The Oculus Rift Review

[Zapin]

Awesome, informative and detailed article. I hope to see a similar one for the Vive.

 

[thor220]

The 'conclusion' page is really spot on. Specifically, the parts about AAA titles and casual audience.

So, does the release version of the Rift still require graphics settings in Project Cars to be turned down with pop in and jaggies? (read this in a Anand article from 16 Mar).

I did all my tests with the Oculus Ready PC that was provided to us. It has a GTX 970 and an i5-6400.
I did not mess with any graphics settings. The default configuration was excellent. It provided smooth framerates, no jaggies, and i did not notice any significant pop-in. I feel like they put a lot of effort into polishing the game.

Yeah, maybe for Nvida users. The game is crippled on AMD cards thanks to insane tessellation courtesy of Nvidia. As if VR owners didn't have another thing to worry about now they have to worry about GameWorks as well.

 

[kcarbotte]

I wonder about the FOV. Can you compare it to the DK2 ?? Similar?

The FOV is similar.
Oculus said 110 for DK2.
The Rift is "more than 100" but it changes based on how you have it on your face, so there's no definitive answer.

I haven't used them back to back, but I don't feel like there is a big difference.

 

[nitrium]

"Similarly, there isn't really a way to "test" for screen door effect or other artifacts. You either see them or you don't."

I question if is that absolutely true. Is there really no practical way to take a photo, with a more or less regular camera (it might need some modification) set against one of the lenses to show us what the image looks like for the viewer? You should then be be able to photograph the screendoor and or artefacts which can then potentially be objectively analysed.

 

[kcarbotte]

"Similarly, there isn't really a way to "test" for screen door effect or other artifacts. You either see them or you don't."

I question if is that absolutely true. Is there really no practical way to take a photo, with a more or less regular camera (it might need some modification) set against one of the lenses to show us what the image looks like for the viewer? You should then be be able to photograph the screendoor and or artefacts which can then potentially be objectively analysed.

Have you ever tried to take a picture of a TV screen or a monitor? It doesn't work. I don't know that you can get a camera with a fast enough shutter speed to capture one frame from the Rift. Maybe a slow motion video camera could do it, but my SLR certainly can't.
I tried taking some images of both the DK2 and the retail Rift. Both images turned out blurry beyond what I would consider fair to post here. They DO NOT represent what you see through the headset.

I'm open to suggestion. If someone has ideas of how we can make that happen, I have a DK2, Rift, and Vive Pre available to compare, and I would love to share that if we figure out how photograph it accurately.

 

[kcarbotte]

I'm going to address these one by one and hopefully put you at ease about this a little bit.

1. Return policy, from the Oculus forums, is on a case by case basis. That means you can get a return, if Oculus feels like giving one. No mention on following laws regarding returns. No data on a restocking fee.

I can't speak to the return policy, as I have not spoken to Oculus about that topic. I can say that there's no reason to assume that Oculus is going to try and skirt any kind of local return policy laws. Case by case basis is likely a canned response to take into consideration these types of region by region rules.

The hardware comes with a 1 year waranty. It's possible they won't accept returns, but I've not seen anything to confirm or deny that. Generally speaking, returning hardware that has been ordered online is not a common practice. If you want to do that, wait until you can get one at Best Buy.

2. I can’t test it properly to determine if the games I want to play with it make ME sick, or look bad compared to non-VR version. I don’t care about resolution, just how it looks. (also, see #1). 5 min testing at Best Buy (when available) isn’t going to solve this...maybe several trips to test out, but not sure what games they'd let me see/test.

There's no way to test for VR sickness in advance. You either experience it, or you don't. If you are susceptible to motion sickness in a boat, while playing 3D games, watching 3D television or suffer from vertigo, you will probably have problems. Otherwise, you just need to experience it.

That being said, in my experience, a 5 minute demo is long enough to know if you're going to get sick or not. The symptoms tend to kick in quickly.

As for how they look, it's hard to relay that information. How much do you care about jagged edges in games? If you absolutely have to have the crispest image in the world, then you won't be satisfied. The average person will likely fine these screens to be adequate.

3. You MUST sign in to Oculus Home to access/buy CV1 games/content (obviously not true for ED, right?) and to access the calibration menu. This is really bad. For God’s sake, we have/had: Windows for gaming live (dead), Origin, Uplay, etc, etc. required just to be able to play a particular game. When will they learn? [This will hopefully change moving forward, as you said. I do hope software devs sell outside Oculus Home or at least in addition to. Also, why can't access to the calibration, etc be in the form of a driver type download like video drivers??]

