Did anyone get VR for Christmas?

I have the Playstation VR but have been waiting until Resident Evil 7 to try it out. It's less than two weeks away and I can't wait to try it out. I'm especially interested to test it since I wear glasses - I hope it's not going to be a pain to wear.

 

Ok, so the initial reaction to the PS VR is good news, bad news:

The good news:

• Comfort: I was worried about how the headset would feel as someone who wears glasses. No worries here. once you make all the adjustments, the headset was very comfortable. Although, there was a slight light leak at the bottom but figure that can be adjusted.
• Use: I was totally blown away by how immersive the tech is. I played RE7 and felt completely within the environment walking through the woods and up to the house.

The bad news: Sim sickness - As I was investigating the environment, like an idiot, I was moving my head around because it "seemed" like I was actually there. Rookie mistake. I hadn't known about keeping your head straight and using the thumb sticks to move. Next time, I'll try ginger mints (got some from Trader Joe's) and chewing gum to see if that alleviates the nausea.

Overall, though I was really impressed by the VR. I need to build up my tolerance . . .hopefully, I'm not one of those who are not able to get past it.

 

I'm seriously thinking of getting one, but I want to justify the cost first. Do you normally get motion sickness or is this the first time you've experienced it. Also, when you play do you sit still and use the controller or use those motion wands?

 

That's the thing - I've never had motion sickness (car/sea). I've never even experienced issues with 3D (red/cyan and polarized). I don't think there is anyway to tell beforehand but would be quite helpful to know you're susceptible if you're going to dish out that kind of money for VR.

So far, it seems devs aren't forcing the use of the motion controllers. The four or five VR games I have, all but one still use the DS controller. Batman VR looks to be the only one to require the motion controllers. I tried to use the motion controller for RE7 but the game won't allow anything but the DS controller.

The first time, I was sitting down but moving my head a lot which may probably don't matter since I kept my head straight the second time but still experienced the nausea. I read that chewing gum might prevent the nausea but no luck for me. Next, I'll try increasing daily exposure while eating ginger mints beforehand for a week, then Dramamine if that doesn't work.

 

Thanks for the reply Lothos. I don't get motion sickness. I was the one amused when people like my wife would be barfing over the side of the boat while I was happily drinking a beer. I know I will probably get one, it's just a matter of when I decide to splurge on one.

 

Well, I decided to splurge and get the VR for the PS4. I purchased the combo pack. It has the VR headset, 2 motion controllers, the camera, and a game called Worlds. It was $499 (plus tax). It was more than the PS4 Pro

I also downloaded Resident Evil Biohazard last night and from the reviews I read it seemed like playing it in VR was the way to go and that was a major driving force for me to splurge.

I will give a review after I've tried it. I hope I don't get nauseous.

 

You vanished for a while. Vacation?

 

After a couple of days of using the PS4 VR, I highly recommend buying one if you’re thinking of getting it. It has elevated gaming for me. Friday I spent hours on it as I was having a great time playing in my virtual gaming world. I was a lucky one I guess because I have felt no motion sickness or nausea, and as I said I played hours on it. It wasn’t continuous but enough at a time to know the VR doesn’t mess me up physically. I even drank a few beers while I played and not once did I feel I had to slow down.

I was a little worried about using VR because I wear glasses that have progressive lenses. After a couple of minutes I didn’t notice. Just like I must do now I have to turn my head to look at something to keep everything in focus and with the VR headset I do the same thing. If I dart my eyes things get a little blurry but that’s not because of the headset. It’s because of my glasses. Anybody that wears glasses like mine would know what I’m talking about.

It’s like you are part of the game instead of an outsider looking in. I’ve only played RE Biohazard (optimized for VR), the free VR playhouse games I downloaded, and Doom 2016 (not optimized for VR). I know that’s not a large pool of games, but I know this is the way I will game from now on as I’m sure as more titles come out (I hope) for VR the more it will be worth the money.

It’s amazing to look around naturally and interact as you would IRL. It is neat to lean into something to get a better look. When I interact with something they’re inches away from me. During playing RE Biohazard I would physically lean forward at someone who was talking to me and I felt as if I could kiss them. While hiding, I would lean to look around corners as I would do in real life. Cool.

When you put the VR headset and the headphones on it removes you from the outside world. I’ve been playing exclusively with headphones for a few months because I now live in an apartment and I didn’t want to bother my neighbors with the gaming sounds. Usually I can’t play games during the day because it’s too bright in the room and I can’t see well enough to play games unless they’re bright games and even then, it usually isn’t worth it. During Winter, it’s not too bad because it got dark early enough but with the days getting longer it was cutting into my game playing time. Now, I don’t have to worry about that. There is some light leakage but once the screen came on I didn’t notice it.

I played Doom and it felt as if I was playing in a movie theater. The Pro/Con of playing console games for me is playing on a TV. It is great being able to relax on my couch playing a game but with the TV a few feet away I always felt like I couldn’t “get into” the game like a could with the monitors inches away from my eyes. This headset removes the distance and puts you right up front. I loved that.

Not everything is perfect, obviously. The resolution isn’t as good as it is on a HDTV. The box says it’s 1080P but it has a slight “screen door” look. I don’t really notice when I’m playing a game; especially the ones geared for VR because there is so much else going on. I played a Blu Ray movie and I don’t think I will watch many movies with the VR. Don’t’ get me wrong, it wasn’t bad, but watching it on the TV was a better view. I also connected my laptop to it and it had the same deal. Decent picture, but not as good as if I connected the laptop (through HDMI) directly to the TV. I’m not a big fan of having the cables cross the floor while I’m using the system and then having to put them away. It’s a minor annoyance and since I live by myself now I only have me to worry about.

My only hope is the VR thing takes off. I have been burned throughout the years getting the “best” technology and then the technology dies off (Betamax, 3D TV, among lots of other things). It’s an expensive accessory for a console platform, but IMHO, worth it if you can swing the money.