We stand at the very precipice of a new era of VR. The Oculus Rift launches on Monday, with the HTC Vive not too far behind and Playstation VR for PS4 waiting in the wings. It’s an exciting moment, but even if you’ve already decided you’re ready to make the plunge into a series of strange, infinite realities, you’ve still got a choice ahead of you. Which of the three major competitors do you want to go with? All three have their advantages, all three have their weaknesses. All three are, at the end of the day, more similar than not, but it’s still a big decision. Here are some pointers to help you along:
Oculus Rift: The first question you have to ask yourself about the Oculus Rift is: do I have a PC that meets these minimum requirements? If the answer is no, be prepared to shell out a good deal of extra cash to buy a PC that can handle the thing, or to buy one of the Oculus Ready bundles out there that come with the headset and a PC — the cheapest available is ASUS’s $949 option. With that out of the way, the Oculus comes with several big advantages. It’s been the most talked about headset, it’s coming to market first, and it’s likely going to have a large install base than the more expensive HTC Vive. Combine that with flexibility and openness that comes with the Windows platform, and you’re bound to have the widest array of software and games of any of these three headsets. That’s a big deal, especially because nobody knows where the next great VR application is going to come from.
It’s missing a great control solution right now, however. Vive has its wands and PSVR has move, but the Oculus touch controllers don’t have a release date yet, and so you’ll more likely than not be playing the Xbox One gamepad. It limits the sort of immersion you can get, even if this is a problem that will be fixed eventually.
HTC Vive: Same question as the Oculus Rift, only different specs. The HTC Vive is the most expensive option of all three of these, because of the headset, the PC, and the fact that you’ll need a decent amount of space dedicated to it. The Vive is the only system to use full body tracking, which, combined with Valve’s excellent wand controllers, creates the most complete immersion of any of these three options. The Vive is the high end option of these three, with all of the attendant concerns that come along with that. If you want to pay the money, you can get the best feeling VR headset available.
Vive is bound to have a smaller install base than the Oculus Rift, which more likely than not will mean fewer, less varied games. That might not be a problem — you only need a couple great ones, after all — but the Rift is still probably going to win in terms of sheer variety. The Vive also has some of the best multiplayer experiences I’ve played in VR yet. So if money is no object and you want to set up the ultimate VR game room, the Vive is your best bet.
image credit: Sony
Playstation VR: You ask yourself a slightly different question here: do I have a PS4? Statistically speaking, your answer is more likely to be yes. And even if you don’t, you can pick one up for $350. PSVR is by far the most approachable of these three options, and it’s more than good enough to provide that “wow” moment when you first put on the headset. If you’re interested in VR but wary about diving into the sometimes strange and finicky world of PC gaming, the PSVR makes an excellent option. It may be cheaper, but it’s no slouch, either. I’ve had some of my best VR experiences in PSVR, which makes that lower price point all the more appealing.
PSVR is the only headset that’s not on Windows, and so the closed nature of PSN is going to mean you’ll have a harder time finding strange, esoteric experiences, if that sort of thing is your jam (also porn). But PSVR comes with all of Sony’s experience in the gaming business, not to mention a suite of impressive first party studios to boot. So there’s bound to be some good software out there. PSVR will also be last to market (no official release date), so if your eyeballs are itching to get inside a headset, you’ll want to go with one of the other options.
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