The Rift is more like a new gaming platform than a new PC game platform.
Steam, Origin and Uplay in thier current forms that you are used to would not work well in VR. Sure you can launch titles outsite of the headset, but its a pain to have to remove it constantly. The idea is you put the headset on, it starts the software for you, and you go about you time inside the Rift, fully within VR.
applications that launch outside of this setup will not be as seemless. Oculus has allowed devs to use the RIft outside of that home, but its likely that most games will launch through Home.

"If you’d like to ship outside the Oculus platform using the SDK, you can. People can access this content by enabling the “Unknown Sources” setting in the Oculus desktop app. There are considerations when building Oculus PC apps on other platforms: for example, customers must be able to return Home and see Oculus platform overlays and notifications, including the health and safety notice."

https://developer.oculus.com/blog/oculus-pc-sdk-1-3-now-available/

4. Most of the current content is casual gaming at best. Notable exceptions are ED, Valkarie,and Project Cars. (see #2). ED and Project Cars is almost enough for me to not care about this one.

You're right, most of the content is casual, which I find to be distressing too. The audience that has the money and interest in the hardware, is not the audience being served by the software.
that being said, even many of the casual games offer plenty. Just not necessarily what people think they want to play in VR.
For example, I didn't think I'd like 3rd person VR, but it's starting to grow on me.

Project Cars and Elite are pretty awesome in VR, but these are the two titles that somewhat require more robust hardware than the rest of VR. A 980 or better is recomended.

5. Graphics in VR are 3 yrs behind where we are (until hardware manufacturers allow software devs to close the gap).

It has nothing to do with anyone "allowing" anyone to close the gap. GPU performance is simply not there yet. And when it gets there, desktop monitors will still be ahead of the game, because they demand less performance.
It will be a while before we close that gap, but frankly this is an irrational reason to brush off VR. Hundreds of games come out every year that don't even come close to pushing the boudaries of graphics. Cutting edge graphics are only found in a handful of titles every year.
VR games are pretty much on par with the graphcis from the majority of current game releases.

6. Included audio headphones. You can detach and not use, but there’s no audio pass through connection on the headset, so you’re going to need a 4m long cord to use your current headset. I’m unsure about the experience of a CV1 in a room that has a surround (5.1/7.1) stereo system in it. Do they sync correctly as you move around? A concern is positional audio…I want to know something is behind/left of me by HEARING that it is behind/left of me.

VR does not work properly without headphones. 5.1 and 7.1 surround sound systems don't have the ability to give you the 3D positional audio. At least not the typical setup. Headphones are pretty much a necessity for immersive VR.

I don't understand why you're concerned about using other headphones though. One thing that people often miss is that fact that having an additional thing on your head is combersome. Most people start taking off the VR headset before the headphones which often leads to them dropping on the ground. It's so much more convient to just have one thing on your head.

7. Even though a i7 2600k (my proc btw) performance exceeds the CV1 required modern i5 (i5 4590?), the compatibility tool doesn’t pass the 2600K. No way to tell if the 2600k is good enough without buying/trying (see #1).

My processor is overclocked to 4.6Ghz. I have no concerns about it working. My point was that Oculus's tool doesn't actually test anything. If it did, the processor would have passed.

Where I am hitting a roadblock though, is my motherboard has a known incompatibility wiht the Rift. My USB3.0 controller is not supported, so I need to buy a PCI-E USB 3.0 card to make it work.

8. There will likely never be a FPS in VR (apparently sitting, while in VR you are running around, generates nausea/sickness).

There are definitely shooters coming, but they won't be controlled with an Xbox controller.
FPS games are coming that are standing and roomscale. The mechanics of these games will be different than the FPS games we know today. The first round of games will be standing only. Lost of gallery shooters, and games where its about ducking for cover, rather than running around.

To play a proper shooter like we know today, you need some sort of mechanic that will let you run around. An omnitreadmill like the Virtuix Omni is currently the best option for that style of game.

All that said, I feel like if I could buy one, set it up, and try it for 7 days or so, I could eat a restocking fee of 10% or so if I decide it's not for me.

Keep in mind, this is just the first generation of this stuff. You seem genuinely interested, and that's awesome, i hope you enjoy it when you get to try it, but you don't strike me a typical early adopter.
Remember, it's OK to sit by and wait it out for a bit. You can't get a Rift until July anyway, so give it some time. You'll find a place to test it out. Maybe someone you know will bite the bullet and pick one up.
I'd also keep an eye out for local events over the course of the year. Now that these are out, there's going to be far more promotion, and access to them.

