Oct 08 2016 | 2:00 pm EDT krisguy

I went Vive because of the open nature of Steam VR. The OpenVR community of stores (Steam, Viveport, and even the Oculus store) support apps that work all on the Vive system. I can get an app or experience from one and play it on my Vive. Somewhat hard to play games designed for Vive on Rift, but games designed for Rift work fine on my Vive with a Xbox One controller plugged into a USB port.

Oct 08 2016 | 8:25 pm EDT iThunderbirt

Though the PSVR has my interest...if I was to choose one that cost and setup is not an issue, it would be the HTC Vive.

At first, when hearing about the HTC Vive I told myself "Interesting...HTC is going into VR now?". When researching more about the Vive, I learned it was created in collaboration (I believe) with Valve. Then I did some simple math -> Valve = Steam.

Having already established a solid digital gaming distribution platform and knowing a lot of friends have many games purchased through them, I knew off the bat the Vive would be the VR system to get without knowing about their setup/hardware. Who knows, maybe a manufacture will bring a Steam OS machine capable of using VR (if not done so already) for the living room in case some might prefer a gaming machine to a similar size as a gaming console

A friend of mine has purchased one so I hope to try it out after experiencing the PSVR.

Oct 09 2016 | 3:18 am EDT pkcable

Probably going to end up going PSVR BUT if cost were no obstacle then Vive for sure!

Oct 09 2016 | 12:08 pm EDT Chemy JMHT

I may say I don't believe you all are being totally honest, if cost is not an issue, we will buy all.

From the start I think ViVE is the wiser option, linked to Steam is a plus and having from the beginning the room scale and the controllers, I don't know if Oculus will partner with Origin, Uplay and/or Battle.net.

Another little thing to consider is the minimum PC specs which now are needed to get the Rift will open a little bit the market, but if we don't care about money we for sure will go for a 3x SLi GTX 1080 Ti, 128GB DDR4 RAM, Octa Core CPU 5GHz and more.

Oct 09 2016 | 7:19 pm EDT Sim_8_3

Well Unless I won a PSVR, I don't think I could justify buying one, given the price of the Oculus and Vive are more, that's not that appealing either, however if money was not an option and I had a VR Ready PC, then I would say first choice would have to be the HTC Vive, followed by the PSVR and lastly the Oculus, given the Oculus doesn't have as much to offer yet, I think I would be more inclined to try the more affordable Oculus VR they are talking about ,since money is an option, but than again I still need to upgrade my PC, lol

Oct 09 2016 | 7:21 pm EDT Sim_8_3

I'm not sure I would still buy all, after all you can only ride one horse at a time, if you know what I mean, lol

Oct 10 2016 | 12:03 pm EDT Chemy JMHT

I know, but if money isn't an issue... Why not? I know people which money is no issue and because of that have more than a house and more than a car

I think it's about having access to all the platform experiences.

Oct 11 2016 | 12:22 pm EDT pkcable

I'm down! All three!

Oct 12 2016 | 4:18 am EDT Richard Devine

PlayStation VR is the only one that really grabbed me. I think probably because I've been playing console games for like 23 years of my life and its the place I feel most comfortable. I've tried them all and good lord it's definitely the most comfy on my oversized bonce.

I also think that Sony's killer feature is its developer support. There are some terrific experiences on the other platforms but for me, being able to jump into things like Call of Duty and Tomb Raider, games I already enjoy, and have some added VR fun is a win.

Oct 13 2016 | 4:36 pm EDT Charles Bosse

Money isn't exactly "not an issue" for me, but I had enough to invest in one of these (whichever I wanted) and not break the bank. That included some computer upgrades, games, and hoopla, so honestly the price of the headset was only a bit of the total price anyway.

I went with the Vive. Honestly I can't imagine making any other choice. The resolution is good (comparable to the Rift and better than anything else but Cardboard/Samsung VR with a 4K phone, and there you loose big time on other things) the game selection promised to be quite good (and is, you can look at Steam's selection for free, before you buy) and (here's the kicker) it's set up, out of the box, for room scale VR. Anything else is no good. It's sickness inducing, limited, and not immersive. And sure, the rift now has "touch" controllers that will set you back enough additional to have bought the Vive and some games and a steam controller for the price of just the rift and the touch controllers, but even then, there's just one camera, in front, so I hope you don't need to turn around. The Vive also has six months of room scale software and debugging behind it. So to me, the choice was and still is clear.

