Nintendo: VR isn't quite there yet

[Gahars]

Come on, Nintendo, that's never stopped you before!

Really, it depends on what you mean by "VR" and "there." Yeah, we're still pretty far behind on that whole holodeck thing, but the Oculus Rift as it stands is a pretty spectacular device. I'm also excited for Sony's Project Morpheus whether or not it all pans out; even if it's a dud, the presence of competition on the market will only help spur things along.

VR doesn't necessarily need to hit it big with the masses; a dedicated niche could be enough. Maybe now's not the time for every company to drop what they're doing and cobble together a VR headset, but it'd be nice if we get there sooner rather than later.

 

[Psionic Roshambo]

Come on, Nintendo, that's never stopped you before!

Really, it depends on what you mean by "VR" and "there." Yeah, we're still pretty far behind on that whole holodeck thing, but the Oculus Rift as it stands is a pretty spectacular device. I'm also excited for Sony's Project Morpheus whether or not it all pans out; even if it's a dud, the presence of competition on the market will only help spur things along.

VR doesn't necessarily need to hit it big with the masses; a dedicated niche could be enough. Maybe now's not the time for every company to drop what they're doing and cobble together a VR headset, but it'd be nice if we get there sooner rather than later.

True enough.

That being said I would like to see some remade games for it, King's Field 1 and 2 from the PS1, maybe Doom II... Resident Evil might give people some heart attacks? lol

As far as new games go, I would like to see a Gran Turismo where you can look around while you drive, also even though I joked about it a good RE game made for it would be awesome, maybe RE 4? I know I know it's been remade like 30 times but it is still pretty damned good... lol

I am sure as soon as I hit post I will think of a few more games but those would be pretty cool with head tracking in a first person perspective.

 

[PolloDiablo]

gimmick... remember that word you guys used so often? ;O;

 

[DiscostewSM]

Introducing the Nintendodeck!

 

[laudern]

In a Gamespot interview with Reggie Fils-Aime, Fils-Aime felt that virtual reality technology isn't quite there yet.

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Hey Nintendo! Is online gaming "there yet"?

 

[Bladexdsl]

nintendos device when it's ready who needs gimmicky glasses ?

 

[KingVamp]

I see a grim future for Ninty...

Virtual Boy 2?

To be honest, I just prefer to pick up the controller, look at the TV screen and play. That's all I want, no VR stuff.

Even if VR would be better? If VR hits off, it might replace TVs.

I don't see much use for VR on nintendo consoles anyway.

Why not? Surely you want to see games like Zelda, Metroid and Starfox in VR.

I'm still hoping an idea like MS' Illumiroom will become commercially available in the near future. I mean, VR is good and all, but what about a device that expands the game resolution outside of the TV and map it to the entire room?

Surprise we haven't heard anymore of that.
It would seems you would need a room with light () to no stuff in the way. Also finding a place for the projector. At least with VR you wouldn't have to worry about the stuff in your room.

 

[ChaosBoi]

Last I checked, the reason why we haven't heard much was because the projectors needed for the whole idea to work was too expensive to commercially manufacture. Or something like that.

 

[Taleweaver]

Even if VR would be better? If VR hits off, it might replace TVs.

Not a chance. You can watch television with the entire family, whereas VR is a solitary experience. And local co-op is also pretty strong in console gaming. So even if everything would be perfect, it will never replace a television. Well...not in the current state (it may be different if the device becomes so cheap people will buy many of them...kind of like with controllers...but that'll be even further away in the future).

 

[KingVamp]

Not a chance. You can watch television with the entire family, whereas VR is a solitary experience. And local co-op is also pretty strong in console gaming. So even if everything would be perfect, it will never replace a television. Well...not in the current state (it may be different if the device becomes so cheap people will buy many of them...kind of like with controllers...but that'll be even further away in the future).

Buying multiple of them is what I meant. It's not like people don't have multiple TVs.
The dev kit is only $350.00.

 

[Taleweaver]

I stand corrected. Had no idea it was that cheap already.

 

[chartube12]

It is funny how Mr. M the other day tried the Rift at E3 and liked it. Said he could see several uses for it. He also hoped the nintendo legal team wouldn't sue anyone to hell for trying to hack their systems to make fun india rift games and experiments with it. Now this other Nintendo guy comes along and denies VR has possible current use.

