Oculus Rift – Virtual Reality Headset

10 reviews for Oculus Rift – Virtual Reality Headset

1. 

   Rated 4 out of 5

   Paul Stuart – March 9, 2017

   Paired with Touch Controllers, a low profile but solid experience. Less motion sickness, better tracking than PSVR.I ended up with the Rift primarily by accident.As a shameless fan of anything virtual reality and/or clever interface, I was ecstatic to learn about PSVR coming to the PS4. I fought to acquire it on launch day, loaded up on titles, and…found myself sadly distraught over all the motion sickness, poor controller tracking, and a bulky headset that literally cut off circulation. I ended up returning it.Needless to say, it took a lot of tech demos and considered thought before even pondering going back to the VR well. While I loved the Vive’s immersion, the helmet was simply too bulky, the thought of setting up sensors on my walls seemed like way too much work. Although the Rift demos didn’t blow me away by any means, the touch controllers were simply fantastic, the headset comfortable, light, and intuitive.When Oculus finally dropped the price for the headset and touch controllers, I took the plunge. Worth noting, is I already had a VR ready computer. I’m uncertain whether I’d invest $1000 solely to use the Rift.The most glaring difference between the Rift and PSVR is the farewell to motion sickness. On the PSVR, there was an omnipresent lag and motion tracking issue which produced immediate sweats and dizziness. All the Sea Bands and ginger in the world did nothing. I’m yet to encounter this with the Rift, period, although I’ve also shied away from car racing games, for instance.Moreover, most Rift titles are intended as experiences versus games. Yes, there are awesome offerings out there that truly maximize the experience. Still, immersion is what I was seeking…and I found it tenfold. Manipulating objects by touch and push, great physics, plus near perfect tracking is what I was looking for. This checks all those boxes, and with little cord bulk.Unfortunately my play area – at 5’x5′ – is a bit small, and limits selection of certain titles. Also, my video card lacks a DVR port, so extending the cable from the helmet is not a possibility. I know full well that a third sensor and bigger room will create a better experience, also open up a wide array of Steam VR games I can’t play because of said space.The best recommendation I can provide is to be realistic with your VR expectations. Do you require games, immersion, or true virtual environments? The price will increase, in tandem, from PSVR to Rift and finally Vive.Most importantly, try them all out before buying. On the PSVR motion sickness bit, check out YouTube videos of games; even without the headset on, you’ll get a good sense of susceptibility to problems. If you have a PS4, $400 will open up a terrific library. Even more so the Pro model, that offers some reduction in lag.Best Buy and Microsoft Retail offer demos of the Rift and Vive, respectively. The Vive’s 360 degree movement is awesome. If you have the space and budget…and don’t mind the additional setup…this may be for you. If you’re wanting something a bit more accessible, the Rift will check the box. The Vive and Rift are significant graphical upgrades over the PSVR…but even these are limited in comparison to traditional games (to afford for needed processing power).Most importantly, buy from a place that allows returns. While the retailer made an exception for the PSVR, I played it safe with the Rift. VR is prone to buggy hardware; don’t take chances. Also, it may not be for you, period, due to motion sickness. It’s not a sign of weakness, rather is what it is. Last, you may simply be unimpressed. I’m giddy playing an Early Access game of virtual ping pong for 30 min at a time. This may not be your cup of tea.There’s lots of better reviews out there in terms of specs and comparisons. I’m hoping this at least provides a glimpse into experience. I’ll answer questions in the comments section, if you’d like.**UPDATE – May 2017: I’ve now had this for a few months, and I’m still pretty pleased with it. Game selection (on Oculus Store) remains lacking, but what is there works quite well. I also wish Steam Store support was better, but that is – after all – intended for Vive first and foremost. The Oculus Tray Tool is now a must for the USB 3.0 card I purchased, also for better integration with Steam Store. The extension cords (USB and HDMI to DVI) I purchased work well.If I have a quibble, it’s the lack of text clarity. I understand this a resolution issue, and one can only do so much unless they’re packing a $1000 graphics card.**

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2. 

