oil do you want to collect in your headset?
merkk

I don’t think it’s a question of where you live that determines if you can use your garage for room scale VR. It’s more a question of if you have the room at all to do room scale VR. I think thats the biggest hurdle for it right now. A lot of people just don’t have enough free space to do room scale vr OR a space they can dedicate to it since you don’t just need a room, but a room where you can have a large amount of clear floor space and leave everything set up as well
- DougP
  
  Re: “large amount of clear floor space and leave everything set up as well”
  That’s a misconception – you really don’t need that much space for room-scale.
  Heck, many of the “room-scale” games you can play sitting down or just standing.
Tonči Jukić

Now for those of us using DK2, can anyone at all comment on how to use it with the new software and how to fake Xbox Controller with mouse and keyboard? Not everyone can or want to use it.
- Vicente Machado
  
  Just download and install the new software.. :)
  I played Lucky’s Tale all the way through using my DK2 and a wired X360 controller (dunno about faking the controller)…awesome game by the way!
- DougP
  
  Facebook says you WILL use an xbox controller!
  
  At least until they release the Touch.
  Then you WILL throw away the xbox controller & switch to the new one. :)
  
  j/k aside – it’s the damn arrogance of theirs that annoyed me. Palmer going from telling the truth that “traditional controllers suck for VR” to some backend deal w/Facebook & Microsoft leading to that bundling.
  Very annoying!
Kyle Nau

The overwhelming majority of first generation VR consumers are going to be on GearVR / similar mobile solutions or PSVR. Both of which are comparably affordable devices.
Burstup

I have both headsets and prefer the Rift. The Vive is great, roomscale is nice, but the games for it are shallow or just tech demos. The Rift has better games, feels more comfortable and the Oculus Touch controllers will be better than the Vive wands.
John Miller

VIVE hands down is better. Everyone I’ve shown both too want the vive even at the higher price point
Brad

As someone who is still waiting for either headset… This feels like a very “first-world problem” if you know what I mean.
- glyphery
  
  I’d upvote this if I could, Brad. Trust me, I was exactly where you apparently are only a month ago, beginning to despair that I’d ever see my order arrive. Hang in there; here’s hoping you get that knock at the door any day now. (No, not the jack-booted thugs. The other knock at the door. You know, the delivery guy.)
- DougP
  
  I was nagging HTC over concerns over my order ( issue w/shipping addr concerns & payment method ) thinking order wouldn’t arrive.
  I was stressing out over a week or two.
  [ re-affirming here your comment, not saying it was “right” ]
  Then out of nowhere – they hadn’t even billed me yet, knock at door & Vive arrived – happy times! :)
  
  Yeah… crazy how we build-up expectations over what mostly amounts to *entertainment*. :)
  
  Hope your system arrives soon – sure you’ll have lots of fun. Know I have with mine!
Nicholas delMas

If you want to run Rift games with Vive check out the ReVive project on github https://github.com/LibreVR/Revive

I don’t think lucky’s tale works very well with it atm though.
- glyphery
  
  Yeah, I’ve had absolutely no joy with Lucky’s Tale on LibreVR. It fires up well enough and I can peer down into the cute 3D world, but even with a genuine XBox One controller hooked up to my computer, I can’t get any controls to work. Luckily (no pun intended) platformers aren’t really my cup of tea unless they have a unique angle (case in point: Abe’s Oddysee, etc.), so I don’t feel I’m missing all that much.
  
  I will say that the Oculus Dreamdeck offers a nice suite of vignettes, some of which really come into their own in room-scale. There’s something about walking around the dinosaur as it’s snarling at you that’s particularly compelling. I look forward to when the Oculus Touch controllers eventually come out (presumably with a second camera to obviate occlusion issues) so I can hunt down a friend with a Rift and see what they’re like.
James Hargis

I can respect your opinion. For me its the exact opposite. I have had both since release but as of late all i use is my Rift. Watching 360 videos, The Climb, still playing pinball FX, and mostly Elite Dangerous. I find the ergonomics of the vive annoying and uncomfortable. 20-30 minutes in the vive and I have to take it off. no built in sound bugs me. I took down the sensors and took it into show off at work and had a great time with it there but I brought it back home and it is still sitting in the box 3 weeks later… I dont find any of the vive software compelling enough for me to take 10 minutes to set it back up. I really looking forward to budget cuts but they really need more software coming out.
Peter S

