The Twitch has gone a long way from his humble beginnings in 2011, when the concept of watching other people play games as entertainment was quite novel. In the next couple of years, Twitch has grown into a monolithic giant with more than 100 million unique visitors per month. It has put game streaming on a map, so much so that eSports are being looked as a potential category in the 2020 Olympics. VR is no exception in that regard, with the number of streamers increasing each month, so here we bring you the list of 7 most popular streamers who focus exclusively VR content.
Zimtok5 is a VR hypeman and enthusiast who has been kicking it on Twitch for the past couple of years. This jumpy Irish/American lad simply oozes enthusiasm during each of his streams and you can see that he is completely sold on VR as the future of gaming. In his own words: „The ability to carry yourself from one world to another with the flip of a headset is nothing short of magic. From my first stomach-turning coaster ride to cowering under a hospital gurney evading a Xenomorph some months later, my baptism by the workbench HMD engineers, geekazoid evangelists, and Reddit pyromancers could not have gone smoother. Reality just wafted away and the Rift enveloped me so readily; it felt like destiny. Getting to experience VR as an early adopter has been a blessing. The new generations who grow up with this technology simply won’t have a choice but to take it for granted. I’m clearly a lucky man.“
She can be described as a queen of VR, CyborgAngel is a British Twitch streamer with a large and growing audience, largely thanks to her feisty and fiery personality. That personality really shines in adventure and shooter games, which she prefers.
This passionate and entertaining Canadian had to make our list. With an easy-going attitude and bubbly personality, it is no wonder that many people prefer his streams over any others. He is more of a variety streamer, playing games such as Sairento VR to Skyrim VR and Audioshield.
Quite a versatile and multivalent streamer, TribalInstincts is also a software developer and can pride himself on producing Mixed Reality Configurator, a tool created to help generate the data needed to sync a Real World camera with a Virtual camera allowing for a clean Mixed Reality composite. Quite a versatile streamer himself, you can find him playing games like Space Pirate Trainer to Minecraft VR.
Envisioned as Stockholm’s first Virtual Reality Center, MissionIX provides an opportunity for a variety of authors to make and stream high-quality VR content.
The last two entries on our list are exclusively VRChat streamers. VRChat is an amalgamation of social community video games such as Habbo Hotel and Second Life but enhanced with a virtual reality immersion. The reason for the popularity of VRChat is the possibility to transform into any character from your favorite game or anime and cosplay with other gamers.
Pokelawls has become a popular streamer of VRChat, most popular for his focus on some of the wildest moments VRChat has to offer, as well as a keen eye on the game’s future development.
The reason for the sudden skyrocketing popularity of VRChat is in great part because of YouTubers and Twitch streamers who have brought attention to the game. One YouTuber in particular, Nagzz21 can pride himself on providing the greatest surge of the popularity of VRChat than any other streamer. He is famous for the nearly daily uploads of his crazy moments in VRChat. These include weird dating scenarios, exploration of different realms inside the game and little dramatic moments between players and groups in VRChat.
Although not numerous, the streamers listed here have attracted a flock of new gamers into the realm of VR. There is no doubt that there will be many more streamers in the future, as well as an increasing audience, ready to consume new content.
If you own a PSVR with an aim controller, it goes without saying that you’re interested in the games out there that would work best with it. After all, for a first person shooter, the aim controller does represent the ultimate in VR immersion. So here’s an excellent selection of the best PSVR aim controller games on the market today.
We must start, of course, with…
Far Point
Far Point by Impulse Gear, is, to many people, the defining game for the PSVR aim controller, as SONY actually timed the release of the aim controller to synchronize with that of the game. Anyone who’s played Far Point with the aim controller will tell you that it is just about the only way to truly enjoy the game.
The controller itself feels lightweight and ergonomic, but comfortable; and while that’s an important consideration, it pales before the level of immersion – and the feeling of being in the game – that the aim controller brings to Far Point.
Explore an unknown world!
The opening sequence of Far Point is nothing short of breathtaking. You’re a space shuttle pilot, en route to recovering scientists who are studying a wormhole near Jupiter. Suddenly, there is a blinding flash of light, and you’re transported to a new extraterrestrial world. Separated from your scientific colleagues in the beginning, you must venture out onto this new world to find them, and to eventually escape from the planet.
As you travel over the surface of the world, you will discover holographic records that will give you clues to the scientists’ location. The story-line is brilliantly presented, and portrayed in exquisite virtual reality environments.
The aim controller gives you superb control
While it’s of course possible to play Far Point with a standard PlayStation controller, the PSVR aim controller gives you an experience that is light-years beyond that.
When you hold it in your hands, you really feel as if you’re holding a weapon, and the action of aiming and shooting becomes completely intuitive.
Used in concert with the Play Station’s camera, the controller follows your movements in 3D space with perfect precision. Move your hand to the left or right, and you will see your character positioning his rifle perfectly.
Some of the standard tactics used in first person shooters, such as angle shooting or blind shooting, are all entirely intuitive with the aim controller, with no additional buttons required.
