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Would you pay a premium for VR games?

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CrystalCove

The big gaming buzz at the moment – aside form the new consoles and steam Machines – is virtual reality, most of which is generated by Rift VR’s Oculus Rift. The latest version of the virtual reality headset, Crystal cove, won best of show at CES this year. Applications of VR are wide and varied – but the most obvious application is for gaming. Only those games might cost a little more.

Speaking to, Gamesindustry International Oculus CEO Brendan Iribe said that he’d not be at all surprised to see virtual Reality games commanding a premium price.

“It’s going to be up to the developers,” Iribe said. “There will be some who make casual, simpler experiences–maybe bite-sized. There are going to be indie developers that make bigger experiences. And there are going to be bigger teams that make really big experiences. … And some that we’ve seen early prototypes of… Well, we’ve seen some that, boy, would I pay a lot to get that experience in virtual reality.”

It really makes sense. In a traditional game , you’ll find a wealth of objects and items in a game that have no weight or physics to them, but that sort of thing would destroy the illusion that virtual reality is trying to create.

Oculus VR director of developer relations Aaron Davies  agrees, saying that the experiences offered by VR are deeper than what you might find in regular games.

“In VR, suddenly objects have value–and scale and size and depth and I think there will be opportunities for developers to monetize them,” Davies said.

Premium pricing is always a risk, and developers had better make sure their games are actually worth that premium if they’re going to charge extra.

“They’d better deliver if they’re going to charge more than $50 or $60 for a game,” said Iribe.

Using a few 3rd party tools and apps, you can already get a number of regular old games to work with the rift, but that extra immersion when everything behaves like real life would be quite incredible.

Last Updated: January 14, 2014

44 Comments

  1. Admiral Chief in Vegas

    January 14, 2014 at 10:33

    ummm

    Reply

  2. Brian Murphy

    January 14, 2014 at 10:35

    If I have to buy the hardware, absolutely not. If they’re going to offer the VR headsets for free, on a subscription base, sure.

    Reply

  3. Umar digs KOS-MOS

    January 14, 2014 at 10:38

    I don’t know. I wouldn’t even buy a Kinect game for premium price. Fighter Within is already 40 Euros (almost R600) and it’s garbage. I don’t know if VR games could do any better than Motion games mainly because I don’t think big developers will make any sort of effort to produce a decent VR game

    Reply

  4. Alien Emperor Trevor

    January 14, 2014 at 10:42

    OH HELL NO. I don’t even want to see 3D movies.

    Reply

    • TiMsTeR1033

      January 14, 2014 at 10:56

      3D is cool if done right, which it sadly isnt most of the time

      Reply

      • Skyblue

        January 14, 2014 at 10:59

        Motorstorm Apocalypse 3D on PS3 and Crysis 3 on PC are the only games I would recommend for 3D so far.

        Reply

        • TiMsTeR1033

          January 14, 2014 at 11:02

          never played a 3d game.. any good?

          Reply

          • Skyblue

            January 14, 2014 at 11:06

            When they’re built from the ground up for 3D, they’re good. Motorstorm is just amazing in 3D, great game to show what 3D gaming should be like but Gran Tourismo was kak (shitty frame rates)
            Crysis 3 is very immersive in 3D with blades of grass and stuff obscuring your view. Makes you feel like a cyber ninja, which… was prob their intention.

          • TiMsTeR1033

            January 14, 2014 at 11:07

            hmmm I shall look into this in future!

      • Alien Emperor Trevor

        January 14, 2014 at 11:01

        So I have to sit through a couple of hours of an overly dark movie & get a headache so I can see a cool 3D effect for 5 seconds. No thanks.

        Reply

        • TiMsTeR1033

          January 14, 2014 at 11:03

          Movies Kiddie movies 3D is far better than what we get in action movies.

          Reply

        • Anon A Mouse

          January 14, 2014 at 11:07

          I’ve never had the headache problem but I really don’t get the supposedly WOW factor that 3d is supposed to give. I’ve also recently noticed that some movies actually put in extra scenes just for the 3d effect without it contributing anything else to the movie.

          Reply

          • Skyblue

            January 14, 2014 at 11:09

            Yeah, here’s looking at you Resident Evil.

          • Alien Emperor Trevor

            January 14, 2014 at 11:11

            It always gives me eye strain, which usually leads to a headache. Which is weird considering I can happily spend all day staring at a PC screen & feel no effect.

            That SK 3D advert with the snakes, balloons, etc that Rince loves so much has better 3D effects than most movies.

        • RinceThis2014

          January 14, 2014 at 11:16

          Did you say something?

          Reply

          • Alien Emperor Trevor

            January 14, 2014 at 11:17

            Yes, but only to the humans.

          • RinceThis2014

            January 14, 2014 at 11:19

            Hey, I am no Banana Jim!

          • Alien Emperor Trevor

            January 14, 2014 at 11:22

            Of course not, your colouration isn’t yellow, it’s much much worse ;P

            Funnily enough I wasn’t even complaining about that movie specifically, just in general heh.

          • RinceThis2014

            January 14, 2014 at 11:29

            It works in some movies…

          • Alien Emperor Trevor

            January 14, 2014 at 11:23

            Is it just me or does that sword look lightsaber-ish?

          • RinceThis2014

            January 14, 2014 at 11:24

            Yeah. I read somewhere they tried their hardest to not make it look like that…

    • Skyblue

      January 14, 2014 at 11:00

      Thought Avatar was pretty cool in 3D but that was it.