Facebook have handled the whole Oculus rollout like complete amateurs. I don’t want everything I do relayed back to Facebook, I don’t want to be passed over so that retailers can get units before my preorder. I don’t want play ANY vr game with an Xbox controller – let alone a rock climbing game!!
HTC delivered my Vive when they said they would and delivered what they promised.
Walter Sharrow

Your scenario is one of a VERY tiny and fortunate group, man. I’ve had TWO development kits from Oculus I had no problem securing. I could *NOT* get my hands on a VIVE! I do not work for a big studio, I’m a solo operator. They didn’t even return my E-mails. Don’t sit there are talk like it’s easy; to small developers, that’s insulting!

And where is this NDA from Oculus? I never signed nor saw one of those. From the ENDLESS YouTube videos on the Oculus, I would have to say you are either dreaming or on drugs. Up until the CV1 launch, Oculus was tripping over themselves to share any and all developer developments with the world. (I am not pleased with this new locked down market now though)

Anyone who’s used VR for more than a week knows that hand controls are ESSENTIAL for good VR. So it’s not surprising you’d enjoy the VIVE more than then Oculus… AT THE MOMENT. Oculus should have delayed a few more months (they were already 2 years behind their original release date so why not?), and released the Touch as part of the Oculus package. It was a BIG oversight thinking that a gamepad would be enough to make up for a lack of hands. Right now I have only the Leap Motion to fall back on for hand controls.

And, just for the record, Northern California does not begin and end in the bay area. It’s as hot as Hades in the Summer once you get a few dozen miles from the coast, even up into the mountains. Outside of a lucky few, most people will want to keep their VR gear indoors, at least until Mobile VR gets proper positional and hand tracking.
T Watson

I have both as well. If the rift had room scale I would like it better due to it being less cumbersome and having the built in sound. It a little more comfortable except for it not having enough room for my glasses.

Now aside from Vive being a tad less comfortable, it has plenty of room for my glasses and that’s a huge plus for me.

I got my Rift 3+ weeks before my Vive and enjoyed it for about 3 hours total the first week. I never felt compelled to keep using it, I packed it up and will pull it out again when two things happen>. Touch and a second PC.

The Vive gets used everyday, and I am actually exited to share it with friends and family! When i start a game, Like Vanishing Realms for example, I can not take the headset off until I’m done with the games. I let my best friend try both, He spent about 15 minutes in my Rift and liked it but was not overwhelmed by it. I let him try my Vive and he played games for 3 hours on it. The only reason he quit was to eat and get ready for bed..but said he could have kept playing for hours more.

Bottom line is Oculas might have missed up buy not focusing on shipping the Rift with touch. But I sure hope the touch games are great, they are going to need to blow our minds!
Daniel Fries

No point to open it now… Quick sell it on eBay for a profit before everyone becomes enlightened to the Rift’s inadequacy!
real7a

Could You please resell it to me? I can’t find where to buy CV1, thanks :)
Raphael

I have always been a fan of Oculus and Palmey. If you had told me last year I would suddenly switch sides and cancel my Octopus CV1 pre-order I wouldn’t have believed it. Yet here I am… Vive pre-order made several months after my CV1 pre-order and my Vive was shipped on the target month of May (amazingly it was shipped right at the start of May).

Room-scale was something I didn’t have much interest in until I got the Vive. I wanted VR for project cars, Elite Dangerous and DCS World mainly. Vive room-scale/standing games are absolutely mind-blowing. Being able to walk around or crouch or crawl is amazing. Seeing those VR controls transform into something else in game never gets dull.

After all the hard work Palmer has put into making consumer VR a thing – it’s sad to see things turn out this way. The whole situation is quite bizarre. Palmer delivered DK1 and DK2 at a time when he was hunting around for scrap parts with limited budget. He delivered those developer kits at extremely low cost to developers (consumers).

The acquisition by Facebook was the first shock. It came a week before April fool’s day so I thought it was a joke.

I can understand why they did it… In Palmer’s own words “no longer having to hunt around for scrap parts… all custom made now”.

Problem is this alienated quite a lot of people.

