Oculus Rift: Looks like we arent far from thr future,

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1523379957/oculus-rift-step-into-the-game

A new augmented-reality headgear gaming system has popped up on Kikestartr. It has big names backing it too, like Gabe Newell. Looks more promising the OUYA.

Is there actually any overall benefit to just a headset?

I'd be more enthusiastic if this actually had matching controls to go with it, but it looks like that isn't the case (outside of camera control). In which event games suddenly become harder to control.

That said, it's a solid first step.

edited 1st Aug '12 1:36:54 PM by burnpsy

...Dude, could you imagine playing a Mech Warrior game with this?

No need for mouse controls at all!

Any simulator game would feel awesome in it I'm sure. Until motion sickness sets in.

I played Quake with a Forte VFX-1 headset at a PC LAN gaming place years ago. It was the coolest thing at the time, but it's shown its age when you look at the tech specs. (I may still get one to build a Mech Warrior 2 cockpit around and pretend it's a neurohelmet, heh...)

The price is surprisingly good for a HMD, and the 6DoF head-tracking sounds promising enough to replace my TrackIR for combat flight sims and Arm A. Resolution is a bit low, but it's either that or paying five figures.

Still, I'm seriously saving up for a devkit pledge. Guess my GTX 670 upgrade plan just got pushed back once again.

So this is where the path to mgs4 begins.

This might be interesting if it works. However we have about 10 years worth of failures in this department already so I remain skeptical.

Would be interesting to have, say, the gun and HUD on the headset display only and have the actual game screen only display the environment and enemies. Would be a lot less fun to watch someone play, though.

Rejoice.

What would be the possible disadvantage? There is the wide field of view, a true 3D effect (no pop-up book effect if the picture has no frame, eyes focused in infinity), AND the head-tracking, that are all superior to a monitor. If they deliver on the promise of the consumer version having full HD screens per eye, I can even see it taking over not just FPS games most of immersive gaming, from RPG to RTS.

Even in games that don't fully make you feel like you are a character inside the world, why would you want to take it off just to look at a flat square on your table instead?

If what they're saying is true and they actually manage to deliver on their product, then yes, I'll gladly fork over the cash. This thing really could revolutionize the way a LOT of game genres are played, maybe even finally level the playing field between PC and console users. Though I'm wondering how comfortable would it be to wear given that I need my glasses to see almost everything...

Jonah F., if you're listening, I have only one question: by any chance, did you manage to see, or hopefully even try this sucker at E3 2012???

edited 28th Aug '12 3:40:50 AM by SgtRicko

It's going to be good for console games but the majority of PC gamers often need to glance at their keyboard during a hectic moment to make sure they're pressing the right keys. Even on consoles players may need to look at their gamepads every now and then, especially when they're learning the game.

I just rotated on my chair with closed eyes, then I placed my hand on Shift+WASD+Space in one second. Any game that needs much more than that, likea dozen hotkeys, are not what I would call immersive to begin with.

edited 28th Aug '12 5:54:00 AM by Ever9

Necro, but it looks like someone has taken this a step further by mixing it with a few other devices:

edited 22nd Apr '13 3:56:33 AM by burnpsy

Somebody made a similar device for Battlefield 3, only a hell of a lot more bulkier and larger. It also managed to get around that annoying issue with the eyes showing the same exact screen by just simply having the projector follow wherever your head was pointing at.

But that being said, if they were to have to choose which design style to emulate when designing an arcade game or next gen console, this one definately has merit!

Kikestartr. Oh, that is a hilariously bad typo.

I wouldn't put much stock in omni-treadmills, they are too big and tiresome for the living room, but HM Ds can truly become the dominant gaming form of the next generation if the Oculus does everything right.