Title's a little clickbaity, but the article is good.

Well, sums it up pretty nicely. The truth most probably lies somewhere in the middle, with VR becoming a new niche in gaming, instead of a fad that just passes.

I just don't see how the early bird devs could make the same crazy amount of money that was possible during the early days of the mobile gold rush, given we are talking about WAY higher cost of ownership and WAY less mileage you can get out of your VR device besides gaming compared to a mobile phone.

People paid 800 bucks for early iPhones because they wanted to replace their dumb phone, and their iPod, and surf the web on the train, and see what other uses the Apps could bring in the future. And then they found out that the iPhone was also decent as handheld gaming device.

Will People pay the 800 bucks to get bargain basement VR today with the PSVR? Will they pay the 2000 bucks for top of the line PC VR gaming? When all these things run at the moment are Tech demos and some very limited gaming expieriences?

I'd say adoption of VR might take off when VR Movies, VR TV and Windows Applications in VR are becoming a thing. And prices for the high end expierience stay below 1000 bucks. Even then, it will most probably just be a niche...

I would be very careful to invest into VR now....

The VR may become more of a specialty product. Just like steering wheel controller.

Think about movies in VR, still people would prefer the conventional 2d/3d movie over VR.

People do not prefer to wear anything on the eyes. It will always be the same. Its not that simple to sell sunglasses for the eyes of every consumers,but a fancy handbag is. Same goes with the classic game controllers, which match the tendencies of the human hands so well.

This is a complex topic, and this article is shaving ice flakes from the top of the tip of the iceberg. I don't think it's very useful to read in its current state.

I think the underlying question is, "Is VR going to be successful?".

To answer that question, you really have to spend some time defining what success looks like.

Then, you also have to spend a lot of time doing expectation management and comparisons to other revolutionary forms of media and look at their adoption curves. Where is VR today in relation to those historical adoption rates?

Then, you have to also spend some considerable effort defining what actions it will take for VR to become "successful". What needs to happen for success to be achieved? Are those steps currently being executed? Are we on track, exceeding predictions and expectations, or lagging behind?

On the game dev side, you are also asking whether a game developer should "invest" in VR. If you ask this question, I'm hoping for a clear answer or a list of things to strongly consider (I already know the answer, since I'm an invested VR dev). Again, this is going to come down to making business decisions based on the current state of the market and the anticipated direction of the market in order to make a return on investment. The key question to answer: Can you run a sustainable VR development studio with current market conditions?

VR is still a new technology, or recently accessible to normal consumers. The price still needs to be more accessible. I think adoption will be slow, but increase as the price (and tech) improves, at least among gamers. A few "killer apps/games" that make really good use of the tech might speed acceptance greatly, especially on console platforms. I believe comfort and convenience will continue to improve and become less of a deterrent.

I could see AR becoming fairly commonplace, and maybe even required for certain occupations, as it improves.

Assuming these technologies don't end up causing eye cancer or having other detrimental side effects, then all bets are off. But these kinks will be ironed out too, eventually, after a few "unforeseen consequences."

The way it is broken down right now it is like so:

Gamers on a budget consider VR a fad due to not being able to afford the equipment for it.

Hardcore gamers with money to burn make it a niche market.

To make it a mainstay the VR set prices will have to drop drastically for more gamers to buy them, but the recommended PCs also will have to undergo price drops as the range I saw when VR first launched was ~$1300.

To give you context of my income, it broke me for the month just buying my son a Playstation 4 at $350. While I would love to play around with VR and even try to develop VR games, it isn't going to happen unless I win the lottery.

This is a great article and makes me wonder if we will see VR go mainstream. I know Youtube content creators do a lot of "Let's Play" videos for VR games.

For now it's to expensive, heavy and low resolution. But I surely will get a Linux compatible device for X-Plane in the next years. Also must be huge fun for Alien Isolation and alike.

The title is a false dichotomy, just like "is handheld or desktop the future of gaming" would be. VR is a new platform, and will take its place beside the other platforms; not replacing them, but supplementing them. Also, its much too cool to be a passing fad.

2 things need to happen for it to survive - the prices need to drop - and developers need to start making games that are AMAZING. Unfortunately only one of these may happen, but at that point it won't even matter due to the massive lack of creativity in the mainstream games industry.

Long story short, no studio is willing to take the risk on a VR game - and even if they did, it would suck because they aren't used to being creative to begin with - just making games that make them end's meet.

2 things need to happen for it to survive - the prices need to drop - and developers need to start making games that are AMAZING. Unfortunately only one of these may happen, but at that point it won't even matter due to the massive lack of creativity in the mainstream games industry.

Long story short, no studio is willing to take the risk on a VR game - and even if they did, it would suck because they aren't used to being creative to begin with - just making games that make them end's meet.

That being said - the first studio or indie developer that makes something unique, fun and GOOD for VR is going to have solid gold in their hands (and a massive paycheck).