The idea of virtual reality gaming is certainly nothing new, but we are quickly approaching the point of that cool idea becoming a startlingly real element and market-force in the video game industry. With Oculus Rift purchased by Facebook for a whopping $2 billion, Sony’s Project Morpheus shaping up for an early 2016 release, and awesome teasers, like EVE Valkyrie’s most recent gameplay trailer, whetting out appetites, VR feels like it is approaching fast.
Xbox head Phil Spencer however, says it is not something to get excited about now. In an interview with Edge Magazine, via Gamesradar, speaking of the conversation about VR as a whole, Spencer said, “It’s more of an announcement than anybody really having any VR stuff right now… its hard tech.”
In regards to why Microsoft isn’t pursuing VR actively, “Right now, it’s just been about technologies and things that I think we need to do on Xbox One to make the experience better, and that’s where our focus has been. And I don’t think VR is a now thing. I’m not saying it’s five years from now, but it’s not really a now now thing.”
Microsoft’s alternate reality (AR) system HoloLens is markedly different than the VR options others are perusing. “The tethered scenarios [Morpheus requiring a PS4, etc.] around VR I think are interesting, but we were going for something different. Not being tethered to either a PC, Xbox or a phone as part of the solution was one of our design challenges for HoloLens, and we did that.”
What do you think of VR? Do you like what you have seen so far or do you agree with Phil Spencer that it is still quite a ways off? Let us know in the comments.