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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

VizionVR
Rising Star
First off was 'The Blu'. It was absolutely incredible. We've all seen the whale encounter. As incredible as it is in VR, it was actually the least gratifying experience when compared to the other two. The coral reef and jellyfish experience...words can't describe how amazing it is, same can be said for the angler fish and bioluminescent creature experience. I was wrong when I said that hand tracking is optional. I mean, IT IS optional but being able to play with jellyfish and coral plant life and use a flashlight to explore...again, no words do it justice. I don't know how long it takes to complete the three experiences. Guessing, I'd say it was about 45 minutes total. The Blu is the PERFECT first time experience.

Then I jumped into Apollo 11. I've been following/supporting this title since it first appeared on Share. Even though I played earlier versions of the demo it didn't prepare me for the final product. It's a beautiful, highly accurate recreation. More of an interactive documentary than an experience. Watching this made me realize the importance of VR content in the classroom. The visuals are astoundingly beautiful. The editing is well done. There are two ways you can experience this one. Story mode, where you are simply along for the ride, and interactive mode, where you can help the story along by hands-on participation. I definitely need to get back in and experience the participation mode.

Then I jumped into Realities. Whoa. Roomscale photogrammetry at its absolute BEST! This is basically a virtual tour guide. You enter a perfectly rendered, photorealistic room and can freely walk around or teleport if you don't have the space or cannot physically walk. I chose to remain seated for this one. Placed about the explorable areas are little pamphets you can pick up. These pamphets offer additional information about the area you're in. It was interesting. It's probably not going to appeal to gamers, but we're quickly realizing that VR is much more than gaming. The technical aspect alone gets a high rating in my VR book. 🙂

Let's see...what was next...I don't think I did anything else before jumping back into Valve's 'The Lab' to finish out the unplayed demos and my evening. 🙂
Not a Rift fanboi. Not a Vive fanboi. I'm a VR fanboi. Get it straight.

DrOculus
Adventurer

przecinek said:

They must have shipped it with the wrong firmware. One of the controllers wasn't pairing at all, after a bit of looking around (mostly /vive reddit as official help files were pretty useless with advices like "make sure you're controllers are charged" lol) I managed to pair it via USB. This is when I got the "outdated firmware" warning sign. I'm not sure why normal SteamVR firmware update didn't work but my controllers sure look CV not DK1 🙂 Rounded end and everything.

P.S There's a thread on Reddit about a guy who got Vive Pre in his package and HTC support keeps telling him it's the same as CV 😉




Yeah i noticed that thread on the vive reddit...apparently its all sorted now and he`s getting new parts shipped Monday/Tuesday.

Not sure if this is any help to some of you with the steam beta...
https://www.reddit.com/r/Vive/comments/4fs6vx/reminder_steam_beta_branch_breaks_steamvr/

https://www.reddit.com/r/Vive/comments/4frey3/anyone_else_having_trouble_with_the_latest/


Shadowmask72
Honored Visionary
Runs off to download Realities - Holy moly 12 GIG!!!


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

Shadowmask72
Honored Visionary

Just posted my full Vive review on my website and YouTube channel.

Cramgaming.com review. (text version)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wB2qXp2SSNI

Note: Mirrors do have a profound effect on the base-stations tracking ability. Supposedly the issue was fixed but I guess this depends on the a) the size of mirror and b) the play area size c) angle of the base-stations.




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

SickleFoot
Protege
Thanks for the review.

DrOculus
Adventurer
This looks an interesting game coming to the Vive "The SoulKeeper VR"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kMru44xId4

SlimBoyFat
Adventurer
So I received my Vive yesterday! I hadn't planned on getting one as I had a DK2 and preordered CV1. However, when the CV1 delay rumours started, my delivery estimate ended up getting bumped to the end of June, and I also heard that because of the Vive CC debacle new orders were getting an April shipping estimate. So on April 2 I ordered a Vive and after only three weeks of waiting it's turned up. No idea how I managed to jump the queue but I'm very happy I did.

The most amazing thing? Room scale and the controllers. Honestly, I saw VR as a way for me to further enjoy my Sim racing hobby, I saw it as a way to get inside the cars I was racing in game. I hadn't really considered the standing or moving around experience. Add to that the controllers and it's suddenly a completely different beast. Interacting with the virtual world via them is just so intuitive and feels right.

Visuals are a step up from the DK2. It's not like going from SD to HD but it's lots of little improvements that add up to a significant improvement. FOV is fine, it can always be bigger in any HMD but perfectly acceptable. The increased resolution is nice and I really haven't noticed the SDE. It was a distraction in the DK2 but only see it in Vive if I go looking for it.

And that is just from a couple of hours in The Lab last night. I've still got so much to try and can only imagine what future experiences are going to be like.

I'm pretty sure I'll keep my CV1 preorder. I'm the sort of guy who hates to choose sides as I hate to miss out on any gaming tech I can get my hands on. I've owned just about every console since the snes so see no need to choose sides in VR, I've got PSVR preordered also for example.

And one more thing to add, I'm in my 40's, my earliest gaming memories are tape loading Elite on an Acorn computer and being amazed by the line drawn 3D visuals. We are incredibly lucky to be alive and gaming in such times with such unbelievably fantastic technology. Just enjoy it and don't worry too much what the other side are doing 😉
Intel i7 4770K @ 4.5 GHz | Asus Z87 MAXIMUS VI HERO | 16GB 2133MHz | GeForce GTX 780Ti 3GB GDDR5 | Samsung 500GB SSD | Thrustmaster TX | Occulus Rift DK2

Shadowmask72
Honored Visionary
Thanks for posting. It's always good to hear people are happy with the current tech rather than having high expectations dashed away.


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

VizionVR
Rising Star
The ifixit Vive teardown. For optimal enjoyment read in a seductive voice with slow sexy music.
https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/HTC+Vive+Teardown/62213

Not a Rift fanboi. Not a Vive fanboi. I'm a VR fanboi. Get it straight.

...your post or the teardown? ok i do it for both