03 May Written submission – Virtually real life, the future of gaming
On the 25th of March 2014, Mark Zuckerberg, founder of the social media giant Facebook, announced the release of the Oculus Rift, a fully immersive 360 degree tracking headset that is set to take the world of Virtual reality gaming to a whole new level. Working with Value, the team behind the incredibly successful and well loved game ‘Half – life’ they plan to deliver an experience Zuckerberg believes will be “a part of daily life for billions of people” with Oculus Rift VR developer Palmer Luckey predicting households having high end computers that can run virtual reality games in as little as 5 years.
Now in 2016, virtual reality has in fact become a reality, with pre-orders for the Oculus Rift being made available to the UK public on the 28th of March at a fairly steep price of £410 considering the latest Xbox one is as little as £229. According to a study conducted by aplhr, 41% of a study of 14,795 said they would not pay the price, no matter how ever much their “technology opens up the possibility of completely new kinds of experiences.”
So what does the development of virtual reality gaming mean to the gaming industry?
I spoke with Poppy Moore, student at LSBU and sales assistant at Carphone Warehouse, who has recently been taught the in’s and out’s of Samsung’s GEAR VR, which is also owned by Facebook, however the GEAR boasts the tiny price of £79.99, in comparison to the Oculus Rift. Poppy said “the Samsung GEAR is amazing, and it’s really interesting with the audience with it, there’s a massive market for it, especially virtual reality porn…. it could survive in that market alone”. After speaking with Poppy, it’s clear to see that Virtual Reality is going to make it big in the world of gaming as well as the porn industry, so for whatever reason people buy it, it’s still going to be a very popular gaming console, whether it’s the pricey Oculus Rift, or the cheaper, and more available Samsung GEAR VR.
I went to LSBU’s game room to talk to our resident gaming nerd, George Voicke, to get his opinion on VR headsets. George had tried the Google Cardboard, one of the first and most basic VR headsets, and told me that because he wears glasses he suffers from motion sickness using the headsets, however I brought along the Samsung GEAR VR and he was more than happy to give it and go and talk about his first impressions. “It’s pretty good, it’s much better than the Google Cardboard, which considering the price isn’t surprising, I would definitely buy myself one if I had a Samsung phone”.
After speaking to George and Poppy it’s clear that the technology is good and will definitely take off in the market at some point, however with the steep price and limitations, for example, with the Samsung GEAR VR you can only use it with a Samsung phone, I think there are still a few glitches developers need to work out before it becomes a part of household gaming.
To see George and myself try out the Samsung GEAR VR, click here.
