Hey peeps!
I've been considering picking up an Oculus Quest 2 recently. Games like Vader Immortal are sooooo tempting (by the way, it's 50% off right now!). And then there's SynthVR which I'm sure I could easily get lost in for hours on end! Not to mention, there's some really slick architecture apps that will let you create a home or building and then walk through it.
I lean toward the Oculus because of its low price and wireless-ness. I also have a couple of friends from back home that each have one and I think it'd be fun to reconnect with them, goof around, and play some putt putt (their game of choice, haha).
So, what do y'all think? If you have a Quest, I'd love to hear what games you'd suggest. If ya have some other form of VR, then please tell me about it! I'm curious to learn more before I take the plunge and make the purchase. 🙂
Top comments (8)
I'm a huge VR fan. I wish I could call myself an early adopter but I didn't have the hardware to run the first Oculus Rift. My $400 WMR Dell Visor in 2018 was one of the first big leisure purchases I made as an intern at Forem. I bought my brother a Meta Quest 2 recently for Christmas and just purchased my new Valve Index yesterday! Headsets are only going to get slimmer and more affordable, but there's really only one wrong choice considering the options we have out today (anything from HTC).
VR has a lot to offer -- there are "metaverse" spaces like VR Chat, interactive movies like Job Simulator and Accounting+, music and art-making apps, and full-fledged games like Half Life: Alyx (and officially the best VR game available to date: Boneworks); however, you need to understand that not everything is fleshed out to its max. We don't have a line-up of feature-length VR films. We're severely lacking in VR games supported by big players in the industry. A lot of software is in early access/beta testing and missing features. A lot of the experiences available are lacking in replay value. This is the tradeoff for investing in such a new form of media.
Despite these drawbacks, I would absolutely recommend the Meta Quest 2 for anyone who is interested in VR and can afford the $300 price tag. It's not too much of an investment, works without a VR-ready PC, and the media you get to enjoy is like no other. You don't get the full line-up of games like on PCVR, but it's a great stepping stone to interact with others in VR and see if you even like the medium.
To me, VR is a spectacle. It's early technology loaded with glitches, bugs, and hardware problems, but that same series of issues will come with every new kind of tech that comes out. Nothing ships without its issues. The only way we can push this tech forward is to show financial interest in it, so I do recommend investing in a headset to experience all of the new wonders the VR space has to offer.
Feel free to reach out if you want to talk more about this -- it's one of my favorite topics to chat about.
Woot! What an awesomely thorough and thoughtful comment. Ya definitely make it sound exciting and worthwhile.
I can totally get down with the beta-like experience and agree with you that investing will hopefully help to push the tech forward.
I'll def be reaching out to talk more about all of this. And if I pick up a headset, then you can be sure that you'll be hearing from me to get in and game on something together. 🙌
I tested Oculus Quest 2 from a friend but it seems a little clunky to me.
I feel like we need better refresh rates and multiple gadgets. Like some gloves that adds some sensitivity, some boots to walk without actually moving yourself from your 1x1 square meter and so on to have a really good experience.
I would love to explore a world by walking or whatever but nor there is appropriate hardaware neither I want to spend some Ks on it 😂🤷🏻♀️
I remember trying a beta version of the Oculus back in like 2013-2014 and thinking it was impressive, though it really had it's rough edges back then and I know that sorta clunky, jilty feeling that you're talking about. I'm sure they've come a long way, but I definitely wanna taste-test before diving straight in!
On the note exploring a VR world by walking, I can imagine this is such a tough challenge to solve for. However, upon doing a quick search I found this thing called an Omni One that is trying hard:
Too bad it's way expensive like ya said. At $2000, I think I'll stick with walking via thumbstick, haha! 😅
I was in the MWC as well back those days when they presented first Oculus. It was dizzy tbh and the evolution since then has been great, still not enough polished for me to use 😅
It's definitely still in the works, which is why I don't want people buying the $1000 Valve Index for their first headset. Even the Index has its drawbacks (it's fragile). We have a lot of cool looking VR hardware coming out (even stuff from Apple) so hopefully something will catch your eye in the future.
I got a Quest 2 after having tried phone VR apps with Cardboard and expecting it to be marginally better. It's not. It's a completely different ball game.
PCVR games with the Quest 2 are fine, so long as you have a good graphics card, and things that come in both flavours like Beat Saber are just as good standalone.
Honestly, for the money, and even considering a new update will come out in a year or so, I can't recommend the Q2 highly enough.
Word up! That's great to hear. 🙌
And, I'm super siked for Beat Saber, haha. Been seeing that one here and there over the years and it looks right up my alley.
Glad to hear that they're generous with the updates! I do think the Q2 will be VR headset for me.