After the exciting long weekend that was the very first PAX Australia, Cameron and I sat down to discuss one of the standout pieces of technology to grace the expo hall: the Oculus Rift, what we liked and what we didn't like.
NICK
What did you think the Oculus Rift was going to be before you had a hands-on experience with it?
CAMERON
Before I tried out the Oculus Rift, I pretty much thought you put it on your head and you are "in" the game visually, with head-turning corresponding to you looking around. I was worried about nausea and eye damage. I also wondered about the weight of it.
NICK
Yeah, I was worried that the Rift would be this huge thing that would just weigh the front of my head down, I was surprised at how light it was once we tried it on. So what did you think once you had it on?
CAMERON
I think the hype got to me to be honest, but I did feel "in the game". I really wanted to actually try out moving around, but the demo I played didn't really have that. I also noticed everything was a fair bit blurry.
NICK
I was completely the opposite. Once I strapped it on I just remember laughing and saying "What the fuck?" I was blown away by it, the fact that I could feel the depth of things was astounding to me. I got to have a move around in the demo I played, and it really makes a difference.
CAMERON
Did you feel disoriented at all?
NICK
At one point when I was moving around I could feel my body starting to sway back and forth. It was terrifying, I thought I was going to fall on my face, I had to take a second to kind of ground myself. One thing that really took me out of the game was the resolution though. Seriously, I could count the pixels in front of my eyes, it felt like I was looking through a fly-screen.
CAMERON
Oh, PC gamer over here with his pixel counting! But yeah, the resolution isn't really at that level yet where we can be so close and have it look convincing.
NICK
Hey man, I live in a world where everything is beautiful, maybe one day you'll understand.
This is the end of civilization though. I mean, once they get this all figured out, people are just gonna start staying at home all day in their virtual world.
CAMERON
Yep. I do wonder about the practical use. Honestly, I really don’t want to see the end of social gaming - and by that, I mean "shared screen", sitting on a coach, hanging out with mates playing games.
NICK
That's always been a dying breed, though. Nintendo is trying to keep the dream alive, but it's not gonna last.
People are just gonna confine themselves to their rooms naked, playing virtual games with their friends who live just down the block. It's going to kill social interaction.
CAMERON
I don’t like it.
NICK
You'll like it when you can spend your nights fighting villains, slaying dragons and doing virtual drugs!
CAMERON
But if you take real drugs, hookers and bandits become like dragons and villains!
NICK
I've said it before, and I'll say it again. The Matrix had it right, but instead of waking up with a pod, covered in Vaseline and tubes clamped to our backs, it'll be on our couches, surrounded with pizza boxes to find that our wives and kids have left.
CAMERON
I'm just waiting for the first porno.
NICK
It's going to be terrible. It'll be set up like a chatroom. You and 300 other guys, naked, waiting for a girl to log on. Basically the premise of the movie 300.
CAMERON
Seriously though, I'd be interested to see how 3rd person games would utilize it, or if they would at all. Like, the main thing it gives you there is 3D immersion, but you'd probably want to be using a joystick to move the camera.
NICK
I dunno, man, do you thing they would use it? It would be cool for the added 3D effect, but couldn't you get that some other way?
CAMERON
Well that's really my point - its usefulness is limited to 1st person gaming. I know that is a big, big thing at the moment and probably will continue to be, but there are some games that just work better 3rd person.
NICK
I think they'll do it. I mean, what do they have to lose? Either way I think the Oculus would help enhance the immersion of the game.
CAMERON
Yeah, I'd really be interested to see the uptake. I mean, I can't really fault it in the same way I can the Kinect or the Wiimote, those things have very limited functionality, but the Oculus Rift doesn't. It is light enough that it doesn't worry me to wear it. That being said, I don't think it’s something I would use all the time, personally. I'd use it for sure, but blocking everything around me out whenever I play I wouldn't be too keen to do.
NICK
Apparently they're updating the head-wear so that when you move your head forward and backward, it does so in the game. I think that'd a great step, being able to peek around corners in first person shooters will really add to that level of tense suspense.
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| Nick taking the Oculus Rift for a spin |
CAMERON
Absolutely. It would make games like Dishonored a lot better. I mean, I approach everything with skepticism - but the main problem stealth games have it seems is what to do with the camera. So many wrestle with being a shooter, and a 3rd person shooter camera doesn't really work.
However, sometimes you are constricted in how much you can move - both physically and just comfort-wise. For example - if I have to spin around, I don't want to really spin around. I just don't. I'm sitting down, man.
NICK
Yeah, I get you. It definitely has limitations. Another thing I was wondering about; when I was playing that demo, something went wrong, my body didn't align properly and the guy instructing me had to play with a few things before everything was back to normal. I'm sure it will be better in the future, once the technology is more refined, but is it going to be easy to use for every day gamers if they encounter an error or problem?
CAMERON
Good question. I'm neither a hardware or software expert, but I imagine it brings up a lot more logistics. And as you say, it needs to be easy for the consumer to fix.
NICK
I don't wanna become the arsehole who calls up the IT guys every two days because I can't plant a peach in my Animal Crossing house.
CAMERON
That, and I don't like making phone calls while on the toilet. Holy cow, The Sims. The Sims will be on this shit. Which is, to be honest, terrifyingly depressing.
NICK
So, so depressing.
CAMERON
Just imagine, woman comes home from work. Her partner is already on the lounge, the Oculus Rift on. In the game, he is writing a novel.
Or so she thinks. He sits down next to her, puts her Rift on and enters the game. She goes to find him in the study, but instead finds him screwing the nanny, right there on the desk.
She freaks out, they argue, they fight. They break up, she leaves. She finds another man. He deletes the ladder in the swimming pool and watches himself drown to death.
Then they take off their rifts and they go to bed, which involves boring, kissless sex.
NICK
You're a terrifying individual.
You know what the Oculus Rift would be good for? As an educational tool. To help people not grow up into you.
CAMERON
Yeah, it would. I can see it being great for universities too, like as a simulator for surgeons and shit. I think the best thing was seeing that woman in the wheelchair use it.
NICK
I did not see that. Man, that would be a trip though.
CAMERON
Yeah, she was playing Wander, same one as you.
NICK
That's intense. Not to be an arsehole, but I wonder if that's a good or a bad thing From the point of view of someone who can't walk, do you think it would be uplifting or a dreading reminder once you're out of the game? Would it make them more likely to spend time in the fantasy world?
CAMERON
I read an interesting article about how LOST offended a lot of people because there was a dude in a wheelchair and he stayed on the island because he could walk there. People were saying that abandoning your family isn't worth it to be able to walk, walking isn't as important as everything they've accomplished as wheelchair bound.
NICK
That's awesome - I'd be interested to see their take on the Oculus Rift. So, final thoughts?
CAMERON
The Oculus Rift is hard to fault. I'm not going to get one on launch, I’m gonna wait to see how it affects people's eyes. I can see it going beyond being just a gimmick, but it won't dominate the industry - I can see plenty of people not up taking it, and we have to remember as well that developers have to be interested enough to integrate it.
NICK
I loved it - once the resolution is bumped up I think that with a good pair of headphones you can create a totally immersing experience and I can see it being a whole new way of playing games. But, I agree, I want to see how it affects people in regards to motion sickness, that whole moving while you're not actually moving, it's like reading while in a car. I guess all we can do is wait and hope for the best.
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