 

[KingVamp]

It is funny how Mr. M the other day tried the Rift at E3 and liked it. Said he could see several uses for it. He also hoped the nintendo legal team wouldn't sue anyone to hell for trying to hack their systems to make fun india rift games and experiments with it. Now this other Nintendo guy comes along and denies VR has possible current use.

Well, they are two different people, but all he said was that it isn't ready yet, not that there aren't any current uses.

 

[grossaffe]

I would like to see the full context of the conversation that lead to that quote.

 

[orcid]

These VR devices doesn't fit to Nintendo at all. There share of the gaming market are kids, families and old guys like me who enjoy there style of games. At the moment VR fits more for the people who play e.g. online fps or the kind of pc gamer who plays alone in front of his pc monitor and enjoys spending money for the newest hardware.

 

[Mario92]

VR requires more horsepower from machine to have really good feel and only works with certain kind of games, mainly first person games. How many first person games does Nintendo have?

Playstation 3 with cheap bad 3D TVs with super bad, laggy and flickering image and 3DS with 3D image breaking from the slightest movement already ruined stereoscopic 3D almost entirely. With PC it's either buy $40 software or $100 extra hardware to play in 3D if game doesn't have it build in. ugh...
Still loved playing Mirror's edge with trial and Trine 2 and Sonic Generations have build in 3D - 1080p with no lag.

I would love to see consoles managing 3D image before hopping into VR train. Every single PS3 3D title is next to unplayable in 3D mode.

 

[ploggy]

If Nintendo did VR:

 

[AbyssalMonkey]

These VR devices doesn't fit to Nintendo at all. There share of the gaming market are kids, families and old guys like me who enjoy there style of games. At the moment VR fits more for the people who play e.g. online fps or the kind of pc gamer who plays alone in front of his pc monitor and enjoys spending money for the newest hardware.

Are you saying face mounted dual eye screens isn't in Nintendo's MO? This is from the people who made the DS with two screens, one of which is a resistive touch screen, a 3DS with a 3d screen, and motion controls with the Wii. They could probably do some really fun stuff with it. Who the market audience is doesn't matter, Nintendo could probably sell anything as long as they put the right software behind it. Oculus on the Wii would be amazing, real first person snowboarding is the first thing that comes to my mind, and I've never really played too much with the Wii. Oh, first person shooters would work just fine with motion controls, they just need to get rid of that magnetic bar and add a gyroscope to the headset to track where your face is looking.

VR not fit with Nintendo? Don't make me laugh. It's practically begging for them to do something really neat with it and garner support.

EDIT: I just thought of the hilarious idea taping a DS to someones head and calling it VR. It would allow you to stick a toothpick into someones eye and control it.

 

[orcid]

Are you saying face mounted dual eye screens isn't in Nintendo's MO? This is from the people who made the DS with two screens, one of which is a resistive touch screen, a 3DS with a 3d screen, and motion controls with the Wii. They could probably do some really fun stuff with it. Who the market audience is doesn't matter, Nintendo could probably sell anything as long as they put the right software behind it. Oculus on the Wii would be amazing, real first person snowboarding is the first thing that comes to my mind, and I've never really played too much with the Wii. Oh, first person shooters would work just fine with motion controls, they just need to get rid of that magnetic bar and add a gyroscope to the headset to track where your face is looking.

VR not fit with Nintendo? Don't make me laugh. It's practically begging for them to do something really neat with it and garner support.

I didn't say that they can't make great games for a VR device. These devices just don't fit to their stategy and major audience. And yes: this matters. It would be crazy starting a direct fight against Sony, Microsoft (and the PC).
Also at the moment the devices are too expensive selling them as an peripherial for a console. They would need to be in the price range of a balance board or a secound controller for a huge success. Another possibility would be releasing the next console together with VR like the Wii with motion controls and the Wii U with the gamepad. But I don't think the prices of VR devices will drop so drastically in the next years that this console could have reasonable price tag. Also Nintendo would have to give up their biggest strength: the local multiplayer.
A more realistic possibility is the development of a VR "handheld". This makes more sense. The problem is that it's far too early for such a device and it would be more a niche product, that couldn't compete against normal handhelds.

 

[CathyRina]

Why not? Surely you want to see games like Zelda, Metroid and Starfox in VR.

FPS Zelda will play like shit. Zelda games are 3rd person for a good reason.

The only 2 franchises that would benefit from VR are Starfox and Metroid.
Now let's see how frequent we see those getting a sequel... Oh right they rarely get a sequel.