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How would you feel if the next Nintendo console is a VR headset similar to Oculus Quest?
- Thread starter thomasmahler
- Start date
Edit: NVM, I'm repeating myself lol
I'd like to see this poll with a different framing. "If this is the lineup of next-generation Switch devices, which would you be most interested in. All have the same SoC, and all are naturally backwards compatible with every existing Switch game:
I'd like to see this poll with a different framing. "If this is the lineup of next-generation Switch devices, which would you be most interested in. All have the same SoC, and all are naturally backwards compatible with every existing Switch game:
- Switch Lite 2: Handheld only. 5 hour battery life. $199
- Switch 2: Handheld and docked. 7 hour battery. $299
- Switch VR: VR headset with HDMI out (video/charge cable included) that functions fully as a docked Switch and can play OG Switch games in theater mode. Will get Nintendo VR exclusives and third party support for VR. 4 hour battery life $399
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I don't hate VR but I don't want it to be the only method of play; I think they could do a premium headset through where you could dock the switch or switch 2 that's not cardboard.
I stopped reading here. Sorry, not going to continue discussing with someone that´s so eager to defend his/her point that s/he denies reality so blatantly. Not going to make my point and disappear, I´m just going to wish you a good day and move on :)
I suspect Switch 2 will have more emphasis on VR, the Labo VR kit for the current Switch was just a test run.
Mario Kart 9 VR and Metroid Prime 4 VR immediately leap out as possibilities.
Mario Kart 9 VR and Metroid Prime 4 VR immediately leap out as possibilities.
Do you really just back out on a topic when someone states a fact about something that goes against your own statement? It's quite petty to say the least. You need to acknowledge facts if you want to have a genuine discussion.
I can sense there is some anti-VR bias from yourself here, and that you don't like to be corrected. If that's the case, don't jump into a conversation with such bold statements if it's a topic you know you're not knowledgeable on - because people will call you out and correct you.
How would those dedicated VR games play on a flat TV in docked mode if they are made for VR? The answer is "they don't or not well" which means Nintendo has to dedicate resources to a AAA VR only game that could instead go to something like BOTW3 on the Switch 2 that would be a guaranteed success (compared to a new VR Nintendo console that might be a success).
And that is the problem, Nintendo has an issue with software droughts as is. They don't have the resources to support a VR platform, a traditional platform and mobile platforms by next generation. That is the kind of thing where you have to build up the warchest of studios over years to deliver in the next generation (aka what Microsoft has been doing acquiring studios this generation).
Does that actually work though? I mean BOTW VR didn't really make LaboVR this crazy success despite the huge success of BOTW overall, mostly because it didn't help sell the LaboVR product because the reviews of that mode weren't great (because it wasn't great compared to the dedicated VR experiences in the LaboVR kit). Bolt on VR only "subsidizes the library" when the experiences are good, and unless Nintendo is going to put in effort to the level of Skyrim VR (which again could be efforts otherwise spent on a flat BOTW 3 or its DLC) then it actually doesn't help sell any units.
It might have some sort of token value, but different perspectives in games or crap like BOTW VR (yes I said it its crap compared to real VR experiences) aren't system sellers. They aren't killer apps. They are "gee wiz I did it once and that is enough" kind of experiences.
Hell even in Oculus-land the biggest VR title isn't SkyrimVR or Dirt Rally VR or any of those AAA games with VR bolted on. The biggest VR title so far is Beat Saber, an indie experience made for VR that frankly sucks to play on a flat screen.
Now I am not against Nintendo getting into VR at all, quite the opposite in fact. Some of the experiences in LaboVR (namely the gun game) blew me away for how fun and simple they are and I bought a Rift after LaboVR because Nintendo hooked me on VR as a concept. But the gap between the LaboVR experiences and something like Asgard's Wrath is more than a generational gap. Its like comparing N64 games to Xbox 360 games.
Now with that said there are a pile of N64 games I would rather play than many 360 games, and frankly the pure fun of that LaboVR gun game is an experience I have only had one game (The Lab) match on the Rift when it comes to just pure fun. But to me LaboVR shows Nintendo is a LONG ways away from having VR being front and center like Oculus is with the Quest.
