Topic: Do You Think Nintendo Will Enter The VR Market?

There has been a lot of discussion recently about Nintendo possibly doing something with VR and the switch. We have even seen some patents filed by Nintendo that seem to confirm this. Do you think Nintendo is really going to try VR gaming? If so what games would you like to see Nintendo make for VR?

First off Oculus and Rift and Sony VR has been dismal in their acceptance rate. And cost over-run and delays after delays all but insure consumers didn't trust how they were touting how VR would be mainstream.

If they do, I hope they don't waste a lot of resources on it. VR is overrated and will always be a niche of a niche.

No and i will never want any VR devices.
Not a good idea for my eyes and head.

@King_Lionheart I hope they don't. I have been of the opinion for a long time now that VR is just an overly expensive gimmick that doesn't really hit the level of immersion that it needs to, for me to accept it as Virtual Reality. It is largely just motion controls and a screen strapped to your face. While that is more immersive than sitting in front of a TV with a traditional controller, the benefits do not outweigh the costs and inconvenience factor. What I mean by the latter is the fact that you need a pretty open space to sit or stand while you play a VR game. Not everyone just has an open area just lying around for that. And that ties into the former - it is a very expensive gaming set up. Made more so by the space demands.

Further, I have yet to hear of that "butt kicking, amazing, ground breaking VR exclusive" game yet. Even several years into the technology... There have been some good games, like Resident Evil, that have supported VR optionally, but there hasn't yet been that ground breaking title specific the VR that everyone knows and everyone else wants to play. Nintendo had Mario and then Pokemon. Playstation had Spyro and Crash and Final Fantasy 7. Sega had Sonic, Microsoft had Halo and Forza, every new platform had some killer app, some awesome game that was theirs alone, at least at first, that really drove people to it.

Be it Oculus or PSVR, what VR app is there? I can't think of any yet. Maybe Nintendo could do it, could make that VR specific app that everyone wants to try...

But that brings me to my final point: Not on the Switch. For more than one reason.

1. The Switch is just too big. Wearing it on your face just isn't going to be comfortable.
2. The Switch lacks the raw power. Even PS4 Pro only just runs VR. The average gaming PC isn't really up to par with the raw power needed to make VR really worth it. For that immersion factor you need the highest quality graphics. If you put something like Mario Odyssey in front of my face, it may be GORGEOUS but it still is obviously not real.
3. (Less to do with the Switch and more Nintendo in general) Other companies are already doing it and have a significant head start. Nintendo rarely hops on a bandwagon without a massive amount of demand, and even then hesitates (look at NSO). Nintendo hopping on the VR bandwagon, a bandwagon that is currently starting to break down, just seems too out of character.

@Heavyarms55 VR doesn't require that much space. I use the same set-up; same distance from the TV, same couch, and I'm definitely not moving anything around. It works perfectly fine.

Well, I think Astro Bot is the absolute killer app for PSVR at the moment. It may be my favourite game of last year; but it isn't really part of the mainstream conversation unfortunately. If it had a Nintendo logo on the box I'm certain it would've been hailed as the next best thing since sliced bread. It IS really good; I had my doubts as well; ''It's just a platformer, why does it need to be VR?'', until I played it.

@Octane Well it is cool that you're enjoying it, but even you admitted it isn't catching on. It might be really solid, but... That's not gonna drive VR to success. VR needs something that really starts a fire. Something in the vein of Sonic, Mario, Pokemon, Halo, Forza, Final Fantasy, Crash, Gears of War, God of War, DDR... Some massive title that blows people away and makes everyone want a VR system of some sort to play it.

I've been saying from the start that VR will never be a mainstream product. It's as simple as this, it's competing with your TV/Monitor not your console/PC. The main and pretty much only advantage of it vs those other options is that it's 3D and adjusts to your perspective. And for pretty much every use case that's not really much of an advantage. For first person, non-competitive action games and "AV experience" type content? Sure. But for pretty much every other kind of content (and I'm talking movies, music, sport, TV, party games etc) it's not that compelling.

