The technology still needs solid content on launch

Mar 5, 2015 16:42 GMT  ·  By

The week started with the announcement that Valve and mobile phone giant HTC were working together on a new virtual reality device called the Vive, which is designed to include hardware that will eliminate jittering and will make it simpler for gamers to immerse themselves in simulations.

The two companies are demoing the platform during the Game Developers Conference 2015 and they are saying that a consumer version will be launched before the end of the year, although a price has not been offered yet.

During the same event, Sony announced a new prototype version of its own Project Morpheus virtual reality device, with better resolution, lower latency and a planned release window set for the first half of 2016.

The company suggests that actual games designed to work on it will be shown during E3 2015 and that it might tweak the headset before it is actually out.

The two GDC 2015 reveals also face competition from the Oculus Rift, the Kickstarter-backed platform that first showed that gamers were interested in making virtual reality an important part of the future of the industry.

This one does not yet have an official consumer launch date or a price tag either.

Finally, Microsoft is also working on its own HoloLens, which is somewhat less ambitious but might have a wider appeal, although the tech associated with it is still in flux.

Do we really need virtual reality?

I admit that some of the experiences associated with VR can be impressive and the tech can evolve quickly and in interesting ways.

But the industry was equally convinced that motion tracking would be integral to the present of the industry, and so far Sony seems to have abandoned the tech, while Microsoft hasn’t found a way to make the Kinect popular.

The revolution proposed by virtual reality is even bigger and that means both those creating the hardware and the teams working on experiences for them will have to convince the public that they need to spend money in order to get the new experiences.

At the moment, we do not have prices for the Oculus Rift, the HoloLens, the Vive or Project Morpheus, but they will probably be sold for more than 250 dollars or Euro on launch day, which is a solid commitment for potential buyers, even if they do not plan to pick up a title linked to VR at the same time.

Most of the potential audience is made up of hardcore gamers and that means the new technology needs a lot of games to be ready in order to showcase the best of the VR world.

Be prepared for slow adoption for virtual reality

To make matters worse, it's very probable that Vive, Project Morpheus, Oculus Rift and HoloLens will come with entirely new games and virtual reality tours, which guarantees the market will be segmented for a long time.

The pressure to launch consumer versions as soon as possible also means that the developers will be unable to create very complex experiences and that some users will be underwhelmed.

Vive's first revealed title is a Job Simulator, which looks interesting from images but will have to deliver some amazing mechanics to avoid becoming boring.

Virtual reality is a very intriguing idea and it might become an important part of the gaming world in a few years.

But at the moment all the companies working on hardware should focus their efforts on making the tech as solid as possible and on offering many titles when their platforms arrive rather than on rushing to deliver a consumer version in late 2015 or early 2016.

Otherwise, adoption rates will be slower after an initial solid start and VR might end up experiencing the same fate as motion tracking.