Virtual Game Nut

The fierce competition between the HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, and Windows Mixed Reality headsets as been heating up ever more in 2018, with prices dropping left and right and the arrival of the much-improved HTC Vive Pro.

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Virtual reality is still a niche market, but its evangelists are no doubt itching for some sort of upgrade at this point. Both the HTC Vive and the Oculus Rift are coming up on their second anniversaries, and while each has made some interim changes (Oculus’s Touch controllers, the Vive’s Deluxe Audio Strap), the core experience hasn’t changed much.

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If you want a hint of how fragile our tech-reliant world is, look no further than the Oculus Rift. This morning, Rift owners the world over discovered that their $400 virtual reality headset had become a paperweight overnight—at least temporarily.

Seems as though Oculus uh…forgot(?) to issue an updated Windows certificate, the security feature that confirms that, yes, Oculus’s software is actually Oculus’s software. As Microsoft’s decade-old primer puts it, “Digital certificates function similarly to identification cards such as passports and drivers’ licenses.” That’s a pretty good analogy.

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Virtual reality’s second generation edges ever closer. We saw Oculus’s new Santa Cruz prototype this past October, and today HTC countered with its own plans: A “Vive Pro” upgrade, wireless adapter, and a new iteration of Valve’s SteamVR tracking.

Let’s jump in.

Vive 2.0

The Vive Pro isn’t specifically billed as Vive 2, perhaps because it runs all the same software. Make no mistake, though: This is the next step for HTC.

The most obvious change is that it’s…blue. Like, really blue. All the marketing materials for the HTC Vive Pro portray it clad in rich sapphire. I can’t say I’m a huge fan, and hopefully there’s a black version for those who want it.

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If you’re interested in trying out Windows Mixed Reality headsets, the time is now. They’re basically half off on the eighth day of Microsoft’s 12 Days of Deals, with savings up to $200 on three separate headsets.

The Acer Windows Mixed Reality Headset (normally $399, now $199), the HP Windows Mixed Reality Headset (normally $449, now $249), and the Lenovo Explorer Windows Mixed Reality Headset (normally $399, now $199) are at heavy discounts. The higher-resolution Samsung HMD Odyssey Windows Mixed Reality Headset still commands a premium. It’s on sale too, but only $50 off at $449. All of the deals include a pair of bundled controllers.

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It’s been a sleepy fall for virtual reality, but we were promised one hell of a capstone: Not one but three Bethesda titles, reworked for the HTC Vive. First Doom VFR, then Fallout 4 VR, and then Skyrim VR sometime in 2018. (That last one is also available for PlayStation VR right this moment.)

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The fierce competition between the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift heated up even more on October 17, when Microsoft and its partners launched Windows Mixed Reality headsets as part of the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update. Oculus actually struck back just before Microsoft’s VR army marched out, announcing a $100 price drop for the Rift at its Oculus Connect 4 developer conference.

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In the battle for the best VR headset, HTC won’t concede an inch to Oculus. On Tuesday, the company announced the Vive Focus, a standalone mobile VR headset that doesn’t need a phone or PC to run. Oculus revealed the similar $199 Oculus Go a mere month ago.

HTC isn’t providing too many details about the device. Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 835 chip powers the Vive Focus, and like Windows Mixed Reality headsets, HTC’s will offer inside-out position tracking so you can wander VR worlds without the need for external base stations. That suggests the Vive Focus may be more expensive than the Oculus Go and phone-dependent headsets like Gear VR and Daydream View, which only track the way your head is facing, not the position of you or your controllers in relation to the outside world. The simple controller in HTC’s Vive Focus images appears identical to the ones provided by the competition, though.

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A new world of experiences will open to early Windows Mixed Reality adopters next week, when a SteamVR preview comes to the Microsoft-powered headsets on November 15.

Windows Mixed Reality headsets just launched alongside the Windows 10 Creators Update on October 17, and the Mixed Reality apps in the Windows Store currently number in the dozens. SteamVR—which appeared in Steam when the HTC Vive launched in early 2016—offers more than 2,000 VR apps. Most are games but SteamVR also holds some interesting non-gaming software, such as Google’s superb Tilt Brush.

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For those who want to get into virtual reality but lack the hardware, HTC is offering a nice deal on the Vive VR system and a graphics card. Right now for $800 at Vive.com, you can get the HTC Vive base system, an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 graphics card, and a pre-order of Fallout 4 VR.

Overall this is a great deal. The Vive is normally $600; at today’s prices, the 1070 goes for about $400; and Fallout 4 VR is currently $60. All told, HTC’s deal gives you a discount around $260. Not bad for a beginner’s dip into the world of virtual reality.

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