VR once again being a fad for maybe a couple of years like it was the first time round, it'll have some good uses but as an optional gaming peripheral the cost versus novelty factor could well kill it in the end
I dunno, there's some pretty big differences from this and previous attempts at VR. Among other things, the use of
headtracking makes it feel far more real, helps achieve "presence" far better than the 3D effect alone ever could. TVs and monitors and 3DS already have 3D, and pretty much nobody cares, because it doesn't make you feel like you're there. It looks cool, but that's about it. Headtracking, on the other hand, allows for actual gameplay innovations that were literally impossible before. It might not seem it, but the ability to face one way and look another is quite game-changing. The ability to glance in a rear-view mirror or turn all the way around to see the road behind you in a racing game makes it feel genuine. The simple fact that your display effectively surrounds you is a huge difference; you get features such as peripheral vision, to an extent that even a tri-monitor setup on PC couldn't achieve.
Perhaps more importantly, research is actually being done this time into how to design the games themselves for VR. Look at past VR attempts. We got games like
Virtual Boy Wario Land. Sure, it was a good game. But it was inherently not a VR game, and aside from a semi-nifty 3D effect, was mostly detracted from because of being on a VR platform. Today you've got games like
EVE: Valkyrie, which can't even be done properly without VR. This is the sort of experience most devs are aiming for. Nobody wants a repeat of the '90s here.
The thing is, the only games that will ever be great on any VR platform are games designed from the ground up specifically for VR. These games, by their very nature, don't just take advantage of the tech, but flat out require it. At that point, devices such as the Oculus Rift stop being optional peripherals, and start being mandatory, at least if you're interested in the games themselves.
But if you must look at it as a peripheral, compare it to
Guitar Hero and
Rock Band. Those games have peripherals that are only usable with that single genre, cost a TON, and still sell quite well. Oculus Rift is not going to cost more than a full
Rock Band bundle, and will have a much wider variety of potential uses, and by extension, a much wider potential audience.
Sure, it won't be for everyone. Some people won't like it, and others won't care. But there's no way it'll be a passing fad, any more than polygonal 3D rendering was in the '90s.
As an aside, I doubt the consumer version will cost $350. That's the price of the current devkit, which includes a built-in latency tester that consumers will not need (easily chop off $25 minimum by removing it), and doesn't yet have the benefit of Facebook's cheaper manufacturing and lower required profit margin to further bump the price down. I fully expect the consumer version to release for no more than $275 USD.
