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HTC Vive Reviews Thread

Shadowmask72
Honored Visionary

Here's a thread for HTC Vive reviews (please post any you find) as the official launch is hours away.

Note: If you're not interested in the Vive on the Oculus forums then don't click the topic or read it.

Cramgaming.com

https://youtu.be/wB2qXp2SSNI



Destructoid

"VR is here, and I have been sold as a believer. While the Oculus is a very strong VR headset, the Vive feels like it's in a league of its own comparatively. The big sticking issue is how the market reacts to the price long term, and if development of new games maintains a consistent pace."

Kotaku

While the Vive’s best moments are some of the coolest I’ve experienced in video games, I can’t recommend purchasing it right now. You’d be spending $800 on something that’s going to be much better after months’ worth of software (and maybe even hardware) revisions, and there currently aren’t enough great games to justify the investment.

The Vive really is something you should see for yourself, but if you want to try it, go to a store that’s demoing it, or make friends with somebody who already ordered one. I’m excited about what the future holds for the Vive, but the future’s not here yet. 


The Verge 8/10


    GOOD STUFF

  • Lots of innovative motion control-based games and experiences
  • Emphasizes motion control and body movement
  • Rich, customizable user interface
  • Solid construction
  • BAD STUFF

  • Heavy and ungainly
  • User experience can be glitchy and confusing
  • Many games still feel unfinished
  • Highest total cost for a VR headset


POLYGON 8/10

So yes, the Vive asks a lot from anyone buying the platform, but it gives just as much back, if not more so. Everyone has the same reaction after a demo, in our experience: They remark on how complicated it seems and how little they’d want to set one up in their own home, and then they get wide-eyed and want to tell you all about how amazed they are by the experience. Valve’s challenge is to get the second part of that reaction to overrule the first, and the company will have an uphill battle on its hands, but it’s off to a very promising start.

GAMESPOT

Before you take the plunge with Vive, you have to prepare yourself accordingly. Unlike Rift, Vive comes with strict spatial requirements if you plan to utilize its hardware's full potential. It's not the easiest suite of hardware to set up, nor is it as refined as Rift, but Vive delivers the most advanced VR experience to date, a luxury that comes at a cost and with compromises. Where Rift feel's like a VR headset built for mainstream consumption, Vive caters to the hardcore crowd that will stop at nothing to get the best VR experience. Over time, Oculus can presumably catch up when it releases its Touch controllers and sells individual sensors to expand Rift's interactivity and motion-tracking capabilities. But for people who can't wait, who are willing to go the extra mile right now, Vive is the only way to experience today's most advanced VR technology from the comfort of home.

ENGADGET 

The Vive is no doubt the geekiest thing I have in my home right now -- and that's saying something. It's an impressive effort by HTC, which has had a rough few years in mobile, and Valve. It's oh-so-close to being the Holy Grail of VR experiences. It's just too bad that ergonomics get in the way of truly enjoying it.

At the same time, I'm sure there's a market for the Vive, even in its current incarnation. Hardware geeks are known for sacrificing their bodies for the glory of technology, and I'm sure they won't have a problem with a few aches and pains for glorious, immersive VR.

Tested - 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GiDBp6OnsKY



IGN Review - 9.3/10 


AMAZING

The Vive's room-scale VR and motion-tracked controllers make it an incredibly powerful system.


Pros:
  • Amazing VR
  • Room scale
  • Motion controllers
  • Comfortable
Cons:
  • Tracking issues



System Specs: MSI NVIDIA RTX 4090 , i5 13700K CPU, 32GB DDR 4 RAM, Win 11 64 Bit OS.
381 REPLIES 381

edmg
Trustee
Note that the Destructoid review says it's actually a review of the same Vive Pre that's been reviewed dozens of times elsewhere. It's not the released consumer version.