   Rated 4 out of 5

   Mitchell F – May 22, 2017

   A fantastic hardware introduction to the world of VRAn excellent headset with a good library of games. I wish that the Oculus also used Steam, but I understand why they do not (HTC Vive partnership). Two libraries (one for Rift, one for Vive) is a bit tedious to maintain but one does what one must to experience both headsets. The initial games are good, but so far are mostly horror-based (lots of zombies, blood/murder mysteries, etc.), but that is what first gen is. We will soon get to games that really fulfill the potential of VR.The introduction/tutorial games for the Rift are okay; playable but nothing to write home about. These two tutorials, in contrast to the Vive’s demo software (“The Lab”), are a sad, pale comparison that really don’t show off what VR can be/do very well. Point of order: I have played and replayed the Vive demo software multiple times, and will continue to go back to it for a palette cleanse between major titles. After playing through the Rift tutorials, I doubt I will ever visit them again unless someone asks to see them. Fortunately, your Oculus Rift VR library will fill up with games far more exciting and thrilling than the tutorial (even though that is a very low bar).People have asked me about a number of factors related to the headsets, such as refresh, whether I get any headaches from extended play, etc. Maybe I am not sensitive enough to notice, but the visuals on both headsets are fantastic. I have experienced no headaches of any sort (nor have any of my guests), and I have not seen any significant difference in resolution or refresh worth mentioning. What I have noticed, however, is that when playing some of the games (e.g. Robo Recall on the Rift or BattleZone on the Vive), I find myself (and some of my guests) sweating after more than a few minutes of gameplay, which tells me that the VR aspect is fully immersing me and my guests. Keep those dry wipes handy to clean the visor face pads when trading off!It’s really too early (as far as I am concerned) to say that one headset is categorically “better” than the other. Until such a time as we have more game titles that we can compare against, it’s somewhat like comparing first-generation Xbox One to first-generation PS4; it’s just too close of a race to call until we have more titles stretching the hardware’s capabilities. That said, there is one pretty clear pro and con for the Rift that I think are fair points to make:PRO: The thinner, single-cable solution of the Oculus Rift is much more manageable and less trip-likely than the thicker/fatter multi-cable bundle of the HTC Vive. This makes standing and moving around much more comfortable and somewhat less dangerous. I know that both headsets are working on wireless systems, but until those are realities, this is a solid win for the Oculus Rift.CON: My ONLY real negative issue with the Rift is that it does not really allow for full 360-degree gaming. As soon as you turn away from the front-facing sensors, you are told (usually via text overlays on your game) to turn back towards them. This is something that the Vive does far better than the Rift (since Vive places a sensor in front of and behind you so it can always track you no matter where you turn or walk to). Fortunately, most VR titles for the Rift (or even the Vive, for that matter) don’t require full 360 yet, but mark my words: it is coming. I hope Oculus is working out how to do that with their headset. Right now, the Rift is very much a “stand there and take it; turn your head and cough” VR experience, whereas the Vive games usually invite you to look around, turn around, move (not just teleport), and truly interact with your game within your VR play space.At this early stage in the VR lifecycle, either headset will serve you well, and having both allows you to experience all there is to experience.

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3. 

   Rated 3 out of 5

   Amazon Customer – April 1, 2017

   I thoroughly enjoy this system, and use it at least 4 hours everyday, however I do have some thoughts.‎ One thing they don’t mention is if you do not have the 5mm DVI Video Cable or similar way to connect both the Oculus HDMI cord and your monitor to your video card at the same time, you cannot use the virtual desktop programs, or switch to your VR display while playing games like ARK and others, that allow you to use VR, but don’t require it to play. As far as the Oculus goes I recommend you wait to see witch one of these Third-Party VR Headset providers will come out on top in the next few years. Your really not going to miss much until VR becomes the standard medium for video games or one or more of the major game producers starts putting out games built from the ground up for VR. In summery: Oculus is a fun system to use, but there really isn’t very much for it; yet. Be sure to order a 

   Cable Matters SuperSpeed USB 3.0 Type A Male to Female Active Extension Cable 5 Meters/16.4 Feet

    or similar device, if your planning on standing to play, using Three Sensor Tracking, or using the Oculus Touch Controllers, your going to need it. Also if you plan on sharing the Rift headset, by witch I mean Letting Anyone else use it, Ever; You may want to grab a set of the Disposable Oculus Rift Mask Inserts.

