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The Rift gets a nice verdict over its competitor

Zenbane
MVP
MVP
A great article recently published that performs a fair and thorough analysis of high-end HMD options:
I’m a VR journalist who has owned a Rift, Vive and Hololens for longer than most people on this planet and I’m going to answer the question about which is better the Rift or the Vive
Right now though, even though I regard the Oculus as having only slightly inferior tracking with two cameras I still use my Oculus Rift more
VERDICT: Get the Rift, but buy your VR Apps on Steam VR to be future proof.

Full article:
https://medium.com/@micah31/vive-v-rift-what-vr-ar-need-to-become-mass-market-items-5a51b92837d

The biggest take-a-way is that the next round of competition will be determined by the HMD manufacturer that offers the most portability while still maintaining visual quality.
20 REPLIES 20

jayhawk
Superstar
I hope the author clarified that software bought from Steam still requires more steps to get software started. I was going to buy everything I could from Steam. I realized at some point I didn't entirely trust Steam as much as I did Home so that's where I buy my software. If some day it all comes crashing down I think I'll make it through ok.

Zoomie
Expert Trustee
Seems like he agrees with what most of us think on this forum.  Decent read that gets a lot of stuff right.
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. - Arthur C Clarke

Shadowmask72
Honored Visionary
Pure speculative reasoning aside. All hail Steam VR then. :smirk:


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

Anonymous
Not applicable
Bollocks. I'm giving my money to Oculus when I have a choice because Valve have been doing FUCK ALL with the money I've been giving them over the years. I've been with Steam right from the beginning and the only good use of my money by Valve was them releasing a sequel to Left 4 Dead, which imo wasn't as good as the original.

No Half Life 3. No Half Life 2 VR. No Portal 3/Portal VR. No Left 4 Dead 3.

They're a bunch of complete CUNTS as far as I'm concerned.

Zenbane
MVP
MVP

jayhawk said:

I hope the author clarified that software bought from Steam still requires more steps to get software started. I was going to buy everything I could from Steam. I realized at some point I didn't entirely trust Steam as much as I did Home so that's where I buy my software. If some day it all comes crashing down I think I'll make it through ok.


I think the author just threw Valve and HTC a bone by recommending Steam. Theoretically it is true that purchasing software on Steam is more future-proof than from Oculus Home. However, I don't see Armageddon coming in the future anytime soon and Steam has always been garbage to me even before Oculus Home came around.

But from a "future proof" standpoint, Steam does make more sense... on paper, in theory, etc. But I do not recommend it in practice 😛

CrashFu
Consultant
Developers hosting software on Steam have zero obligation to keep their Rift support updated, or even to make sure claimed VR support works properly in the first place, nor is there any reason to believe Valve will continue "supporting" VR when it makes up less than 1% of their business in the first place and they've gone an entire year without even giving their own VR system proper support...

If you want to "future proof" your VR experiences, you'll stay as far away from Steam as possible, and ONLY buy VR content from the VR-exclusive platform associated with your hardware.  It's like, if you're going to buy parts for your car, do you buy them from the brand's licensed dealer, or from your local junk-yard?  Sure, the guy at the junk-yard might cut you a better deal, but is he going to take responsibility if those parts don't fit or break a month later?
It's hard being the voice of reason when you're surrounded by unreasonable people.

Zenbane
MVP
MVP
I like the analogy where Steam is a Junkyard. And wasn't "Hover Junkers" Steam's first major VR software title? How fitting 😛

zork2001
Heroic Explorer
At this point having owned them both at launch and having a 360 setup with both of them I like them both for different things. When it comes to sitting at your desk developing or just messing around with anything in VR Oculus is hands down better, the fact that it is lighter and does not weigh down on your neck as much so you can get contactable in a chair and turn your head in a chair; the touch controllers don't stick out and are light so you can use them with your wrist while your arms are laying on your chair arm wrest and not have to worry about them smacking against on your desk or anything. 

When it comes down to standing  most of the time i still prefer the vive, sure the tracking is better but also it seems a little more immersive, not sure if it has a slightly bigger field of view, seems like with the Oculus I am always seeing the center divide with my eyes witch is distracting or I am noticing the nose hole, with the vive you feel a little more in it. It might even be better if I can ever get my hands on there new head strap.

pyroth309
Visionary
I actually have the opposite experience after using both. I feel more immersed in the rift as I'm very distracted by the Vive's screen door effect. Different strokes though and it's good that we have options.