 

[Achoo22]

You will still likely need an account though, as Oculus said that the home button is a requisite feature, so that players can access the calibration menus.

It pains me that you continue to parrot Oculus garbage without considering how stupid the words you're typing are. "Of course, you'll still have to login so that this button will work!" WTF, dude.

 

[nitrium]

Have you ever tried to take a picture of a TV screen or a monitor? It doesn't work. I don't know that you can get a camera with a fast enough shutter speed to capture one frame from the Rift. Maybe a slow motion video camera could do it, but my SLR certainly can't.
I tried taking some images of both the DK2 and the retail Rift. Both images turned out blurry beyond what I would consider fair to post here. They DO NOT represent what you see through the headset.

What you say is true for CRT screens, but not so with LCD. You most certainly CAN take photos of an image (obviously static - I only want a photo not a video!) of the LCD screen (which is LED backlit or OLED and so have no traditional "refresh" issues), as long as nothing is moving. Hooking the camera to the lens of the Rift would be the key issue, and I suspect you'd have to make some sort of rig to properly mate the two together. I'm not saying it's possible for sure (obviously), but was wondering if anyone even tried.

 

[kcarbotte]

You will still likely need an account though, as Oculus said that the home button is a requisite feature, so that players can access the calibration menus.

It pains me that you continue to parrot Oculus garbage without considering how stupid the words you're typing are. "Of course, you'll still have to login so that this button will work!" WTF, dude.

I'm here to relay the facts, not fight for a cause.
I posted a quote directly from the Oculus Dev blog post about SDK 1.3.
You want to consider that stupid, go ahead. It doesn't change the fact that this is the way it is for the Rift.
Either accept it, or go with a different platform.

Oculus makes the rules up for its hardware, not me. Natively, the Rift only runs content through the Oculus Home software. Users have to enable the ability to launch outside content through the Oculus Home desktop software. To the best of my knowledge, you need a login to do that, though I plan to verify that tonight.

 

[kcarbotte]

How usable will this be for someone that doesn't have high speed internet? I don't like the idea of downloading 22 GB at 1 MB/second.

Most of the games so far are much smaller than that. Project Cars is the biggest one.
The majority are under 10GB.

Regardless of what you do, not having a high speed connection will mean that you'll have to wait for digital content.
Most games are able to be played offline though, so once you have them you're good.

 

[kcarbotte]

Have you ever tried to take a picture of a TV screen or a monitor? It doesn't work. I don't know that you can get a camera with a fast enough shutter speed to capture one frame from the Rift. Maybe a slow motion video camera could do it, but my SLR certainly can't.
I tried taking some images of both the DK2 and the retail Rift. Both images turned out blurry beyond what I would consider fair to post here. They DO NOT represent what you see through the headset.

What you say is true for CRT screens, but not so with LCD. You most certainly CAN take photos of an image (obviously static - I only want a photo not a video!) of the LCD screen (which is LED backlit or OLED and so have no traditional "refresh" issues), as long as nothing is moving. Hooking the camera to the lens of the Rift would be the key issue, and I suspect you'd have to make some sort of rig to properly mate the two together. I'm not saying it's possible for sure (obviously), but was wondering if anyone even tried.

Its really hard to find a static non-moving area to photograph in the DK2.
But like I said, I tried, and it was so blurry even on the retail Rift that it's not worthy of showing. What it shows is not representative of what you see when its on your face.

 

[Realist9]

Kevin, here’s a few thoughts on your reply to my 8 concerns.

First, thanks for taking the time to help me get a grip on this.

-I really hope they release their return policy, and soon (lol, I guess July is soon enough).
-I don’t *think* I’d get sick, but I’d hate to get one and go full Ralph after 30 min of my first time using it. Then I have a $600 paper weight.
-For me, graphics don’t have to be 10/10 if the game is engaging and/or there’s a good story/plot. But jaggies make my eyes bleed. They should have been outlawed around 2008, and mostly have been, but they still creep up in some games, which I just don’t get with the many forms of AA and high res we have available today.
-“GPU performance is not there yet” is actually what I meant, but it is a bit disappointing to think VR will never catch up. I get what you’re saying though.
-My audio setup involves one of only two audio cards that spit out real 5.1 positional over optical (Soundblaster Z) and a 5.1 home theater setup. Not bragging, just saying positional audio is important to me, so I’d have to get a set of headphones that do their best at positional sound (Tritton probably) and a 4m long cord (both an added expense).
-My plan was to get Pascal when it came out, and build a system around that as my new system and for VR. I’d rant about no real CPU performance increases in the last 4 years, but that’s for another thread/time. Thanks for the USB incompatibility heads up, I would have just made sure I had a 3.0 and thought that was good…I’ll be more careful.
-The most disturbing point though was to think of the Rift as a new gaming platform. I WAS thinking of it as a new peripheral, like a good/expensive joystick, or new monitor. If I should think of it like the Xbox One or PS4, then that is bad news *to me*. Words that go through my mind are: proprietary, ecosystem, neutered, lagging, fixed, stagnant, and overpriced. IMO, these are all bad words when it comes to gaming.

