Is VR Making Progress Towards Becoming Mainstream?

Virtual Reality, or VR, technology has been one of the hottest topics in gaming for nearly two years now. We’ve come close to this point in the past with motion controls and 3D televisions, but now that VR has finally evolved and is available for consumers nearly everywhere, is making a positive push towards the mainstream market?

VR officially released with a resounding bang nearly a year ago, but the high cost, multiple accessories and demanding gaming PC/console have made things difficult for the casual households to get their hands on the latest in technology. Developers haven’t let that stand in the way of pushing more and more highly praised titles further into the VR spectrum.

The motion control schemes lasted long enough for the majority of fans to realize there was still something missing. There was a great sense of immersion, but placing yourself in front of a TV with motion controls is hardly scratching the surface of where we could be with future tech. So what did the brains behind modern (gaming) technology accomplish: a feeling of complete immersion and engulfed players in surreal environments only featured in video games.

The 3D element in video games only broke out about a half decade ago, but has seen lower values as the time passed by. There were truly great instances when this tech worked but it still felt gimmicky. While a few games offered a complete revamp of 3D imaging throughout their title, most games included only little, if any, dabs of the latest tech of 3 dimensional video output. So how can we expect anything different from VR.

The truth is, we can’t but what we do know is that developers seem more eager and willing to get their hands on one – or all – pieces of VR hardware. There’s still much to work out with the technology, but it’s all there, and many VR titles are starting to receive overall positive feedback. The racing genre is praised for the continued VR support, sticking players in the mix of real-life racing situations for an experience only thought of in 80s movies.

As time moves forward, and especially after this year’s holidays, we can expect to see the VR tech continue to rise. With huge titles like Bethesda’s Fallout 4 and Skyrim receiving VR support, the top racing titles releasing this year with outstanding virtual experiences, who knows what the future holds for the VR equipment.

Do you have VR that gets use regularly? Let us know your thoughts on the next wave of immersive gaming!