After four years of hype, the Oculus Rift was finally released a few days ago. The early reaction has been mixed so far, with reviewers saying that the VR machine is pricey ($599 at retail, and that's without mentioning that the Rift has to be used in conjunction with a fairly powerful gaming PC), and lacks much in the way of heavy hitting games at launch. The visuals themselves are generally being praised, though.

Is anybody planning on buying a Rift anytime soon? Also, does anybody think that this is going to mark the beginning of some type of VR revolution in gaming going forward? Will kids in the 2020's all be playing video games on headsets and see traditional consoles as a "dinosaur medium", or will all of this eventually fade out like the previous VR fad did in the mid '90s? Even if VR gaming did wind up overtaking old-school, television-based consoles, I can't see it happening any sooner than 5-10 years down the line.

It's just a fad.  Why spend hundreds of dollars on Virtual Reality, when actual reality is free

It's just a fad.  Why spend hundreds of dollars on Virtual Reality, when actual reality is free


Yes, but virtual reality is digital.

After four years of hype, the Oculus Rift was finally released a few days ago. The early reaction has been mixed so far, with reviewers saying that the VR machine is pricey ($599 at retail, and that's without mentioning that the Rift has to be used in conjunction with a fairly powerful gaming PC), and lacks much in the way of heavy hitting games at launch. The visuals themselves are generally being praised, though.

Is anybody planning on buying a Rift anytime soon? Also, does anybody think that this is going to mark the beginning of some type of VR revolution in gaming going forward? Will kids in the 2020's all be playing video games on headsets and see traditional consoles as a "dinosaur medium", or will all of this eventually fade out like the previous VR fad did in the mid '90s? Even if VR gaming did wind up overtaking old-school, television-based consoles, I can't see it happening any sooner than 5-10 years down the line.


I have no idea if Oculus Rift becomes very big an popular, but at the moment it seems to be an upcoming trend. Oculus Rift, Hololens, and Project Morpheus seem to be the latest cool things at the moment. The cost of them is crazy, but maybe by the time we reach 2020 they end up getting cheaper. If VR becomes the next big and popular thing in gaming then I'm not sure what'll happen to the traditional form of video gaming. Maybe they'd maybe they'd co-exist or maybe traditional gaming will fade away. And all this is assuming that VR isn't just some fad that'll only be cool for a few years before fading way. I'm not planning on getting the Rift due to its pricing and I'm not interested in VR at the moment. But I assume kids who're new to gaming will be interest in VR as it may be one of their first experiences in gaming (assuming that VR is safe for small children). I don't see VR being huge in the '10s as this decade is mainly ruled by the 8th gen consoles and PCs, but maybe the '20s.

Yes, but virtual reality is digital.


So was the Casio watch I had back in the 80s :P

I've had a $200 virtual reality headset for a year now. You can even find some for $50. VR is cheap.