General gaming discussion

Retr0gamer

I felt vr on the PS4 was the mega cd of that system but psvr2 I can see being that system's 32x.

pixelburp

Said it before and sat it again & won't be budged: VR will only ever be something for tech enthusiasts and will always be a turn-off for the "plug n' play", casual gamers and broad public; the technological and conceptual buy-in is too large, the equipment too singular and flaws too obvious, to mean VR will ever find mainstream success. we have had a solid 30+ years of the tech, and several serious attempts to make the leap to mainstream - and nothing to show for it? Ther's a point where maybe the conclusion here is that the mass-market for it doesn't exist.

Penn

They've long missed the boat at this stage unfortunately. If they'd really hit the first PSVR hard and come out with more and better games for it, it could have found a decent enough market. Never huge, but decent. But a lot of people held off to see what would happen, and what happened was.... very f*cking little.

PSVR2 was always going to end up in the same position after that. Given the complaints about the PS Portal (your console having to be on for it to work rather than full remote play), I can't help but think they would have been better off focusing on making the PS Portal a full handheld PS5 experience instead of trying to do VR again.

jj880

I have Quest 2 which I think is great. Especially since getting into PCVR games recently which takes the quality up a level. Im stuck between Quest 3 and PSVR2 next year. Since we're getting a Gran Turismo 7 sim racing setup for Christmas I could justify PSVR2 to make sim racing with GT7 more immersive as its a PS exclusive. This and a new full Astrobot VR game would take me to PSVR2. If not I'll upgrade my PC and get Quest 3. Quest 2 still selling like hotcakes with some great offers on it this Christmas. Meta could end up in a sticky spot if they dump Quest 2 too early with the amount of units sold. If that happens I can see a lot of players turning away from VR and Id agree with them. Id expect at least 4 years out of a console/headset before being forced to upgrade.

Grumpypants

For me, VR is arguably a more immersive way to play but I'm unsure if it is better than the traditional TV.

On PSVR2. GT7, No Mans Sky, Resident Evil Villages and RE4 are taken to a whole new level and the headset setup is now much easier. All you need to do is plug one cable into the front of the console.

But it is more that you are "locked away" when you are playing VR that is the barrier for me. If I get an hour on the console it is rare that I'm not interrupted by kids or dogs walking in and out. After about 30 mins it starts to get a bit too much.

But still, when you get your first ship in No Man's Sky and take off, it is one of the coolest things in any game.

johnny_ultimate

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121508811#Comment_121508811

I’d argue PSVR1 and Quest 2 have been pretty mainstream successes, by the metric of sales numbers anyway. It’s definitely gone beyond a techie niche, and really we’ve only had less than ten years of VR actually delivering on the premise of the tech. Modern headsets have far less user friction than models from even five years ago - PSVR2 even is a big leap from the convoluted wire setup required by its predecessor, and the Meta Quest headsets are a breeze to use.

But the problem is it’s one thing to buy a headset, and another thing entirely to use it consistently. The fundamental problem is people buy a headset, get wowed, and then it gathers dust for months or years at a time. Various reasons for that - from the aforementioned isolation of VR to the continued lack of killer apps. Several VR games have proved the tech is a far more robust way to play games than past ‘novelty’ inputs, and potentially artistically groundbreaking (Half Life Alyx is an all-time great that feels newer than anything else I’ve played in the last five years). But for many a VR headset becomes like an EyeToy, Kinect or plastic instrument* - fun for a bit, then swiftly gathers dust.

*(Rock Band still rules, tho)

Grumpypants

What they really need is a rock band reboot in VR 🥰

I never been more disappointed than when I brought the quest out into the garden with the plan to use the full garden to be able to move and jump around and it wouldn't work 😟 I don't mean the WiFi signal, I mean the camera tech doesn't work outdoors.

johnny_ultimate

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121509122#Comment_121509122

https://www.rockbandvr.com/

🎸 They’ve already got you covered

Jordan 199

So what games will you folks be playing over Christmas?

For me:

Red Dead Redemption on PS5 and I might take out my PSVR headset and play the excellent Blood & Truth.

Retr0gamer

I just got Mario wonder in the door so I'll be playing that when I'm over at the parents. Other than that I'll be feeding my Baldur's gate addiction when I'm back with my PC.

The Nal

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121510257#Comment_121510257

Stack of games still to play. Portal 2, couple of Hitman games. And The Orange Box, still.

