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Facebook can’t decide how much VR should cost

techcrunch.com

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Re: Facebook can’t decide how much VR should cost

#21

Post by ghaff »

superplussed wrote: post #13
ajsalminen wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Neither Vive nor Rift have been selling very well recently if the Steam Survey is any indication. PSVR numbers are better but I don't think they're that impressive either.

The amazing thing to me is that my 10 and 8 year old nephews have a PSVR, and Xbox, and an iPad, and all they want to do is play the iPad. They use the Xbox sometimes, and the PSVR collects dust. It seems nowadays low friction is the killer feature.

You're basically describing casual gaming (etc.) vs. hardcore/immersive gaming. With tablets and smartphones, casual gaming is clearly winning as a percentage of users.

Re: Facebook can’t decide how much VR should cost

#23

Post by hacker_9 »

mrfusion wrote: post #12
43224gg252 wrote: post #10

Is it safe to say that VR still has another decade (at least) before it gets any kind of wide spread adoption? I was hyped a couple years ago for VR but it feels like its fizzled out.

We're in the trough of disillusionment.

Indeed, the hype train is always miles ahead of reality.

Re: Facebook can’t decide how much VR should cost

#24

Post by eregorn »

ajsalminen wrote: post #6
striking wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And the "Vive is winning" effect... Is there anyone who prefers Oculus' IR over Vive's LIDAR?

Neither Vive nor Rift have been selling very well recently if the Steam Survey is any indication. PSVR numbers are better but I don't think they're that impressive either.

seems about right from an article I found (1). I guess the rift might actually be in specific trouble though if it has a market share similar to a no-name cardboard rip off.

(1) http://www.businessinsider.com/vr-headsets-comparison-popula...

Re: Facebook can’t decide how much VR should cost

#25

Post by barkingcat »

aphextron wrote: post #20
43224gg252 wrote: post #10

Is it safe to say that VR still has another decade (at least) before it gets any kind of wide spread adoption? I was hyped a couple years ago for VR but it feels like its fizzled out.

Yes. I was a hardcore fanboy, bought the DK2, had both Rift and Vive preorders on day one. Spent months making my own games and VR experiments in Unity. However I just sold all of my headsets last month. Theres been a lot of amazing stuff to come out of this generation of VR. But as hard as the software devs try, you simply can't get past the fact that the hardware isn't ready for primetime yet. The clunky controller…

Full wireless would be a great thing to have. The wires as it is now are not ready for mass adoption.

Re: Facebook can’t decide how much VR should cost

#26

Post by aphextron »

Strom wrote: post #14
43224gg252 wrote: post #10

Is it safe to say that VR still has another decade (at least) before it gets any kind of wide spread adoption? I was hyped a couple years ago for VR but it feels like its fizzled out.

How do you define widespread adoption? When adding all the current gen VR systems together we're already over 10M units sold.

Those are really optimistic numbers which must include GearVR and its competitors, which are toys that most people do not consider true VR.

Total sales for Rift, PSVR, and Vive are ~1.5 million units combined. All the others (OSVR, chinese clones, et. al.) might add up to 2 million total.

Re: Facebook can’t decide how much VR should cost

#27

Post by hkmurakami »

aphextron wrote: post #20
43224gg252 wrote: post #10

Is it safe to say that VR still has another decade (at least) before it gets any kind of wide spread adoption? I was hyped a couple years ago for VR but it feels like its fizzled out.

Yes. I was a hardcore fanboy, bought the DK2, had both Rift and Vive preorders on day one. Spent months making my own games and VR experiments in Unity. However I just sold all of my headsets last month. Theres been a lot of amazing stuff to come out of this generation of VR. But as hard as the software devs try, you simply can't get past the fact that the hardware isn't ready for primetime yet. The clunky controller…

This is why I'd never want to do a VR company right now (at least not with my own money and shouldering all the risk). Having my fate depend on hardware vendors who don't necessarily have interests aligned with me is not a situation I want to get into!

Re: Facebook can’t decide how much VR should cost

#28

Post by Ajedi32 »

Paul_S wrote: post #22

This is pointless, people are not buying VR because there is nothing there they really want to use it for, not because it costs too much. A gaming rig to run it will cost you more.

Anecdotally, cost was a significant factor for me. I've been looking to purchase a headset ever since I had an opportunity to demo one a year ago, but $600 was a bit too steep for something that I likely wouldn't use for anything other than playing games (unlike a PC, which I use for much more than that). $400 though (the current price thanks to the summer sale) was enough to make me pull the trigger.

I also noticed a huge surge in the level of activity from new Rift owners on the /r/oculus subreddit after the sale started, and many there are reporting that the headset is sold out in a lot of stores, so I'm pretty sure I'm not alone here.

Re: Facebook can’t decide how much VR should cost

#29

Post by Strom »

Paul_S wrote: post #22

This is pointless, people are not buying VR because there is nothing there they really want to use it for, not because it costs too much. A gaming rig to run it will cost you more.

The $399 sale was what put me over the edge to finally buy one. Based on comments around the internet that I've read on this sale announcement, there are plenty of people similar to me.
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