With the Oculus VR, HTC Vive and PlayStation VR headsets, among others, launching this year, it seems like 2016 will be the year of Virtual Reality. Picking specs for VR, however, has become a real challenge for developers, due to the nature of VR, and picking minimum specs is apparently quite tricky, according to the Elite: Dangerous producer Michael Brookes.
Talking with Eurogamer about VR and required hardware specifications, Mr. Brookes pointed out that picking system specs has been made more complicated by VR. The team has been working with VR since the hardware was available and they have found that what is comfortable or not varies from player to player, making picking minimum specs for virtual reality more challenging. Not surprising, considering that bad performance can lead to a very uncomfortable experience. Mr. Brookes added that Frontier Productions is recommending the specs they feel match their standards, but as they are optimizing the game all the time, there's also a degree of "wiggle room".
"System specs are always a question for PC gaming, and it's made more complicated by VR. We've been working with VR since the hardware was available, and we've found what is and isn't comfortable varies from player to player. That makes picking a 'minimum' spec for virtual reality more challenging. We're recommending the spec we feel will offer an experience matching our standards. We're optimising and adding to Elite Dangerous all the time, so there's always a degree of 'wiggle room,' even on our rigs."
There's a lot of excitement surrounding the upcoming headsets and several developers are thinking about adding VR support to their games, like Escape From Tarkov and others. Huge support has also been confirmed yesterday by the GameStop CEO Paul Raines, who stated that support will be big for VR in general, with the PlayStation VR getting the strongest games line-up. Over 100 games are currently in development for this specific headest, according to Sony President and CEO Kazuo Hirai.
About the author: Francesco De Meo has been covering video games and technology since 2012, starting his career at small outlets like Gamersyndrome and GeekSnack. After joining Wccftech gaming section in 2015, he quickly expanded his video gaming coverage with in-depth reporting, interviews with iconic industry figures such as Grasshopper Manufacture founder and No More Heroes creator Goichi "Suda51" Suda, Resident Evil series creator Shinji Mikami, Team NINJA's president and Nioh series director Fumihiko Yasuda, and Silent Hill creator Keiichiro Toyama, reviews and on-the-ground coverage of major industry events such as Gamescom and E3. When he's not reporting or reviewing, Francesco can be found playing the genres he loves most, spending time with his six cats, reading, writing music, playing guitar and drumming for his progressive rock band.
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