The PSVR aim controller – the most intuitive FPS controller available today
The design of the aim controller alone would be a reason to buy the PSVR. Besides the excellent fit and the perfect tracking, the PSVR aim controller is also extremely light. SONY has done a phenomenal job of distributing its weight correctly.
Besides this, the aim controller has all the buttons that you would normally find on a conventional PlayStation controller, in addition to some extra features, such as a touchpad.
It also includes two analogue sticks, a directional cross button, the L1, L2, R1 and R2 buttons. On the aim controller, the R2 button is the trigger. There are other buttons that will allow you to select options and sharing. Vibration motors are integrated into the handle of the aim controller to provide you with feedback.
A standalone device
However, one of the best elements in the design of the aim controller is that it’s a standalone piece.
It isn’t an empty frame in which you’re supposed to insert a standard PlayStation controller. No, the aim controller is designed to be exactly what it is – a standalone controller that enables you to simulate using a weapon in a shooter game.
Finally, the battery just requires a micro USB connector, and you can use the controller for several hours before having to recharge it.
Far Point’s cooperative missions and challenge mode
Even if Far Point’s campaign is rather short, and will only last you about six hours, the game offers some interesting additions to extend playing time. For example, you can access two-player cooperative missions that will allow you to play online with your friends.
These are essentially “horde attack” games where you and your friends will have to face successive waves of enemies that attack you.
Even though you have the help of other players in these missions, the number of enemies is proportionately increased, so the missions are still a challenge. If you stay together and fight as a team, you can also resurrect your team mates. If you prefer solo play, Far Point also includes a challenge mode with a leader board.
The challenge mode combines the campaign levels with new attacks from enemies at unexpected angles, as well as increasing the frequency of those attacks. A timer is continuously counting down, and you have to reach the next checkpoint in the game before time runs out.
All in all, Far Point is an excellent buy, and certainly one of the best PSVR aim controller games.
Firewall Zero Hour pits four players in a team against four other people, in a brilliant multiplayer experience. One of the teams is made up of attackers who are trying to enter a secured area to access documents from a laptop. The other team is made up of defenders who must fend off the attackers and maintain the security of the installation.
This title, by First Contact Entertainment, is all about teamwork. Since you face off against teams of human players who will try to out-think you, you might find the going hard at times.
Strategies and tactics
A house that you infiltrate can be very small, and if you make contact with a defender, his teammates will probably come to his aid instantly, forcing your team to stay close to each other and cover each other, all of which is easier said than done.
Playing defence is generally thought to be much easier in the game, because you can take up ambush positions while waiting for the attacking team to arrive. This is much easier than attacking and trying to take a fortified location, which can make the game a trifle one-sided.
One possible downside of this game is that you can control cameras when you die, allowing you to move around the map and tell your allies where your enemies are. This is rather a flaw in a game of this sort, since games like Counter Strike make the acquisition of information an end in itself. The game will feel pretty standard to the advanced player of first person shooters, with the standard array of guns, including an assault rifle and a shotgun.
Combat is very immersive
However, setting the game in virtual reality massively adds to the interest of the game, and the game is intensely immersive in its own right. You will hide behind walls and take cover behind surrounding objects, such as tables.
Shooting with the aim controller feels incredibly realistic, and you really feel that bullets are raining down around you, and you have to protect yourself.
There are many open areas in the maps, and a good number of observation points, so if you’re not careful, you can easily find yourself out in the open, and in the wrong place at the wrong time.
It’s a good game that focuses on realistic tactics. The controls are accessible, the maps detailed and well made, the objectives simple, and the game is certainly one of the best shooter experiences out there.
Arizona Sunshine
Vertigo Games really came up with a winner with Arizona Sunshine, racking up a million and a half in sales in the first year since the game’s release.
Arizona Sunshine is where virtual reality meets the zombie apocalypse. Set in an area of the South Eastern United States, you realize early on that all of America has been taken over by zombies once again.
What is it with these repeated zombie invasions of the United States? Is someone is trying to make a point here?
Well, be that as it may, Arizona Sunshine is a reasonably interesting shooter
You play as a character who wakes up in a cave in the Arizona desert, but you don’t really know too much about what’s going on. As the plot unfolds, it does so much like any zombie apocalypse movie out there. You’ll search for survivors, and try to find a radio signal that will lead you to a safe area that hasn’t been taken over by zombies.
The suspense keeps you going
Yes, the plot is clichéd, but there will still be times during the game when you’ll wonder how your character is going to get by, and whether he’ll be able to survive. You’ll feel the suspense, and that’s what keeps the game interesting.
The environments are fairly diverse, from sun scorched deserts, to dangerous canyons, to abandoned mines. Along the way, you’ll have to keep searching for weapons and ammunition to enable you to stay alive.
The aim controller fits in very well, and whether you’re using the aim controller or a standard move controller, you can pick up just about any object at hand and swing it as you wish. If your health falls, searching around the levels can allow you to find food that will let you regain some of your health. Don’t expect a large menu – the food is all steaks.
