Pico Neo 3 Link Discussion

Yeah, if he was the only one with one then I’d kinda get it to some extent but this left a really bad taste in my mouth it’s also a quick way to piss off people in the industry, fellow youtubers and the people giving out review units. I still really like his channel and content, probably my favourite vr youtube channel overall, I just thought this was too much.

Interesting. I wonder how many people notice Meta’s anti-competitive practices in this area? I thought it was well known.

Valve and SteamVR is a major competitor to Meta. When someone buys a Quest 2 and then only uses it with the PC link to play SteamVR games and other PCVR games which are not from Meta’s store, Meta doesn’t make money from that. In fact, it costs them money since they’re selling the Quest 2 well below cost. Note how Meta lost billions on VR last year despite the Quest 2 selling like hotcakes. Meta’s play here is to get customers into their walled garden of native Quest software and their metaverse where they’re going to take 50% of creator’s income.

Yes, Meta does support PC link on the Quest 2. But the strategy is to embrace and destroy. Meta hopes to attract PC gamers and then convert them.

To this end, Meta has shutdown its own PCVR game development. And it has run a campaign of purchasing the most successful PCVR studios. It hasn’t gone as far as forcing those studios to drop PCVR support from their existing titles, but you’re never going to see a new PCVR title from any of those studios ever again. And this is the very reason Meta bought them.

There’s a whole list of things that Meta has done, large and small, which is clearly to deemphasize PCVR and pull customers toward their walled garden. Their PC link software, for instance, is buried and hard to find on Meta’s website. Sure, it’s available. But they don’t want to attract your attention to it.

And all of these efforts by Meta have been effective. PCVR game development has been in a slump for some time now despite the rapidly growing popularity of VR. I don’t think PCVR actually dies. I think VR’s overall growth will see PCVR gaming ultimately rise anyway. But PCVR growth has been significantly stunted by Meta’s anti-competitive efforts.

Pico Neo, by contrast, seems to be more open and actually supporting PCVR along side mobile VR gaming. The more this dislodges Meta’s efforts, the more PCVR is going to benefit.

2 Likes

And thus buying a Quest to play SteamVR games and other pcvr games supports pcvr. As the Mobile Meta Console is limited to what kind of quality can be achieved. If you want better you buy pcvr. If you want to carry just the AiO you buy from the Meta Store.

Do you really think your going to see something like DCS and other hard core sims on Meta?

Once VR can be streamed from servers AAA VR titles will likely be available on WiFi and even Cellular connections. Which will still be available on pc and other AiO headsets.

Meta has simply learned to use the console idea. Owning game Studios like Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo makes it easier to make money on software while selling Hardware at a loss. Even Valve seems to be realizing this with the Steamdeck.

The Largest obstacle to VR adoption has been the cost of entry.

There will be Meta Exclusives and yes Meta will still have PC & Console ports as it all equals more money. Unless of course Meta buys out all Game Studios killing all gaming on non Meta produced hardware.

1 Like

Apart from not buying into facebook i don’t see why i would want to buy the neo 3 over a quest 2 :thinking: their support will probably not be as good, no native games (i think?), ok no compression when doing wired pcvr, wireless pcvr will have compression (i think?). Don’t get me wrong i hope they do ok, competition is good, but as someone who is considering buying a new quest 2 (idc about FB login etc) i don’t see why i would rather opt for a neo 3.

2 Likes

“But wait! Not only do you get the HMD, and the nylon weave carry pouch, but also the paring knife, and the hydrophobic sponge, and I’ll even throw in the aerodynamic citrus press - all for only fifty bucks!”

Sorry, but Sebastian does sound like a fairground peddler a lot of the time. ;D

1 Like

Or the Shamwow guy :joy:

It has native games. Supposedly 100+ with “popular titles you know from Quest”. The Pimax 12K is going to have the same sort of thing. Since you’ve got other VR headsets running XR2, it’s theoretically easy for developers to “port” their Quest native games to these other platforms. And perhaps porting isn’t even required.

It will be interesting to see how that evolves exactly. Meta has had a monopoly on it, and so these are thought of as Quest native games. But I think they’re really Android games. The only thing that has made them “Quest exclusives” has been that Meta has been the only manufacturer on that platform. Kind of like if Samsung was the only Android phone. But then other manufacturers of Android phones join the market.

I think the more important part is actually no latency when playing tethered PCVR games. And that’s something which doesn’t seem to get mentioned in these videos. Quest 2 is PCVR capable, but it has always been less than a true PCVR headset primarily because of the added latency even when tethered.

I’ve done tests going back and forth between Quest 2, Index, and 8KX. I actually didn’t find the video compression in the Quest 2 to be much of a concern. Its tiny FOV was the bigger factor there. But the latency was noticeable. In something like VRChat, it doesn’t really matter. But in action games, you’re definitely playing at a significant disadvantage. On the other side, when playing with Quest 2 players, it’s noticeable that I have a distinct edge on them with the Index, and even more so with the 8KX.

Unlike the Quest 2, the Pico Neo 3 Link is a true PCVR headset. This is why MRTV talks about it as a Reverb G2 competitor as well. I think he’s right. And consider what a comment that is from MRTV who I feel has been heavily biased toward the G2 (so much so that I’d stopped watching his videos for a long time because I felt they were too biased to be of use).

I fully agree.

At a 2400x2400(+) res, at least 105-110 degree h FOV and some pancake lenses this would be a Quest 2 killer, as it is it is a potent competitor; yet owned by TikTok and therefore the CCP.

Choose your poison :joy:

1 Like

News like this won’t build consumer confidence in buying the 3.

35% discount off that headset if you buy the 3. Aren’t there only like 22k units being sold in Europe anyway? Seems like more of a marketing/distribution channel test thing. Getting 35% off the Pico 4, and selling the Pico 3, makes it more tempting to me tbh.

This topic was automatically closed 60 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.