   T&B Disposable Oculus Rift CV1 VR Mask Hygiene White Replaceable Blinder Replacement Accessories for Oculus Rift Virtual Reality Headset 50 Pc

    Its kind of gross when you go to put it on after someone and its cold and damp from their sweat collecting on the removable band. Speaking of this band, the one that comes with the set dose a great job of keeping sweat from your eyes while playing. After a 10 hour playing session my first day I felt no pain nor did I have any lasting marks. The headset its self is quite lightweight and comfortable when wearing it. Three strap system, goes on like a gasmask for a tight and comfortable fit. Straps tighten quite well, I over tighten because I enjoy a snug, unmoving fit and have not noticed any overall looseness in the straps . There is only a slight indention in my face from having to slide my glasses into the headset before I put it on. Product Note: If your glasses do not fit inside the headset there is unfortunately no way around this. Some people report not having a problem with picture quality, but if your vision is anything like mine, terrible without my glasses, you’ll need them. You should try to find a couple real life systems, Oculus rift, HTC VIVE, etc., to see if your frames will fit. The eye slot on the Rift is fairly wide and as long as your frames are not to big you should be fine. For most tittles I can see fairly well without my glasses, however, your more graphics orientated programs, such as visual novels for example, I feel like I’m missing something. There is a way to adjust the lenses some, and it helps but its not the enhanced, or at least better than my own, vision I was hoping for. The best game I have played so far is a free one, that came with the set, at the time, Robo Recall. (The set I got was the 

   Oculus Rift Virtual Reality headset + Oculus Touch Controllers + Oculus Rift Earphones Bundle

   , but Robo Recall says it comes with any purchase of the touch controllers.) I recommend you play this game first and focus on the movement system. Its strange at first, but after you get used to it you will be back on your way to becoming the beast you were in other console and PC games. The Robo Recall movement system is pretty standard for the Oculus games I’ve played, (the other was on a track like old school arcade shooters), but if you haven’t played any VR games its going to be weird at first. Its what I see most people having trouble with when I let them play for the first time.P.S I am not selling anything or being paid for this review. Products I have linked are not mine and you shoulddefinitely check for better prices, at least, because I just linked the first ones I saw. Make sure you have at least Three, 3.0 USB slots (They’re blue FYI) if your using Oculus Touch. Only one 3.0 USB and a HDMI slot in your graphics card are all you really need hardware wise if you only plan on using the headset. Mine came with an X-Box one controller and wireless adapter for my PC. This was a very nice addition I was not expecting. In conclusion, if you want to get in early and be ready for what, I predict, will be one of several innovations in the next Generation of Gaming consoles, Then choose Oculus Rift. (We need the gamers for Versus and co-op games.) Hope this helps.{If you have the Oculus Rift add me ~LordGrimm}

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4. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Ariakis – December 28, 2016

