-
Ever wanted an RSS feed of all your favorite gaming news sites? Go check out our new Gaming Headlines feed! Read more about it here.
I wonder how much longer Facebook can keep investing in the space before shareholders revolt. The company clearly sees VR as a long term investment but the stakeholders want immediate results.
Gaming remains the most solid near-to-mid-term bet for VR.
And this was pretty obvious - all the metaverse stuff thusfar seemed like failed attempts at reinventing 'games'.
Hopefully/maybe we'll see creative interest pivot back into fleshing VR out as a gaming medium. I'm not sure that step can be skipped.
And this was pretty obvious - all the metaverse stuff thusfar seemed like failed attempts at reinventing 'games'.
Hopefully/maybe we'll see creative interest pivot back into fleshing VR out as a gaming medium. I'm not sure that step can be skipped.
It's just too soon for Metaverse, the technology is not there yet and the price of entry is way too high.
It might work someday, but not in the short term.
Also it was not a bright idea to immediately associate it with NFT/Crypto, it did more harm than good, even if they only wanted to please investors.
It might work someday, but not in the short term.
Also it was not a bright idea to immediately associate it with NFT/Crypto, it did more harm than good, even if they only wanted to please investors.
To be fair, the irony is that the "Metaverse" as seemingly Meta and such wanted was basically already done somewhat with stuff like VRChat.
Nothing about Meta and its plans for VR is exciting at all. The vision they have is just something that normal people don't want anything to do with. Sad how oculus got completely destroyed but this was inevitable as soon as it got purchased by the cancerous mess known as Facebook. And now Carmack left, and to make things worse, they just shut down the servers of one of the games. It's just not a good way to instill confidence long-term in your user base.
Meta also continuously misunderstood what people's expectations about VR content are. For the longest time their VR revolution was "you can do exactly the same mundane things you do IRL but in metaverse!" and not even out of touch corporate boomers were that thrilled about ordering thousands of headsets just for zoom meetings.
The word "metaverse" has been ruined by all these companies trying to turn it into the next capitalist hellhole. Thankfully enough people are rejecting the idea and it seems to be failing. Unfortunately it's bringing down the concept of VR with it. Facebook buying Oculus is still one of the worst things that could've happened to this tech.
Saw PS VR2 and noped out, can't blame them ;-)
Metaverse is such a load of wank.
Metaverse is such a load of wank.
lol. The pressure's on Zuck to convince anyone his metaverse isn't a bullshit fantasy. PS VR2 is a peripheral for a gaming device, not some metaverse crap. What tencent do or don't do in terms of hardware has no bearing on it whatsoever.
Apple has entered the chat.
Seriously though, $3k headset yadda yadda, if they truly deliver a breakthrough experience that delivers on more than just gaming, a true VR/AR platform (realityOS), maybe starting at the absolute top end of the market makes sense to deliver on the experiences people expect. Based on the rumored specs they are taking a very different approach compared to everyone else. No controllers, focus on passthough, insanely high resolution displays, etc.
Major turning points sometimes start very very expensive- the original Macintosh was like $2500 ($7000+ today) back in 1984. They need to get developers creating software other than games and "experiences" to sell the masses. Maybe VR needs to start slow at the absolute top and trickle down, instead of starting with gaming enthusiasts with mid range hardware or headsets based on mobile chips.
I still believe that VR is a transformative experience. It's annoying every time the market stumbles people are quick to cast doubt and point fingers "see it'll never work". It won't work until someone in the industry figures it out. It's happened so many times at this point with tech, one day nobody is using it, then suddenly it happens all at once. Happens every, single, time…
Seriously though, $3k headset yadda yadda, if they truly deliver a breakthrough experience that delivers on more than just gaming, a true VR/AR platform (realityOS), maybe starting at the absolute top end of the market makes sense to deliver on the experiences people expect. Based on the rumored specs they are taking a very different approach compared to everyone else. No controllers, focus on passthough, insanely high resolution displays, etc.
Major turning points sometimes start very very expensive- the original Macintosh was like $2500 ($7000+ today) back in 1984. They need to get developers creating software other than games and "experiences" to sell the masses. Maybe VR needs to start slow at the absolute top and trickle down, instead of starting with gaming enthusiasts with mid range hardware or headsets based on mobile chips.
I still believe that VR is a transformative experience. It's annoying every time the market stumbles people are quick to cast doubt and point fingers "see it'll never work". It won't work until someone in the industry figures it out. It's happened so many times at this point with tech, one day nobody is using it, then suddenly it happens all at once. Happens every, single, time…
Forget the metaverse, Sony's PlayStation VR2 will make you a virtual reality believer again
Back to save VR from irrelevance, PlayStation's VR2 and Horizon Call Of The Mountain are a spectacular (if pricey) glimpse into gaming's future
Relevant headline
Just imagine if Meta invested a fraction of the money of Metaverse into more PCVR games like Stormland, Wrath of Asgard or Lone Echo. Or at least some more Quest exclusives.
This metaverse thing is the most and biggest "who asked for this?" thing in a long time. The way it's going should be the least surprising thing.
I would love them to attempt a Playstation Home 2.0. It would make so much more sense in todays world and with VR. Particularly seeing the success of things like Rec Room.
Just thinking, imagine if they included a social space auditorium where you could watch live events with other people. They could get partnerships with stuff like comic con and Marvel to allow you to watch their panels as if you are there.
