Virtual Reality Press Backlash Begins at E3 2015

As if following the Gartner script, going from a peak of inflated expectations over virtual reality and spilling right into a trough of disillusionment over VR, much of the press coverage around E3's many virtual reality announcements is rather sour:

BBC: VR 'disappoints' at E3 games show

Before the gaming expo got going, experts and analysts said they expected VR to feature heavily and for there to be demos of pioneering games that made great use of the technology. Those demos would be essential, they said, to convince people to buy what is likely to be an expensive chunk of hardware. But it did not turn out like that. In fact, VR hardly featured at all during the big news conferences. Sony talked about Project Morpheus for a couple of minutes during a presentation that lasted an hour.

Or from the LA Times: In reality, Project Morpheus, Oculus Rift aren't the most exciting things at E3:

For me, the most exciting trend at E3 was not VR. Instead, if one paid close attention to the games on the floor, it was clear that video game designers are continuing to push the medium into more honest, diverse and emotional spaces... Games like "Beyond Eyes" and Funomena's in-development "Wattam" are emblematic of a video game medium in transition, one increasingly split between big-budget and complex blockbuster wannabes — here's hoping you have 50 hours to complete one — and independent developers who believe an interactive medium is best when it's accessible and elicits an emotional response. I wanted to hug every one of "Wattam's" characters, and that sensation was achieved without an additional pair of glasses.

Much more of the same around the Interwebs. Part of this is media coverage Kabuki, creating a somewhat artificial counter-narrative to an equally pre-fab existing narrative. Then again, if there really was a mass of consumer interest in VR at E3, you'd see a lot less reporting like this.

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Comments

[Zobeid Zuma]

No. . . No, no, nooo!!!

I know how this ends. We went through the whole thing before with ARM+Linux Netbooks. They were hyped, and every computer maker announced they were coming out with models, and people like me eagerly waited for them to ship. . . and waited. . . and waited. . . and then companies started canceling the products. NONE of them ever shipped. Why not? The excuse was they were "rejected by consumers". Yeah, right. . . We all "rejected" a product that we never had any opportunity to buy!

I'm going to be severely ticked off in 2016 if I find myself sitting here with money in hand, unable to buy any VR gear because "consumers have rejected VR" and all the headsets have been cancelled.

[irihapeti]

major hardware makers follow major mass market content makers

every major mass market content maker (meaning game makers) has said that they have no firm plans to develop a VR version of their content/games. That they are taking a wait and see approach

as a EA SVP put it: "the company's past experience chasing every trend in gaming has left it circumspect about losing focus"

+

is not that VR isn't a good thing, is just that the majors can get serious burned when a product doesn't take off

i think that when it does take off (and it will but not in any soonish timeframe) then it will be driven by the indies, both hardware and content. When is proven then the majors will make their moves

+

i find it a little bit odd that some majors, like FB for example, move when they do

is understandable this tho. 3D content is not actual FBs forte to date. Doing what they did gave them a stake in this new for them field. Is still pretty odd tho, to splash out a billion or so dollars on this, even if you are as rich as

[irihapeti]

addo:

by indie I mean companies like LL, HiFi, that company Cory O. has gone off to do, etc

smaller companies who are willing to risk their whole bank on what they are wanting to accomplish. Something that the majors are always reluctant to do. Altho they (the majors) will quite often tip some money and/or resources (patent usage etc) into these risk takers

[Issa Heckroth]

.........and nobody saw this coming?

The whole thing is still too gawky and clunky. Walking round with your phone in your hand "became cool" at some point. Those visors will NEVER be cool. ever.

Ever.

and there are still so many technical hurdles to truly immersive VR that its unsurprising that its hard to get the public to care.

Most "normal people" I have talked to still find the concept rather impractical/creepy.

I am sure once all the ducks are in a row, the era of VR will come, but its not this time round.

[Jo Yardley]

VR will be big, will go global and will be in every household, bypassing the tv, soon.
If you've tried it, you've seen its potential and it just needs one big push, that push is happening now.

Walking around with a phone in your hand never became cool, it still isn't, you all still look like idiots.
The visors are not meant to be cool, most people will not be wearing them outside or even in public, just like most people don't play computer games in public or watch tv in public, much.
How many of us look cool now when you're behind your computer?
Nobody is there in their underpants, covered in pizza, their hair in a mess trying to clean coca cola off your keyboard?
No?
Must be just me then.

I'll be using VR at home, alone, enjoying games, movies and SL.
And just like now, there won't be anybody there staring at me.

Lots of hypes fail, many succeed.
People were sceptical of the wireless, the tv, the mobile phone but in the end if it is something people like using and want, and if there are enough of them that do, it will succeed.
If you've kept an eye on how things are going now you can see how desperately bad many people want this, how countless have been waiting for this for decades.

So my guess is that it will happen.
I've tried it, I've loved it, I want it, and thats after just trying the very dodgy 1st DK set of the rift.
It is an amazing experience I want more of.