Im not going to completely agree with Howard... but I will say, that he does have a good point in the argument.
The cost of VR may be coming down... but its still quite up there for the masses (with everything from hardware to powerful PC in total).
Not only that, but not everyone likes the typical VR style FPS gun games. Especially since many of these are developed as Cross-Platform, and
are not specifically balanced and tailored to, VR. As such... game difficulty may be too easy, and too limited / simplistic. Its generally too expensive
for companies to develop completely different platform specifics... so if it is done... its usually the "short-cut" method... which creates a lackluster
experience.
Does VR have to have the most Amazing realistic graphics to be good? Not at all. Go to any game store, and you will see that any
Super Mario Bros. 2d games... resell at some of the higher amounts... and most are always sold out, or are the last one available...
Going back to my Sega Master System days... I had the 3d shutterglasses. The game Maze Hunter 3d, is quite good, and visually really cool... though,
a little slow on the action front. But Missile Defense 3D ? That game is Da BOMB! (Literally
) Its worth the whole cost of a system + game + glasses + lightgun...
just for that game alone.
Even beyond that... I always remembered the day, as a young tike, that I walked up to a real Continental Circus 3D arcade machine, that had the glasses on it.
I was Totally blown away by it. The graphics may be simple... not shaded nice like Outrun... but in 3D... it was a whole other experience! Smoke, Tires, Pieces and parts... flying out of the screen on a regular basis. The depth of the road into the screen was great too. Its not the kind of 3d that is barely noticeable.. as some other 3d titles / films are like.
Even in Missile Defense 3D, if a Missile get too far, it will pop out of the screen at you. It wasnt as good as Continental... but it was a cool effect that hit home.. as it exploded right in front of you.
Playstation had a similar problem... where Sony told all developers, that it did not want any 2d based games. Pretty much every game, had to be polygon based. Luckily a few rare games like Lomax, got away with getting a 'pass'... but mostly, its all fairly lame content, IMO. The systems 3d capability were not that impressive at all... and without variety, all games were almost all the same exact clone, of one another.
Even Jeri Ellsworth, was working on a low-cost stand-alone AR device, after realizing that the masses were going to be hard to attract with such high costs.
Would have been cool to see what she could have came up with... had not the company funding, been yanked. I think she had a good plan... but, I feel that the
real issue was with content. Without good, addictive, content... even the best tech... is pretty much worthless to most people.
Nintendo, unlike Sega... have lasted the storms... even with Inferior hardware... because they have had a master-class level game design crew... that puts out pretty much consistently good games... that pretty much everyone and anyone, is attracted to, and gets addicted to.
Sega had some great hardware, and some great moments in the Arcades... but... these quarter munchers, such as Afterburner II, and Outrun... were limited and simple... and didnt have the lasting power to push a home console system to success. Heck, most of the consoles couldnt even produce their own arcade games... but when they could.. it was too little... too late. And while Sonic had its moments in its original debut... it still was 1/1000 th the gameplay of the Mario series.
The master system was similar. It has a Few choice gems... such as Shooting Gallery (might be the best lightgun game ever made), Missile Defense 3D, Golvelius, Phantasy Star 1, Astro Warrior, Zillion, and a few others... but overall... its limited library of mostly simplistic games, was not as good "gamplay wise", as the NES games... despite being more capable.
Genesis wasnt much better. Very few Sega exclusive / Originals by Sega. Mostly Ports by Sega, such as G&G. Luckily, there were some brilliant developers from other companies, that were able to make the Genesis a decent and fun system. (ThunderForce II, Target Earth ... two of my top Epic Favorites)
Id bet, that a stand along "Jacks" style "Tempest (TxK)" + 360 degree spinner + mildly decent VR glasses setup... would outsell the Riff 1000 to 1, at a $100, all day long.
That and or a Starwars arcade vector 3d version... that had a real 2 axis yoke... =) (Plus some additional engine abilities... such as trenches that bobbed and weaved in different directions and paths...)
The real key in VR, is that single game... that people cant live without. Not in the games that are OK, or are fun for a few hours... then get stale.
Thats essentially what made the NES fly off the shelf in Record numbers: SMB as a pack-in game.
Everyone had to have it... especially after a single play, at a friends house.