HTC America Vive Virtual Reality System

It's hard to do bulleted, concise reviews on something like this.. So this will be a little long winded. Stick with me if you can..If you were like me, you might be a little hesitant about tech like this, because you tried a GEAR VR, or think 3d desktop gaming and 3d movies are kinda of cool, but certainly not worth this kind of investment. Get that out of your head right now. This is COMPLETELY different.First, let me say that I've never been a huge gamer. I've spent many more hours on my 10 year old Wii than I have on newly released console/computer games.I enjoy the interaction even if I'm sacrificing graphical beauty.This system is kind of like a 5th generation Wii. They are really selling the experience more than the graphics. And the experience is absolutely something to be had.Kind of like that first time you picked up that wii controller and "bowled" and thought "hey, this is pretty cool." but on a WHOLE new level.Once you complete the setup you'll enter the tutorial and blow up a balloon.. You'll (without instruction) think.. What happens if I try to hit this floating balloon.. Probably nothing.. but you'll immediately realize how intuitive and accurate this "new world" is when the balloon flies in the direction and velocity you would expect it to based on your hand movement. And sure there are similar capabilities on other consoles. You separate when you realize you can (literally) walk underneath the balloon, look up at it, jump and swat it down to the floor. then walk circles around it while unrelentingly taunting it for obeying physics.When you play "The lab" and your hand becomes a spaceship in a (truly) 3d realm, you'll really grasp what this thing is all about. I can't imagine how silly it looks in real life with your hand just jerking up and down, left to right, ducking, spinning.. etc. But in the game it really feels like you're in a serious situation and your hand needs to dodge these incoming blobs at all costs.The longbow game is fun. And you may realize that the controllers are giving haptic feedback when you "pull" the bowstring and release it to give it that additional sense of immersion.It's these seemingly small, polished edges that make this an incredible product.You WILL feel immersed. I 100 percent guarantee it. You'll laugh the first time you try to set your gun down on a table in the virtual world.The setup wasn't bad. Although I didn't find instructions included. I just googled it and followed the 10ish step process from HTC.Windows 7 wouldn't install the drivers for the "link box" until I put it into the USB 2.0 slots (as others have stated) - the directions state that it's compatible with 2.0+ though. Maybe in later versions of Windows, or perhaps my BIOS settings are "bad". Either way, simple fix.I had planned on using the single HDMI port that my GTX1060 has since I saw that some people had problems through other connections. The directions stated that you can use a display port to mini display port on the link box but I didn't try it.So that makes two display ports out. One to my tv/monitor, the other to my receiver which passes the video to a projector, and then the HDMI to the Vive headset. All very seamless.When you get to the point of powering on all your components (for the first time) you might need to right click one of the controllers in the steam VR window and click "pair controller" (if the controller shows blue when it comes on instead of green). The walkthrough failed to mention that.The Steam VR software is very polished as well. Especially inside of VR. You can switch to your desktop and read email. When I realized that I could walk closer to my boundary wall that the desktop was on at that time, and the text got closer/clearer, it was an additional level of "that's friggin cool."This is NOT for reading text like that though. The resolution just isn't there.Once you've got a Steam account set up, be careful, it's easy to blow through 80 dollars (of real money) in a 4 minute virtual shopping spree.You can connect your phone via Bluetooth and get notifications. You can enable the camera and see the room without taking the headset off. Plug in ear buds and "mirror" the sound so you can rock out hard to audioshield without waking the neighbors.You can control pretty much all of the aspects of the virtual world from your 2d monitor. That comes in handy If someone new is using the headset. So you can control the session for them (get them into a game, get them started, etc) without having to walk them through everything - but again, it is pretty intuitive and should be easy to pick up for 90 percent of people.There are just a lot of features that you can tell they put thought into.Some complain that a lot of the games are "demo" types, and while that's true. There are several "full" games available, and I haven't even gotten to them, because The Lab, Zombie Trainer, The Brookhaven Experiment, and (especially) AudioShield have me completely satisfied for the time being.We're all still waiting on the "major" releases of Doom, Fallout 4, Serious Sam, Arizona Sunshine etc. I am curious how games like Serious Sam will work. You're going to break yourself if you're constantly spinning around trying to fend off hordes of suiciders. The action of "teleporting" in large scale games seems to be the goto method for moving around in the world. It's not as intuitive as I'd like and it takes a split second to load the new landscape when you arrive, so it's a little offputting. But that's splitting hairs at this point. I just feel like it's going to be exaggerated when you're in a true "sandbox" world.There are a few cons.1. You're going to have a tough time doing true multiplayer with this. You can't just buy another 30 dollar controller and go to town with your friend sitting on the couch next to you. You're looking at another large investment and the space to set up another system. I'm interested to see how games like "Don't stop talking and nobody explodes" work and bring a "crowd" together with one headset. But it's probably not going to be the excitement of being (virtually) back to back with a buddy fighting the terrorists in a FPS.2. I hope your friends don't mind swapping a large amount of face sweat.3. The resolution just isn't what it is on a LED monitor. Obviously you're stretching that image out over a 360 degree 3d environment so it's a little tougher to do. So.. Again, you're not doing this for the "crispness". You're doing it for the experience. When