Community The MetaVerse VR thread (hardware/software/etc, all platforms)

Alextended

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Joe Spangle

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Gah. Just fired up my Index after not using it for quite a while and it has a weird graphical glitch on the screen, kind of like a small crack, there is small area that is all pixelly and weird. Follows the image around as i move so i guess an internal lens has a small fracture or something. Bah. So disappointing. I take care of my stuff, it hasn't been dropped or anything. Just sat in the box for a while.
 

Alextended

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So, at the time of editing, there are 4944 Bonelab ratings on Steam + 233 on the Rift store vs 5044 on the Quest store (where you don't even have to type anything, it's a much simpler and faster process). Similar to other recent notable games (ish at least, nothing compares to the top tier games) like After the Fall (1688 + 99 vs 2286), it shows PC VR is far from dead or of a pathetic difference to the Quest sales (again, top sellers like Beat Saber, Boneworks, Blade & Sorcery or Half-Life: Alyx don't have less ratings than top titles on Quest). Let's call it an even 50/50 for now, we'll see if it sticks, BUT:

This (here we go again, having to explain it with every big release) means that a sizable VR audience exists on PC, people don't buy a VR kit for one game then throw it away so the next doesn't sell as good, until one does again. When VR games display a vast gap between Quest & PC there are other reasons, like the fierce competition with flat games as PC gamers don't buy just anything VR when they can play some truly amazing flat experience (often with VR mods) while waiting for the next potential VR gem. Naturally the developers celebrating their Quest success would never put down their game to acknowledge the real reasons it didn't do well elsewhere, just blame the platform and enjoy the clickbait headlines.

See how a certain flight game sequel's developer recently hyped up the PC vs Quest gap, celebrating the latter as the superior platform over it, when their game appears to have sold way less than a popular PC VR flight game, VTOL VR, on all platforms combined (8600 ratings vs 477 + 68 + 18).

Of course visibility is another reason which is valid but this has nothing to do with anything Meta does right or better than PC as implied, the store is not better (or well) designed and it's all just because it's much newer and it's harder to get approved on it, which is only a temporary advantage as the Switch situation showed where early on people panned PC and other platforms over Switch indie success stories, yet indie success stories have continued on PC since and got way less certain on Switch as its store got cluttered like any (visibility also means many developers couldn't even get approved, when on PC everyone can be, but those who get onboard exclusive walled gardens naturally prefer their competition doesn't).

Beyond that there's also a certain segment of the demographics that differs. While there's overlap, one can't deny the possibility that a large amount of VR users on Steam, with the powerful hardware required to run it and the set up and configuration it all needs the first time (whether they use a PC VR kit or just a Quest), are enthusiast gamers who made games like the Souls series, Rockstar games, Capcom games, Sony ports, etc., such grand success stories on the platform. They aren't likely to keep buying the next trending mini/rhythm/sports/compilation game that a more casual or younger audience may be more eager to, at most they'll get the perceived best one (it's still Beat Saber, lol). Not to mention that even when they do buy such games they don't have to get the PC version as it probably runs just as good on their Quest with few compromises (more like Beat Saber than After the Fall, Saints & Sinners, or Bonelab), just as they might have bought an indie game for their Switch (before Steam Deck became a thing) and that didn't mean they stopped buying PC games.

This is compounded by how the mainstream gaming media don't deal with VR in-depth yet and the self proclaimed enthusiast VR outlets and most vocal representatives are being, frankly, Meta shills. There were twitter threads full of known figures celebrating the Bonelab gap on Quest when it was 1000 vs 100 without considering there were reasons for it (like a slight release time headstart) and it could change, while now they're still celebrating the equal ratio with damage control like how Bonelab fans are mostly on PC because of Boneworks, when it's the most talked about Quest game since it was announced without any media (or a name) and the fact it's the first game of the developer for the platform makes it even more exciting for it, less so for PC users who may see it as more of the same or negatively as not much of a leap beyond the problematic in some ways last game it's not even a full sequel to.

Essentially, the media and their rabid followers that don't know what VR offers outside their bubble strive to self fulfill their own prophecy. All of (good) VR should be celebrated and promoted but most PC VR games and mods go by unreported despite many of them being pretty damn great. The sites and the influencers are only posting clickbait stories and big publisher/Meta backed stuff (soon Sony will be included again too, they did hype PSVR early on as well despite its issues for the same reasons, Sony is a big player and they wanted to please them). Not to mention there's a big VR site that only seems to inform people of PC VR releases or huge updates via sponsored articles some poor developers eventually cave and pay for (with little benefit, everyone views them as ads). VR games aren't nearly as numerous as the flat games the gaming press thoroughly covers yet they don't post about 90% of it, not even in some weekly report if they really don't consider some as important (as they ignore many hidden - because of them - gems and regurgitate uninteresting stories).

