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The place to get VR Games, exclusivity, openness...

Kireriko
Sightseer
So, exclusivity. I've seen some discussions on it in various places thanks to the recently released Fallout 4 VR and LA Noire but I haven't seen it discussed here much... I personally don't know what to feel about it. Exclusivity can create some pretty good titles thanks to the developers getting more funding and support. It brings better polish for whatever VR system the game is developed for. But I also recognize that it blocks out a big part of the overall userbase of VR systems. I think it's even more ridiculous when a VR game is exclusive on the same platform, PC. In the end exclusivity is only there to make a consumer buy one VR headset over the other, or be bound to one store. It splits the userbase and I don't like it. I'm perfectly fine with titles being store exclusive. I just don't like when software that can be easily made playable on even more VR systems, are not. 

Let's say Oculus opens up their storefront to more VR headsets, what will happen? Opening up their store might reduce some sales of the Oculus VR system but it will also increase sales of them since more people will be exposed to the Oculus ecosystem. The Oculus Rift is also cheaper then the Vive so people will still buy it. WMR headsets are getting cheap but their tracking isn't as good. They will sell a lot more games, making their storefront more popular. Which is ultimately what they want? I don't think they are getting a lot of money from headset sales. They can still make store exclusive titles made for the Oculus Touch but at least they wont outright block other headsets from their store. 

Now onto Bethesda and Rockstar. Why do these big developers block/don't support half the VR userbase? I don't think they care much about profit since there isn't much to be had... Obviously they don't care about exposure because that they already have. They aren't exactly being paid more money like Oculus exclusives so they don't really have an incentive to keep it exclusive. SteamVR using OpenVR and all, it's easy to make a games usable on all VR headsets so why make it exclusive? Why only support one system?

If you forget about La Noire for a bit, Steam is the most open storefront and I believe it will be the place to get games if you want better compatibility with future headsets. If the game exists both on Oculus and Steam I will buy the game on Steam. Why shouldn't I? Even though Oculus stays in the game by offering some good discounts, I will still wait for a big sale on Steam to buy games, like the coming winter sale. As time goes on there will be a lot more headsets on the market and Steam will most likely support those headsets, gaining more users with different headsets. By the time Oculus actually opens up their storefront to more VR headsets, if ever, Steam will have increased its lead as the nr1 place to go to buy VR games.

Then we come to SteamVR, which is also a lot more open then Oculus Home/dash, atm. Users can actually create their own environments, controllers and add their own objects etc. The possibility of adding in extra tweaking into the SteamVR overlay is also quite nice. Like OpenVR-AdvancedSettings and InputEmulator. Wouldn't it be nice to change SS without restarting, to customize controls, change play-space size and so on all in Dash? Oculus Tray Tool in Dash? Yes please. Oculus Dash feels more smooth while SteamVR is a tad laggy but SteamVR offers a lot more user customization.


TLDR: I like openness and customizability. Will Oculus ever become more open? What do you think about exclusivity, whether it be an entire store exclusive to one headset or individual titles being exclusive that could easily support more headsets? Should we be fine with exclusivity just because we bought into a closed ecosystem? Thoughts?
13 REPLIES 13

Anonymous
Not applicable
What I find amusing, if a little strange, is that nobody in the video gaming press is asking how much HTC paid towards the development of Fallout 4 VR. The world and his wife wanted to know how much Oculus paid for Robo Recall but nobody is interested in the HTC/Bethesda deal. Very strange.

And nobody is asking whether there was an HTC moneyhat involved in LA Noire either. They MUST have part-funded development of that too for Rockstar to cut out half of their potential customers for the game, especially with a hardware lock.

Mr_Creepy
Rising Star

snowdog said:


Mr.Creepy said:

I think store exclusivity is fine, but I don't like games being hardware exclusive. I'm going to have to limit games bought on Home as I'm pretty sure I'm getting another VR brand in the future and all games bought on Home will be lost.



Nah, you'll be fine as long as CrossVR doesn't get run over by a bus or something 😮 😄 😄 😄


I see what you did there. :lol:

bigmike20vt
Visionary

Atmos73 said:

Vivers have had to live with exclusives since Oculus introduces them and Rifters have loved it. As soon as bigger titles come to Steam and Vive Rifters don’t love it. 

Karma is a bitch.

Thank you Bethesda I’m loving FO4.


Not true I was never a fan of exclusives within the same platform. My view is and was consistent (not saying it is correct) but no hypocrisy from my end. Complaining about oculus exclusives but being ok with vive ones OTOH............
Fiat Coupe, gone. 350Z gone. Dirty nappies, no sleep & practical transport incoming. Thank goodness for VR 🙂

kzintzi
Trustee

Atmos73 said:

Vivers have had to live with exclusives since Oculus introduces them and Rifters have loved it. As soon as bigger titles come to Steam and Vive Rifters don’t love it. 

Karma is a bitch.

Thank you Bethesda I’m loving FO4.


yeah, I was pissed off when Wipeout came to the PS1 but Nintendo didn't have it, then the N64 came out and they DID have it.. good times.


Though you are more than slightly incoherent, I agree with you Madam,
a plum is a terrible thing to do to a nostril.