The Darklord...DLJ...hit the nail squarely on the head with his earlier comments about resolution challenges and issues.
http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2013/04/impressions-oculus-rift-dev-kits-ready-to-bring-virtual-reality-to-the-masses/
The OR development team appears to be making impressive progress on all fronts...as attested in the article above. They seem close to nailing the consumer version. Except for resolution. I suspect they will have to make significant tradeoffs on retail pricing to overcome that hurdle. Because I believe it would be very damaging to launch this high potential product with a standard resolution threshold less than 720p-1080p per eye. They seem adamant about holding to a $399 retail price point. But I think they are boxing themselves into an unrealistic corner. I would gladly pay a premium for technology this exciting. especially if it can operate over multiple devices like...HTPC...game consoles...Mobile devices...portable HD devices like Kindle & Blu-Ray players...Auto links. I'd drop $699-$899 in a heart beat to get a 4k x 2k version of OR that is capable of giving me 1080p per eye. So I believe they need to expand their launch horizon. And prepare to launch a balls to the wall...high end...full HD version. Along with their $399 mass market version that is capable of minimally 480p per eye with Super Resolution Technology (SRT) embedded to eliminate pixel visibility. IMO 480p with "SRT" would be good enough for most people. Especially in a mass market model. If it eliminated the pixel blurring and pixel outline issues.
Now I say all of this while clearly sensing the incoming
Plasma Missle from DLJ
...who knows a whole lot more than me about the technical constraints facing the OR gents...in regards to trying to deliver a high resolution product to a low price point. In all seriousness...I would appreciate any light that anyone can shed on the reality of solving the resolution issues without incurring nosebleed retail price penalties.
My instincts tell me that all of the penalties can be overcome with high volume scale. But in that regard...the OR team could be caught between the proverbial rock & hard place. This is a stage 1 product. They may need a big sugar daddy like Samsung, Apple, Sony, or MS to descend and help them launch. But that comes with loss of control. And I would hate to see that happen to them. IMO big, bloated behemoths like those companies are where breakthrough innovative ideas and concepts like OR go to die.
http://www.nbcnews.com/video/in-game/51588065#51588065
http://tech2.in.com/news/gaming/dice-job-listing-hints-at-porting-frostbite-3-to-oculus-rift/871132Edited for additions below
http://www.youtube.com/user/goez69?feature=watch
The link above is the Skyrim Mod for PC referenced by the NBC news article below:
Yannick LeJacq, NBC News contributor – 6 days
Playing 'Skyrim' with the Oculus Rift is a 'dream come true'
"Bethesda Softworks announced rather unceremoniously last week that it had finished making new content for "The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim," to free up space for the studio's "next adventure," the survival horror game "The Evil Within." But that doesn't mean that "Skyrim's" many players are done exploring its massive open world, or that enterprising modders are finished tweaking the game to unlock even more of its dormant potential. Less than a week after the game was pronounced finished, one fan has already posted a video showing how he took "Skyrim" to the next level with the help of the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset.
YouTube user Chris Gallizzi posted a two-minute video of gameplay footage using the Oculus Rift over the weekend, calling the experience a "dream come true."
He added that the game's setting "take some adjusting depending on your sight" to match perfectly with the in-game action. Seeing as this is a home-brewed modification, these kinds of tweaks are understandable. This kind of personal modification is made possibly by Vireio Perception, a piece of open-source software that allows Oculus Rift users to customize games to become compatible with the headset.
Vireio has already been used to make popular first-person games like "Left 4 Dead," "Mirror's Edge," and "Half-Life 2" VR-compatible. But what's really exciting about the prospect of using a VR headset for an open-world game like "Skyrim" is it promises to augment all of the immersive qualities that truly bring such an expansive world to life. Companies like Bethesda are well-known for making gigantic worlds (like "Skyrim's") for players to romp through but scrimping on some necessary details like varied voice-over work and interesting storylines to truly flesh out the world. A VR headset like the Oculus Rift won't solve that problem, but enhanced immersion will at least make a developer more aware of its own shortcomings.
Watch Skyrim's Oculus Rift-powered gameplay below."
Edited by barrelbelly - 4/28/13 at 9:57pm