   Squelch the bad reviews…this thing ROCKSI was hesitant to purchase the Oculus Rift. I did a lot of investigation for about 6 months. I found reviews that were quite negative and some that were quite positive too. I don’t often write reviews, but after all the negative comments I found, even though some reviews were good, there is a lot of bad information out there on the Rift that I want to set the record straight. So now that I own a set and have played with them a few hours, I think I can give some first impressions and squelch some bad info. First, there is ZERO screen door effect. People do not understand what that is. Projectors have it at times and it is a pixelation that stays stationary on your screen and normally in dark areas with some light in other areas of the screen and while the camera pans the pixelation STAYS stationary. Trust me, I know. I have a theater room with a projector and at times I can see it. What they are referring to with the Rift and SDE is the led circuitry you see due to the low resolution. It does play some odd effects on your eyes due to the lighting and grid pattern of the LED arrangement on the video screens you’re looking at due to how close your eye is to those screens as well as magnified by the lens themselves. Think of the old-time green CRT monitors where you could see the lines of resolution. It’s a bit like that, except both horizontally and vertically. Is it obvious? It is at times but THAT is the resolution that comes with the first-gen consumer version of these types of displays. Is it a game-changer? You decide. Let me put it like this. I’m a gamer and I LOVE high-end graphics and go out of my way to purchase the latest and gratest video cards and displays to get it. The Rift is NOT high-end graphics, but it IS the best that is out there. If you don’t concentrate on the lack of resolution so much and look at what the 3D vision and head-tracking is doing for you, you’ll forget about the resolution. Now the resolution is good enough for me that when I was playing Elite Dangerous with it in an SRV I could clearly see the tread pattern of the wheels outside of the glass cab not to mention all of the scenery I took in in awe. It’s not 4K. It’s not 1080p 10ft from a TV. It’s higher than that but at 1/2 from your eye. Technology has to get a LOT better before they can make screens with that kind of resolution where you cannot detect it 1/2 from your eye and magnified on top of that. Pull up your chair to your monitor on a white background and look closely at your display. You see those pixels? That’s what you see in the Rift. 2nd Gen will come out one day but we’re a ways from that in my opinion.Are you a glasses wearer? It was no issue for me using glasses. They do not touch the Fresnel lenses. Mine do fit close to my eyes, not on the end of my nose. If you have them out that far then yes they’re going to hit the lenses. I tried the Rift with and without glasses. Due to my near-sightedness I was okay. Was it sharp? No. Usable, absolutely. Putting on your glasses does make it hard to put on the HMD (Head Mounted Display). Taking off the HMD was even more odd and difficult as it wanted to pluck the glasses off my face. It’s not easy, but doable. Once you have the glasses on and get the HMD on everything is good and quite comfortable and my glasses never touched the lenses and I could even adjust my glasses forward and back to get that sweet-spot they talk about. So if you’re going a short stint with the HMD, I just keep my glasses off. If I’m going to sit in on a few hours of Elite Dangerous, I’ll go to the hassle of putting on the glasses and getting them in to the lens cavity and get it all adjusted.Head tracking was instantaneous. No jitter. No loss in frame rate. No issues turning my head completely 180 degrees by leaning out of my chair and looking behind the cockpit in Elite Dangerous to see the entire spaceship in all it’s glory.Weight. It’s very lite, much more so than the Vive. When I whip my head side to side it never slips and I don’t have it on tight at all. It’s just that light. No neck pain, no strain of any kind.Motion sickness. If you are prone to motion sickness or sea sickness, you might have an issue in certain games. I know I felt it a little bit as I was bounding across the hillside in an SRV on some moon in Elite Dangerous with 10% gravity and going airborn. It messed with my head a little and I just had to back down and take it easy a bit. I consider myself a tough guy and while everyone gets seasick on a boat, I’m the one having lunch and a great time while everyone else is spilling groceries. So just know that you ARE susceptible to this issue. Be careful and go easy at first or it’s going to be a bad experience for you.Controllers. The XBox controller they give you is good. I had no issues with it and the first thing I did was play that Lucky game. Pretty cool, quite fun. For serious gamers? You’re going to need to either memorize all your keys and key combos before dawning the HMD or get yourself a HOTAS setup. For me I purchased the Thrustmaster Joystick and Throttle setup and I have the pedals on the way. Going that route enables you to not only memorize all your button inputs but also keeps your hands still! If you have to move your hands around, you’re going to look like a blind person learning where all the keys are at.Seeing through the HMD. Not true. You can’t see through it AT ALL. If you can, you’ve torn the material inside somehow and busted the plastic casing. Otherwise, you just can’t see through it, period.You’re going to need a LOT of USB ports. For me to run the keyboard, mouse, desk microphone, joystick, throttle, pedals, Rift HMD, XBox controller, Constellation Tracking camera (for the HMD), it required that I have 6 2.0 USB slots and 2 3.0 USB slots plus one HDMI slot on my NVidia 980 TI. That’s every USB slot I have on my rig. Could I use a USB bus? Maybe. I would use it for the keyboard/mouse/microphone I’m sure. You can’t put the Oculus Rift setup on any USB bus at all.I’ll admit that of all the research and reviews I read on the Rift I thought I was going to be disappointed. I wanted to at least try it out before I’m gone from this world even if I had to return it due to not being happy with it. Boy was I wrong. I’ll never return it. This is the future. This is the next step of gaming. I can’t wait until Star Citizen (currently in Alpha) supports the Rift and they do say they will be supporting it 100%. This takes the “immersion” factor to a whole new level. I’ll never play Elite Dangerous any other way. Just one benefit alone…I can watch my target through the canopy of my spaceship looking up and side to side and never have to hit any special keys. I just look around like I would if I was really there…and DO feel like you’re really there.

