Lots of good stuff is coming out of GDC this year, and another hot topic is VR headsets.  I’m sure you’ve heard of Oculus, and even Sony made a big announcement that they have started on a VR project for the PS4.

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Oculus introduced their Oculus Rift Development Kit 2 and made it available to order for developers this week.  PC Gamer talked to the Oculus CEO about the consumer version of the VR headset, and called it the “next step”, but other than that no word on any timeline of when this will be made available as a consumer device.

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Is a VR system something you are looking forward to?  Do you think it’s the next “big thing” in consumer gaming?  Let us know what you think in the comments!


Comments
on Mar 20, 2014

This is hardly something new or revolutionary ... VR headsets have been forecast as the next big thing for a couple of /decades/ now, as has 3D, but the fad comes and goes.  I don't see any particular reason why it might /really/ take off this time compared with all the previous fizzle-outs.  I definitely wouldn't throw out your PC-with-a-monitor game development studios just yet (and I certainly hope you don't), but I'm certainly not an expert.

on Mar 20, 2014

Chibiabos

This is hardly something new or revolutionary ... VR headsets have been forecast as the next big thing for a couple of /decades/ now, as has 3D, but the fad comes and goes.  I don't see any particular reason why it might /really/ take off this time compared with all the previous fizzle-outs.  I definitely wouldn't throw out your PC-with-a-monitor game development studios just yet (and I certainly hope you don't), but I'm certainly not an expert.

 

Have you read some of the Occulus rift reviews? Most are very positive that this is finally the real deal this time. The technology has reached a point where its mainstream implantation is feasible and the illusion of reality is getting very credible. We are not talking about the virtual boy here. 

on Mar 20, 2014

wait and see.....

on Mar 21, 2014

Setting aside the "we've heard all this yakkity yak before about this tech for decades," Sony is on my permanent boycott listanyhow due to their rootkit fiasco.  Hackers that aren't incorporated get years or decades in prison, but because Sony is a corporation, it got little more than a slap on the wrist despite, essentially, willfully infecting millions of computers with what amounted to a rootkit virus and essentially hacking their paying customers' computers for their own ends.  In my mind, Sony lost its right to exist as a corporation when it committed that, and they will never get another dime of my money.  I will never buy a PlayStation, nor any music nor movie put out by Sony.  I work very hard for the few dollars I have to spend, and I don't spend them on companies that have gone way too far with the power they've amassed.

on Mar 22, 2014

Chibiabos

Setting aside the "we've heard all this yakkity yak before about this tech for decades," Sony is on my permanent boycott listanyhow due to their rootkit fiasco.  Hackers that aren't incorporated get years or decades in prison, but because Sony is a corporation, it got little more than a slap on the wrist despite, essentially, willfully infecting millions of computers with what amounted to a rootkit virus and essentially hacking their paying customers' computers for their own ends.  In my mind, Sony lost its right to exist as a corporation when it committed that, and they will never get another dime of my money.  I will never buy a PlayStation, nor any music nor movie put out by Sony.  I work very hard for the few dollars I have to spend, and I don't spend them on companies that have gone way too far with the power they've amassed.

 

I missed this.  What are you referring to?

on Mar 23, 2014

ElanaAhova


Quoting Chibiabos, reply 4
Setting aside the "we've heard all this yakkity yak before about this tech for decades," Sony is on my permanent boycott listanyhow due to their rootkit fiasco.  Hackers that aren't incorporated get years or decades in prison, but because Sony is a corporation, it got little more than a slap on the wrist despite, essentially, willfully infecting millions of computers with what amounted to a rootkit virus and essentially hacking their paying customers' computers for their own ends.  In my mind, Sony lost its right to exist as a corporation when it committed that, and they will never get another dime of my money.  I will never buy a PlayStation, nor any music nor movie put out by Sony.  I work very hard for the few dollars I have to spend, and I don't spend them on companies that have gone way too far with the power they've amassed.

 

I missed this.  What are you referring to?