"Metaverse". There's the problem right there. The metaverse was always a product that Facebook wanted to sell without any type of audience. Nobody cares, nobody wants this, and the pivot to metaverse development has set VR back years. All Facebook had to do was keep on doing what it had been doing with Quest 2, keeping the headsets affordable and focus on the games, and it might have seen the numbers they were after in a few years rather than wither away into a gaming afterthought.
OP
OP
No. Just no.
There would be at peak a POTENTIAL audience of a few million and would have all the same problems as the metaverse, but to an even greater degree.
Consider the following things that made smartphones successful:
- Can spontaneously use it anywhere. Whether waiting in a line or watching some TV.
- Makes the user interface easier/simplified which finally let it break through across all generations.
- Is controlled through a piece of essential hardware that most people have, even ahead of getting a dedicated PC or home internet.
VR is the opposite in absolutely every way. It's great for pre-planned gaming sessions but it's at least a decade or two of hardware revisions away from being a major platfrotm for social interaction.
One problem here is that Meta has been a huge source of funds for a lot of VR developers, and if they scale back heavily and quickly, uncertainty will definitely increase in the development space.
You know, being here in New Zealand ans seeing the whole east coast get wiped out by a cyclone this past week I can understand why people want to make the metaverse happen.
I mean all the biz that relies on tourism, or weather , etc ...must be risky AF to be In going fwd with climate change etc .....I bet if given the option they all prefer to run some virtual resort in the MV ...immune to pandemics, and fucked up climate..
I mean all the biz that relies on tourism, or weather , etc ...must be risky AF to be In going fwd with climate change etc .....I bet if given the option they all prefer to run some virtual resort in the MV ...immune to pandemics, and fucked up climate..
OP
OP
Zuckerberg builds a Mars colony for himself and the true believers. They leave Earth never to return. That's my dream anyway.
Tencent, take all those people you've invested and just make games for all the headsets out there already. Pump it up.
I feel this isn't really the impression I have had using the original Playstation VR. There were definitely some limitations due to the hardware, but overall I had a great time with it, and it looks like VR2 will be a big leap forward for the VR space.
Also, I don't think anyone is expecting any VR product, metaverse or otherwise to be a blowout success overnight. Playstation VR sold around 5 million units, and it will be great if they can beat that with VR2. I think VR2 lends itself pretty well to the social auditorium/presentation space I mentioned since the quality of the screen is now so high. Sony could also make marketing deals to stream panels for at home VR2 owners.
Man it has been a really bad year so far for vr. Feels like writing is on the wall or something but I don't want to believe it
The Metaverse is peak solutionism, at least on a corporate level. I'm sure there are applications for a shared virtual space but what's on offer now is just redundant. That being said, the metaverse potentially failing doesn't have to take VR down with it.
They were trying to establish their own platform. A way to leech their 30% cut off other people's work. Making VR games for another company's platform is the opposite of what they wanted.
Yeah it's not just because metaverse isn't a thing, look at meta they're losing so much money trying to sell quests and they're still not flying out the door at a loss. VR seems to be stuck in the niche phase and I don't think it will leave that.
Yeah I think it's a great piece of gaming hardware. Reviews seem to show it being neck-and-neck with the top competitors that cost hundreds of dollars more and this level of hardware solves most of the issues with image quality, tracking, and performance that used to make VR hard to enjoy.
But for social stuff, the costs and inconveniences are much higher than using your phone or whatever. A lot of museums and artists do create immersive experiences that utilize VR but those are like special occasions you might do a handful of times a year.
Something like Metaverse (or a potential VR version of PS Home) banks on the idea that a significant portion of the population would want their daily social/work activities to be done through a headset. A VR platform for something outside the realm of art or gaming just doesn't seem to be interesting to the majority of people.
This is my third/fourth VR hype cycle. It will come back. Technology keeps improving, every hype cycle takes a bit longer and reaches some more people. Companies controlling our perception of reality is too lucrative for them not to keep trying. Some metaverse will come, but the grifters went too ham on the current iteration, so with changing economic tides, companies are starting to sit this one out.
Seriously, it's wild that they've pumped billions of dollars into it and can't even reach VRChat levels.
Part of the reason VRChat is so popular is how well you can express yourself and experience wild stuff. No one wants a corporate-ass sanitized version of VRChat. Why would I want to be me when I could be Hank Hill with an anime girl body, or a 10 story tall robot?
I'm just really happy Sony committed to producing a high end VR system so regardless of where it all goes from here, I'll at least (soon) have that and have experienced where things are at now. My only frame of reference for VR currently is PSVR1, so it'll be nice to experience the highlights of how the tech has evolved since then.
Feels like a good thing that PSVR2 is still focused solely on games, but it's still not something that will get mass appeal it seems, just judging by how a lot of outlets look at it. It's going to be very interesting seeing Apple's device & if they can finally give VR it's breakthrough.
If you build a platform and take a cut from whoever doing business on that platform, you are not leeching anyone. It's fair business.
facebook didn't get into VR just to please gamers. Gamers were just the easiest to please with interactive 3D worlds first. Gaming will always be a part of their offerings, but the longer they ignore the rest of XR'a potential, the harder it becomes to get out of that pigeon hole.
Zuckerberg has always been enthusiastic about connecting with people, not gamers only. He doesn't want to be just XBL.