Maybe not a popular opinion right now... but I'm so glad there's at least one brand out there that isn't jumping the 'VR'/'AR' - bandwagon.
I've tried to get into VR with the oculus and the VIVE, but no, it's just not for me. Happy to see Nintendo do what they do best: come up with a great formfactor, but let games be games.
I like VR, but I agree with you. I'm happy Nintendo is trying something different again, even moreso that this actually looks like a good idea (as opposed to the trainwreck of product and marketing that was the Wii U). It's great to have companies focused on different things, helps make gaming better overall.
A big part of the 3DS launch was AR [1][2]. They actually used it in unique ways. They haven't yet gone to head based VR/AR but device level like mobile was part of the 3DS pitch/features.
Don't know if you own a 3DS, but personally I never used AR again beyond the 5 minutes after unboxing and I got one pretty soon after launch. Is it used in titles in any meaningful way?
This is totally not a meaningful use, but one that surprised me when I stumbled across it:
Bravely Default, the Square-Enix RPG, had an intro where a fairy crawled out of my carpet and flitted around. I don't remember any more AR in that game, but it was kind of a neat gimmick that I hadn't seen since unboxing the handheld.
They might have made a big deal of it at launch but there's barely any gameplay there and I personally didn't use the AR for more than 10 minutes after I first got the 3DS.
I am a big believer in the future of VR (and possibly AR). But even if it succeeds, there's still a big market for a device like the Switch. It's just a completely different category and good to see what looks like an innovative game console focused on games as we know them.
If VR technology doesn't advance fast enough to solve its current issues (nausea, lack of DoF and gravitation) in the near future, we will likely enter a period of stagnation like the AI Winter.
Totally agree. The nature of VR is such that it's as immersive an experience as possible, which just isn't best platform for every type of media consumption. I think it will become more of a niche thing once the hype dies down.
I disagree. I think it's a massive lack of imagination on the part of manufacturers that has led to mediocre deployments.
I think your comment reflects a sentiment that I agree with which is that HMD based systems today do not give the same degree of awe that happened when the NES came out - or even the playstation.
I'd rather see Nintendo invest heavily ($5BN+) in an AR VRD and infrastructure that changes the landscape. But nobody seems to want to do that. Again I chalk it up to lack of imagination/leadership.
AR needs better hardware still. It needs very powerful GPU:s and processors, running at very low power with good and yet lightweight batteries.
While we probably can produce great AR content today and produce headsets to display it, it will likely take almost another decade before it can be made portable in something you WANT to use.
I've tried to get into VR with the oculus and the VIVE, but no, it's just not for me. Happy to see Nintendo do what they do best: come up with a great formfactor, but let games be games.