Personally I think the best case scenario next generation would be Facebook cutting a deal to just get Nintendo to make some simple games for the Quest/Quest 2 like they have done for smartphones. Nintendo IP and their natural talent for fun is something completely missing from Oculus exclusives (which I often find to be technically amazing but not actually that fun to play).
I mean they could do something like
VR System
Tegra-based hardware
Can run all Switch games as well
Switch titles repurposed to run in VR as well
But they'd have to have realistic expectations for sales too. If they're cool with something like that selling say 5-8 million units a year as an additive part of their business, then so be it. You can't expect 18-20 mill units a year though I don't think.
VR System
Tegra-based hardware
Can run all Switch games as well
Switch titles repurposed to run in VR as well
But they'd have to have realistic expectations for sales too. If they're cool with something like that selling say 5-8 million units a year as an additive part of their business, then so be it. You can't expect 18-20 mill units a year though I don't think.
For your first point, the VR games wouldn't play on a flat screen, of course. They're VR games. For your point about Nintendo not being able to support another platform, their history says otherwise. Also, this platform intersects with the main platform. Its guts are the same. It is a premium device that runs all software from the Switch platform. Nintendo would not need to support it with exclusive titles to even half the extent they supported the 3DS, DS, GBA, GBC or GB.
Every Switch VR unit sold could generate revenue whether the VR part of the platform really takes off commercially or not. If you buy a Switch VR and you're not satisfied with the rate of VR exclusives, the thing is still a whole Switch. It's not like a 3DS gamer buying a WiiU and then being disappointed that it sucks.
As to your point about VR modes of their flat games not being beneficial to the lineup, I just can't relate to your skepticism. Moss is a perfectly valid VR game. Astro Bot is a perfectly valid VR game. The difference between games like these, and a Super Mario Odyssey 2 that allows you to immerse yourself in the world with clever camera integration and literally no other work, would be slim in practical terms. The implementation of such a mode would not be anything like developing a whole new game. Hell, I bet it'd be less involved than the creation of the co-op mode in SMO1. Another thing that I think is a key point, they're literally creating these modes for LaboVR! LaboVR is not and never was going to be a good way to experience this stuff. If they can find time for this, they can find the time to do the same for an actual, dedicated HMD.
Skyrim went through a heavy conversion for VR. 2D Zeldas don't need that. Pokemon doesn't need that. Animal Crossing wouldn't need that. Captain Toad doesn't need that. I will replay Link's Awakening from start to finish in a VR diorama mode. I will spend probably dozens of hours hovering over my Animal Crossing village and my journey through the latest Pokemon game in VR (while splitting time with docked mode). Captain Toad 2 has a VR mode? Done deal. That's how I'm playing it. The next Pikmin? Same. I guess I just flatly disagree with the assertion that playing these games in VR would be a throwaway experience. I think it'd be quite amazing, honestly.
I don't understand why LaboVR shows that Nintendo couldn't release a Quest knock off within the next three years? I don't see the connection. Labo VR was damn impressive despite the hardware. What we're talking about here is Nintendo releasing a device in 2022 that is essentially a knock off of what Oculus put out in 2019.
I also couldn't disagree more with the "best case scenario" being Nintendo making cheap VR experiences on Facebook hardware. If anything, the best case scenario is the reverse. Nintendo makes Oculus' mobile VR hardware line obsolete and they retreat to just making VR apps/software. My apologies to the PCVR enthusiasts reading this.
This is key and I think including the device in the Switch lineup insulates it from this concern as it will be adding to the bucket, essentially. It'll generate revenue just as well as a regular Switch seeing as how it is also a regular Switch. 10,000,000 over the first three years might sound like a failure... Nah, that's a shining success for a VR device.
I always thought to be honest it would've interesting if they released the Virtual Boy 5-6 years later ... they probably could've had full color graphics and N64/PSX tier 3D.
A. Nobody wants a VR-only system from them.
B. No, that is not how a VR mode in a 3rd person or an isometric game would work. There are plenty of games made for VR from this perspective.
In a world where the 3DS existed, it's wild to pretend that a top-down Zelda game in virtual reality would be a superfluous gimmick or something. It'd be so damn good.
OP
OP
VR doesn't have to be relegated to First Person games. It's easy to imagine a Mario game that takes some cues from AstroBot. There's lots of VR things out there that are amazing and aren't First Person.
