Whatever happened to virtual reality?

[CarlZog]

Yes, there's a ton of detailed, great first-person games these days, but we're still playing with largely unchanged controllers and video screens.

What happened to virtual reality? Remember... the goggles, the gloves, the platform?

The first time I saw a VR demo at my local mall, I thought, "This is it. This is how we'll be gaming from now on." I figured it would take a little while for the tech to become cheaper, smaller and more manageable, but I had no doubt about the eventual results.

Well, 10-15 years later, and some VR suits are being used by science, medicine, and moviemaking, but not consumer games. What happened? Did the tech not work? Or did we all just prove to be too lazy to physically move around instead of sitting on the couch twiddling our thumbs?

Would you play this way if it was available? Pros? Cons?

Carl

 

[Arnwyn]

People kept getting dizzy, falling over, and throwing up.

 

[Alzrius]

I think a major con is that this would still, if used for home gaming, also result in a cost that was more egregious than most consumers would want to bear; not when the existing way of playing games is still growing ever more incredible all the time.

Another factor is how difficult such games might be to make. While they'd doubtlessly do so if it was the only way of making games for home releases, third-party companies will always prefer to make games that require the lesser amount of work for them to program; that's what made the N64 take such a hit in regards to the PS1, despite the former being a more powerful system.

And finally, there's issues of storage. When you aren't playing these games, you've got a large platform that is dominating your living room, and is a bitch to move around.

 

[Blue_Kryptonite]

And finally, there's issues of storage. When you aren't playing these games, you've got a large platform that is dominating your living room, and is a bitch to move around.

Bowflex, Total Gym, Soloflex... Darn it, I'm running out of conveinent corners of my home for this game platform!

 

[Hand of Evil]

mostly health issues and law suits. Long term effects could not be established and very few game companies wanted to commit funds for reseach, you still have schools, Duke, MIT, working on it and still looking in on it but until FCC rules on it I don't see it happening.

 

[mojo1701]

I'm not holding my breath. I'm waiting for Holo-technology.

"And I would like one hour on the holodeck with Seven of Nine..."