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Hope they’ll make a non-VR version at some point. Much as I enjoyed previous Half-Life games, I don’t want to buy a VR-rig. They’re obviously hoping that a Half

by mikl 7y ago

Hope they’ll make a non-VR version at some point. Much as I enjoyed previous Half-Life games, I don’t want to buy a VR-rig. They’re obviously hoping that a Half-Life game will be enough to get gamers to adopt VR, but I don’t see a lot of people willing to remodel their living room to make space for a VR setup, at least over here in Europe, where people have fairly small homes in comparison to the U.S.

outworlder 7y ago
How small are we talking about? My PC sits in a very small room, and yet I can use VR. It does not sit in the living room. Size of the room is less of a deal than obstacles. You may have to rearrange some furniture out of the way while you play. I have to move my desk chair out of the way if I'm not playing Elite. Usually you don't move all that much – but stuff has to be out of your arm's way. Most games only require you to be stationary. It's just more immersive if you can move a bit.
cwkoss 7y ago
VRcades will probably become a prevalent kind of retail establishment in the next decade. Two people can game together from geographically separate VRcades.
- mikl 7y ago
  I doubt it. VRcades will have to compete with people being able to play regular video games from their homes. Not only will playing from home be a lot cheaper, it’s also a lot more convenient. Unless VR becomes a lot more compelling, I don’t see a significant chunk of gamers being willing to go down to the local VRcade to do their gaming on a regular basis. And imagine the cost. A VRcade would have to have a lot of space per player, they’d have to be staffed, cleaned, maintained. A good game these days takes at least 40 hours to play through. I’d wager that 40 hours of VRcade time is going to be a lot more than people are willing to pay for a game these days.
  - cwkoss 7y ago
    > A good game these days takes at least 40 hours to play through. I think you are speaking to a very specific segment of the gaming market that will probably not be captured by VR. There are plenty of games (roguelikes, casual, shooters, racing) that have more emphasis on semi-episodic 'rounds' of gameplay vs long form narrative RPGs that would adapt to this model easily.
    - mikl 7y ago
      True, but Half-Life Alyx is not one such game. I do see a niche for simulator-type games, like a driving/flying sims where you get put in a simulation-rig to make it feel like you’re driving/flying. Like the four-player Daytona game that was everywhere, even far into the 90s, that’ll provide some serious added value over just playing at home. But I don’t see the huge appeal for first-person games, since most players don’t actually want the real physical experience of running around on a battlefield, getting shot at. Just half an hour of that would be exhausting to most people. Maybe some hybrid fitness-studio/VR experience would be viable, give people an entertaining experience while grinding away on the stairmaster.
  - Sohcahtoa82 7y ago
    You know VRcades actually exist, right? These aren't theoretical. There are several VR arcades near me in the Portland, OR metro area. And as the other commenter said, people don't play games that have long storylines at them. They aren't playing Skyrim VR. Instead, they're playing games like Beat Saber or racing games. In other words, they play the type of game you'd play in a normal arcade. Games that you can easily enjoy in 3-5 minute sessions. VRcades also aim to be a place to hang out. You pay to rent a VR space for a certain amount of time and can play whatever you want on the headset for that time. There are couches nearby for friends to watch, and they sell food and drinks. It's actually a great model, though I'm not convinced it'll survive, but not because of a failure of VR, but because the whole "arcade" concept has been slowly dying.
    - mikl 7y ago
      Not denying they exist. Just doubting that they’ll be a common, widespread phenomenon. The competition from home gaming systems is hard to overcome.
ihuman 7y ago
This game is also designed to work just sitting or standing in place, not just in larger open spaces. https://half-life.com/en/alyx/vr#setup https://half-life.com/en/alyx/vr#setup
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
Stevvo 7y ago
Strip away the VR part of a VR shooter and there isn't much game left after that, they are pretty much 90s gallery shooters where you stand in place and shoot at the enemies that spawn and come at you. I didn't see any indication in the trailer that this will be anything other than the best iteration on this formula yet.

by mikl 7y ago

outworlder 7y ago

How small are we talking about? My PC sits in a very small room, and yet I can use VR. It does not sit in the living room. Size of the room is less of a deal than obstacles. You may have to rearrange some furniture out of the way while you play. I have to move my desk chair out of the way if I'm not playing Elite. Usually you don't move all that much – but stuff has to be out of your arm's way. Most games only require you to be stationary. It's just more immersive if you can move a bit.

cwkoss 7y ago

VRcades will probably become a prevalent kind of retail establishment in the next decade. Two people can game together from geographically separate VRcades.

mikl 7y ago
I doubt it. VRcades will have to compete with people being able to play regular video games from their homes. Not only will playing from home be a lot cheaper, it’s also a lot more convenient. Unless VR becomes a lot more compelling, I don’t see a significant chunk of gamers being willing to go down to the local VRcade to do their gaming on a regular basis. And imagine the cost. A VRcade would have to have a lot of space per player, they’d have to be staffed, cleaned, maintained. A good game these days takes at least 40 hours to play through. I’d wager that 40 hours of VRcade time is going to be a lot more than people are willing to pay for a game these days.
- cwkoss 7y ago
  > A good game these days takes at least 40 hours to play through. I think you are speaking to a very specific segment of the gaming market that will probably not be captured by VR. There are plenty of games (roguelikes, casual, shooters, racing) that have more emphasis on semi-episodic 'rounds' of gameplay vs long form narrative RPGs that would adapt to this model easily.
  - mikl 7y ago
    True, but Half-Life Alyx is not one such game. I do see a niche for simulator-type games, like a driving/flying sims where you get put in a simulation-rig to make it feel like you’re driving/flying. Like the four-player Daytona game that was everywhere, even far into the 90s, that’ll provide some serious added value over just playing at home. But I don’t see the huge appeal for first-person games, since most players don’t actually want the real physical experience of running around on a battlefield, getting shot at. Just half an hour of that would be exhausting to most people. Maybe some hybrid fitness-studio/VR experience would be viable, give people an entertaining experience while grinding away on the stairmaster.
- Sohcahtoa82 7y ago
  You know VRcades actually exist, right? These aren't theoretical. There are several VR arcades near me in the Portland, OR metro area. And as the other commenter said, people don't play games that have long storylines at them. They aren't playing Skyrim VR. Instead, they're playing games like Beat Saber or racing games. In other words, they play the type of game you'd play in a normal arcade. Games that you can easily enjoy in 3-5 minute sessions. VRcades also aim to be a place to hang out. You pay to rent a VR space for a certain amount of time and can play whatever you want on the headset for that time. There are couches nearby for friends to watch, and they sell food and drinks. It's actually a great model, though I'm not convinced it'll survive, but not because of a failure of VR, but because the whole "arcade" concept has been slowly dying.
  - mikl 7y ago
    Not denying they exist. Just doubting that they’ll be a common, widespread phenomenon. The competition from home gaming systems is hard to overcome.

ihuman 7y ago

This game is also designed to work just sitting or standing in place, not just in larger open spaces. https://half-life.com/en/alyx/vr#setup https://half-life.com/en/alyx/vr#setup

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

Stevvo 7y ago

Strip away the VR part of a VR shooter and there isn't much game left after that, they are pretty much 90s gallery shooters where you stand in place and shoot at the enemies that spawn and come at you. I didn't see any indication in the trailer that this will be anything other than the best iteration on this formula yet.