I got over it and continued supporting Oculus. But as CV1 began to ship I started to feel annoyed about the lack of controllers, chaperone and room-scale.

Vive is amazing. Room-scale is amazing. It all feels real.

I’m sure CV1 will be pretty good when it’s finally complete but that is possibly a long time down the line. I hope Oculus can turn things around but they are now in a position of having to win back interest. I cancelled my CV1 pre-order a few days ago because I can’t justify buying both systems.

Games relying on seated/xbox controller can’t compete with what we have for Vive.

The only time I want to sit is for flight or racing sims.
- DougP
  
  Re: “After all the hard work Palmer has put into making consumer VR a thing -”
  I get that…but for full-disclosure on the history here, before Palmer had his successful kickstarter, back at the very beginning of 2012 Valve had a prototype room-scale VR setup working. Back when Palmer was still probably imagining gen1 VR as a “seated experience”.
  
  They’ve just been way less vocal & public about it ….& probably thought they’d have someone like Oculus to partner with. Palmer, after sniffing Facebook (& Microsoft money=controller) dumped the better (Valve) solution & let everyone down.
  I think it’s great that HTC had the foresight to want to get in on the market & partnered with Valve to bring the Vive to market.
  
  Valve & later HTC just didn’t have the “public face” that Palmer gave the industry.
James Haslam

On paper Oculus and Vive are very similar. However for many users the Vive experience is flat. Oculus feels more real, with better scale.
Kappapride

can i have the oculus rift ? Kappa
Josh Weinstein

I think that Virtual Reality is still in the VERY early days of development. The author is into it and others will be too. But for most people, we are not going to spend $2,000+ for the experience unless there is a lot of content available. Games, or movies, or sports (somehow), whichever might be your thing.

After seeing how VCR’s caught on and then computers and various other technologies in the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s, I CAN make one prediction about VR. It will be the province of gamers with enough money to afford it for several years. The technology will get better and better. People will invent new things to put into it until the technology is so awesome, more people will start to look into it.

But the absolute KILLER APP for VR, just as with VHS and Betamax will be porn. Seriously. THAT will drive people to spend some serious bucks on this stuff. I don’t know if that is a good thing or a bad thing, but it will definitely be INTERESTING!

For example, the first porn will probably be a viewing only experience. But after awhile, someone is going to figure out how to make the user a PARTICIPANT, and that person will become massively rich in the process. At that point, things will get REALLY, REALLY INTERESTING!

For example, will your spouse be upset that you had virtual sex? How many people will try to convince their spouses they should BOTH try it with the VR Partners of their choice? Just think… ANYONE can have virtual sex with that porn star. And that brings up some questions…

Will spouses, once they have tried this, be willing to go back to the real world, you know, with the person they are actually married to with their imperfect bodies?

Maybe it could be programmed so that gay people can have sex with the VR porn stars as well. After all, if the experience is tailored for each end user individually, many companies will not want to leave that money on the table.

And how will religious people react to it? Will they see this as totally immoral, boycotting the VR companies and anyone that has anything to do with them?

Will there be royalties for the porn stars? Would the end user have to keep paying in a pay per use model, or maybe a 30 day license?

Will this become addicting for some people?

Will using it become grounds for divorce?

I don’t know if I will live long enough for the technology to quite get there, but if I do, I will certainly be wanting to try it. Can someone bring me a headset and a virtual genital mitt at the nursing home?
Mateusz

ClickBait Topic posted in order to generate views. 141 Comments so far. Good Good.
VRDRUMMER

The VIVE is great! Depends on the game being played, but I feel that room scale is the way to go. The tracking is so accurate with the motion controllers too.

Well, my Oculus Rift is shipping they took payment and are about to issue tracking, so very happy about that! There are games I want to experience with the Rift too! Excited!
CMcD

When I decided to build a PC for VR I was initially only getting the rift, then I got to play room scale at GDC and immediately preordered. Now, I know with some effort I could get oculus exclusives to work on the vive… But I already own them on the rift and there are more rift exclusives in the pipeline. Unfortunately this whole exclusives thing has worked on me, I’m keeping both. The other reason for me to keep both is the fact that the area that I can fit room scale is different from where I sit to play games. I got the vive sensors set up perfectly and screwed into my walls… If I had to move them to play seated stuff… Well I just wouldn’t.

