Is the VR Age Finally Here? How to Try It
By Space Coast Daily // January 26, 2021
If there has ever been a time when we could all benefit from escaping reality for a while, it has surely been over the past few months.
It’s no surprise that the gaming has sector has been one of the few industries to have actually benefitted from the chaos and disruption of 2020.
As a pastime, gaming is not just for kids anymore, and the incredible production values of today’s games mean they have movie-like quality while placing you in the thick of the action instead of watching from the sidelines.
Yet even that is only the beginning. Virtual reality brings a whole new level of realism. While the technology has been talked about for years, it is only now, with the advent of cloud gaming and 5G connections that the infrastructure is in place to bring it into the mainstream.
Suddenly, developers are focusing all their attention on creating VR offerings to satisfy every type of gamer.
Those Angry Birds are back
A decade ago, Angry Birds catapulted mobile gaming into the mainstream almost single-handed. In fact, the game has had an incredible four billion downloads – and counting.
Could it now manage exactly the same trick for VR gaming? We all know how it works – the game has as much of a following among adults as youngsters – and Angry Birds VR: Isle of Pigs might just become the VR game against which all others are judged.
Place your bets
Speaking of catering to adult gamers, there is no better example of this than in the explosively popular iGaming sector.
The online casino market is notoriously competitive and even top quality sites know they need to offer something a little extra in order to maintain footfalls through their virtual doors. Many are exploring VR options to make the experience even more realistic.
The advantage here is that the mechanics of showing cards being dealt or a roulette wheel in action in a VR setting are relatively straightforward compared to the challenges presented by many other genres.
In the thick of a Battle Royale
Fortnite has been the gaming sensation of the past couple of years.
A VR equivalent could be exactly what’s needed to get that lucrative teenage demographic on board with the emerging technology.
POPULATION:ONE hit the shelves in October 2020 and the flood of five-star reviews it has received suggest that it could be the real thing. It will be intriguing to watch adoption rates in the pro eSports community over the coming months.
Virtual sport
Here’s an area of gaming that we all learned something about in 2020 with events like the Grand National and F1 racing going virtual in the first half of the year.
Playing sport in VR certainly sound intriguing, and Echo VR gives a glimpse of what is possible.
It’s a disc-tossing game played in zero gravity that is just as much fun as it sounds. A word to the wise, though, give yourself plenty of space and move any precious ornaments from the coffee table before you start – you have been warned!
