First Oculus Rift Reviews: Hardcore Gamers Enthuse, Non-Gamers Still Skeptical

Now that the embargo for the first consumer model of the Rift has been lifted, the Interwebs is being flooded with reviews. Roughly summarized: Reviewers who are (or were) hardcore gamers love it to the point of wild hyperbole; reviewers who are not, not so much.

To wit:

• "The Oculus Rift surely might be the most momentous product launch of the decade." (TechCrunch)
• "[As] as close to being a brain in a jar as humanly possible." (The Verge)
• "Prologue to a new reality" (UploadVR)

On the other side, The New York Times: "A Clunky Portal to a Promising Virtual Reality":

The first batch of apps and games added up to a confusing, disjointed virtual reality landscape. In my tests, my reaction was more often “Why would I want to be here?” or “Why is this in virtual reality?” rather than “Wow.”

Or even more dramatic, from the Wall Street Journal:

VR’s Rising Star Isn’t Ready for the Mainstream

Oculus Rift is the 2016 product you hope your neighbor buys. You’ll definitely want to try it, but there’s little reason to own one unless you’re a serious gamer... [t]o become the next smartphone or Facebook, the Rift needs to be transformative. I’d gladly spend upward of $2,000 for my very own teleporter. Strap on a headset and suddenly I can scale Mount Everest, play with my nephew 3,000 miles away or beam into an enduring imaginary world? Bring it on. But while the Rift sometimes made me smile or duck, I never laughed, cried or felt moved, like I have with many plain-old movies.

All that said, the real reviews to watch are the non-journalistic ones from actual consumers who actually spent a lot of their own actual time and money on the Rift - the true test of whether word of mouth will grow the install base, or diminish it.

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Comments

[metacam oh]

so basically because the games it launched with arent that great, screw the whole damn thing? These virtual reality hot takes are the f'in worst!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Adeon Writer]

Makes about as much sense as it could possibly make.

Harccore gamers will have the monster PC needed to run VR properly, while non-gamers will probably have some cheap PC that will make their VR experience barf-inducing.

[sirhc deSantis]

I dunno...'brain in a jar' on my antique box has a certain steam punky vibe.
As always, when they hit 5 bucks I might snag one.