Of course, it also says Vive is much better than Rift because roomscale, then that they don't play roomscale games very much because of the hassle of setting it up to do so...

bigmike20vt
Visionary
i think it is fair right now to admit room scale is amazing and the vive is a huge advantage there.... on the condition that all these sites come back once touch launches and then re-evaluates. I can only afford 1 HMD and this generation I have chosen to go with the rift.... but ful room fully tracked VR does excite the hell out of me long term and right now the vive is the HMD to offer the best experience of that.
Fiat Coupe, gone. 350Z gone. Dirty nappies, no sleep & practical transport incoming. Thank goodness for VR 🙂

Zoomie
Expert Trustee
Thank you so much for creating this thread.  I have zero issues with Vive reviews on the site but what I don't want to see is 5 different threads for each review.  Hopefully Cyber can keep things under control by merging similar content.  I'll read Vive reviews (of course) but many of us are still looking to discuss general VR and want to continue the existing threads without having to dig past 3 pages of propaganda.

I have zero doubts we're about to be flooded with glowing reviews of the Vive.  I also think most of the reviewers will be lazy, and will compare the Rift to the Vive + Wands.  In that light, every single review will choose Vive over Rift because room scale VR makes for better reading and more hits on the site.  It's a brand new experience and HTC has gotten there first.

For the members of this site who are getting both headsets, and who have generously offered to do a review for us:
Would you please do some reviews using third party programs like E:D or Project Cars?  We already know interactive controls are enough to completely overshadow any other details between headsets, and unfortunately this is going to taint most of the big-site reviews.  Comparing the Wands to 'nothing' doesn't really tell us much.  I'm fine if you describe how awesome the Vive Wands are, but I will find direct comparisons between similar HMD features much more worthwhile.

I'd love to hear how useful you find the front camera.  Please tell me which audio setup you prefer and whether FOV or SDE are an issue - and in what applications.  Talk about those dreaded 'god rays'.  Talk about long play-session comfort, eating, ambient noise, light leak, and whatever else you notice between the two.  Talk about how easy it is to clean!  Talk about whether the cord ever becomes an issue, either for length or design.

Just please don't default to the lazy "Vive is better because room scale".  We know, we get it.  That's why I'm in line to order the Touch.  We'll get more than enough of that from the major review sites.

Cheers,  

Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. - Arthur C Clarke

rat8cheese
Protege
"If you have the space for it, for my money, the HTC Vive blow the Oculus out the water as a long term investment."

I ordered Rift first on day 1 and still have it ordered but ordered the Vive 2-3 weeks ago when the 30 Rift launch games were released and I compared it to the "tech demos" of the vive.  Vive will be the keeper.  Every device has it's role, video game consoles are great for local social gaming with friends, PC for hi-fidelity games, and now VR.  Rift is simply games with a new perspective.  Vive is a new gaming experience.  I can't understand why anyone who has the minimal space wouldn't go with the Vive.  Is it the $200 price difference?  Who cares since you'll be paying on the back end for the Touch and still end up with a fragmented user base.   Saw a developer interview where they sat down with Valve and said the one thing they wanted was for Valve to ship a "complete" system.  Not a single add on peripheral in the history of gaming has been a success...and while Touch for Rift feels different as the controls can probably be patched in it still won't ever reach 100%.   

Oculus got me interested in VR as it did for a lot of people on here I'll bet.  I wish they did better, just don't understand how they dropped the ball.  With Facebook's money and backing how did they let a company who invested into VR after they did beat them to the punch with motion tracked controllers?

Anonymous
Not applicable
I very much want the Vive, I mean, I have it preordered, but I mean I very much want the Vive "features". I simply don't have the space for proper room scale. For social events I'll be dragging my computer out into the dining room as that's literally the only open 10'x10' patch of floor in my house! For the most part, the Vive will be a secondary HMD (Read: My wife's HMD) used for sitting/standing experiences with hand tracking...

For me the Rift wins, only because I can't realistically support room scale. When the kids move out I'll be turning their room into a holodeck...

That said I can't wait for Touch controllers.

edmg
Trustee


Vive is a new gaming experience.  I can't understand why anyone who has the minimal space wouldn't go with the Vive.


