Interesting thing to read.

Gabe Newell said he is comfortable with Virtual Reality (VR) failing.

So I guess Virtual Reality (VR) really is not selling well. I knew it wouldn't

What are you thoughts?

http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/technology/businessinsider/article/Valve-CEO-We-re-comfortable-with-the-idea-that-10935960.php

I think Valve is playing the long game, from what I've seen on YouTube there's some nice VR games either on PC or the PS4, it's still in its eairly stages and once the price of the VR units go down a little there's should be plenty of mind blowing VR games in the future. Just give it some time.

Still think it is at the red and blue 3d glasses phase

I saw this on Reddit earlier. From the comments, I've seen, it doesn't look like too many users are surprised. I'm certainly not. The sales for all VR devices have been less-than-stellar to say the least.

He also said https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2017/02/10/valve-vr-games/, so I don't think he's given up quite yet.

I saw a mannequin at Fry's Electronics wearing one of those VR goggles. It looked so heavy and bulky. There is just no way in Hell I would wear one of those things. Maybe in a few years when the technology improves. It's like a brick size cell phone from the 80s.

There's no long game here. "Here" being the key word. As in "home use".

Revive public use of arcades or theme park type of applications, then there is probably a long game. Just don't expect everyone to do this at home. Just like they have never done a lot of cumbersome things at home... gaming or not.

Why did you put a parenthesis around "VR"?

Well, maybe Vive is... :trollface:


Rift is only around 400 grams, really the cable is bigger distraction than it's weight.

Best Buy out closed 200 Virtual Reality (VR) kiosks out of 500.

There are like only 100+ video games that support Virtual Reality (VR) on Steam with a combination of some that cost money and some that are free.

Oculus Rift and the HTC Vive have sold a total of like 300,000+ units after like what 6 months now being released for sale? SONY didn't even sell like not even close to 1+ million PlayStation 4 ({S4) Virtual Reality (VR) headsets.

Facebook spent 2 billion dollars (USD) on Oculus and also got sued by ZeniMax Media Inc. and had to pay ZeniMax Media Inc. $500 million dollars (USD)

VALVe with HTC spent like $100+ million dollars (USD) on the HTC Vive Research & Development (R&D).

So much money has been spent on Virtual Reality (VR) technology and little money has been earned from their sales.

Most people on the planet don't want to wear stuff on their heads. All the people in my area, most of my friends, my relatives, and neighbors don't.

It is interesting considering that Gabe Newell also said that they are planning to develop 3 VR games. Which means...

HALF-LIFE 3 VR CONFIRMED! EVERYBODY GET HYPED!

On a serious note, I believe he also said something like he doesn't think VR will be widespread until there are some must-have games, which makes sense. Valve is a company that can afford to buy time on something like this, so I don't think GabeN necessarily means any of those games are coming out relatively soon.

Kevin Rose called it a couple years ago on Twitter, and I agreed then, and I agree now. I see augmented reality taking off, but virtual reality? It's niche.

Gabe Newell also while saying that he has VALVe on working on developing three Virtual Reality (VR) video games, he does know not many people really care about purchasing Virtual Reality (VR) headsets though.

This was I think when they announced partnership with HTC. He knows not many people will want that to use exclusively or something.

To me it doesn't sound like he's saying it's dead, or even disparaging it. It sounds like he's saying that they weren't expecting the first generation of products to be a huge hit, and that they've made a realistic investment in it, so if it doesn't go anywhere they won't consider it a disaster. This sounds realistic to me. They need to sell some VR equipment to pay for R&D, but they're still testing a new type of product and trying to create a market, so it might be a while before every home has a VR rig.

I agree with Ballowers when he says that most people just don't want to wear anything on their head. I sure don't. I like convenience and comfort when I play a game. And wearing a head set in the middle of the hottest part of summer doesn't sound comfortable. I just want to plop down with my computer or Xbox and get to business.


Yeah, I have absolutely no interest in this.

Yeah no, I don't see every persons house or every person purchasing Virtual Reality (VR) headsets in the future.

As I say, many people just don't want to wear stuff on their heads.

