Despite finding the idea of virtual reality fascinating, the thought of actually buying a VR headset, of taking the next step into immersive gaming, has always…kind of scared me. Those bulky headsets are just a bit intimidating, to be honest.
And yet, that all changed with the recent release of FNAF: Help Wanted. I’ve been a big fan of Five Nights at Freddy’s since the beginning, and after watching Youtubers like 8-BitRyan and Game Theory play what looks like the ultimate FNAF experience, I decided it was finally time to take the leap and buy myself a VR headset.
I looked online at prices, and the cheapest seemed to be PlayStation VR. Until you added those goofy looking controllers with the balls on the ends. With the price tag now rivaling the Oculus Rift, I decided it would make a lot more sense to get a better VR headset that could play PC games. Games on Steam seem to be pretty cheap, and I had heard good things about the Oculus Rift (it was actually the first VR headset I had ever even heard of).
So I ordered an Oculus Rift S from Best Buy and waited the few days for it to arrive. The online description said the headset required Windows 10 and USB 3, two things I most assuredly have. An Nvidia GPU is recommended, too. Well, another point in my favor. I even read that I can still use my Live Gamer Portable capture card for recording. Everything seemed perfect, until I looked again one final time, curious as to how exactly I would record virtual reality games with my capture card.
It was at this time that something previously unnoticed stood out to me. Um…what’s an MDP to DP adapter?
I searched online and realized that this refers to Mini DisplayPort and DisplayPort, respectively. This is a port normally found on Apple computers (I should have remembered, as I used to have a job working with MacBooks). Apparently, select Windows laptops have them, too. But not mine.
Adapters exist to alleviate the issue, but it would appear I need USB C for these to work, and again…I don’t have this, either. With the headset arriving tomorrow, I accepted with growing sadness that virtual reality may not be for me, after all.
Intending to return my order to Best Buy once it showed up, I did more research and found the Oculus Quest, a wireless headset. Alas, a headset that doesn’t require my laptop to have a conflicting combo of Windows and Apple features. I researched further and discovered that FNAF VR, along with other games I was interested in, were planned for release on the Quest in the future, as well!
It appeared that fortune had smiled upon me, after all. Perhaps the Oculus Quest will one day be mine. And then I can scare the heck out of myself with some FNAF goodness.
Yikes, what am I getting myself into?
For those of you who have a VR headset, is there anything else I should know before I purchase one of my own? What have been your own experiences with virtual reality? Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments below, dear readers!
Photo by Lux Interaction on Unsplash
VIRTUAL BASTION 
Reblogged this on DDOCentral.
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VR is in an interesting place right now. It’s less expensive than it used to be, but the technology is still new enough that many interested customers still can’t give it a try due to technical problems like yours. I’m sure these issues will be alleviated as time goes on and the technology becomes more uniform, but stuff like this still has me thinking that VR is never really going to be the “huge leap forward” for games some people seem to think it is.
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Yeah, unless they fix these kinds of issues, VR is not going to be accessible to many people. Most people can’t afford to just go out and buy a very specific laptop. Honestly, I don’t understand why Oculus ever thought it was acceptable to release a product that is only compatible with a very small number of laptops. As for getting a VR headset of my own one day, I’ll just keep waiting and see how things unfold….
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My Wife bought me a Vive last year, so I’ve been VR ing for about a year now, and generally very happy even though my system is probably near the low limit for what is necessary. I can’t fault the quality, but having wall mounted base stations is a bit of a committment.
Having said that, a number of my friends have PSVR which I’ve also been pretty impressed with. The headset feels more functional than the Vive, and the tracking is pretty good considering minimal setup. Although there is a hit in not being able to fully turn around and resolution (I believe).
The other good thing about PSVR is that the game lineup is pretty solid. VR pc gaming is actually a little patchy; steam store has the usual heaps of unfiltered noise with very few standout titles. Most of the best games are also on PSVR at the moment.
Well worth running the compatibility app of your thinking of going down the Vive route. As far as I remember it requires a HDMI port and USB connection, but doesn’t need to be usb3 (although you won’t get stable through vision without it)
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Thanks for the info! That’s very interesting about the PSVR. Perhaps it would be a better option if Steam really doesn’t have that many good games. Then I wouldn’t have to worry about a compatible laptop. It’s certainly something to consider.
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