VR is the next phase. That’s what the narrative is. Enthusiast press and developers praise it; people that attend gaming conventions praise it in a pipe-dream novelty kind of way, but there’s a steep price barrier, and so far a lack of substantive games. Will it be the next phase we move into? Will we walk into virtual reality as we once walked from two dimensions into three? Will it carry the same permanence? Let’s dive in.
Taste Testing
The conversion urge takes over early on. The arrival of the PlayStation and the N64 heralded the arrival of 3D gaming, and some of the most successful games during that period were conversions. Turning A Link to the Past 3D gave us Ocarina of Time; turning Super Mario Bros. 3D gave us Super Mario 64. These kinds of experiences drove the freight train of 3D forward and pushed it to the center ground. Alongside these juggernauts, however, there were others that didn’t make the cut, and they formed a “let’s try X but in 3D” movement – games like Sonic 3D Blast, Castlevania N64, and the infamous Sensible Soccer 98. The games that won people over were the ones that capitalized on 3D, which utilized it without gimmickry, and offered something that you couldn’t get elsewhere, or before. This is what we need of VR.
The good news is that VR doesn’t exactly lend itself to the conversion game; there are only a minority of specific experiences that can make the leap. Early games like Rez Infinite and EVE: Valkyrie seem to have made themselves quite comfy in their new digs. Rez takes advantage of the new hardware in a way that makes Tetsuya Mizuguchi rejoice. When it first launched for the Dreamcast back in 2001, Mizuguchi dreamed of it being played in virtual reality, so Infinite is really more of a homecoming than an innovation. EVE: Valkyrie is an arcade shooter which takes advantage of VR to put players in the cockpit. Its ‘look-to-lock missiles’ mean a turn of the head is a quick aim, and full 360 degree spatial awareness is integral to the challenge and experience of playing.
It’s difficult to make lazy conversions to just tack a VR perspective onto the chassis of an established game, and this is a good thing on paper. However, what this ends up meaning is that companies will create smaller, toy box experiences that riff on other games while presenting a brief showcase of what VR is capable of. Looking at something like Aperture Robot Repair (part of Valve’s meager contribution to the launch of its platform, the HTC Vive), little is offered resembling Portal’s gameplay. In fact, the experience doesn’t offer much in the way of interactivity. Opening desk drawers and moving parts around is as engaging as it gets, albeit with GlaDOS’ stream of insults in your ears for encouragement. Felt Tip Circus and Job Simulator (developed by Alpha Wave Entertainment and Owlchemy Labs respectively), do little to eschew the perception that VR is only tailored for immersive, short ‘experiences’, whilst offering little in terms of traditional gaming substance.
The good news for VR, especially when it’s in its infancy, is that by default, you cannot go anywhere else for a comparative experience. The N64 was lucky enough to have Super Mario 64 on launch, and so right off the bat, it made an excellent case for making the jump. Looking at VR, every experience that comes out is at least defined by its interface, and its home on the Vive, Oculus Rift or PlayStation VR. Regardless of which platform users choose, they are advancing VR, and that benefits all three of the major players. But of course the other option is not to choose any, an outcome which may prove popular given the cheapest option (PSVR) is still more expensive than the console that hosts it.
Make or Break
What Rez and EVE do is admirable, they offer a worthwhile and fun experience in themselves while championing their hardware. However, both of these games rely on heightened immersion and tactile interactivity to freshen experiences which, at their very core, can be had elsewhere. Pushing a stick can substitute moving your head, and while it lowers the immersion, it’s still an approximation.
Ocarina of Time offered a three dimensional version of A Link to the Past, with all the bells and whistles of heightened immersion and more complex controls, but it did far more than this. It brought with it level designs, combat, and puzzles that were not possible in two dimensions, never mind not as immersive.
Early Oculus games like Albino Lullaby and Lucky’s Tale more closely resemble the troubled beginnings of 3D, and they both point to trends, stepping stones that need to be trodden on and left behind. Albino Lullaby injects VR into a first-person horror template that has worked well on regular screens, but here, it’s not as successful; it makes fumbles of control inputs, and it makes your stomach queasy. Lucky’s Tale, meanwhile, hearkens back to the days of Rare, resembling something between Conker’s Bad Fur Day and Banjo Kazooie. While offering one of the more solid gaming experiences to be had during the early stages of Oculus’ life cycle, it achieves this by sticking more closely to traditional gameplay, with added head movement and neck ache-inducing gimmickry.
Titles like these are stumbles out of the gate; they echo the shortfalls of Sega’s beloved blue prickly speedster as he ran headfirst and careened through the barrier of the third dimension. Sonic 3D Blast, as it was imaginatively titled, was released for the Genesis and the Saturn to a confused public. The game held firm to the established Sonic template (minus a lot of the speed), but displayed the game in an isometric odd-looking 3D viewpoint, meaning that lining the blue devil up with objects in the environment was a bit of a chore. It’s a very similar thing with Aperture Robot Repair now, a world and characters we know and love shoehorned into a new animal, with a perspective shift, and not a lot of reason for being.
The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea
Could VR prove to be the next big thing? Iwata’s revolution is often spoken about and for good reason: appealing to markets outside of the established core was an admirable strategy, and to see it pay off in such a landslide way for the Wii was gratifying. However, it had its plug pulled when swathes of buyers of the original Wii moved over to the mobile and tablet market, where games are usually cheap or free, and far more social. VR may well sweep non-gamers up in a tide of early enthusiasm; it seems like the perfect dinner party show-and-tell. When the novelty wears off, it will have to struggle to find experiences that will hold people and keep core audiences coming back.
During VR’s maturation, Sony, Valve, and Oculus will need to stumble over these obstacles (which, fingers crossed, will seem more like early hurdles a few years down the line) if they are to bring the new medium to the center ground. Or maybe not; maybe the ‘next stage’ view of VR is a misnomer.
This may well not be the fourth dimension, just an expanded and more immersive third. Perhaps instead of a step forward, VR will be an interesting step to the side – a curious excursion worth making for its own sake. Perhaps it will exist in the same way as the Wii: not in direct competition with more traditional platforms, but carving out its own direction and finding a new market for itself in the process – along with a new way to play and look at the medium.
Published: Aug 12, 2016 04:01 pm