What Is Real Anymore

If I were to guess which topic we'll be hearing more about at this year's E3, I think I would have to say Virtual Reality (VR). The first name that pops into mind (outside of the ridiculous Virtual Boy) is the Oculus Rift. It's really been the only bit of public knowledge on VR over the last couple of years. That is until Sony showed off their VR headset (code named Project Morpheus) at the Game Developers Conference back in March.

The Oculus Rift, being an entirely PC based technology, never really showed up at E3 before. I mean it did, but only really in passing (nothing like it getting featured in one of the press conferences). I guess one of the reasons for that is it really seems that E3 is more focused on the console-side of gaming, there really is no big advocate for PC games. The biggest press conferences held during the event are Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo, who all explicitly talk about their individual platforms (Playstation, Xbox, and whatever Nintendo decides to call their "fun box", respectively).

The only real curious thought I have is if Microsoft announces something VR related of their own—whether that be in house tech they created like Sony, or some sort of joint endeavor to get the Oculus Rift working on the Xbox One. Now Oculus just got bought out by Facebook—who dropped a hefty 2 billion dollars down for the company—so who knows if they want to get into bed with Microsoft at this point in time. Considering the Oculus Rift is heavy on the PC, I don't see it as much of a stretch for it to eventually become compatible with the Xbox One.

All this new tech is pretty cool, and to be honest I cannot wait to give it a try...but! There may be some concerns with it, namely motion sickness. Now I have never had a problem like this with video games, but you do hear about some people getting sick playing first person shooters. You also hear about people using the Oculus Rift with flight simulators, doing flips and barrel rolls, and how they actually got that sort of sinking feeling in their gut as if they were on a ride at an amusement park. Some people might not be able to handle it, at least not without a heavy dose of Gravol beforehand.

What even happens when all this gets even more immersive? I'm really holding out for that smell-o-vision. When technology can link up with your mind and make you think you smell something that isn't even there...you know the tech has come a long way. Imagine how many people will play games like Outlast, though. Some people can't stand looking at gore in movies, imagine playing a game and it smells like all the rotting flesh and blood everywhere? A lot of people will have puke all over their room for sure. This begs the question: I know how they create sound effects, but will this create a whole new profession? The Scent Designer? Discussions for another day I suppose.

Now with Project Morpheus entering the fray, one of the major gaming companies is bringing VR to the fore front, and unless no one actually buys it and the tech bombs when it's released, this can only be a good thing for VR as a whole. Competition just breeds better products for the consumer.