Will Virtual Reality take off?

The gaming industry definitely thinks that virtual reality is going to be the next major wave for gamers. We've seen evidence of this for a while now with companies like Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, Google, HTC and Valve all trying to get themselves in the mix. Virtual reality devices come in all different forms and price ranges which is great because it is open to all consumers that way. For example, someone who just wants to check it out and casually play in virtual reality can buy the Google Cardboard which has a price range of 15-30 dollars which is very affordable. 

On the other hand if you are the person who wants a powerful gaming experience that sets you inside your favorite games you may look into Project Morpheus set to release at $399 for the Playstation 4 or maybe you want the HTC Vive or Oculus Rift that sit at around 799 and 599 respectively. This may seem pricey but as I mentioned above these devices are for the hardcore VR player not your every day consumer. 

So do I think it will launch? I think it has amazing potential, especially with the support of major companies like the ones listed above! That said it will depend on a handful of things, the first of which is price. I know I mentioned that these powerful VR devices are for the hardcore consumer but if a company wants to see something launch it has to have mass appeal and it has to e available to the majority of the market. With a Price of 399-799 for the headsets alone, this will not happen. The average household finds it difficult to purchase games that cost 60 dollars these days so if they have to pay 1000 plus dollars for a PC and then buy a $599 dollar headset it will never get inside a home. 

This is where companies like Sony and Microsoft may come in handy, if they can develop gaming consoles and PC's then bundle them with a VR headset at a reasonable price we could see some real growth in the virtual reality markets. Also, I can see these things being great things to put on sale in the holiday seasons to get them to really launch. 

Of course, Price isn't everything we need to get the type of games that the consumer wants with these devices as well. If E3 2016 is any indication this shouldn't be a problem though with games like Resident Evil 7, Batman Arkham VR, Fallout 4 and Doom all set to release for VR devices we definitely have things to be excited about. 

To sum things up here, the prices are much to high for virtual reality to snowball into mainstream gaming right now but the future is super bright. With a little more development and some good business decisions I really do feel like Virtual Reality is here to stay and I couldn't be more excited. 

Have a great day and please let me know what you think about the potential of virtual reality!

Check out some of these products at these webpages:

https://www.htcvive.com/ca/

https://googlecardboardcanada.ca/?gclid=CM2I44Pcu80CFQEJaQodv1kFjw

https://www.oculus.com/en-us/

https://www.playstation.com/en-us/explore/playstation-vr/

https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-hololens/en-us

Thoughts on Xbox One Project Scorpio

  

By now you have definitely heard about Project Scorpio from Xbox's E3 Press Conference, before we get into my opinion lets review the hardware. Project Scorpio will have an 8 core CPU, 6 Teraflop GPU, 4K video output, VR compatibility and all games accessories from previous Xbox One hardware will work on Project Scorpio. So there is no doubt about it this is a pretty powerful piece of equipment. 

With that out of the way I wanted to throw out my thoughts on the new box. While watching the event the first thing I noticed is that the design for Project Scorpio is made of opinions from game developers. This is exciting because if you are making a console based on developer recommendations that means they probably have some game contracts in the works already. That is beneficial for Xbox players because we won't have to worry about good content. 

The elephant in the room is VR capability which in my opinion is the reason this machine has such powerful hardware. VR is very early in development and for that reason I haven't really formed an opinion about it other then the fact that I think the technology is super innovative and if done right will be amazing. I would love to be able to put on my VR headset and be inside the Master Chief Armor or sitting in the drivers seat of my favorite car in Forza. I guess all i'm saying is he potential is there but I need to see it develop a little further,

It's not all upside though as I see a couple of potential problems that could arise. First of all is the price as a quick reference point I looked up the price of an Oculus Rift as they had someone playing Minecraft using it on stage and it currently sells for $599 which is already more then I payed for my Xbox One within the first month of its release. Add the actual price of the Project Scorpio which in my mind can't be cheap because it has such powerful specs and we will see issues for the everyday consumer to purchase the equipment. 

Secondly, I know I mentioned earlier how we wouldn't have to worry about content but when it comes to VR what will we actually get? I want to be playing AAA VR games not random games made for the VR gear, I back to the Kinect and I shiver because of its terrible games lineup, hopefully they choose a much different direction for VR.

All of this to say I am very excited about the announcement of Project Scorpio and I really hope it will be affordable for everyone and come with a super awesome line-up of VR games! Hope you enjoyed the blog and I would love to know your thoughts! 

Have a great day!