you feel like a freaking rockstar defending yourself from incoming musical notes, you won't be thinking about the slight pixilation, or how the graphics in the background aren't super detailed. I PROMISE.4. I find it a little bit of a pain to get the headset just right on my head. You need to get the straps perfect (not too tight, or loose) to make the area right in front of your face perfectly clear (especially when you're looking down).5. I don't think the screens are quite big enough. You will probably notice the black ring around the outside of your vision when you're waiting for a game to load or whatever. You'll forget about it as soon as you're doing whatever.6. I am seriously matting down the new carpet inside of my "game area."7. You might think that the real world is less fun.Keep in mind.. That while the software is pretty polished and works well, this type of thing probably isn't for someone who isn't at least a moderate "power user." I've had some minor issues like weird Steam crashes, VR world disappearing if the CPU is under a lot of stress, computer not completing POST when the link box was plugged in. Just stuff that you wouldn't deal with on a console type system. This "limitation" (not the price) is probably why the world isn't screaming about this from the rooftops. The mass population isn't exactly tech savvy so that excludes a major percentage of potential buyers.All that said....Honestly, I've got a lot of cool stuff but this is ABSOLUTELY and UNEQUIVOCALLY the coolest tech I've seen or played with in my entire life. I would still be happy with it if I would've needed to fork out an additonal 800 or so to build a computer. Everytime I'm away from it for a day or so, I think "was it really THAT cool?" and I answer my question as soon as I put the headset back on and enter a virtual world for what feels like the first time, every time.

Okay, if you haven't experienced virtual reality with an HTC Vive you really just don't know what you are missing. It is amazing, words fail me when I try to explain just how real it is, and how amazing it is. It is so real, and so immersive, when playing a game and walking up to a cliff, I feel a fear of falling, it is just that real. I can't bring myself to step over the edge of a cliff, even though I know I won't fall, I just can't do it.The display is just about perfect. Some people complain about the resolution, but I don't think there is anything wrong with it. I am sure you could make it more detailed, but for me it is already amazing. As for the controls and the interface, they work at real time. There is no perceivable delay between a movement in the real world, and motion in the game. The really cool thing is that the game will enhance the controller, adding buttons and information to them, that doesn't exist in reality. For example, the large round button on the wand, in some games this will turn into 4 buttons, and the battery meter will show up on the bottom of each controller, as with what hand they are, and these things are not really on there.As for the software, since this is partnered with Valve you know that you will never have an issue getting premium games and content. There is already a number of really cool games, and the system is relatively new.The headset is a little heavy, and when you really get into the game, and you start to sweat the headset will cause you to perspire. The cable is a bit of an issue. It is the only thing that breaks the immersion into the virtual reality for me. I have to keep thinking of the cable so that I don't trip over it, or pull it out of the PC. But, recently I bought a cable management system that has cables and pulleys, and it made a huge difference.The controls are intuitive, most games don't need any manual, just 30 seconds of a tutorial, and you are playing the game. Some of the coolest games, like the Lab, are totally free. Others are paid games, but most of them are totally worth it and really cool.Honestly, if you are on the fence about virtual reality, just go for it. I thought it was going to be cool, but I had no idea just how amazing this thing was going to be when I ordered it. It is like Virtual Reality from the movies, you won't believe how incredible it is when you try it. I just can't tell you how amazing it is, as you won't grasp it without trying. Yes, it is that good.Unlike some of the other systems, this one allows you to use a 15x15 foot room for your experience. Walking around and interacting with the virtual world. This system does not make me nauseus like the other systems do. It feels totally real, and totally immersed. In fact, real world feel strange after playing the system too long. It feels strange to grab something with your hands, after using the wands for a few hours.Pros: The best, by far, Virtual reality system available. Room scale, wireless wands, backed by valve. I really can't describe how amazing it is, I don't have the vocabulary to express it. Unless you try it, words will just not do it justice.Cons: Compared to the other systems out there, there are none. But, in a class of its own these are the cons that I have. The wire, this is an issue that you have to worry about tripping, etc. It pulls you out slightly from being totally immersed in the game. However, cable management systems are available on Amazon for very little money, and will pull the cable up over your head, solving the issue. The headset is a bit heavy, and gets hot when you are using it.Note: I had an issue with the headset not working, turning off mid-game, etc. Turned out to be the HDMI cable that was included with the system, it was not capable of the power needed to have the thing work, and would shut off. I switched to display port, and the issue has never come back. Others buy a much better, high end, HDMI cable, and the issue is resolved. This is an issue that seems to affect many people. This is the only issue that I have had, and it was a cable issue, not the Vive, so I won't list it as a CON, even though the cable in question was part of the HTC Vive kit. This thing is just so amazing, I can't bring myself to ding it with this cable issue. Just get it, don't think about it, you won't be sorry. This is the most amazing computer peripheral, feature, etc, that has EVER been made. This will change gaming forever. I used to think VR was just in the movies, and was never going to happen, well this changed my mind. There is no doubt this is the next big thing. Soon everyone will have VR, it will be as common as a scanner.