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5. 

   Rated 4 out of 5

   Tom V. – May 22, 2017

   The future is here. Until the next one arrives.Wow. I have to say i went through a few phases of buyer’s remorse after shelling out the cash and waiting for this stuff to arrive (touch controllers 1 day, headset 2 days). I plugged it all in, put it all on (realizing that it mostly interferes with my glasses, but i suppose that’s the fault of my pathetic human body), and was astounded. The first demo had you interacting with a little robot feeding you cartridges for a 3d printer and was stunning. This is the future. No more buyer’s remorse here. Various awesome games are available — i’ve spent most of my time in Elite Dangerous and Obduction. I’d like a real terrestrial flight sim. Publishers appear to be slow to adopt but only time will tell.Obduction… that’s an interesting head exercise. I still remember the first time i played Myst and how amazing it was… and i played it again recently and saw how poorly it aged. I can only hope that in 23 years Obduction looks as dated! Because right now the Rift system combined with the point and click (is it still that?) adventure game is stunning. Maybe in 23 years I’ll be commenting on how we used to wear large headsets and stagger around blindly in our rooms before they started beaming lasers into our retinas? who knows.And flying around space in VR? Stunning doesn’t even cover it. Elite Dangerous is a different game with this piece of kit. Plus i can finally look around and find things.I don’t have much issues with motion sickness in real life and after a week i haven’t had much with this either, except when i turned on “smooth turning” in Obduction. That was a step too far. Teleportation and 45 degree click turns are much better. Riding a train where your head tracks the compass instead of the chassis is also imperfect. If you can do roller coasters you’ll have absolutely no problems here, in my opinion, unless you are trying to find your limits. If you can’t handle teacup rides, you’ll still be able to play just fine, just stick with the teleportation technique. If you can handle them, you might even be able to handle walking/running in game, but teleportation works just fine so you’re not missing much. Whatever you do, just still stick with the click turns. No one can handle smooth turns unless they’re an accredited astronaut.Glasses are a pain. I’m thinking about going back to contacts just for my gaming sessions. It’s a little odd: I’m -2.5d or thereabouts. I can play most games without my glasses with the rift, but the stuff that’s ~1 to ~3 feet from my face is most blurry, while the stuff at an infinite focal range tends to come in fine. My head is big, so my glasses are wide, and they get a bit wedged into the headset when i wear them, and over time the multiple sets of lenses start to fog up so I prefer to play without glasses. It’s not a deal killer, but it does get annoying to be limited by my eye-failures. Maybe i could get custom lenses? I’m not going to hold Oculus accountable for this, but over time this needs to be addressed.So overall, 5 star device. Except… mine had an errant glue bead just hanging out on the bottom. I picked it off but the glue is embedded in the fabric. It doesn’t affect anything, but…. i payed a bit of cash and kinda expect perfection in QA. So. Minus 1 star and a slightly irked “c’mon. really?” But once i put the headset on and the virtual world descends, the glue bead stops existing. I suppose.

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6. 