I'm STILL going to go see one to demo at a store though. :|

 

[kyle382]

I can't wait to see what VR games drop in the next 6 months. The freebies at launch are appreciated and desperately needed, but not that fun from the looks of it. I have seen people play alien isolation on a DK2 thou so there is hope for the future indeed.

 

[nitrium]

Its really hard to find a static non-moving area to photograph in the DK2.

I'm not quite sure what you mean. In a game (e.g. intro screen, Windows desktop (there is a neat virtual Windows app for Rift and Vive), or even during the game) it surely won't be moving if you aren't. If the camera is hooked up to the Rift and the Rift is on a table nothing should be moving on the screen either(?). Hooking them together is going to be tricky for sure (I once tried taking a photo through a pair of binoculars and wasn't exactly successful - but I didn't try all that hard either).

 

[heinlein]

How usable will this be for someone that doesn't have high speed internet? I don't like the idea of downloading 22 GB at 1 MB/second.

Most of the launch titles don't look like massive AAA titles like Witcher 3's 30 GB but I would assume most will be at least 5 GB. So if you don't like downloading games from Steam, Uplay, Origin or other game distribution platforms then you probably won't like downloading games for the Oculus store.

The obvious question would be why you don't have high speed internet? I would assume 99% of people who ordered the Rift are huge tech geeks and having epic internet has been a priority for years. So IMO before spending money on the Rift spend some money on high speed internet, that would be better use of your money.

So no plans for a software option that doesn't require downloading?

 

[picture_perfect]

Putting on a Rift with a gasket damp from someone else’s sweaty face is just gross

Aww face bugs..

Dermodex: These 8-legged creatures (an arachnid) crawl around the face at night, reproducing on the face & feeding from oil and skin cells. They have no anus, so they have to eventually explode inside your hair follicles, which are their home.

http://www.thisblogrules.com/tag/scabies

 

[kcarbotte]

So no plans for a software option that doesn't require downloading?

I actually don't know.
They plan to sell the Rift at Best Buy, so maybe. But you can buy game codes at best buy too.
The game industry has been moving towards digital distribution for years, so it wouldn't surprise me if they don't.

I will try to find that out.

 

[kcarbotte]

Its really hard to find a static non-moving area to photograph in the DK2.

I'm not quite sure what you mean. In a game (e.g. intro screen, Windows desktop (there is a neat virtual Windows app for Rift and Vive), or even during the game) it surely won't be moving if you aren't. If the camera is hooked up to the Rift and the Rift is on a table nothing should be moving on the screen either(?). Hooking them together is going to be tricky for sure (I once tried taking a photo through a pair of binoculars and wasn't exactly successful - but I didn't try all that hard either).

What i meant by that is that there isn't a home screen for the DK2. all the apps that i have to it are standalone, and most of them start right away.
The screen door effect is also really only noticeable on high lighter scenes, making it difficult to find something to snap.
The retail Rift doesn't play those older games. at least not until the devs update to SDK 1.3.

I did manage to get the new stuff to work on the DK2, so I may try it again tomorrow, but the fact remains, I wasn't able to snap a clear picture of either of the kits when I tried earlier today.
The Rift actually had a much worst picture than the DK2 did, but neither of them looked anything like what you really see.

It does you no good to see a washed out, blurry image as a judgement for which is better.
All we can do is give you a subjective account of this. SDE is subjective anyway. It depends on your eyesight. It also depends on how much you are drawn into the content. SDE fades away quickly when you're into the game. It's really not nearly as important as people make it out to be. The whole concept has been blown out of proportion. And its basically non-existent in the retail hardware.

 

[nitrium]

The Rift actually had a much worst picture than the DK2 did, but neither of them looked anything like what you really see.

Wait, wait, the retail Rift has WORSE picture quality (despite a significantly higher resolution) than the DK2?????

