Developers talk about problems with Oculus Rift


We have already noticed how much attention the Oculus Rift is getting and even Sony has jumped on the back wagon for Virtual Reality gaming.

Games are already in development just for the Oculus Rift machine, such as Frontier’s Elite: Dangerous and CCP’s Eve Valkyrie.

An issue that has arisen from using the headset is motion sickness. It will not have a standard controller and the hardware can be pretty complex, which may cause it to be expensive.

The Oculus Rift may need a major company to back it up, in order for it to be popular and affordable. It seems that Sony may be the perfect fit for this technology, especially since they are already dominating the next-gen console war. The PS4 and Virtual Reality may be a thing worth looking into when it comes to the future of gaming.

The CCP of the Oculus Rift game ‘Eve Valkyrie’ Chris Smith said at a recent event:

“We are passionate about the potential of this new wave of VR tech, so the more people who have the possibility to experience it the better as far as we are concerned. So yes, we would definitely welcome VR headsets for console players – it can only help bring the experience to the mass market.”

Smith explains how it would take four steps in order for VR to be mainstream, whether it is the Oculus Rift or Sony’s VR headset. First, release good games that will give players a valuable experience. Second, Launch games that will sweep people off their feet. Third, an affordable price. Fourth, strategic marking plans to appeal to gamers all over.

Virtual Reality Headset

When you think about it, Sony has all the capabilities of doing everything on this list and Smith thinks that the Oculus Rift can accomplish those goals as well:

“As far as I can see Oculus and VR as a whole is on the right track,”
“The first barrier is getting the Oculus on everyone’s head to show them why it’s a viable platform. The subject of ‘if’ or ‘will’ Oculus be a platform is not even a question worth asking after you have experienced it. If there is perhaps one barrier, it’s how long I can game with VR. Right now an hour is fine, but can I game for 10 hours? Perhaps having to take a small break isn’t so bad.”

If gamers play for a long time on these machines, it can leave them with an uncomfortable feeling. A studio associate for SpaceHulk: Deathwing Longuepee Christophe says:

“Oculus seems to be working hard on that,”
“The new HD version seems to have started to decrease this effect a bit.”
eve-valkyrie-playing-group

The Designor and Art Director of Untold Games Flavio Parenti experiences motion sickness from his creation but his passion in VR keeps him working. He says,

“It’s a new medium so rules can be set and have to be discovered. But the nausea has to go away. The real war is going to be on the controller side. We already almost have a standard view in VR, but how do you control something in VR? I’ve been playing tech demos for almost a year now and I can assure you the only way to play is with motion control, not with a gamepad. I think we need something that’s in between the two.”

Controlling the game through virtual reality sounds like a tough issue that these companies have to work out. As of now, they are just using regular console controllers, but they may need create something completely different for this new gaming machine.

Spacehulk: Deathwing developer states:

“Flight sticks, controllers and body tracking hardware all bring new opportunities to player control in VR as well as new design challenges,”
 
“Right now we are using a standard console controller and it’s working great.”

A new controller just for the Oculus Rift sounds like some more time and money that Oculus has to spend, but it may be a new invention that will excite consumers.

Oculus Rift is going to be competing against Sony’s VR headset that will be announced in next weeks GDC.

Do you think they can work out the problems? Comment below.