There are various major reasons why you should doubt the potential success of the Oculus and their Rift headset. The first generation effort for this device is rather expensive and the controllers are designed to truly elevate the experience but there are plenty of people who think that the Oculus Rift is nothing more than this year’s 3D TV.
The days are still early for the Oculus Rift and the cost of ownership is also higher than the average Xbox or gaming PC build. The Rift headset was designed by Oculus to fit on your head without resting on your nose.
This is a major deal since Oculus has managed to distribute the weight in such a manner that it doesn’t put too much weight on your face. You can wear this for a long time without feeling fatigued and this translates to more gaming time. Meanwhile, people with prescription glasses are going to feel a little discomfort.
People can wear the Oculus Rift like a baseball cap. If you wear glasses, you have to put them inside the headset first and then you should avoid smudging the lens with your eyelids.
It works fine once the headset has been positioned and people with a narrow face won’t have a problem. However, people who need to wear glasses all the time might find it a bit awkward.
Meanwhile, if you are looking for Virtual Reality, you have two options open at the moment. You can either choose the HTC Vive or you can go for the Oculus Rift. Both these devices were released at the same time and essentially, they do the same thing, offer a great high-end VR experience by a gaming PC. However, the devices have some basic practical and physical differences. It is difficult to say whether one will be a clear winner, considering long term usage.
Oculus Rift is more like a souped up version of the Samsung Gear VR, which further uses Oculus technology. The company built the software for both and they feel similar but the hardware isn’t quite that basic. In both Oculus Rift and Gear VR, you can look up, down, left or right in virtual environments and the experience is somewhat similar.
However, in many Rift games, you can move forward and backwards or side to side. Depending on the title, you can also move up and down, depending upon the title but it doesn’t really make much of a difference.
The closest comparison is the HTC Vive in Standing Mode but without the controllers. A major concern in the old VR systems was the feeling of nausea during gameplay and this often resulted due to something called correction. What your eyes and see and your body feels isn’t the same and as a result, the brain tries to compensate.
With its impressive head tracking and 90fps visuals, Oculus manages to eliminate all of that but in case something happens in the game which your body thinks is different from reality, you will experience nausea. You will find that this frequently occurs in racing games. Oculus Rift is extremely portable.
The packaging is quite minimal wherein you have an Oculus Rift headset, an IR Sensor and an Xbox Controller tucked away and assorted in a neat manner. The complete package is not bigger than an average briefcase. Everything is powered by the PC, so the Rift doesn’t have any external power requirements.
However, this isn’t ample reason for you to immediately invest on a VR-ready Laptop or anything. However, in case you are away from home, there are surely worse ways to entertain yourself, so VR away.