Game:

Pixel Ripped 1989 (2018)

Category:

Review

Duration: 20:10

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In this, PART 2 of the sixth weekly episode of Brain Man VR Reviews, we get fully stuck into Gorn.

I think it's important to show how VR experiences are not always smooth running. So i haven't edited anything out (as usual it's all filmed in one long shot). In this case the VR glitch I encountered was not a visual malfunction - e.g. the scene jerking about in the headset; to be avoided as much as possible because it is extremely jarring to the mind - but instead the problem I encountered here was to do with buggy motion controllers that are unable to do all the things they're supposed to. The big analogue button in the centre of the motion controller is one big button in some games, works as a joystick in other games, and isn't used at all in others. This episode demonstrates how game designers might do well to move away from "up, down, left, right" movements they are accustomed to from flat screen gaming and think of some other way to reinvent movement control with some kind of arm gesture instead.

This is a warts an all account of one particular hour of VR play that demonstrates how the the lesser of these two evils can thwart the dream of a hiccup free VR session. This inconvenience will surely be ironed out as the hardware progresses. Perhaps it has already been fully remedied and the modern versions of the HTC VIVE motion controllers never break.

For the avoidance of doubt - my HTC VIVE was bought five years ago (pre-ordered 6 months before it was actually launched for consumers). It sat in a box for two years while I saved up for a graphics PC. Once I finally got it all set up and running, after a few months the analogue button stopped working on one motion controller (which I replaced, at quite shocking expense; the one with blue wrist string) and after a year of consistent use the other original motion controller's analogue button finally gave up the ghost i.e. lost some of it's analogue button functionality. I have no doubt that HTC VIVE became aware of this particular Achilles's Heel and have since improved the life expectancy of that particular moving part, so don't let it put you off if you're thinking of buying a modern version.

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