   Rated 3 out of 5

   Stephen Mink – September 15, 2016

   You’re basically participating in the beta of a new game-changing technology. Betas have kinks.VR is still a relatively new technology, at least in its current state. I ordered Oculus Rift to use for marketing my VR imaging business and ended up returning it due to compatibility issues I was having with my MSI GS43VR GRE laptop with a Nvidia GTX1060 processor. I was n’t going to use it much for gaming, so the $600 price-tag wasn’t worth it since I already had a Galaxy S-7 and two Gear VR headsets.I have mixed feelings about the product. I was impressed by how smooth the headset transitioned compared to my Gear VR when turning my head, but didn’t really think the screen quality was much better than my Galaxy S7. It was better, just not significantly. You can still see the pixels. As screen resolution improves, I’m sure newer versions will be clearer and justify the price.The issues I had that prompted me to send the Rift back…Issue 1: I bought a laptop from MSI that was fit with the desktop version of the Nvidia 1060 video processor, which should be plenty powerful enough (and was) to run Oculus. That being said, the Oculus home screen had a banner hanging at the top of my vision letting me know that my computer didn’t meet minimum specifications. This was more annoying than anything, as the Oculus apps ran fine and my graphics card was plenty strong enough to run the software. Oculus just needed to update a setting to accept the new Nvidia card. Maybe they have by now.Issue 2: Every time I took off the headset, I had to unplug and re-plug the headset’s USB and HDMI cables back into the computer for the headset to restart. Otherwise, it would just be a black screen when I put the headset back on. Also annoying. I worried that eventually, all of the plugging and unplugging of the HDMI cable was going to wear out the port.Issue 3: Oculus IT doesn’t currently (or didn’t when I worked with them) have data on how the new VR-capable laptops work with their product, so there wasn’t much they could do for me when I asked for help. They were pleasant to communicate through email with, but Facebook needs to send some money into researching the use of the Rift with laptops. How can they not have tried the technology with the new VR-capable laptops? The market for this technology is about to explode and they’re behind on that???Issue 4: Every time I tried to install the Minecraft 10 Beta, my laptop would go to the infamous blue screen of death. My kids were not happy, as I had promised to let them try Minecraft on the Rift. There are obviously some kinks to work out in compatibility. I don’t have the time to wait.

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7. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Shane A. – January 18, 2017

   Its soo good you wont understand until you try It. Detailed review w/ links to make a flexible clamping sensor stand and picsWords cant describe the experience of a Rift and V.R. honestly. The level of immersion will blow you away time and time again. With racing games, every new car you sit in is almost like a new mini game with the level of detail and immersion. I dont get motion sick and you wont as long as you keep the frame rate above 80 which i do just fine in all games so far with a 6700k @ stock and a 780ti ghz edition. They also have tweaks and developer tool fixes to help smooth lower fps. Perfect for racing games and flying games, and more titles are adding VR support daily! Ark Survival Evolved has VR now! For non vr games and games with no vr support there is software that will let you play any game in vr just about some better than others of course. I would pay easily $1000 HONESTLY to have this experience. Its that good! Now on to the Rift vs Vive debate and why you want the Rift!I spent soo many months doing research comparing this and the Vive. Let me save you some time now and just buy an Oculus Rift. Here is why: The way that V.R. Lenses are built they have an optimal focal point or area that your eye needs to be inside in order for the image to not become blurry. This means you cant really move your eyes around too much and must have it seated on your face correctly. The Oculus Rift has a bigger area of optimal focal point than a Vive. This means less time correcting it on your face after you have pulled it off to find something or to take a break or drink etc. This sounds like no big deal but once you really think of how much you might be taking it off and putting it back on that translates to lost time and frustration.The controller on the rift is the best VR controller hands down. You can look at any review. Its soo good that Vive is actually making new controllers, and I feel its to be closer to the Rifts design.The rift does a good job of blocking out any light to keep you immersed. It does have a small gap for me in the nose bridge but its not noticeable when gaming and actual is nice because i can look through it to grab my mouse or controller instead of having to take it off and re adjust it again.The Rift is lighter. So light that I twitch stream and game for hours. I recently wore the rift for 6 hours straight. The Vive is notably heavier and pulls your head back from the wire placement and fact that the wires are heavier. It has a breathable design that helps cut down on your face getting too warm. It will cause u to get a little warm in the brow overtime due to the powered lenses and pure fact that you have something on your face but nothing worth really even mentioning.The built in headphones are actually really good for what they are. They will not beat a 150$ gaming headset but it easily gives headsets in the 50$ range or so a run for their money, and they are built in so no extra wire running from you to the pc!Steam and all VR games work including most Vive games if not all to my knowledge. Vr games list is growing by the day. Check out the Oculus store for a few like Super Hot, and search VR on steam to see what is supported. You will be very surprised.If you are on the fence about VR or you have heard the quality is not there yet etc, do yourself a favor and buy it now. You will not be disappointed. Its still new enough to where I would say its not for every person out there and the more of a techie you are the more you will get out of it for sure. That said in my 25 plus years gaming this is the highlight and Im just so happy I am here to be a part of this!Also I made my own Oculus Rift sensor mount to give me more space on my desk as well as set it further back to increase my play area. The pic is included and the list to all the products I used are included as well. Works great!