Probably because it's not a new gaming experience that we're very interested in. I may have a chance to play roomscale games for a few months after my Vive arrives, as it looks like I'll have to remove the bed from the computer room (aka spare bedroom) to fit the Omni in there, but I can't imagine I'll want to bother with such constrained movement once I have the Omni.

As I said above, even the Destructoid review that talked about how great roomscale games are compared to Rift games was written by someone who apparently didn't think they were actually great enough to be worth moving their PC to somewhere they could play them.

Does not compute, Will Robinson!

V-Walker
Adventurer
Of course, the majority of Vive reviews are going to compare it to rift, that is what customers have done. And of course in most cases the reviews are going to favour Vive over rift because that's what most customers have done. And there a list of very good reasons they (and us) prefer vive over rift, they are all spelled out in that review (and I'm sure Cnet's upcoming review along with Polygon, Endgaget, ars technica, forbes and pretty much any site that has had them both in) will also favour the vive.

That is what reviews are for, they are meant to tell a consumer who is faced with a choice which is the better choice at this time for the purpose both choices are made to serve.

We already have a very vocal "Pro rift" poster in this thread laying down some ground rules that we are supposed to follow when reading these reviews, apparently enlightening us as to what is 'fair' not, so can the opposite also be taken notice of, that to be fair to Vive we do not need a hundred posts in this thread telling us any of the following:

1. The reviewer is "Biased" because "reasons"
2. The Vive is "only reviewing better because of controls and touch will be out 'soon'"
3. The Vive is only better if you want to do roomscale

All of these points and have already been addressed in this first review (pre or final is of no consequence here they are all but the same except final is even more comfy and has bluetooth and better cabling).

1. The reviewers are not biased, can people finally accept that? Along with us users stating our preference not making us a "fanboy", it just means we like what we see from Vive and don't like what we see from Rift. Your favourite company can't win everything, or evertime, and it's really, really ok to "let go" of that emotional attachment, finally, in the face of undeniable positives for Vive when it comes to actual Virtual Reality (the  area that I'd wager almost 100% of users originally signed up here for including the most ardent "rift only" fan)

2. No the Vive isn't only reviewing better because it has controls, that touch will address (when? Latest rumour is it could be pushed to 2017 or at least for many on the waiting list - either way it's still an unknown as is their roomscale ability for fully robust tracking - there are already some tracking bugs showing up for rift even with just standing or fast head movements, see r/oculus for details). Vive is reviewing better not just because of controls, but as pointed out in the review, the ability to do seated, standing and roomscale RIGHT NOW. The front cam even for seated is an amazing and super useful thing to have (the review even said this alone makes the Vive the best HMD for seated too!), the comfort myth put to rest, the reviewer wore it for 8 hours, no ring on their face, no discomfort. Vive is super adjustable, nicely balanced and feels light even if it's not technically ligher than Rift. It has better face cushioning, no light leak around the nose, fits great for glasses and has convienience features that place it way above rift for every day use (all of this is written clearly in the review)

3. No, roomscale is obviously a genuine next level of VR and amazing, why anyone would want to be without that if they have the space and say they are fans of Virtual Reality is beyond me, but nonetheless that is not only why the review is positive. It's the combination of that ability RIGHT NOT along with "Best for seated" and having proper controllers RIGHT NOW. Also, comfort, features, and build quality (strong and robust, easy wipe clean etc)

As for how useful is the front camera? Well we don't need to live with it for weeks to know exactly how much its needed, even for seated. Anyone who was in a DK2 for a long time such as myself and many of you, know how annoying it was to be totally cut off and having to remove it to find things. In the rift, with glasses, the lack of cameras is even more annoying - reviews have stated that, once you are strapped in and finally get it just right (with glasses) you think "where's my controller" or want a drink etc and... off it comes again. Anybody already should know, if they've tried VR, that a front cam is kind of essential. I was shocked when rift CV1 didn't have one, as far back as crescent bay and DK2 we were talking around the net about how much it could do with a camera. That, and other strange ergonomic flaws are as they are for the purposes of form or design, or weight, but they were very bad decisions from oculus, and they will learn for generation 2. The lack of proper input bundled in is their biggest mistake (I see this written around the net and official reviews a lot), but the lack of all those little extras like Vive has it their overall mistake. That stuff adds up to a great experience in and for VR. Anyone who can deny that is more than biased. way more.

