I suspect you may not have played many of the recent adventure maps, or played Minecraft for extended periods of time. It has been incredibly successful - despi

I suspect you may not have played many of the recent adventure maps, or played Minecraft for extended periods of time. It has been incredibly successful - despite the blocks, which you just accept after a while - at inducing a suspension of disbelief. I agree, VR is about the perception of being "in" a space, and the interactivity and mutability of the space provided by Minecraft is better[1] than basically everything that came before it. This interactivity engages (and distracts) the player's attention, and because our focus is limited[2], stuff like "graphics quality" can become less important. Better tech can help, of course, but no matter how good the graphics and sound are, finding that you can't open a door because it was only part of the "painted on" scenery can rip you out of the illusion. This problem of having an environment that "reacts properly" is exactly what Minecraft tries to solve.[3] Also, I fully agree sound is very important, and watching people freak out HARD (in ways similar to the way some people freak out when using the Oculus) simply hearing a subtle sound effect. The "creeper" in Minecraft is well known for this effect. [1] "better" is subjective, of course, and Oculus is very good at what it does. It's too bad about the facebook acuisition, because Notch obvious recognized the power that Minecraft with Oculus would probably have. [2] Simple demo of what I mean ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKCT-simmBo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKCT-simmBo ), and a better explanation by Apollo Robins regarding how it is exploitable ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0k2gja3ym4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0k2gja3ym4 ). [3] The "blocks" are part of the way Minecraft tries to solve interactivity. Violating your expectations breaks even the best illusion, and it's easier to believe you're in a strange cube world because it simplifies the the problem of making the environment self-consistent.