Virtual Reality

[Bobtheduck]

Does anyone remember the Virtual Boy? It was a big flop for several very important reasons...

1. It was monochrome... A color display would likely have been very expensive, so this makes sense
2. The one color was RED! Red is not a good color to be staring at for long periods of time. For comfort's sake, it should have been green.
3. It wasn't head mounted! It hurt your neck using the stand. I got around that by propping it up on my face while I layed down, but most people just aren't that creative, and even the ones that are aren't going to want the weight on their nose... It was a real pain to use.
4. To get the best use out of it, you had to use it in pitch black. Any and all light interfered with the view, and the light blocker thing wasn't always good at blocking the sides.

I guess it was a doomed project. I, personally, think Nintendo did it on purpose to turn people off Virtual Reality for a long time, but they can only hold it off for so long.

I personally loved the system, though. I was waiting patiently for the first RPG to come out, but it never came to my local walmart or target, and then they canceled it! I spent hours playing Red Alert and Mario's Tennis, but you can only have SO much fun with just two games. I ended up giving it away to some friends...

So where is virtual reality now?

Visual: We have that allready. HMDs are very real, and compatible with mainline 3d processors, but not the consoles. They're not that good, though, because they are tiring to wear and don't always work right. You have to be good at making adjustments to get them to work for you, and everyone who wears it will have to adjust it again.

Sound: We have had that for a while too. It's called "Surround Sound" and "Dolby 5.1" HMD's have things that detect which way your head is tilted. This can easily be translated into spatial sound as well, and come one step closer to true virtual reality in video games.

Touch: This is the next step. This is the Holy Grail of Virtual Reality development. To have realistic touch is a big dream, but it isn't plausible yet. They have a "pen" device that you can use to poke virtual and distant objects and feel pressure in the poke, but nothing along the lines of gloves that can grip an ak-47 or the neck of some alien. In place of that are the realistic controls for things like Mech Assault (or whatever Mech Warrior game uses the controller, I forget what it's called) and guns in gun games. These devices often offer force feedback, and some people have fitted them with pain inducing devices... I think I'll stick with my dual shock 2(which, of course, is just force feedback)

Smell: This exists, but I don't know how effective it is, and I'm not sure how much it costs to run... It mixes chemicals, so I wonder how safe it is... I mean, it's possible a virus on a computer running this thing might actually kill someone by mixing things that shouldn't be mixed... I don't know, though. Im not all that ready to try it. Nintendo, however, did make use of scratch and sniff cards for Earthbound... A fun, novel concept for sure.

Taste: Most people "taste" with their sense of smell. I say most because I am one of the people that actually tastes the full spectrum of tastes with my tongue, and not just the base "sweet, salty, bitter, sour." I know this is true because I have actually lost my sense of smell entirely (for periods of time, not permanently), but food doesn't taste any different. For most people, the only thing the tongue serves to do is relay texture for the food. That would go to "touch." and I don't think they're even close to being able to replicate the feel of liquids...

I don't know what to think of the further entrance into the world of Virtual reality... Escapig too far can be dangerous, and there will be some people that just won't want to leave... Of course, people still need to eat and sleep, so there are some forced safeguards, but... Oh well...

[cbwing0]

Does anyone remember the Virtual Boy?

Of course I do! I purchased one for around $20, after the systems was on it's way out. It had several fun games, such as Mario Tennis, Wario Land, and a Mario Game (Mario Tower?) that was similar to the 2-player minigame in Mario 3, except with 100 levels instead of 1.

I tried laying on my back with the headset over my face, but it kept falling off. After a while, the stand also broke off, so I had to lay it against a pillow and sit over it, looking down. The system also had pathetic battery life (not that it's really portable, due to its size), so I almost always played it with the AC adaptor.

I wouldn't call the Virtual Boy a true virtual reality experience, because of the simplistic graphics, and lack of 1st-person perspective games. When I think of virtual reality, I think of 1st-person perspective combined with open, interactive environments.

While the concept behind virtual reality is intriguing, the general public never really showed a great deal of interest. That could change in time, especially if devices such as the Eyetoy continue to sell well. If I am not mistaken, either Nintendo or Microsoft are planning to developed their own devices that will be similar to the Eyetoy; so, semi-VR games will become more common in the near future.

[uc pseudonym]

It would take a good rpg for me to be interested in VR. Without something along those lines, I cannot think of a good use for the technology. I don't really need to see anything that way to play Mario Tennis or the like. To be able to have a full, expansive world such as FFX around me would be quite another matter entirely.

Though I think some of the most complex aspects that Bobtheduck mentioned would be worth it only if they had a system that allowed full movement. I don't really have an issue with this level gaming, and I'd want the next to be a complete level up.

[Fsiphskilm]

my opinion is diff

[Syreth]

I think I know what you're talking about, volt. I think that must be why people sometimes like going back to those classic games like the original mario, tetris, or the original final fantasy. I think it's kinda cool to be able to just sit back, relax and not worry about a super complex combination of buttons that you have to push just to do something on a game.
In contrast, however, it is entertaining to have the rush of trying to get those things figured out. I guess in the end, for me, it depends on what sort of mood I'm in, although I've been enjoying old super nintendo games lately.
But as for VR, I think it will be incredibly scary once they come up with something like they have in minority report, or in a more extreme case, the matrix. I'm not saying that robots will take over the world, but my red flag will go up if they ever create any sort of a brain interface. I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. It was the thing that Bob aluded to: people getting basically trapped in a world that doesn't exsist because they can't deal with reality. But this is still somewhat of a reality today for people who get obsessed with roleplay. Not that there's anything wrong with roleplay on it's own, but if it's taken to a level of obsession to escape from reality, then it severally hinders your life.
But in a, for lack of a better term, "perfect" world, the ultimate VR experience would be absolutely awesome. I think that online RPGs would be awesome in this situation, but it's totally unrealistic and unpractical. Wow, sorry for the lengthy post.

[cbwing0]

Does anybody know what i'm talking about?

I know exactly what you're talking about. Usually what happens is that the game becomes unplayable, or the game mechanics are "broken," with lots of little tricks that people can use to dominate the game (in multiplayer games).

I like to use the dichotomy of Twisted Metal and Gran Turismo. Twisted Metal 1&2 were fun, innovative titles. They didn't even try to add realism, just extras to make the game more fun. Then, Twisted Metal 3 was given to 989 Studios, which touted the fact that it was adding "realistic driving physics" to the game. What this meant in practice is that your car would flip over ever 15 seconds, making for a frustrating and unfun game.

Gran Turismo is an example of realism done well. GT 3 also has the ingenious feature of allowing you to change the settings to make it either more realistic, or more unrealistic, with the default game mode somewhere in the middle. The game takes real cars, engine sounds, etc., which adds a lot of depth to the game. Gran Turismo is essentially a combination racing game (in arcade mode), and racing simulation (in simulation mode). Both modes are fun and challenging for different reasons (the simulation mode is kind of like a racing RPG ). Ideally, this is how realistic games should operate.

There are probably some game developers who don't want people tampering with their "art" to that extent, but their games just won't sell .

[uc pseudonym]

I more or less agreed with you Volt, just in different terms. Most of the technological advancements mentioned I don't see much of a use for, unless they could do complete VR (a la Matrix) which would have loads of its own problems. Some people would probably never leave the virtual world, if they could be fed nutrients via IV.

Or, to copy from Dilbert, humanity would become extinct once dating sims became as lifelike and easier than real life.

[Fsiphskilm]

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