I mean think about it, say you have ~$1500AU burning a hole in your pocket and a spare room. What is going to be the best value for that space? Probably not a VR headset even if you are into gaming. I'd personally rather spend that money on pretty much anything else. A TV, a decent mid-range surround setup, some decent "home theatre" friendly furniture, a projector and screen or literally all of the consoles. VR is a unique product but pretty much anything will do more than VR for most content for the money. Especially considering that even if you went with VR you'd still have to get a TV anyways.

Same with the "VR productivity" argument I've seen come up. I've watched videos where people dream about a day where people will put on a VR headset and be able to move data around virtually like they're in Matrix or something. Ignoring the fact that you can get a couple of 28" 4K monitors for ~$1100AU. And you can pack a LOT of high res content onto a couple of 4K monitors without tethers or the risk of motion sickness. And like with the TV room example you kinda need a monitor on your PC anyways even if you get VR.

Honestly I can see VR maturing to the point where buying VR doesn't immediately seem like a waste of money. I can also see companies like Nintendo supporting it in some way. I just don't think it'll ever be a "one in every house" sort of deal. Honestly? I can see a path for 3D printers becoming a household item before VR has time to get it's pants on. Simply because VR doesn't really do anything for most use cases that you can't already approximate with a static display

They could do VR easily and just think of how well mario kart VR would. Look at nintendo carboard it would work great for those gimmicky Nintendo games who knows metroid VR.

@Heavyarms55 Well, of course. There are definitely a few hurdles to overcome. But writing it off right now won't help it either. So I'm optimistic in that regard.

The main problem right now is price I think; as evidenced by the that the cheaper PSVR unit has outsold the Oculus and the Vive combined. The former is also more accessible, requiring only a PS4, whereas the latter two require an expensive gaming rig; bringing us back to the price issue.

And yes, games is what the platform needs. I don't think it helps that they're currently competing against each other by buying up exclusives. Especially Facebook with the Oculus Rift is very aggressive when it comes to that. Big names are currently making VR games; Insomniac is making Stormlands, Respawn is doing a VR game; I personally love the look of MARE as well; but they're all bought up by Oculus.

But I definitely don't think it's the end of VR. The Vive has gotten a Pro upgrade, and I believe the Oculus is getting a new upgrade soon too. A new PSVR is inevitable as well I think.

I bought mine for €180; and it came with a copy of VR Worlds. There were a couple of sales for VR games, and anything was €10; so I got the likes of Astro Bot, RIGS, and Moss. Wipeout has PSVR support, and so does RE7, but I'm not really into horror. Dreams will be big with VR for me as well. And there's plenty of free stuff available on top of it. Anyway, it was a bit of an investment, but when the games are cheap, you can average the price over the games, so it wasn't all that bad. I definitely think there's room for a more mainstream VR device next gen.

Whether Nintendo will enter the VR market. I don't think so. Computing power is currently the main driving force behind VR, and it really needs it. Vanilla PS4 is capable of VR, but it's pushing it. I'm definitely looking forward to what a next gen device can do in that regard.

I reckon they will be the first to slap a camera on the headset and marry VR and AR.

@GrailUK

@Octane Awesome! Does it have eye tracking?

@GrailUK This is the Vive Pro that came out a year ago. But they recently announced the Vive Pro Eye which does have eye-tracking. So not yet, but the upcoming upgrade will have it.

@Octane I'm not writing it off. But I don't have any expectations of success either. I haven't been convinced that it is even worth hoping it succeeds. I have no ill intent toward it, I don't necessarily want it to fail, but I wouldn't shed a tear if it did and don't have any particular desire to see it succeed either. I'm mostly apathetic toward it, except in the sense that if asked about my expectations about its possibility of success, my expectations are very low.

The only thing truly positive I can say about what we call VR today, is that it might lead to technical developments that could more closely resemble real virtual reality simulations in the future, probably the distant future. That what is being developed today is probably a needed series of very early first steps toward a VR that lives up to its name.

@Octane Man, I'm drooling lol.