I'm not a huge fan of these games, I had criticisms for Boneworks and Bonelab doesn't seem much different despite some cool tech and ideas but noone can deny the hype they generated, so that's what VR games (like all games) need to sell, hype and visibility, yet the media constantly pan PC VR (except when they can't, like with Alyx or Boneworks which got hype and went viral without them so they had to fall in line) and elevate Meta. Even if a game is on both you'd rarely know if you just went by them (even Bonelab review titles just mention Quest 2). These people keep attacking PC VR in the same way others attacked PC gaming with talk of cost, sales, piracy, modding presented in the worst light possible (except when it's on Quest, heh), never delving in the real reasons or acknowledging successful titles. We all know how that turned out as PC is THE platform every developer, from every region, AAA, indie or niche, even first party console holder, must release on, or needlessly leave money on the table. The same will happen to VR games when VR actually goes mainstream (a far cry from where Quest stands despite being praised as such, call me when it brings in Wii or Switch numbers at the very least folks) as just another way to game.

When Sony jumps all in with PSVR2 the (not without faults) gaming press will hopefully start covering VR properly for all platforms since it will more consistently include AAA (and AA, and B, from traditional gaming studios) stuff finally, legitimizing the medium, and most VR outlets will be left in the dust as folks see they're far from professional and thorough despite (all of them) claiming to be the #1 VR source.

/rant
 
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Joe Spangle

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OMG. Valve are amazing sometimes.

I emailed support about my Index and yesterday got an email telling me to return it (they say its sounds like the screen has sunburn!).
Then today i got an email saying my new Index is on its way! I haven't even posted the old one back yet.

:steam_cleanseal:
 

Alextended

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Alextended

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Facebook Connect main keynote is live. Only in Horizon Worlds or the Reality Labs Facebook page (officially). I hope the game videos make up for the rest of it.
 
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Alextended

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Some pervy stuff got releases/updates. The third one is one of those that have those adult unrated unlock/uncensor patches off Steam going by user reviews.
 
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Alextended

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Alextended

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Quest Pro is out and while they keep pushing it as some kind of pro tool to justify the price difference and all, at the same time they're pushing developers into making software and games for it, so to me it looks like a Nintendo DS type situation where they say one third pillar type thing but they hope and urge regular consumers to buy it in droves all the same despite the high price so they can let their own "Game Boy" go and focus on that alone. Anyway, plenty games are getting passthrough updates etc. but I'll only repeat it here if the update's content goes beyond that or it's a new release.
 
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C-Dub

Makoto Niijima Fan Club President
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Finally grabbed Virtual Desktop for the Quest 2 and, my god, why was I so skeptical? It’s amazing!

Apparently vorpX just works with it, as well as that app works anyway, so that might be my next purchase.
 
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Alextended

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Crossfire: Sierra Squad, The Dark Pictures: Switchback, The Light Brigade and Hello Neighbor: Search and Rescue are the new ones I guess.
 
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Alextended

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I knew they were going to show a big MMORPG's VR mod one of these days, but given their gameplay I wasn't too interested, yet they'll somehow manage to make it all work with motion controls? That's pretty amazing if intuitive and what not, I'm guessing some people will be logging off real life when it hits, lol.
 
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Alextended

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All the news in one day again, I'll start thinking VR devs are conspiring to only post shit simultaneously.
 
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Alextended

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The showcase will have cool stuff like Vertigo 2's release date announcement trailer so it's worth it 👌

Edit: new stuff (I think): ROTU Entertainment's Ancient Board Games and Eolia: Quena's Requiem. Fusion Play's Across the Valley trailer. Drop Dead: The Cabin gameplay. Not sure if Per Aspera VR port has been shown before. RuinsMagus dlc and update. Call of the Sea VR port trailer. Some Gambit launch pimping (it got delayed after that, lol). The Signifier VR port. Propagation: Paradise Hotel footage. Straylight looks like abstract Yupitergrad. Joy Way showed Red Flowers which looks a lot like Stride: Sword Edition and Stack, a neat PVP duel thingie. Also the Stride Fates campaign (update? dlc? pretty rad anyway, very Mirror's Edge). The last reveal was Attack on Titan: Unbreakable. No gameplay but they call it "hunting action" (Monster Hunter's genre, nice, hopefully it has the depth to back that up). More stuff from/for known games (and pretending some stuff like Divine Duel are "reveals" just because they've never reported them before, you'd have seen gameplay and stuff in this thread already) like Little Cities, RagnaRock and EverSlaught Invasion. They also trailered the Pico exclusive Survival Nation. I think that covers most of it. Vertigo 2 continues looking amazing. Check their channel for individual videos without the fluff.

More stuff from/for known games (and pretending some stuff like Divine Duel are "reveals" just because they've never reported them before, you'd have seen gameplay and stuff in this thread already) like Little Cities, RagnaRock and EverSlaught Invasion. Check their channel for individual videos without the fluff.
 
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Alextended

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They might have a newGhostbusters VR trailer from TGA in a few hours and who knows what other VR thing may be there as well (probably not much, it's a token category inclusion with little thought put into it going by the finalists really - probably Facebook sponsoring too as Meta also retweeted some TGA stuff).
 
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