VR Escapism
For the past year or so we’ve all been spending a lot more time at home with ourselves and not as much contact or activity outside as we’d like which leads to some us going a little stir crazy. This is why I wanted to introduce you guys to the wacky world of VR, something I’ve lately gotten myself into after being intrigued by friends and certain games.
VR especially now can mean a lot to people, it could offer you a way to hang out with friends who you might not have seen for a while, you can dive into some fun games or experiences and just lose yourself for a while. With how far VR technology has gotten too there’s a lot of super fun things you could get yourself involved with should you ever want to take the plunge, let’s go over a few of them!
The Headset Choices
So of course your wonderful journey into the world of VR can start at the budget range or the all the way up to the enthusiast tier, luckily in current year there’s so many more headsets from a lot of companies and this has really kicked over the barrier to entry quite a bit. Two of the cheaper choices will bring you to the Oculus Rift S which is a starter headset that comes at a fair price and it’ll let you play with a VR ready pc.
Another choice would be a very popular one as of late, the Oculus Quest 2 and there’s something special about this one. You do not at all need a console or a pc to run supported VR games or experiences for the Quest 2, it’s completely self contained and even wireless. It does of course mean you would have to charge your headset and it might not offer the same power something like a pc could give you if it powered it all but it’s a very good entry point for people.
One downside of the Oculus headsets is that if you purchase one now you’ll be stuck making a facebook account to make it all work unless you have a massive workaround. Now one of the most premier headsets would be one by Valve and that is the eponymous Valve Index. The Valve Index is the one I personally went for as I wanted a top of the line experience delivered by a company in gaming that I have a lot of faith in. This is by far one of the most pricy headsets but it’ll net you everything you need to have a fully mindboggling VR experience, they also happen to have the best VR controllers out of all the headsets.
The Games & Experiences
This is where the real fun begins, once you’ve got all your fancy hardware together and setup you can begin experiencing just how good VR has gotten. There’s your typical games like shooters, roguelikes and silly physics sandbox games but there’s also completely social experiences where you’re able to hang out with friends that may be thousands of miles away from you. It’s been the socializing for people that might’ve missed that bit of contact over the past year and that’s why we’ll talk about VRChat first!
VRChat is a silly rabbit hole that can be completely wholesome or downright dirty depending on your preferences. With avatars to represent yourself and a lot of playermade content like worlds too you’ll be seeing super silly worlds, ones with their own complete mechanics and gameplay to them and just a lot of places to relax and talk to people. This is something I’ve been getting into more and more lately with new and old friends alike. VRChat also happens to be free so if you ever find yourself interested in what this game is all about you could dip your toes in even on just a PC and find out. Lots of fun to be had, lots of socializing, lots of wandering around and so much more!
Next up is something that’ll get you to workout and have a lot of fun with it, which can only mean one thing. It’s Beat Saber, the stellar rhythm game that has you waving your arms around, slicing blocks to the beat, dodging and ducking while you’re also enjoying being super active and some great music. It’s a game I’ve been trying to work into my daily routine where I just try to get a little bit better at Beat Saber each day while also getting a solid one hour of sweating in. Truly a must have for any VR headset and it’s available for most of them!
Now this has only been a slight selection of the VR experience and they’re exclusively games that I’ve played but there’s a washlist of games that you can jump in. There’s also a lot of 18+ content including porn videos to watch, sex games and a lot more stuff that could blow your mind. The world of VR is a crazy one but it’s one that I would like to see get more accessible for everyone. It can be a place of socializing, escapism and pure fun. Escape into fun worlds, experience things from a new perspective and most importantly have a new way to socialize with friends new and old alike that’s what VR has been for me so far and I’m hoping to see it only get more enjoyable.
