I currently consider Half:Life Alyx to be the best game of all time, VR or otherwise. Of course, it gets a big advantage for being a VR game.
I’ve been playing lots of After the Fall. Vertigo Games, unlike many studios, seems to really understand VR and how to make great games for it. The big draw of this game is the co-op VR play. I think that’s the #1 game concept that other developers need to embrace.
The amount of interaction with your friends which is possible in flat games is very limited. Primarily, it’s just voice. It’s essentially just being on a phone call together. VR adds an entire new dimension to this in that you have real presence with your friends. They can see you and interact in meaningful ways much the same as in a purely social VR game like VRChat. This is huge! It really changes things in a big way. And it’s hard to explain just how big of a deal that is to people who haven’t experienced it.
But I believe this is the core game mechanic which will shape VR gaming into the future. It’s something VR can do very well that flat games simply can’t pull off.
We’ve seen relatively few titles that employ VR co-op especially early on because of the apparent assumption that anyone with a VR headset is likely to be the only one in their friend circle that does. But that’s changing these days. All of my friends are getting into VR, and VR co-op titles are starting to appear more and more.
Vertigo games for sure. They actually responded to problems with ATF running on Pimax headsets and fixed them. ATF is also a game that emphasizes the value of wide FOV because zombies often flank the players. Most of my friends are using Valve Indexes, and I have a clear advantage with my 8KX.
WarpFrog of Blade and Sorcery. Also another game that really benefits from wide FOV since enemies try to surround you.
Caveman Studio. I’ve been getting into Contractors VR lately.
CM Games makers of Into the Radius which makes a lot of creative use of VR’ness.
And I actually think Pimax should partner with VRChat. The wide FOV of my 8KX has a profound effect on the experience in VRChat in more ways than you would expect. But at the same time, VRChat is one of the heaviest applications to run, and it is challenging to get good performance on the 8KX with its dual 4K screens. There are also problems like mirror resolution being capped at 2048 which makes it clear that VRChat has no apparent awareness of the existence of Pimax.
VRChat attracts a hardcore VR enthusiast audience. Embracing partnership with VRChat to improve performance and support for Pimax headsets could go a long way to drawing interest from enthusiasts that are willing and able to buy into high end headsets like the 12K.
I think that a lot of the current interest in Pimax comes from the flight sim and driving sim communities. The VRChat community is another one which could drive a large amount of interest in Pimax, whereas currently Pimax has virtually no penetration among the VRChat userbase. This is an untapped well.
