Six years ago, the social media giant bought Oculus, the VR pioneer, for $ 2 billion. Facebook has been trying to make VR right since then and is getting closer. The new Oculus Quest 2 headset has its flaws, but it’s generally the most satisfying device of its kind. And the price is right; at $ 300, Quest 2 costs the same as other hot video game consoles, such as the Nintendo Switch or Microsoft Xbox Series S.
Only about one-fifth of Americans have ever tried a VR system, let alone purchased one. This is partly due to the fact that many early versions had to be connected to an expensive high-power PC or at least to a Sony PlayStation 4 or 5.
Quest 2 is an independent system, meaning the headphones are the computer. This is made possible by a new computer chip from Qualcomm that has enough firepower for such tasks. Along with the headset, you receive a pair of game controllers, one for each hand. When you’re in a game, these controllers look like anything they should be – a fist, a .45 pistol, or a light sword.
You won’t be surprised to learn that you’ll need to connect Quest 2 through a Facebook account. Probably not a dealbreaker. We’ve already signed up, haven’t we? However, it means that Facebook has come up with a different way to monitor your every move – in this case literally.
Quest uses a series of four headphone-mounted cameras to scan your surroundings and help you set up a safe play area. Using a game controller, “paint” an edge on the floor. If you cross it, the game disappears, replaced by the live video of the room, so as not to trip over the furniture. You can also activate this function manually by touching the side of the headset.
The headset uses a motion detector and a gyroscope to detect head and body movements. Look up and see a sky full of stars, not the ceiling in the living room; take a look over your shoulder and there’s a monster sneaking up on you.
I have an unusually large head and I wear glasses to start with, so I found Quest 2 a little too comfortable for perfect comfort. The adjustment lasted about a minute each time I put on the device, partly because it was attached to the head with a cheap-looking and cheap-looking elastic strap. Oculus charges an additional $ 50 for an “elite strap,” a plastic device that attaches to the back of the head and would likely provide much better support. For $ 130, the elite strap also includes an auxiliary battery to extend the playing time beyond the two to three hours you can expect from Quest’s built-in battery. And for another $ 80, I could order a set of prescription lenses from the online eyewear dealer FramesDirect. Then I could play without my glasses.
Overall, the Quest 2 isn’t nearly as good as the Sony PlayStation VR headset, the most comfortable I’ve tried. But who wants to be tied to a car?
There isn’t a huge library of VR games, but I’m not bored. Not when I can be with my favorite bastard in the Star Wars game “Vader Immortal.” In fact, it’s a series of three mini-games, each priced at $ 10, in which you’re recruited as the Dark Lord’s newest apprentice. There’s a light sword here, but what I really liked was the total immersion in the Star Wars universe of old, stingy spaceships, bloody robots, and vast alien landscapes.
Or for a period full of rage, there is “Pistol Whip”, a musical rhythm game different from “Just Dance” or even the old “Guitar Hero”. Only in this game you are armed with a gun, not a Fender Stratocaster. Your goal is to take everyone to John Wick and shoot down a number of potential assassins, while hiding the incoming fire and avoiding the various obstacles, all in the propulsive rhythm of lounge music. After a few rounds, my locked body on the desk ached, but I grinned like a happy madman.
I woke up wishing the family could see what I saw as I ran away. In fact, I can, in a way. The Oculus smartphone app – after all, the best way to purchase additional content – offers a YouTube-like “casting” feature so you can display a two-dimensional live stream of your gameplay on any phone, computer or smart TV on the network.
For a break in action, you can find some great VR videos. But Quest 2 really wins a game machine. For the first time in years, it feels like VR could be the next important thing.
Hiawatha Bray can be accessed at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeTechLab.