Is virtual reality the next big step for video games, or is it just a gimmick? Either possibility has potential, which is more likely? There are many things to look at to help determine this, the popularity of VR, such as the companies making VR games, the cost of producing triple a games and the overall future of game production,
Virtual Reality is not a new concept, there are many examples of VR throughout pop-culture, from headsets to holo-decks and even stasis chambers that pierce into your spine and there are a fair share of attempts are creating Virtual Reality such as Nintendo's Virtual Boy, and even some people would reason that 3d imagery is an attempt at VR. VR as a concept is clearly sought after, but what about as a product, at least in its current iterations of headsets including the Oculus Rift and the HTC Vive, well that is a bit tricky to answer. Apparently there is plenty of consumer interest and optimistic (foolish) analysts have made high predictions for the adoption of VR headsets, however sales numbers have been rather low in comparison, I can lend my personal opinion and say that I believe that everyone who has tried one wants one, they just can't afford it. My opinion may mean nothing however the price is definitely a point worth discussing, as many VR headsets are floating around $700-$1500 assuming you're in the US, as well as requiring a top of the line computer to be able to support it, the closest thing to a cheap alternative is whatever that crappy phone one is or Playstation VR (but come on, new finicky tech, mostly indie games, do you really want that on an extremely restricted console). So here we are, step one of making an argument, establish you've gone nowhere, VR isn't as popular as it could be but it might only be because of money, okay then. At least the games are cheaper.
The top of the line triple a games are produced with budgets of millions of dollars, Destiny for instance had a budget of roughly $500,000,000, I am not joking. Now this seems like I'm going off topic but bare with me, this comes back round. Triple a games may eventually become unprofitable. As games evolve the amount of work that goes into them and the number of developers working on will increase, and for every little shortcut someone programs into a new engine there are two other areas that now require twice the work to hit the current industry standard. What I'm trying to say, is that top tier games are only going to get more expensive to make and we will hit a cap before the rest of the industry changes, whether game technology stagnates at this cap or game prices increase, something will change, and VR may just be what comes out unscathed. Just for a little proof, when Epic games a very successful developer known for Unreal Tournament and Gears of War was working on their original concepts for Gears of War 4 came to realize that this Game would cost over $100,000,000 to make, and despite the overweening success of the rest of the series, making that game would bankrupt them, so they sold the IP to Microsoft. That's just showing that even the biggest and most well known developers will not be untouched by the rising costs of game production. "Jesse, where the hell does VR come into this," Well, it doesn't, well it does but not directly, what I'm suggesting is that Indie games will survive, low budgets and developed by small teams, (good) indie games are either retro with a creative twist or purely a gimmick, and where indie will start to rise, so will VR because VR fits into indie.
VR from the start is a gimmick, people may have dreams of Matrix like worlds just like our own but we can do what we want GTA style, but what are some of the most popular VR games (with proper optimization and controls)? Job simulator? Surgeon Simulator? Roller-coasters? They are all from independent developers, they are all (moderately) low budget, and they don't cost much to buy. VR may have a large buy-in cost but the games themselves, $20-$40. All of these VR games are short, sweet and fun experiences, often with playfully simple aesthetics, with simple geometry and cartoonish colours and shading. Aside from having to cater everything to VR (there are probably already templates to make it easy to follow) VR games a relatively easy to make when compared to the monolithic triple a titles we all fight over now, and that's what's going to keep VR around. Occasionally we'll get a Star Citizen or a Resident Evil which when ported correctly feels like it was made for VR, but everything actually designed purely for VR is just simple and fun, like a Wii but much much better,
Is virtual reality the next big step for video games, or is it just a gimmick? the simple answer, yes.
It's both, it is part of the next stage in gaming because it is a gimmick. The difficulty of making a truly top tier title is what stop VR from becoming obsolete due to production costs, and they almost stupidly simple games sold for the platform is what will keep it alive a lot longer than what Call of Duty could for any device.