 

A cautious computer user discovered that between 2005 and 2007, Sony BMG created a rootkit virus (this is a special type of virus that alters your computer's operating system to hide itself so your antivirus cannot detect it, and in the process makes your computer vulnerable to other malware) it distributed on 22 million audio CDs ... these are normal audio CDs you would buy in a music store.  If you placed one of these music CDs into your CD/DVD/etc. drive to play music on your compute from a audio CD you legally purchased, the rootkit virus Sony created would install onto your hard drive (bypassing all antivirus) even if you declined to install the autorun software on the disc.  I repeat:  the virus Sony created would install onto your computer even if you declined to install the audio CD's program that would autorun on your PC.

Mark Russinovich discovered this, and posted his discovery to his blog.  There was, understandably, an outpouring of anger toward Sony, whom said the rootkit was harmless, but then offered an 'uninstaller' which merely unhid some hidden files installed by the audio CD rootkit, did not repair OS modification, and secretly installed new software that could also not be removed normally; further, getting the uninstaller required providing Sony with your e-mail address and agreeing to a EULA that analysists determined granted Sony the authority to resell to bulk e-mail lists.

There is more information and details here:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_BMG_copy_protection_rootkit_scandal

Sony got less than a slap on the wrist, and only recalled one in ten of the intentionally infected CDs.

Unfortunately, consumers have a short memory, and Sony music, movies, and Playstation consoles and other tech is considered by many to be "must have," no matter what Sony has done in the past.  Intentionally creating a virus that damages paying customer's computers is really beyond the pale for me, moreso doing so despite a customer declining to install software, and even moreso adding more malware with a supposed uninstaller for the first virus, so it doesn't matter to me how wonderful these VR headsets are if they're from Sony.  If some small developer or website distributed music that did this, they'd be out of business ... in my mind, Sony doesn't deserve to be in business, but unfortunately the short memory of most consumers forgives and forgets a bit too readily.

 

on Mar 23, 2014

LOL, misread the topic name and thought this was something about Vasari Rebels and jumpable Orkulus...again.

on Mar 23, 2014

Timmaigh

LOL, misread the topic name and thought this was something about Vasari Rebels and jumpable Orkulus...again.

 

SONEHSONEHSONEH!

on Mar 23, 2014

Sony is a pretty evil company.  There is a story that back in early 2000 they secretly booby trapped their Playstation 2 consoles with a mechanism that would eventually burn the laser when a Mod Chip was installed.  They were trying to hurt the mod chip business by making the consumers victim of the failures blame it on the modchip makers and installers, all the while it was Sony with their sabotage mechanism.

This was eventually discovered and possibly there was a lawsuit initiated about it, and Sony then removed the "feature" from their console. So this only concerns some models of PS2.

I can understand them trying to protect themselves from piracy but that is a pretty damn shady way to go about it. There is not much information about this but it is discussed a bit here by some console modding veterans.

http://www.assemblergames.com/forums/showthread.php?40463-Time-to-mod-the-ol-PS2!-%28installing-a-mod-chip%29/page2

on Mar 24, 2014

EvilMaxWar

Sony is a pretty evil company.  There is a story that back in early 2000 they secretly booby trapped their Playstation 2 consoles with a mechanism that would eventually burn the laser when a Mod Chip was installed.  They were trying to hurt the mod chip business by making the consumers victim of the failures blame it on the modchip makers and installers, all the while it was Sony with their sabotage mechanism.

 

They can do with their consoles as they please. If I was Sony, I would have done that.

on Mar 25, 2014

Ah, I understand now.  SONY is more predatory than the typical corp-gang.

on Mar 25, 2014

Island Dog

And Facebook just bought Oculus.

http://www.neowin.net/news/facebook-to-acquire-company-behind-oculus-rift-vr-headset-for-2-billion

 

 

I am... not sure how I feel about that.

on Mar 26, 2014

EvilMaxWar


Quoting Island Dog, reply 12
And Facebook just bought Oculus.

http://www.neowin.net/news/facebook-to-acquire-company-behind-oculus-rift-vr-headset-for-2-billion

 

 

I am... not sure how I feel about that.

 

Well, google it and find out!  j/k  I have mixed feelings about it as well.