2018 Was the Year of VR Headsets - Except it Wasn't, According to Steam Hardware Survey

[Vayra86]

The joys of Roy Taylor and the gang at AMD increasing the total addressable market with the mighty Polaris, you know because everyone interested in VR will spend big on the headset and gear, but cheap out on their graphics card.

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2016/04/amd-focusing-on-vr-mid-range-polaris/

Its a good point, because it also shows fundamental VR problems - the GPU landscape doesn't really play along right now. But not to worry, it may not be a Pascal killer, but you can always crossfire a couple to get 1080 performance!

 

[red_stapler]

VR has been a revelation for me when it comes to simulation games. DCS World, Project Cars 2, iRacing. All elevated by the depth perception and presence in VR.

 

[cadaveca]

I'm not sure I fully understand what you're saying here. My interpretation is that you're saying that most if not all VR titles are geared towards single player only experiences.

To be honest I haven't really considered that. For me the only thing that maters once you have access to the prerequisite VR hardware and VR software is whether or not the VR title its fun to play.

Well, what I meant was that I feel that the best VR experience... the most immersive, the most emotionally impactful one... will be one that you do alone. It's simply easier to play off your psyche without the distractions of other people around you.

Yet today, you know, things like Fortnight and MOBA are immensely popular. So I think that the experience that most of us VR users are really looking for, that we know will convince other to buy in as we have, is yet to come.


I was actually holding out that Valve would be the company to do it. Then you know, they do kinda have their own hardware now, don't they? so it seems like they were gonna...

But I dunno WTF happened. Seems like everyone got distracted, or maybe the hardware needs a generational leap before we get there.

 

[Dimi]

Pretty sure 95% of the haters here have not tried any kind of VR yet.
I bought a Lenovo Explorer for 199€ and it is def worth the price.
You CAN play seated perfectly fine btw, especially with sim games.

Some people just like to hate on everything i guess.

 

[Vayra86]

Well, what I meant was that I feel that the best VR experience... the most immersive, the most emotionally impactful one... will be one that you do alone. It's simply easier to play off your psyche without the distractions of other people around you.

Yet today, you know, things like Fortnight and MOBA are immensely popular. So I think that the experience that most of us VR users are really looking for, that we know will convince other to buy in as we have, is yet to come.


I was actually holding out that Valve would be the company to do it. Then you know, they do kinda have their own hardware now, don't they? so it seems like they were gonna...

But I dunno WTF happened. Seems like everyone got distracted, or maybe the hardware needs a generational leap before we get there.

Yeah, I remember how everyone dreamed of HL3 VR. I guess the Steam cash cow was enough. Its even more baffling when you consider that Valve did push VR quite a bit on Steam, they had their Steambox attempt where VR could have also been a major USP...

I suppose they assessed it as too high risk. And rightly so.

 

[msimax]

I have a VR headest and its not plugged in when im not using it

Hardware survey aint gunna show a lot of them up, because not everyone leaves them plugged in 24/7

i made sure to quit and then then plug it back in when steam did the survey. i just bought the htc wireless adapter and now its awesome no cords the kid loves it , when i bring it family functions everyone wants one and the biggest draw back is price.

 

[Deleted member 158293]

Sold my Rift not long after I got it since I decided not to work with it. Phone VR with a good IPS or ideally AMOLED screen is close enough still that it isn't worth the price difference IMO.

Until the next breakthrough which would really set PC VR apart, hopefully soon.

 

[Octavean]

The video covers a lot but the viewer comments are funny.

Currently I have a GTX 1060 and a GTX 970 in a different computer. I have a couple of GTX 760 cards and a GTX 670. The list goes on and I had to wonder how many video cards, processors, motherboards, HDD, memory and more I've bought over the years. Currently thinking about buying a RTX 2080, 2070 or possibly 2060.

The first video card I recall buying was a Diamon Viper Riva TNT IIRC and after that it was a number of different Voodoo cards.

The upgrades are necessitated due to improvements in programs with new and higher specs required. In other words, things weren't perfect and improvements were made. A very common theme.

That is how I see VR. Is the current state of VR perfect? No but that doesn't mean I and others can't have a lot of fun with it now.

You don't get your hover board or jet pack on day one people,.....

If you're waiting out for said hover board or jet pack you're going to do yourself a lot of walking, taking the bus or bumming a ride.