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[OccamsRazor]

More and more lately I've been hearing that VR is the 'future' of gaming, that it may be primed to overtake traditional gaming in the next arbitrary number of years. Now, a lot of times this is used to be an attention grabbing article, rather than legitimate speculation, but I've heard it around enough to wonder if there is any truth to it.

So I've been wondering what your thoughts are on the whole future of VR? And it's effect on "traditional" gaming mediums like PC and consoles.

Personally, I don't think its the game changer that some are touting it to be. I think some awesome stuff comes out of it, and I'm excited to see what they do with it in the future, but I don't think it is going to overtake 30-35ish years of traditional gaming in one fell swoop.

Or maybe I think that because I like making small, 2D games that have no place in a VR world, and so I'm just hoping it doesn't win out

[odrez]

I guess people will still play games on different devices. I think VR will have a big boom once the technology is consumer-ready, but it will not affect casual gaming on phones or group gaming on a big screen.

One of the things I like about gaming is that you can choose what to play. I can love diving into a VR world for 3 hours a day as well as sitting on my couch with my girlfriend to play some console games. Or meeting up with friends to watch someone play a game on a livestream.

VR games are a bit difficult, because traditional games don't work in that setup. I tried some stuff out with a smartphone-VR-headset and some things worked great, others not. As a direction, I would say that all games that need a lot of fast movement are in a bad position. On the other side, games that focused on puzzles, especially escape-room games, were awesome, even if they're simple. I think that a lot of game genres will have to be reinvented to work well with VR, that's why I think that the traditional ways of gaming will co-exist for a very long time.

[Mittens]

I've used the Steam VR so I feel I can comfortably say that yes, VR is going to be huge.
But that said I don't believe it will ever fully replace 'Screen' games.

I think the best comparison when talking about the position of VR would be the Nintendo Wii.
The Wii was also a revolutionary piece of technology, enabling games that are nothing like existing games, played in a new sci-fi way.
It was also something you cannot sell via explanation - only personal experience truly grants an appreciation of the technology and it's appeal.
So look at how the Wii went historically; it sold more than any competing console and was a widespread hit. At one point I saw an article saying that more homes in the UK had a Nintendo Wii than had ducted heating. 

But just like the Wii, the games you can play in VR are completely unique, meaning they don't step on the toes of many existing screen games.
The Wii didn't end/overtake normal games and neither will VR.
People will still play twitch competitive games like Counter-strike, people will still play time-wasting facebook games, people will still play apps on their phones etc.

[RudyTheDev]

VR won't be the future, it will be an integral part of the future. Games are the perfect medium. Traditional mediums, especially hard-core ones, will adapt, improve, and co-exist. Like TV, PC, consoles, and hand-helds co-exist, so will VR. It won't be a solution, rather an enhancement. And just like retro games today, there will be a steady market for "flat games". But it's still a gimmick at this stage and will be until it improves beyond a critical threshold (last VR craze faded out exactly because it was so crap on the tech side). Once the tech is comfortable enough it will go mainstream and into non-games.

[gimymblert]

But then AR is the future of VR

However it will not quite be the present, although investment now kind of give a head start.

[J-Snake]

My next major game called "Infiltrator" will be ideal to experience in VR. So I might add VR support for it. VR won't be for everyone and for everything, but it can open up new valuable experiences to enjoy from time to time.

[kinbot]

Currently working on VR projects myself, I'm totally on the bandwagon.  I hope that it will be an important part of gaming very soon, but since most of the consumer devices aren't releasing until next year it's hard to gauge how much of the hype will translate into sales. 

Even if it is hugely popular though the "traditional" gaming platforms aren't going to go away any time soon.  There's a lot of games that simply won't translate well to VR, and there are a slew of new design challenges which will require elements to be specifically created for VR versions.

Just like board games still have their own unique value, so will console/pc, and mobile titles.

[joe_eyemobi]

I agree with the above that it won't eclipse traditional games, it's just another form of media.  It's pretty much the same as why people still enjoy books, tv, and even stories - they each will still have their particular charm about them that newer forms of technology don't have.

[xiotex]

I think VR has a way to go before it is the future but it's certainly a very exciting direction to go in. I was a complete VR sceptic until I showed Oculus my game Caretaker and they sent me 4 DK2's to work on. Once I had my game up and running on it I finally understood and became a convert. If I could pivot and only make VR games from now on I would be very happy.

There's another side-benefit, certainly at the moment anyway - VR isn't fully commercially available which means there are a lot of people out there that want to try it. I took two of the DK2's that Oculus sent me and set up a stand at the recent MCM Comicon in London. We had queues to play my game on them all weekend, in the end we estimated that over 600+ people played the game which is far more than would have happened at any game show without the Oculus rift. So if you are considering showing your game - get a DK2 and show it with that, you're pretty much going to get a crowd waiting to play.

Here's some pics I took of the stand and people playing Caretaker with the Oculus Rift: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/updates/534197536/1445977863

[joe_eyemobi]

That's true, a surprising amount of people still don't even realize what VR is.  We've been doing lots of demos at expos over the past 12 months, and most of the general public haven't even heard of it, or have never tried it.  Only about 10% have actually tried it so it's a novelty.