Nintendo sort of failed in the 1990's I remember it was what 1996 or 1998 with their Virtual Reality (VR) glove was it?

VALVe is just playing the long game and Virtual Reality (VR) not selling well, VALVe will probably still be developing video games using Virtual Reality (VR) headsets.

Because Gabe Newell hates exclusivites.

Ironically, VR is most impractical for video games. Heavy headset, requires top-end (and sometimes dual) video cards, and wide open area. The game overrides your regular vision and hearing so you're oblivious to what's happening.


At the moment, VR is best used for military, engineering, science, medical, and even corporate/business use. Military applications are obvious - there was a team in northern Europe (???) that rigged a tank's controls to Oculus Rift, and it's easy to envision flying lightweight military jets over VR. Scientific, medical, and engineering applications include construction via robotic arm or nanoscale interface with VR controls allowing researchers to "step down" into such a small scale. Corporate applications include virtual offices, conferences, and workspaces.


At the moment, the requirements and price for VR are ridiculous. I prefer my screen, keyboard, and mouse.


--------------


@Ballowers ("There are like only 100+ video games that support Virtual Reality (VR) on Steam with a combination of some that cost money and some that are free.")


There are definitely a lot more than that. Every time I view my Discovery Queue I get spammed with them despite having no interest in VR. It's turning into annoying spammy shovelware.


A lot of VR games are free, most likely because few people are willing to invest in a home VR setup. The only way I can envision it being commercially viable is having VR as an option instead of a requirement (support monitor and VR in the same game engine).

IMO, it's inevitable that VR will take off at some point. It's just a matter of hardware getting better to the point that it's comfortable, affordable, and can provide a high-quality experience that provides something significantly different than sitting in front of a 2D display. It'll happen eventually.

There is no guarantee that it will take off. They said the same thing with 3d movies back in the 1950's and it failed. then again in the mid 80's and it failed again. It has come back in the last decade but I would still say it has been a big success especially on the TV side.

I think it will be more of a niche market with some games working nicely with it like space/flying/driving sims and most other games not working out to well. The other aspect is also more people are likely to get sick from using it.

They also said the same thing about 3D TV's and now as of I think like 2014 or so SONY stopped manufacturing 3D TV's.

The same thing goes for MicroSoft's Kinect and SONY's PlayStation (PS) move.

MicroSoft isn't focusing much on Kinect video games for the Xbox One anymore.

SONY well I haven't heard anything from them on the PlayStation (PS) move since they released the PlayStation 4 (PS4) for sale in 2013.

There's a new model of the Oculus Rift that's $600.

It should be pointed out that the rift is, ultimately, a peripheral. One that's more than half the cost of a self-made gaming PC, and is almost twice the price of a good PC monitor. That's probably the biggest hurdle right there; you're shoving out a truckload of money for a peripheral that doesn't have support on most games, and most games that have Rift support are not Rift-exclusive. Right now, I'm betting most users can't really justify the purchase when most of their prospective game library can't use the device, and all but a very small handful of games they may want do not require it.

Once the price becomes more reasonable and most games have Rift support, only then it will probably take off. Because right now, it's basically a niche market.

Gabe Newell was a bit reckless and I'm sure his business partners had some choice words for him. If the current form of Virtual Reality ultimately fails I'm sure down the line another form will emerge.

Don't worry, Gabe. For once, I "sort of" agree with you.

I am completely comfortable with VR being a failure (or failirue, as the poll says).

That said, I don't hang on Gabe's every word tbh. I've found Valve to be a very insular minded group at the best of times, yet for some reason, PC fanatics would revere his fecal matter as if he's some messiah in gaming industry.

Ewww...

I use Steam, but I don't know what's so special about Valve themselves.

It seems they've failed on most hardware fronts actually. SteamOS isn't going anywhere and the Steam controller svcks. I have one.. and regret it.

VR seems to be very much in it's Testing phase. There's still no "must have" games aside from what seems to be product demos.

Plus it's very expensive. If it was a more affordable price and actually had games I can see this taking off, before then. Well there's no way that I'm going to drop $600 that's too much for me to even afford, let alone your average buyer. That's more expensive than current gen consoles.