Oct 13 2016 | 9:31 pm EDT the_moesiah

This.

The PSVR's headset is by far the most comfortable. It's also the only one that fit over my glasses comfortably. The Vive smashed the into my face and I couldn't wear them with the Rift at all.

I was leaning towards Vive and when I can afford it I'll still get one (and a PC that can run it). I was very skeptical of PSVR, but like you, the game library sold me.

And not to hijack the thread, but you guys are doing a fantastic job at Windows Central!

Oct 14 2016 | 9:37 am EDT Charles Bosse

My wife had some problems with glasses and the Vive, in that the glasses didn't just bump the headset, they mildly scratched the Fresnel lenses. for most people with a mild prescription, you probably don't actually need glasses to play it turns out (especially if you're near sighted) so most of the people who try it just take their glasses off. The Vive also can adjust the distance from the face, which may not have happened if you were demoing it, but which I also have to acknowledge doesn't totally fix the problem (but might help, depending on your case and what kind of glasses you wear). It's perhaps also worth noting that there is now a third party doing prescription corrective lense "protectors" that would keep you from needing glasses... but also add ~$100 to your cost probably. (Obviously contacts are also probably an option for most people too.)

Given that, I wouldn't be surprised if the PSVR is better with glasses, and it's certainly cheaper with an excellent line up of games. But there are some possibilities with the VIve as well, and even with the Rift, if you want to go one of those routes.

Oct 14 2016 | 10:10 am EDT Charles Bosse

I generally am pretty fond of Playstation, but honestly my hesitancy to jump into PSVR is exactly because of the way Sony has treated new technology in the past. They are quick to adopt but also quick to dismiss previous investments ideas as they move forward, often leaving consumers holding the bag. There are several reasons I think "this time might be different" but I'm still inclined toward a certain level of caution.

And, to be fair, all three VR platforms deserve recognition for their work with developers. "Steam Greenlight" has launched a tremendous number of good games from smaller studios and established Steam as much more than a content delivery service (but also, as one of the best content delivery services), and the defining feature of Occulus was getting developers excited about VR by working closely with them for more than five years. I personally don't like that the trade for that was exclusivity deals (VR needs to be cross pollinating right now and studios that put in enough work to make a great game need to have the freedom to find the space where that game works best IMO) but there are undeniably commendable efforts from all three platforms to help developers launch.

That does bring up an important point about the quality of the products available though. Steam probably has the largest spread in quality, with games ranging from mind-blowingly amazing to animated shorts you will be embarrassed to have paid a dollar for, and including plenty of basically unvetted material that could be fun, but might also crash your system. Occulus has a mostly polished collection, but that collection is still going to be vastly oriented toward "sitting VR". PlayStation will undoubtedly have polished games (if not all necessarily very deep), and promises to have a few Really Impressive titles... but will not have the joy of the collection of demos and free or nearly free experimental things that Steam provides to the Vive and to some degree to the Rift (because some of those really are little treasures) or the mindbogglingly awesome results of a developer having full creative licence.

Oct 14 2016 | 11:21 am EDT Joshua Richards1

I finally gave Vive a shot at the Google office in Toronto. They were showing us the TiltBrush application, which is actually a lot of fun and almost therapeutic tbh.

Oct 14 2016 | 11:23 am EDT Joshua Richards1

I saw a video on the verge about PSVR, and while the headset is great, the move controllers are pretty shoddy. I'm not going to invest in something thats so half-assed put together.

Oct 15 2016 | 7:55 am EDT Richard Devine

The Move controllers are 6 years old. Sure, Sony could have (and maybe should have) designed a new controller, with added expense. But I picked up a pair of old Move controllers for next to nothing, which I'm pretty happy with.

Oct 16 2016 | 1:24 am EDT curtzxion

vive, with steam behind it(not htc), its gonna have brighter future i think. second iteration is in the corner, with prototype of next controller being demoed recently

Oct 17 2016 | 7:12 pm EDT Nick Gustoff

Vive is the most expensive be very well supported due to its open nature. PSVR will be the cheapest and actually have some decent games built around the platform. Rift falls snuggly between the two in each regard.