Triggered by the thought of playing Elite: Dangerous in VR - everyone I know who has tried it says it’s amazing - I got to wondering (again) what the cost of VR headsets are looking like now that the great chip drought of '20-'21 seems to be gradually easing.
The Oculus Meta Quest 2 VR Headset is available for around R9 000 - R10 000 at the moment from the local importers, which I think is pretty much where it’s price has been for a while now.
Oculus Quest 2 VR Headset 128GB - White. | Buy Online in South Africa | takealot.com
That said, a direct buy and import from Amazon would still be the way to go if you were in the market for one. Currently In-Stock and could be in your hands in under a month for just R6 550.
If you have the headset and need the games, I have it on good authority that Elite: Dangerous and Half Life: Alyx are two that should be near the top of your Best VR Games Ever list. And when you’re ready for more, maybe check out the big Steam VR Fest Sale happening this week. Many, many VR ready games there right now, many with some steep discounts.
So yeah, still can’t afford it but it’s always nice to dream. I know a good few MEWbs do do the VR thing - any strong recommendations in terms of games or headsets for others to consider?
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I bought my launch edition Quest 2 from Amazon for around R6500. Still going strong. VR sim racing is a fickle mistress, as you need high frame rates and pin sharp resolutions to make it worthwhile. Anything less and you’re relegated to motion-sickness-land. So without an absolute top-tier gaming PC you’re gonna have to dial all those settings down to low or medium in order to achieve 90+ fps at very high resolutions.
That said, I’ve enjoyed some Project Cars 2 and Assetto Corsa Competizione in VR. It really does make pancake (VR slang for flat-screen gaming) racing feel like absolute peasantry. So much so that I refuse to play racing sims without VR anymore. I’ve fine with chase-cam arcade racers, but helmet-cam racing deserves VR.
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How long have you had it? And is the Amazon offer that I linked (Amazon.com: Meta Quest 2 — Advanced All-In-One Virtual Reality Headset — 128 GB : Everything Else) everything that you have, and everything that a beginner VR gamer would need?
If it is pretty much what you got for R6500, it’s roughly the same price now despite the Rands performance over the last few years.
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And as Steam has a VR sale, it’s not surprising to see the game bundlers jumping on things as well.
Here’s Fanatical’s Essential VR Bundle - 6 games for R155
Includes:
All are Steam key games.
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When it launched, the 64GB was the entry level. It’s subsequently been replaced by the 128GB version. You don’t need anything else - you can connect wirelessly to your gaming PC via Airlink or Virtual Desktop, so the days of requiring a 5m cable to tether to the machine are long gone. So you effectively only need the headset and controllers - you can even charge it via any USB-C power source. The bare-bones, entry-level option is more than sufficient.
EDIT: I bought my Quest 2 on launch, around October 2019. So it’s coming on 2 years old now… Granted, I don’t use it that much anymore - my almost-4 year old son plays on it most weekends for a 2-3 hour session. I’m too lazy to setup the racing or flying rig with the VR headset these days. When we move into our new home next year, I’ll hopefully have a dedicated gaming environment with a sim-pit of sorts.
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Steam VR games are generally quite cheap. I suspect we have some widely applied regional pricing on most VR titles. For those titles not benefitting of regional pricing, there are often some deep discounts (like on Skyrim and Fallout 4 VR). Buying on the Quest 2 store is expensive though, as everything is priced in Dollars and the most desired titles rarely go on special. Still, having some standalone titles that don’t require a gaming PC is quite liberating…
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I remember playing this at rAge, and how could I ever forget, it’s how I won the current Motherboard and GPU I have XD
Really fun casual puzzle game, if I ever get a VR set, I would like to get this game.
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