      EDIT: Shrek too actually but caught that on Blu-ray at home.

      Reply

      • Alien Emperor Trevor

        January 14, 2014 at 11:02

        I saw it twice, 2nd time in 3D just to see what everyone was raving about. The only scene that was really cool was the initial briefing when they arrive on the planet & you felt like you were in the crowd.

        Reply

        • Skyblue

          January 14, 2014 at 11:08

          Well I enjoyed the 3D in Avatar but was blown away by Shrek 3 (visuals, not story). Sadly though the best 3D effects are the demo’s released showing off the hardware, those are amazing coz they need to dupe new buyers.

          Reply

    • Matewis Jubilai

      January 14, 2014 at 11:48

      I would still like to, at least once, experience 3D on an IMAX screen.

      Reply

  5. Hammersteyn

    January 14, 2014 at 10:44

    Gimmick. Nope.

    Reply

  6. Matewis Jubilai

    January 14, 2014 at 10:49

    I still remember my first encounter vir ‘VR’. The bottom floor of the Sunnypark mall in Sunnyside Pretoria (back when Sunnyside was still a decent place). You could put these vr headset on and play duke nukem 3D. The controls were awful though : a weird separate controller that you held in your hand and tilted, I think, in the direction you wanted to go. I remember I couldn’t manage to jump onto the ledge on the first level to get the rpg. Ah sunnypark, so many awesome memories : that is where I bought GI Joe for the NES and where I saw Jurassic Park for the first time. There was also this awesome House of Coffees on the 2nd level from the top.

    Otherwise, no not really, and I don’t care too much at the moment: The way I feel right now I am good for life: I discovered Kerbal Space program…

    edit: although KSP would be beyond awesome in VR

    Reply

    • Admiral Chief in Vegas

      January 14, 2014 at 10:56

      A fellow SnorTorianer? Whereabouts do you stay today?

      Reply

      • Matewis Jubilai

        January 14, 2014 at 11:21

        Not from Hatfield anymore and that is all that matters 😉 Lately I hail from further east: many paths have I walked and great things have I seen until my feet found themselves at a friendly abode CSIR yonder.

        Reply

        • Admiral Chief in Vegas

          January 14, 2014 at 11:33

          Ahh, I reside yonder the Magalies mountain, near a Kollonnade of sorts

          Reply

          • Matewis Jubilai

            January 14, 2014 at 11:47

            lol, I am familiar with such a place – it is where I learned how to make a tool of myself on H2O…

            I like the area, only the traffic on and around Zambesi (or whatever it is now) can be quite hectic.

          • Admiral Chief in Vegas

            January 14, 2014 at 11:57

            Janee, they “upgrade” the bridge the same time that they implement the rapid bus thing on the alternative route

            Scumbag Douch Tshwane idiots

          • Matewis Jubilai

            January 14, 2014 at 12:41

            Sympathies dude… I’m from North West originally so don’t get me started on the idiots there. After about a month or so stop signs were tied to a busy intersection’s non functioning traffic lights… In my neighbourhood the potholes were so bad that one resident planted little 1 meter trees in them to protest

  7. Anon A Mouse

    January 14, 2014 at 11:05

    Short answer ~ No. Long answer ~ Hells No. This VR thing is only a gimmick. Until I’ll be able to actually feel the object in my hand or feel what’s happening to my character I’m truly not interested.

    Reply

    • TiMsTeR1033

      January 14, 2014 at 11:06

      you want the matrix basically..

      Reply

      • Anon A Mouse

        January 14, 2014 at 11:09

        I already live in the matrix, I just want one of my own, without the death side effects.

        Reply

  8. Gr8_Balls_o_Fire

    January 14, 2014 at 11:30

    DLC Special: Buy this box that will be on the floor for you to trip over! Only 5 Dallah!

    Reply

  9. Gr8_Balls_o_Fire

    January 14, 2014 at 11:39

    So how does this work? Do you use a controller for complex actions?

    Reply

  10. Rags

    January 14, 2014 at 11:41

    Actually when you are going to develop in the future engines will have build in support for the Rift.
    So no its not justified in the long term. In the short term? Yes I would probably.

    With that said I am willing to pay a massive premium for the OR.

    Reply

  11. Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

    January 14, 2014 at 11:42

    No, I can’t say that I would.

    Reply

  12. Jaco DeBeer

    January 14, 2014 at 12:18

    I thought we were already paying a premium for games????

    Reply

  13. Mighty Meh

    January 14, 2014 at 13:23

    Nope, just sounds like another excuse for EA to steal more of our hard earned money. I can see their marketing department frothing at the mouth already.

    On the other hand, I see myself buying an oculus rift solely to play Star Citizen and the odd racing sim.

    Reply

  14. Jon

    January 14, 2014 at 13:28

    Correct me if I’m wrong but I’m very confused. What the hell is “virtual reality” supposed to mean? In the early 90s we saw demonstrations of “virtual reality” on television, basic 3D meshes that let you walk you through a 3D house, like magic. Even the lowest budget PC game surpasses those standards by massive margins these days.

    So why are they reinventing something that exists everywhere around us? What’s different this time? I don’t get it.

    Reply

  15. Tidycpc

    January 15, 2014 at 07:52

    If done right, then yes

    Reply

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