There’s so many things happening in virtual reality and gaming lately, that I absolutely have to blog my opinion about it! Everything from Facebook Horizon, to the Oculus Quest headset, to the brand-new SL Blogger Network. Are you ready? Grab some tea and let’s have a chat!
Oculus Quest
Recently, I purchased an Oculus Quest as a gift for myself. Since then, I’ve been exploring the world of virtual reality and the many uses it can hold for different consumers. It definitely widens my view of the tech world and its social MMO pecking order. While I still love desktop games such as Second Life, VR is quickly becoming a primary go-to for entertainment for me.
What is the Oculus Quest, you ask? It’s a mobile headset you can use to experience and play in VR without the use of a desktop computer. Other virtual reality headsets require you to connect a cable to your personal computer in order to play a VR game. Quest does away with this by providing the games inside your headset. You can still use programs like Virtual Desktop to access your computer and play VR games with it, but it isn’t necessary to.
The Oculus Quest was released at the same time as the Oculus Rift-S, a device that does require you to link a cable to your PC in order to play games. Aimed at a more “hardcore gaming” demographic, Facebook seemed to be interested in finding what headset would capture consumers’ attention the most.
Well, they seem to have made their decision, because they’ve announced some groundbreaking things recently. First up, hand tracking for the Oculus Quest. Say goodbye to your controllers:
The second thing Facebook announced, was what seems to be a plan to turn Oculus Quest into a hybrid headset. Starting in November, you can use a USB cable to connect your Quest to a PC and play games without the use of a third party system. It’s called the Oculus Link:
My Prediction: Get The Quest Before the Holidays
If you were on the fence about what headset to get, go with Quest and get it before Christmas. Put that money into a jar and buy it ASAP if you can. Don’t wait until the holidays, because orders for the Quest might get backlogged again like they were during its release.
And when you buy it, be sure to get it from Best Buy! I got mine from Best Buy and my order was filled and ready to pick up in an hour’s time.
I’m like that stocks guy on CNN, right? I’m telling y’all, there’s going to be a mad rush for this headset as soon as Black Friday kicks off. The discount you might get then isn’t worth the wait on shipping you’ll have to deal with. Anyway, next subject!
Facebook Horizon
As you might know by now, Facebook has thrown their hat into the ring as the next big company to develop a VR MMO. They’re calling it Horizon:
Will I try it? Yes I will, and I’ll be reporting back on Juicybomb about it. I’m interested in getting in on its early beta and seeing how its world creation system stacks up. This looks like a game aimed at competing with Rec Room but trying to expand on what it could possibly be.
“But Cake, aren’t you worried about your data being compromised by this company?” you ask. …Eh. I don’t think I’m that special of a person for Facebook to give a damn about me. It’s not me they care about, nor anyone else. You mean nothing to a large corporation as a person. It’s your stats they want–what you buy, what demographic you are, what news you like.
As my social media presence primarily exists to sell art, I can game that system right back to get potential buyers and opportunities. It sounds really cyberpunk and kind of mercenary, but if they’re using me, why can’t I use them?
This is the world we’re coming to live in, y’all. We can’t stop it anymore. Any measure we’ve taken to prevent our world from becoming more cyberpunk has been screwed up by tech bros who saw Blade Runner and only cared about shiny neon lights and Japanese gynoids. We’re getting cool tech but everything comes at a price. Next!
Rec Room
Speaking of, I love Rec Room. I just wanted to say it was a mistake for me to write that off, because as soon as I got into paintball I understood how great social gaming in VR could be. I’ve met so many people (adults! actually adults!) there–people who, funnily enough, tend to hop in groups between RR, Altspace, and VRChat during hangout sessions.
More about that nomadic phenomenon some other time.
Second Life Blogger Network
A new blogger network curated by Second Life has been announced. If you run a blog, you can apply to submit your content to their feed.
So what do I think about it? I think there’s two people it serves: the Second Life player looking for ideas of what to do in-game, and potential Linden Lab investors. (Please note: I’m not saying there are new investors, I have no idea about that. This is just speculation of what this feed can be useful with.)
For new players, all they have to do is look at this feed and go, “Wow, look at all this cool stuff, I wanna go visit these links these bloggers list.” Or, “Wow, look at how nice these avatars look. I wanna look like them.” They’re shopping and tourism guides for the new arrival. Ever-updating brochures of things to do and try. Linden Lab can link the feed on their front page, say “Look at what our players are up to!” and that’s all you have to do to impress someone wanting to sign up.
For a potential investor, should LL court them in the future, the feed serves as an executive summary. A CEO with money to toss into some companies won’t have time to do an exhaustive search online about what some game is doing and its potential. This feed will provide that for them.
Kills two birds with one stone! What company wouldn’t make this move? It has its uses. Good for them.
Hypnospace Outlaw
Hypnospace Outlaw is a unique game covering an alternate timeline of Earth where it’s possible to surf the web while you sleep. If you don’t want to buy the game, watch a playthrough of it. It’s along the same tandem of everything we’ve talked about in this blog entry today:
After watching a playthrough of Hypnospace, I was using the internet when I got some stupid antivirus pop-up from the software I have. Then it hit me: we’re not doing anything different than we have before. It’s just the OS and stylesheets that have changed.
And that’s all I have for you guys! Sorry for the exhaustive entry, but I hope I left you with a lot to think about. Leave a comment if you have feedback! I’ll see you on a regular fashion post (lol) next time.
Song: Hypnospace Outlaw – Millennium Anthem
About Post Author
whats your Oculus username?