3rd person is a perfect fit, so perfect in fact that I wouldn't be surprised if it become the default way to view immersive 3rd person games in 10+ years. It's nothing like sitting close to a screen.
I just realized, Moon Studios is Ori right? Give me a VR version of Ori and I'd toss Moss to the side immediately. The layering of depths would work so well in VR, similarly to how I'd love to see Octopath in VR.
Nintendo already has Labo VR modes for Mario Odyssey and Zelda: BOTW though. So it doesn't have to function only with 1st person view titles.
They've been making Zelda-like games in VR from the get go. One of my favorite VR experiences has been Tetris Effect. Cockpit games are great. 2D platformers with the added depth of virtual reality would be awesome visually. Tactical RPGS like Mario + Rabbids or Advance Wars would be really dang cool adapted to VR.
Another thought I've had that I think could be something special is an online VR mode for Mario Party. Wouldn't be too much of a change gameplay wise. For the mini games, every player would have a pop up screen in front of them and they'd play a regular mini game with regular controls. The VR hook, though, is that every player would be lording over the board as their Mario universe avatar with some primitive lip syncing to their voices like we're starting to see on the Quest. It would be hilarious.
Another thought I've had that I think could be something special is an online VR mode for Mario Party. Wouldn't be too much of a change gameplay wise. For the mini games, every player would have a pop up screen in front of them and they'd play a regular mini game with regular controls. The VR hook, though, is that every player would be lording over the board as their Mario universe avatar with some primitive lip syncing to their voices like we're starting to see on the Quest. It would be hilarious.
If Nintendo were to become a VR only company, that would be the end of my relationship with Nintendo. Would make me extremely sad. VR as it exists just doesn't fit into my life. I don't see that changing any time soon.
Yep. It's a genre that has zero motion sickness issues, too.
Sorry but online gaming I don't consider to be social and I don't partake. The internet isn't real human interaction.
A party with one person strapped into a vomit machine also doesn't sound that great. VR is great at making me feel like garbage, I know it doesn't do that to everyone but it does it to plenty of us.
Online gaming and online VR are two completely different things. The first uses text and voice, whereas the latter uses real human interaction. People feel like they are with each other in real life, giving off non-verbal social cues and using body language.
You have a serious bias against VR and it's quite toxic to be honest. How would you like it if I called your Switch an eye-damaging (low resolution) tablet? Maybe you don't care either way, but it's degrading to Nintendo.
VR isn't an automatic vomit-inducing machine. If you were to play the two games I mentioned to you, there would be nothing to cause sickness aside from maybe the latency, which would be about as rare as people who get sick playing Call of Duty, and importantly gets fixed with lower latency. (higher refresh rates)
Please stop asumming it's lots of people when you're either in a very small minority that will eventually be fixed, or are in the group of people who claim that VR always makes them sick, but never tries games like those I mentioned and therefore loves to generalize the whole experience.
If the device that succeeds the switch I a pure VR device, I won't be happy.
If Nintendo introduces a Nintendo VR Standalone headset alongside the switch 2, I'm all for it.
If Nintendo introduces a Nintendo VR Standalone headset alongside the switch 2, I'm all for it.
VR isn't like having a screen up to your eyes. It's like being in the game world with the character.
And done well (I'm not looking at BotW), third person is just dandy in VR.
See:
Astro Bot
Moss
Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice
Chronos
Edge of Nowhere
I love VR, and would buy the system, but I'm not particularly interested in Nintendo going that route. I think Nintendo is much better in social playful experiences. So if this was Switch 2, I would be pretty disappointed.
I really like what they did with Labo VR though, so incidental stuff like that in a GearVR way I would wholeheartedly embrace.
I really like what they did with Labo VR though, so incidental stuff like that in a GearVR way I would wholeheartedly embrace.
Come on now
Prevalence is also known to be higher among Asians and women.
It won't be.
A hybrid portable/home console is something with nearly universal appeal. A VR headset is not.
There are all manner of issues with portability of a headset-shaped device. And you'd be far more limited in terms of the situations where you could safely use it.
They'd be severely limiting their potential audience for such a device relative to the Switch. It wouldn't make any sense from a business perspective. And so, that will never happen.