   SHOOT Ajustable 28″ inch Jaws Flex Clamp Arm Mount Flexible Gooseneck for GoPro Hero 5/4/3+/2 xiaomi yi sj4000 sj5000 camera

    

   Tyoungg® 3 * Tripod Mount Adapters for Sony Action Cam AS100V AS30V Action Camera Mini – Gopro Mount to 1/4″ thread

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8. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Alec Blake – August 25, 2016

   Great Piece of TechLet me put it to you this way, this thing is amazing. Now, you have to keep in mind, this was made for games specific to the oculus. Other games do not play with it unless you have downloaded additional software. This is also definitely not something for people with no computer skills. There is a lot of adjusting and work you have to put into this to get it to work great with non supported games. As far as the hardware goes, you need a pretty beefy pc to run everything smoothly having at least a gtx 970 graphics card (equivalent or greater) to operate it. The headphones are excellent and provide great sound. The two screens within (yes two, in order to make the 3d effect) have a bit of a grainy texture to them since your eyes are so close to the screen but after a few minutes of play, you hardly notice. Wearing the headset is surprisingly comfortable and easy. It still messes up your hair, sorry. (go get a haircut ya hippie) It is very lightweight and made of a pretty descent material. It feels extremely professional and well made. The head tracking is also excellent. It really feels hat where I would look in real life is where my head moves in game. But now onto game play. It is important to note, the oculus and vive both have specific supported games for them. 3rd part software is available to play unsupported games. So, I will break the review into two parts: Oculus games and non oculus games.1. The oculus in itself is a great piece of tech. It is very good at the motion capture, it is easy to set up, and it even works with steamvr. The free games that are included with the oculus are great tid bits of fun to play around with and feel the experience the oculus will eventually offer as the product becomes much more popular. The games are smooth and enjoyable and they are designed specifically for players to get used to a very new form of game play, so do not expect super fast paced shooters like call of duty any time soon. The oculus provides an amazingly in depth world that you get to enter (sitting down of course) and experience while listening to the great audio provided through the excellent built in headphones.2. Now, in order to play non-oculus supported games, you need to purchase and download a piece of software called vorpx. It is a $40 application that basically bypasses the oculus dashboard and home screen to play the game you want. Now, the vorpx review aside, you must keep in mind you are fitting a square into two ovals. The game screen will never be perfect unless developers start making games supported by vr. The screen will always be too big and some of the objects on the side will be off screen, or the screen will be too small and there will be an area of grey color at the bottom of the gameplay screen.Putting aside the limitations of non-oculus supported game screens, the games are actually pretty amazing. I have tried Fallout 4, Alien: Isolation, and Arma 3 so far. Immediately, they are quite amazing because everything is now 3d. That is right, 3d gaming. The head tracker worked pretty well however, there are some pretty big limitations with controls. Maybe additional software will be developed to play the more keyboard necessary games, but until then, be ready to mess with control schemes for a few hours until you get them set up right and not interfere with some of the vorpx hotkeys.One other issue with non-vr supported games is the vertigo. I will tell you outright, unless you purchase one of the vr treadmills such as the virtuix, the oculus will make you motion sick with non-vr games. The fast pace motion of Arma 3 and Fallout 4 almost made me vomit and I am not prone to motion sickness. I have not experienced any motion sickness with the supported games for the oculus. However, these games are not nearly as fast paced so who knows.Overall, the oculus is a great brand new piece of technology that is sure to blow you and your friends’ minds with how awesome it can be. Since it is still so new, there is not much support by 3rd party software and gaming companies. So until then, the oculus is limited to either the supported vr games or a pretty limited experience with non-supported games. It is still worth every penny due to the fact that there is still so much this object is capable of, even if the 3rd party software companies have yet to catch up.

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9. 

