David-D--NelsonA day late perhaps, but the show must go on.
When I learned about Sony's new Morpheus VR initiative my first thoughts were that it would be pretty cool to test out, could be great for immersive games like Fallout and Elder Scrolls, but there's about a zero chance I'd ever buy one.
For one thing it's going to be expensive, for another it may not sit well with my general constitution. I know 3D gets to me after awhile and even prolonged exposure to awesome graphics can give me headaches so there's no telling what this fantastical new fangled gadget would do after three or four hours of gaming.
That's all fine with me though, even if it makes a pretty big splash I'm fairly certain where this is going and what the ultimate purpose of it is.
Some might consider the Playstation Move and subsequent push for 3D gaming to ultimately be failures. We aren't supplanting our buttons with twitches and the 3D TV craze is pretty well over with. Was all that effort a waste? I don't think so, and the Morpheus tech is falling into the same trend as these former initiatives and so I thought it worth addressing.
The way I see it is that once again people are talking about something new, something of the future , and they are getting excited about it. As most know it actually started with the buzz surrounding the Oculus Rift VR headset, which has its own storied history. I think it was smart of Sony to seize on this for the simple reason that they need to continue to present to the world the face of a company that is forward-looking.
It's nice for people of the current techological age (see: people younger than myself) to have their social functions all in the system, and to be able to interact with voice and camera cues, but there needs to be something special showing up at all of the conventions and tech shows for the PS4 and other Sony electronics. In the wake of revelations that Xbox One won't be catching up to PS4 on its own there is renewed interest in what cloud computing will be able to do for the Xbox One experience. That's great but “cloud computing” is a nebulous concept for most. Virtual Reality is not. Virtual Reality is something geeks have dreamed of since they could make films.
It almost doesn't matter that it will be too expensive for most gamers, that it will likely only work with specific titles, that it could make you ill, or that it may ultimately wind up under the heading “peripheral experiment.” What matters is that Sony has a cutting edge piece of tech on the horizon that gamers don't just dream about but can put on their head and experience. It's something that's going to get E3 time and attention.
So long as Sony holds something amazing and tangible at arms length, the masses will keep coming back for more. I think in that sense Morpheus serves its purpose already.
I don't really care for VR. I'd rather get a new top-of-the-line 1080P TV.
the success of this thing, like all new technology, really depends on the launch price and any software. without these itll flop like a big old salmon. I'm personally hoping that it is a huge success because it sounds so cool!
3D was a gimmick and VR is the Real step in the next immersion.I heard from many sources that this is not bad for the eyes like 3d is.
Imagine Metal Gear and Final Fantasy and Yakuza Series in Virtual Reality.
It's a very good point you raise here David, and I kinda agree with the sentiment. It serves a purpose no matter what the outcome of this 3D fab is.
However, unlike Move who really now in hindsight we must be allowed to admit looked just plain stupid and felt like Sony came late to the party and had to throw together something, this time around their headgear *looks* great (looks matter!) and if they now make something that performs at least as good as Oculus Rift, well then I think we got something going here. Cause there's so incredibly much momentum around 3D these years with the 3D cinemas, 3D TV sets and 3D gaming that now finally, surely the time must be right to get 3D into the everyday life.
Morpheus + Move + Star Wars Game = Greatness
May the force be with you Sony.
But I can't see anything with this visor on!
*trust in the force, Luke*
mm man, this Morpheus thing sucks!
its not going to be expensive at all, rumors place it around $300, name one 1080P OLED TV you can get for 300 bucks!
ok its pretty close to the price of the ps4, but ITS A FREAKING DISPLAY of course its expensive!
OLED sets, ok there much larger but still, are going in stores for around 10K ATM!
and they dont give you the whole field of view im in the world experience VR does.
VR at $300 bucks, hell even $450, is the bargain of the century!
and thats exactly why i really hope $ony and all VR manufactures bump up their tech to UHD, 2560×1600 displays will take the experience even further.
more expensive obviously, but it will make the experience that much better so it will totally be worth it.
hardest thing about this from a sales perspective is its one of those things you have to experience for yourself.
you cant watch someone else do it, you cant watch a video, you HAVE to put on the device yourself.
so i really hope $ony is willing to do that, grab a bunch of units, grab a bus, and put people in it.
your not going to sell this by putting it at industry exclusive events.
you have to go to the people and drag them into it, force it onto their head, and once you do you will have to force it off as they wont want to leave.
ive had allot of skeptics of VR, but as soon as they pop on my rift dev kit their sold, and thats the crappy sub HD dev kit i cant wait to see what the reactions are going to be like with the new 1080P OLED DK2.
beauty of VR though, as $ony was saying at the event, it can be used for anything.
its not only for games, it can be used as a educational tool, it can take us into space to visit planets that would otherwise be impossible.
medical, mechanical, space exploration, the possibilities are endless!
VR is FINALLY here, and its here to stay!
now i just hope $ony and co dont cheap out and will offer a UHD 2560×1600 OLED display that way the screen door effect should not be a problem.
especially with OLED displays, being pentile displays it makes things worse.
i was really surprised to see the newer OLED displays had much more screen door effect than what the LCD display of last year had.
exactly why they need to bump up the resolution to UHD, anything lower, especially with a OLED display, your going to be blowing chunks left, right and centre!
Pretty much agree with David, it'll be a niche market thing but it will probably create a lot of media buzz, which is always a good thing.
I'm not saying I'd never buy one of these things, but let me put it this way: I was pretty excited about the Occulus Rift and thoughts of playing The Elder Scrolls completely immersed in the experience, but that was like a year ago. That excitement has faded and I've started to think about how much it costs vs. how much I'd use it vs. spending that money on my other hobbies and interests. If I do get one, it will be quite a while from now.
This combined with Gran Turismo means i'd never wanna stop flipping cars.
Last edited by Temjin001 on 4/7/2014 10:33:41 AM
lol, it'll be a pricey flip!
I'm really interested in this tech. Hopefully it doesn get half baked like other Sony peripherals.
The reason why Morpheus is important boils down to a much simpler factor:
Now that Oculus is owned by Facebook, the Morpheus will be the only headset on the market concurrently that doesn't bombard you with ads to play Farmville and every other garbage Facebook game known to man.
Taking that into account, Morpheus wins by default on all other points of consideration if you are genuinely interested in getting a VR headset in the future, as I am.
Last edited by JROD0823 on 4/7/2014 2:11:57 PM
There's no reason to think that will be the consequence of the Facebook purchase, though.
Look at what Facebook did with Insagram after they purchased that service… Yeah. Not much. And definitely not bombarded the users with ads.
yeah i think u nailed it right on the head and i think it will definately be only for specific games like u said
happy gaming =)