Augmented Reality (AR) has started a revolution thanks to the success of Pokémon Go. Now, AR’s big brother, Virtual Reality, will be making its presence felt through the upcoming PlayStation VR Headset, Steam VR, and HTC Vive in 2016.
VR is not an entirely new concept. However, it is only in this generation where the technology can be perfected. If you’ve been gaming since the early 90s, you may remember VR tech being introduced by Nintendo through its Virtual Boy. However, instead of immersing players in a different world, people were instead plunged into a world of headache. The Virtual Boy was eye-straining, and the motion to reality concept was enough to make anyone sick after a few minutes of gaming.
However, with today’s advanced technology, VR can become a even better than ever before.
Firstly, the technology is set to be worked on by some of the top-of-the-line graphics processors the world has to offer. According to tech experts, as a minimum requirement, VR’s graphical power needs seven times the graphics processing power of traditional games. Thankfully, NVIDIA’s graphics are capable of providing that. The graphics company’s VR SLI enables the rendering for each eye to provide different GPUs, and even multi-res shading that makes pixel density of the warped images for VR possible.
In addition to the need for ultra-high graphic cards that need to produce 90 frames per second, VR systems also need to ensure that latency is kept to a minimum so that when you move your head, your field of view shifts, and there’s no noticeable lag that causes motion sickness.
While the graphics card and overall hardware are both in place, VR will also need games that not only look amazing but also justify the need for the use of the technology. Thankfully, there are plenty of games that already look promising in terms of VR. Have you seen the new Resident Evil title that will (most possibly) be bundled with Sony’s new VR? The horror and gameplay look beyond thrilling and is already eagerly anticipated. It’s scary and immersive, and VR’s mechanics will make the experience very lifelike. With VR, fans of the anime Sword Art Online will also be able to live out their fantasies and become a character in the realistic RPG.
Apart from action and RPG games, VR will also look great with casual games, especially table games. People who play the hit Facebook game Real 4-Player Mah-jong will finally be able to interact with other players in real time. Additionally, modern slot machine titles such as the Amazon Queen, which is hosted by tech gaming site Pocketfruity, will be able to immerse players in its highly-detailed jungle graphical backdrop and allow anyone to spin the reels using simple hand motions. VR is fun on both realistic and casual games, and the possibilities with this new tech are limitless.
It’s exciting game ideas like the aforementioned that will see VR change gaming for the good. There are plenty of games in the pipeline being developed for VR, and the world of gaming is about to get a lot more exciting.