I know it's hard for anything or anyone that is pro-vive around here to be treated anything approaching "fairly" so I'm not sure why others who don't treat vive and those interested in it fairly are so fast to call out others as being 'unfair' (or disliking their posts for being as objective as possible while stating the clear and obvious positives to the Vive). It's time for that to stop no? You dont own oculus, you don't OWE oculus, they are big boys who can take care of themselves, and they need to work harder, a lot harder, to create a fully compelling VR system that will resonate as well as Vive with both hardcore VR fans and the general public. It's time to stop giving them a free lunch, it's a dis-service to VR to keep covering up for them or turning on positive vive posts/posters like this one.

If VR is your goal, you have nothing to lose by finally accepting Vive is a much better VR system, for the foreseeable future, and not to have to defend rift and its own plus points, veering into mis-information, to try and blur the differences. The reviews from impartial third parties are what sell one system or another (along with great word of mouth) so before burying infomation on a public forum like has happened a couple of times now with mine and other vive posts, I think it's time to stop, assess where you are coming from (is it pro VR or confirmation bias? is it fair acceptance of how Valve/HTC got so much right and Oculus got a lot wrong or is it just shouting over and chasing away any information or points of view that causes personal, emotional issues in your minds).

I'll copy and paste this reddit post that summed up the reviews key points, this forum and the dislike system is not a crutch for anyone's inability to handle objective and positive opinions and information on a competing product they haven't invested in. It's still going to get buried I'm sure but please ask yourselves WHY would you do that, as some of the biggest fans of VR on here? Maybe it's time you finally disconnected from brand loyalty, emotional attachment and the small confirmation biases and just let both systems BE, and live or die on their own qualities or flaws?

And of course we accept many people simply do not have room for roomscale (yet) but there's more to this than just that, also please remember a massive amount of people do have room for roomscale (inc myself)

See you in VR folks!

====

Key quotes

Summary

    If you have the space for it, for my money, the HTC Vive blows the Oculus out the water as a long term investment.

Comfort

    From my time with both headsets, the Vive feels more comfortable, and is better integrated with my existing PC ecosystem.

Room-scale experience

    You really want a living room, emptied of clutter, to use room scale tech properly.
    Room scale VR is the future of gaming

Seated Play

 The ability to see your keyboard and mouse via camera feed without taking my headset off, as well as the absense of Oculus weird nose gap, for me made the Vive a considerably better VR platform of choice for seated play.

Comfort

 I wore it for pretty much eight hours straight with minimal discomfort. The headset itself was lightweight and comfortable enough to wear for long periods of time.

Build quality

 The general build quality of the headset, alongside the motion controllers, feels incredibly solid. I feel like I could fall flat on my face or punch a wall without risking damaging the Vive.

Conclusion and comparison to the rift

 While the Oculus is a very strong VR headset, the Vive feels like it's in a league of its own comparatively.


=====



mire
Explorer

edmg said:
Of course, it also says Vive is much better than Rift because roomscale, then that they don't play roomscale games very much because of the hassle of setting it up to do so...


Ha, I noticed that too. "I moved my gaming PC from my office to the living room" followed shortly after with "Vive games just fit better into my existing ecosystem" or something like that; then "I haven't really made room scale games a part of my routine because moving the computer sucks". The cognitive dissonance is strong with this one.

Mr_Creepy
Rising Star
@V-Walker I check out /r/oculus Reddit all the time and i haven't seen anything about tracking problems on the other hand i remember Gizmodo writing an article about trying to break the tracking with fast movements and so on and failing to break it. Touch is not scheduled for a 2017 launch but a 2016 H2, i don't care about unconfirmed rumours. Also plenty of people have said they prefer Vive here in a reasonable manner and mostly everyone respect that some people have that opinion. I am sure plenty of reviews will state how close these two offers are and that very little divides them when taking into account that Rift can do roomscale when it gets Touch controllers.