Exclamation Marc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121510257#Comment_121510257

I've been saving Spider-Man 2 and am getting Assassin's Creed Mirage off the better half so I feel ill be happily entertained with those too. If Cocoon or Tunic pop up on sale, I might drop one of them into the mix. And then I've Dave the Diver on my Switch as well.

So I'm nicely stacked for my tastes!

Penn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121510257#Comment_121510257

Playing God of War Ragnarok Valhalla and want to complete a playthough of the main game again on NG+. Other than that I'm getting a Steam Deck for Xmas, so have a few games lined up for it like Hades (played it before but think it'll be a perfect game for the Steam Deck), Blasphemous 2, Vampire Survivors and Hi-Fi Rush.

Had also intended on doing another Bloodborne playthrough but it might be post-Xmas break.

SuperBowserWorld

Need to finish TOTK main game. Just need to bulk out my inventory a bit, do some combat practice for the final battle. It's a wonderful game.

And, Metroid Prime, on Switch. If I've time.

Then I need to consolidate all my console stuff, sell stuff and try to re-train my brain for slower forms of entertainment like books because my attention span has gone to hell. That's a new year's resolution bit. I'm a slave to too many screens. 😁

johnny_ultimate

Finally going to make a start on Mario Wonder and Armoured Core 6 after dusting off a few other high priority games in the last few weeks, but also going to try and catch up on a few indie games I missed this year - Chants of Sennar and Dredge most pressingly, but also Jusant and a few others. Would like to give Remnant 2 and Lies of P a go too, as well as Octopath Traveller 2 - but time is finite and the games are many!

Infinite Wealth will be the belated Christmas treat game though :)

CatInABox

Still trying to win with all the different leaders in Civ6, just to fill out the hall of fame there, so will hopefully pick off the last 6 soon enough. Starfield then, although that's just going to be firing through it, it's just not amazing enough to hang around with.

While the Iron's hot looks like it'll take some time out too, it looks like it'll scratch an itch I've got.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121510257#Comment_121510257

I'm hooked on Against the Storm. If I can pull myself away from that I still have to finish Wolfenstein 2.

recyclops

Really hope Santa ( wife) has been sound and picked up Mario wonder, if not I will continue plodding through Jedi Survivor when playing single player and myself and herself will continue to try figure out how to play Baldurs Gate.

jj880

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121510341#Comment_121510341

First time playing Portal 2? If so Im jealous. All time favourite of mine.

I'll be finishing off Vertigo 2 in next few days and will do a 2nd play through over Christmas as there are different paths through the game that give more collectables / secrets. Have a backlog of VR games (Eye Of The Temple, The Light Brigade and Tea For God), God Of War Ragnarok also.

SuperBowserWorld

Super Mario Wonder is a great game to keep connected to the family TV over Christmas.

Super Mario Kart 8 Deluxe too.

And I'm thinking Street Fighter 6 would be another old skool game that has been perfectly updated to current consoles.

J. Marston

James McCaffrey, the voice of Max Payne, has passed away at 65. The definitive version of the "hard boiled cop", in my opinion. RIP.

I love Max Payne, number 2 is one of my favourite games. Can't wait for the remake.

Zero-Cool

I have it on good authority that Santa is bringing me Spiderman 2 so looking forward to that. I for a weird itch today (ha) to play Mass Effect, specifically 3.

Jordan 199

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121510758#Comment_121510758

What about an Xbox? 😉

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121510794#Comment_121510794

He said Santa, not Satan

Jordan 199

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121510936#Comment_121510936

Cruel!

The Nal

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121510621#Comment_121510621

Yep first time. Think I played 30 seconds of it once.

Retr0gamer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121510758#Comment_121510758

Baldur's Gate 3 is mass effect but good. I'd recommend that ahead of it.

Zero-Cool

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121511067#Comment_121511067

Oooohh I've been thinking about Baldur's Gate 3 today after all the hooplah recently. Saw a few random articles about it today, one mentioning it's like xcom which piqued my interest even further. I'm not into d&d fantasy though so not sure if it would hold my attention for such a long game. If it had a physical copy, I'd get it straight away so i could at least sell it if i didn't like it. I know a physical edition is releasing next year but I'd really like to try it before then.

I haven't watched much videos on it, there might be one out there that would show if someone would be interested or not. I watched s bit of the ign review but couldn't get a feel of it from that.

Zero-Cool

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121510753#Comment_121510753

Iconic performance :( I wonder if he had returned for the remake.