What Happened to the VR Revolution?

I spent $800 on an HTC Vive last year. These days, I'm barely using it.

Granted, those first months were incredible. Every game was interesting, no matter how gimmicky. My headset was the ultimate party trick, especially since most weren't even aware that VR was a thing again.

Within moments of using an Oculus Rift for the first time, I went from skeptic to evangelist. It reached a fever pitch when I used motion controls, which made everything click into place—a new way to view and interact. I was genuinely enthused about what it could bring to games. And honestly, I still am!

The problem: there's not much to play. It doesn't help that Resident Evil 7, far and away the best reason to invest in a PlayStation VR headset, spoiled me. (Hopefully its exclusivity is dropped soon.) It was a genuine taste at a future where big-budget games invested in making VR core to the experience. RE7 is a fantastic horror game that's even better when paired with VR. But there aren't many games like RE7. These days it's mostly tiny, albeit interesting, experiments.

I took a look at Sony's own list of upcoming VR games, written at the time the hardware launched, and pretty much everything on that list has come out. Where's the next RE7? How come Outlast 2 didn't ship with VR support? That should be required for any new horror game.

I got to thinking about this because Sony sent me an early copy of Farpoint, a story-based VR sci-fi shooter. I haven't had a chance to play it yet, but theoretically, it's what I've been looking for. (Fingers crossed.) VR needs more of this ASAP.

Granted, E3 isn't far off. It's possible that Sony and other developers are sitting on a trove of VR games that'll start filtering out this summer and beyond. Of course, it's not encouraging that Oculus decided to remove themselves from the show floor, and the company hasn't shown any signs of holding another press conference. (The last one didn't go very well, and Oculus has been trying to stay out of the spotlight, ever since the Palmer Luckey debacle.) As for the Vive? Vive is doing its own thing. Maybe we'll hear about those Valve games, soon? Ha ha ha?

I still believe in VR, but it's no longer about sheer potential, it's about games. For folks who've taken the VR jump, have you been playing anything lately? And for the VR curious, what's holding you back?

Let us know in today's open thread!

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