   Rated 3 out of 5

   Craig S. – March 20, 2017

   In home comparison with HTC ViveI had both systems for a short time while I evaluated the Rift to see if it would be worth switching. There’s a long list of reasons why I ended up returning the Rift / Touch:Tracking – tracking is KING, sorry but Constellation is not even close to Lighthouse, and I put MANY hours into coming to this conclusion. The HMD and controllers always felt “floaty” … you don’t get that rock solid feel like you do with Lighthouse. Oddly enough the floating happened the most when BOTH cameras could see the headset at the same time, especially when right in the middle of the play space.USB requirements – Despite having a USB 3.0 controller that’s on their approved list and passes their compatibility test, I had all kinds of issues. One of the most annoying was the HMD falling down to 2.0 mode for no reason, and only a full shutdown / start back up would fix it. (reboot wasn’t enough)Steam VR support – I have already bought a lot of VR titles in Steam, and I believe in the “use whatever HMD you want” concept of Steam VR. The fact that the tracking and frame rates were MUCH worse in Steam VR vs Oculus Home was a huge turn-off. This might be an issue with the conversion that has to happen between Steam VR’s Open VR and the native Oculus interface. Going the opposite direction with Revive seems to work better for most (but not all) titles.Visual Punch – this one surprised me, but the Vive has a lot more “punch” to the image, or dynamic range if you will. Rift feels very dim in comparison. With that said I did like the larger “sweet spot” in the Rift, things look sharper at the edge of your view. With the Vive you really have to train yourself to always looks straight and move your head instead. Also SDE (screen door effect or visible pixels) is more obvious with the Vive. If you could have the optics of the Rift with the brightness of the Vive it would be perfect.Slanted horizon – This one drove me nuts. No matter what I did including re-calibrating the Rift’s IMU with a tool that’s not easy to find, horizontal lines were always lower on the left side than the right.With all of that said, I really like the Touch controllers much better than the Vive Wands, and I like their head strap design better than Vive’s, although the new deluxe audio strap coming in June looks like it could be even better than Rift’s… time will tell. Also if you are primarily a seated Flight / Driving Sim type of person, I think the Rift is still the better choice. Vive really shines with 360 degree room scale.

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10. 

    Rated 4 out of 5

    DMan – September 9, 2016

    Mind blowing sense of depth, scale and immersion, but this still a generation 1 early adopter productThe RIFT is both stunning and disappointing.To get to the key point, this is an early adopter product, for three (3) key reasons:1.) The graphics resolution is passable, but also disappointing. While the initial experience is mind blowing, eventually the lack of resolution becomes quite noticeable (but that’s true of competing products as well).2.) Limited VR software availability, and what there is, well much of the software is only of passing interest.3.) Applications bought and played within the Oculus store are relatively easily to launch and play; others, launched from within Steam, while the RIFT is supported, many titles will force you to switch between keyboard, controller, headset on, headset off, over and over.Again though, the VR experience is mind blowing so if you are willing to put up with some early adopter frustration, I recommend the RIFT.Some other impressions…A lot of effort has clearly been put into making the experience a positive one, from the quality of the packaging, the product itself, and the slick installer. The RIFT is also relatively easy to setup, as compared with HTC’s VIVE. Of course most anyone looking at the RIFT knows that the VIVE has more features; specifically that it includes the two tracked controllers, and supports a full-room experience. The RIFT will eventually get the controller option, but unlikely the full-room experience option, which for my uses is a positive. There are no power adapters needed with the RIFT either. Just plug it into an HDMI port on your graphics card, the sensor gets plugged into a USB 3 port, and likewise the headset also requires a USB 3 port. If you don’t already have a controller, the RIFT includes a wireless XBOX ONE controller, so another USB port (USB 2.0 port is fine).Yes you do need a controller. When wearing a VR headset you simply cannot see what is around you (rather you see what is around you in game), but it is rather like being blind too… while you might be able to manipulate a mouse, or touch type, or maybe use a joystick by feel, a controller is going to be the key input device in most RIFT games for now, later those RIFT ‘Touch’ controllers hopefully will be supported too, if you have the room for them.Works well with a GTX 980 class graphics card, but again that annoying low resolution issue. With a faster card like the GTX 1070 or 1080, there is enough GPU power to increase the image quality somewhat by enabling super-sampling (like anti-aliasing), which helps improve image quality, at the expense of increased demands on the GPU.The built-in headset on the RIFT seems to be very good, or maybe it’s the VR experience itself that leaves the impression it sounds good. Either way, it works well.The headset itself is reasonably light and comfortable for an extended period of time, but like any VR headset, well, once you try it you’ll know how long you can wear it before you’ve had enough for a while and need a break.

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