How Important Is VR To The Future Of Gaming?
Innovation has been seen over several generations of technology to be vital to any form of progression. This truth has extended into all corners of the tech world from smart home to gaming. It’s in that latter sector where innovation has become a key driver of firms and products kicking on to the next big thing. Arguably one of the most important developments has been VR or virtual reality, and its successes could in itself be key to sec++uring gaming’s bright future.
The idea of virtual reality, by comparison to the likes of games consoles, is a relatively recent innovation, having been formulated in the eighties and nineties by the likes of NASA. It was only thanks to the likes of Nintendo and their failed Virtual Boy that VR started to gain prominence in the gaming world.
The Virtual Boy in retrospect was a commercial failure but could be seen as an underrated success in a similar vein to the Sega Dreamcast. This is in the sense that the hardware itself tried out potential innovations, even if the market wasn’t ready for it at that time. Fast forward to now, and thanks to technology advancements VR has seen a resurgence and a reinvention in the modern age.
By comparison to other elements of gaming tech, VR in its current form is one of the newest entrants to the party with a new age having been ushered with the likes of the HTC Vive and the Oculus Rift. Such headsets have looked to bring the essence of VR to a wider consumer audience as the origins of VR lie in specialist applications such as those in the product’s original uses with NASA.
As a result of its consumer application, the scope of virtual reality has extended and has given rise to a raft of interesting games such as VR ports of successful games like Payday. This is as well as helping to increase immersion levels in sim-racing titles such as Assetto Corsa and also in those relating to popular media such as Iron Man VR. Other games have had success like with Resident Evil 7 VR, bringing more variety to the VR genre.
A major issue in the last few years with VR has been accessibility. To be able to use such equipment, users have traditionally required high powered PCs to get the best experience possible. However, the last couple of years has seen advancements in both the console and PC spheres with the advent of items such as PlayStation VR looking to bring the costs down and engagement up. This issue of accessibility has also looked to have been solved by the continuous expansion of the scope of VR’s application.
VR has grown beyond the traditional gaming spheres and into other related sectors such as online casinos. Games such as roulette that have also seen the implementation of live dealers in the past are also taking advantage of the new tech and ways of playing that VR has brought with it. Besides, online casinos in general like William Hill Games have traditionally been good exponents of harnessing and utilising new technology and additional leaps forward in areas such as web design has allowed for games such as the ones that they provide to look better than ever before.
Virtual reality, if it continues along the same path of innovation as previously, can look to be integral to the future of gaming. Its universal application to almost any genre of the game makes it an attractive prospect to consumers and developers alike and with continued technological improvements, the experience that VR offers should only keep getting better.