A hybrid portable/home console is something with nearly universal appeal. A VR headset is not.
There are all manner of issues with portability of a headset-shaped device. And you'd be far more limited in terms of the situations where you could safely use it.
They'd be severely limiting their potential audience for such a device relative to the Switch. It wouldn't make any sense from a business perspective. And so, that will never happen.
I mean it's also dependant on expectations.
If Nintendo wanted something that could add 5-6 million hardware unit sales per year to go with the standard Switch selling 10-20 million, a VR console as more of a speciality device wouldn't be a terrible idea.
You have to contextualize it for what it is though "Nintendo console" doesn't neccessarily have to mean "it must sell 15-20 million units a year or its a horrible failurrreeeeee!!!"
It would be a way for them to get into VR development and the system could likely run standard Switch games too.
They just consolidated all their development resources into one body to get themselves out of the situation where they were developing half for home and half for handheld. This idea would split them up again where half their resources would be going into games a normal Switch can't play.
And in what universe is a lower selling console not seen as being less successful? That's the whole business. They're not trying to be Rolls Royce here. Hardware sales drive software sales, which are the whole point of the industry.
And there are still the form factor and practical hardware issues to consider.
Hold your breath if you really want to, but this has almost no chance of coming to pass the way you describe it.
I mean it's not like Nintendo gave money they made from the N64, GameCube, etc. to charity ... they still made a lot of money from those platforms even in the 22-33 million install base range.
Money is money, if they could make some kind of unique VR setup in a "Nintendo-ey" way (ie: the helmet simulates things like wind and water sensations) they could make a handful of VR titles a year and get 3rd party ports of other VR content plus it could play Switch games as well. They could also repurpose Switch titles for VR mode as they did with Labo VR without much fuss.
This is something that would *additive* to the Switch platform and the money they make there, not a replacement or something that has to carry the company.
If you're selling 5.5 million units of these things per year on average at a $40 profit margin lets say, that's $220 million per year in extra profit before you even sell a single game or collect a licensing fee royalty. That's not a bad extra revenue stream at all.
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I'd buy it, but I'm not sure how much I'd use it. I have a PSVR and Rift S that I never use.
Nintendo also makes budget hardware, and that's the last thing I'd want for a VR headset. The technology isn't quite there yet, even for the best headsets, so it would be a really long time before Nintendo put out anything compelling.
Nintendo also makes budget hardware, and that's the last thing I'd want for a VR headset. The technology isn't quite there yet, even for the best headsets, so it would be a really long time before Nintendo put out anything compelling.
This for me and I imagine for many more. Maybe Nintendo will make a fully fledged VR device one day, but I can't see them ever not having a standard home console as their many product at any given time.
You come on. I've demoed roomscale VR games to 40+ people with no reports of nausea, so I was curious what games this guy used in his study. Sure enough, red flags everywhere. One was a student project where you tilt your head to rotate a board to move a marble (can't imagine how exactly that looks or how confusing those gravity effects might be), and the other was a horror game with sliding locomotion (something we already knew makes a large number of people sick until they get their VR legs).
As DarthBuzzard said, roomscale VR is a lot more comfortable, because it doesn't deceive your senses. You simply need to adjust the HMD to the correct IPD and insure your framerate and tracking performance are smooth.
Nextgen is too early to go all in honestly, but if they did I'd be thrilled. Nintendo and a real VR device would be awesome.
The poll could have done with some alternatives to either love it or hate it. I don't hate VR but I had to choose that option because I wouldn't want any system to be VR-only.
I have PSVR and I haven't used it since the novelty wore off about a month after launch. But, oddly, I won't sell it because of the novelty factor.
I wouldn't want this because certain games give me motion sickness, the jury is probably still out on eye health and while I probably could leave it set up, it's another thing to dust, so it's boxed and needs setting up if I want to use it.
Basically, it's a bit of a faff.
I have PSVR and I haven't used it since the novelty wore off about a month after launch. But, oddly, I won't sell it because of the novelty factor.
I wouldn't want this because certain games give me motion sickness, the jury is probably still out on eye health and while I probably could leave it set up, it's another thing to dust, so it's boxed and needs setting up if I want to use it.
Basically, it's a bit of a faff.