With many of the upcoming VR headsets now being available to the public, you have to question which one is right for you? Not only from a price range perspective but features and content available to explore. In this article I hope to help with understanding the differences between the two leading PC VR technologies: HTC Vive and Oculus Rift.
Preliminary things to consider
Before even beginning thinking about buying a form of VR headset, you have to ask yourself, is it worth the hype? This isn't an easy question to answer but you have to look at yourself, the consumer, and consider what in everyday life one of these headsets can do for you. As VR is very new, there aren't a lot of games out there and the games available are more technology demos than anything. If you're looking for a 12-30+ hour gameplay with the headsets in one game, you aren't going to find it yet. Consider instead a VR headset as an investment into the future of gaming. We are at the forefront of a new technology which will allow us to experience games in a new light, new gameplay, new mechanics and new features. At the moment both these headsets are less an investment into a really fantastic game but into the game industry and it's continued development towards better games in the future.
Price Tag
So the main issue with VR headsets, especially for PC is the pricetag. $600 +$200(for the new handsets) for the Oculus Rift and $800 for the HTC Vive. These are not for the average working-class person. Not only that but Oculus release handsets by itself for a $200 markup is like buying a DLC at the same price of the original game. It's a little ridiculous. If the price tag doesn't scare you away then you are investing in something that might become outdated very quickly, considering the output of newer consoles, video cards and other such hardware. Not only do you have to concern yourself with the pricetag but the pricetag on newer release games. Some of them are up to $60 and don't last as long as a normal AAA game. If you're interested in VR for PC gaming it might be good to wait a few years to see how the technology progresses.
Specifications
Both the Oculus and Vive have similar specifications. Same display, resolution and refresh rate. The major differences are requirements and tracking areas. This is important because it determines what kind of game you wish to play on your headset. In the Oculus it has a smaller tracking range, making phyiscally interacting with the world alot more difficult compared to the Vive. Oculus has been more of a sit down experience, not to says that's a bad thing but just something to consider. While the Vive you need a larger, clear space to play in, which some people may not have. The requirements are also something to keep a look out for and more information into the specifics can be found here: Digitaltrends.com. This article goes into the hardware and software with a in depth table of different features.
Games Available and Play time
The Oculus runs exclusively out of the Oculus rift store, while the Vive is connect to SteamVR and their own private Viveport. The Oculus store appears to be releasing games at a rapid pace but the connect to SteamVR allows users to keep their Steam accounts and experience smaller, indie VR games. The inclusion of Indie games can be a curse with more games being pushed without lots of motion sickness testing. On the plus side if you are a fan of Valve games, they have a demo showcase in the Vive which is probably one of the better VR experiences available. As far as play time, there isn't alot of content but with releases on both headsets nearly daily it's good idea to keep your eyes peeled. These releases, as stated before are more tech demos but it's very interesting to see the development companies go through to help improve your own future development in creating indies games.
It's important to understand that different users require different hardware or software, so it depends on what you're looking to get out of a VR headset. In all honestly we prefer the Vive. It's not only fun to play on, but some of the content is very interesting, it's opened the doors up for more indie VR games and it's very funny to watch your friends lean down to try and pick something up and then fall over.
Thank you for reading!