 

[HaB1971]

Although my system was perfectly capable of running the Rift and Vive I upgraded to a 6700K, new motherboard and DDR4 ram as I plan on getting a VR setup at some point... Just not sure which system to go with although Elite Dangerous is my main reason to get one and it is Rift supported from the get go, Track IR enhanced the game for me, but I feel that VR will pop the game into life. the hyperspacing into a system and then almost slamming into a star will most likely cause waves of nausea but will be cool...

I'm thinking about a kickstarter for VR sick bags with a vacuum pump to put on the user, could be a money maker !!!

 

[funkdat]

I preordered within an hour or so of the first day the Rift went up for sale. I still haven't gotten the email that my order is being prepared live alone ready to ship. Yet when I bought it the site told me it would ship in March. Do only the people that preordered within the first few minutes get one this month? Does one hour late on preorder = 3-4 weeks of waiting? I emailed support and they said we have no idea when yours will ship and then the usual speech about we are working hard to ship everyone's Rift out. Anyone else in the same boat as me?

 

[kcarbotte]

The Rift actually had a much worst picture than the DK2 did, but neither of them looked anything like what you really see.

Wait, wait, the retail Rift has WORSE picture quality (despite a significantly higher resolution) than the DK2?????

No, the image on the picture that I took through the lens with my camera turned out worse for the retail Rift than the DK2.

The idea of taking an image of the screen, is not nearly as simply as it sounds.
If we figure out how to do it properly, we will definitely share an image.


Edit: Also, 2160x1200 is not "significantly higher" than 1920x1080.
240x120 pixels is a marginal increase in my opinion.

 

[kcarbotte]

I preordered within an hour or so of the first day the Rift went up for sale. I still haven't gotten the email that my order is being prepared live alone ready to ship. Yet when I bought it the site told me it would ship in March. Do only the people that preordered within the first few minutes get one this month? Does one hour late on preorder = 3-4 weeks of waiting? I emailed support and they said we have no idea when yours will ship and then the usual speech about we are working hard to ship everyone's Rift out. Anyone else in the same boat as me?

I thought Oculus sold out the first batch within 15 minutes, but I might be remembering that wrong. Kickstarter backers should have thiers by the end of the day today. The first wave of customer shipments start tomorrow.

Palmer Luckey also said that they sold more in the first hour than he ever expected, so I don't think they were quite ready for the sales volume.

 

[kcarbotte]

Although my system was perfectly capable of running the Rift and Vive I upgraded to a 6700K, new motherboard and DDR4 ram as I plan on getting a VR setup at some point... Just not sure which system to go with although Elite Dangerous is my main reason to get one and it is Rift supported from the get go, Track IR enhanced the game for me, but I feel that VR will pop the game into life. the hyperspacing into a system and then almost slamming into a star will most likely cause waves of nausea but will be cool...

I'm thinking about a kickstarter for VR sick bags with a vacuum pump to put on the user, could be a money maker !!!

If Elite Dangerous is you're main concern, then you should know that support for Vive was announced in September and it is also working day one.

Pick your VR experience on another criteria, because they both have you covered there.

 

[TX_Tech]

Time will be the ultimate test for the Rift, but I don't see that fate coming.
The companies working in the VR industry are incredibly excited about the prospect of this new medium.

Then you haven't been around long enough... Companies working on products being excited about it has nothing to do with their success...

When the biggest companies in the world are pushing to bring something to market in the same way, it should be telling of the potential these companies see.

Would you like the very long list of such companies in the past who saw the same thing and those products no longer exist?

This is precicesly the reason why you won't see many AAA titles exclusively for VR for a while. The games will be shorter, and inexpensive to produce.

Yes, because I want to buy a $1,500 PC + a $600 Rift to play $10 Indie games...

I don't think we have any chance of seeing the Rift, or the Vive, fall into the realm of abandonware.

That one quote shows your bias. There is ALWAYS a chance of failure.

Frankly, given the $2K+ entry point, the chance is quite large. The technology still isn't there, you can't really move freely, motion controllers aren't ready, playing on an XBox controller is a massive kludge for PC gaming, and real content won't come until millions have been sold, but millions won't sell until content exists.

The 100+ games are coming comment also shows the bias. Yea, yea, that claim was also made for the Panasonic 3DO (remember that thing?). If the 100 games are anything like the list of 30 games so far, what you'll ready have is 5 games worth playing, 1 or 2 of which any one person will actually want to play, and a whole lot of shovelware.

The thing is... VR is really cool, in theory... in practice, it comes with so many "conditions" and a price tag that will prevent it from taking off.