A waste of money? Perhaps. But since I preordered both early on and now have both at regular price… I’ve paid less than what some have paid for just one of these HMDs on eBay. I like both headsets too, I can sit and play chronos for hours. While I’ve started incorporating the vive into my daily workout routine (the tron raquetball game “holoball”? And audio shield are my favorites for getting my heart rate up) both are great and at least in these early days there is enough parity to entice an early adopter like myself to get both. Just like smart phones I imagine that all HMD competitors will be relatively offering the same product with only slight differences in the next 5 – 10 years, meaning 12k and 120hz ;)
trajan2448

Good story. My impression of the VR headset is that it’s like wearing a pair of glasses where the prescription isn’t exactly right. I could feel it forcing my eyes to focus unnaturally. The result was I had some nausea and a headache that lasted for quite a few hours after only 30 minutes. This is a major hurdle.
anon

Sadly Oculus is a cancerous company, it’s a huge disappointment. But it’s lucky Valve stepped up I guess.
Will Cho

HTC Vive is awesome but I am looking forward to Oculus Rift which will arrive here tomorrow. I have used Vive for 3 weeks and room scale is great… awesome. However, I find Vive’s bigger FOV came at price and find the image quality a little lacking. Although I have never used Rift yet, the reviews and comparison suggest the Rift’s image quality to be better than Vive. Also Elite Dangerous does seem to suffer from lack or weird visual detail suggested by many Vive users and I have experienced it first hand. Also Vorpx doesn’t represent games on Vive well as on Rift although it could be due to bad setup of Vorpx settings. I guess I’ll find out tomorrow.
sirlance

Loved my dk2. …but my vive is leaps and bounds the better experience. …and I still can play my seated games like elite dangerous but this time I can get up and walk around in my ship without a hitch….
The vive ‘s ligh houses are spot on…I’m amazed how accurate they are…playing vanishing realms with sword and shield in hand…makes me believe I acually have a sword and shield in hand, totally mesmerizing experience a must have
Patrick

How can you possibly utilize the full 15′ x 15′ area when the built-in cable is only 10′ long…+
Jack Sawyer

I don’t want to play room scale. I want to remain seated at the cockpit with my flight controls. It would be nice if they ditched the Xbox and wii-mote style control systems in favor of gloves with MOCAP points on them. Pair that with an array of external camera’s that can track / see my RGB keys/mouse or HOTAS setup with a transparency filter so I can see the real world items in a pinch in the lower field of vision, and I’m not leaving my fucking chair unless the game can augment the reality of my house to make it look like I’m walking to the galley of my ship to grab an RL beer in my RL kitchen. Then plug the power supply back in and continue my voyage to Sag A*. Using eye tracking or voice commands to execute a function to reveal the outside world (a little bit) would eliminate the problem of needing to have your hands on controls at all times. Unless of course a savvy user / developers can allow us to use gloves (or white paint) to track our hands in game with controls placed to scale in the game environment (watch VR ready peripherals come out in 1-2 years with MOCAP trackers on their exteriors). Watch all of this get ironed out in 5 years as the world gets absorbed into VR and movie theaters cease to exist. Every long distance air-trip will be VR ready so you don’t have to endure the mundane journey to Japan for 13 hours watching your Asian aisle mates sleep with mouths wide open. (plus, it doubles as an eye cover / sleepaid with built in gentle ‘wake’em up for lunch’ apps). You’ll see. The future is great.
Hap12

I choose the Virtual Boy
Ivan Fojan

I’m seriously considering getting a rift and not a vive.
Why you may ask?
My pc is set up in a bedroom, with little space behind or at the sides of my computer chair. This situation will not change in the future so buying the rift is a no brainer, simply cos it’s 100 notes cheaper!
I also play driving and flight sims and I can’t see any advantage that the vive would give me :)
Dave

This is one persons opinion. The Vive is a clever peice of hardware, I own the Rift and I find it unfussy and a delight to use. I’ve not seen anything in roomscale yet to get me exicted. Probably because it suffers from the same thing you have with 3D films, the selling capacity is greatly reduced so developers haven’t yet embraced it. This is why the highest selling VR experiences are for games which can be played without VR but are enjoyable in VR like Assetto Corsa and Elite Dangerous.

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