Oddly enough, while the zombies putrefy in the most natural manner possible, the steaks stay fresh just fine. Odd world.
Co-op mode
The game can also be played as a team with up to three friends in a cooperative online mode. You can play the entire campaign in co-op mode, coordinating your actions and quadrupling your fire power. The game is repetitive, but the gameplay still manages to be fun.
The PSVR aim controller works with a great deal of precision, and in the easy mode is actually equipped with a laser site that enables you to use the aim controller with deadly efficiency.
Brought to you by Supermassive Games, Bravo Team makes some drastic choices in its game mechanisms and in how the game plays out. Rather than leave the choice of whether to teleport or use direct travel to the player, as most games do, Bravo Team forces a teleportation system on the player.
However, what a player loses in mobility, he gains in the immersiveness of this truly great shooter. This game allows you to not only hide behind a car or a wall, but crouch to avoid enemy fire or bend physically to take aim at an enemy or to avoid incoming fire.
As you can imagine, a game that so much focuses upon realism of movement in first person shootouts is virtually tailor-made to the PSVR aim controller.
You’ll have to watch your ammunition while playing this game, and keep collecting more as you move through each level. If you run out of ammunition for your own weapon, you can equip a handgun to carry you through until you find your next lot of ammunition.
Bravo Team also provides you with a companion
You can either play the game multiplayer online with a friend, or use an AI companion instead. There is a simple order system to enable you to interact with the AI. If you take too many hits, you can get into cover and fend off the enemy with your handgun until your companion comes to your aid.
Stealth kills are also possible, in which you can take out an opponent who has not spotted you, silently.
The only criticism of this shooter is that actions such as reload, activating a device or opening a door are all done with buttons instead of with intuitive actions.
That said, the use of the aim controller itself as a weapon is perfectly intuitive, so this is certainly one of the recommended PSVR aim controller games.
Chromagun is a puzzle game from Pixel Maniacs. The various puzzles are based on colours, which you sometimes have to combine together. You have a weapon that can shoot three colours, and you have to use this to solve various problems in the game. Your weapon can draw in red, blue and yellow on the walls or on spherical drones.
The robots in the game are naturally attracted to surfaces that are the same colour as they are, and you have to use this to manipulate their movements to make them open doors to the next room, allowing you to progress through the game.
The game is divided into several chapters, and you progress through the game to levels which have different mechanics, such as the combination of the three initial colours into three more. There are also hostile drones that attack you, as well as areas where you have to solve a puzzle against a timer.
This game is a wave shooter, and is a pure arcade game of the old school where you have to decimate waves of enemies. This game is by Bolverk Games, the creators of Kitty Apocalypse. Kitty Apocalypse was a tower defence game where you had to eliminate alien cats. Dick Wilde is roughly a shooter of the same order.
You have a selection of heavy weapons, and you must take out alligators, sharks, piranhas and other hostile wildlife. The game is rather offbeat and humorous, and the sets are quite colourful.
Like some of the advanced shooters today, this VR game will have you actually moving your body out of the path of projectiles, by bending over or dodging to the right or left.
Even regular players of run-of-the-mill shooters will find Dick Wilde a challenge. You can play it with the usual PlayStation controller, but an aim controller is really recommended.
This game is foreboding right at the start, where you can see a huge enemy in the distance who makes the ground shake all around you – and that’s before you even properly start out into the game.
This is pretty much a standard wave-shooter from Phosphor Games. There are four waves of enemies in each level, and your score comes up at the end of each wave. You’re then given a choice between regenerating your heath or getting ammunition for your weapons, or a battery for your lamp. You can also select your weapon for the next wave and the upgrades you want to take.
This is a very simple formula, but it works surprisingly well
You have to deal with enemy waves while paying close attention to how much ammunition you have and the level of your flashlight battery and secondary weapons.
You start the game with a simple gun, but by exploring as you advance through the levels, you will be able to unlock additional weapons, including a sub-machine gun, a shotgun, a magnum, and other weapons.
You can also acquire upgrades to your weaponry, such as a laser site, or an attachment to your weapons that reduces recoil.
This is another game that is entirely keyed to the aim controller, and those who are used to playing with a keyboard or mouse may have problems with the intuitive point and shoot system that the controller uses. You might note here that you don’t really move in the Brookhaven Experiment. You stand in one place and shoot enemies that enter your field of vision.
Balancing different factors adds to the immersiveness of the game
It is rather dark, which makes ensuring that you have power for your flashlight quite as important as ensuring that you have enough ammunition. You will not use the flashlight all the time, but will often have to rely upon your ears to identify the location of enemies.
This leads to a truly immersive experience where you not only point and aim with the aim controller, but actually have to rely upon a 3D soundscape to ensure that you can locate your enemies before they locate you. You’ll need a good pair of headphones to create the right soundscape for this game.
As you play the game you’ll have the feeling of actually relying upon genuine fighting instincts rather than upon the simple reactions of the average keyboard and mouse gamer. The Brookhaven Experiment is certainly an excellent VR experience.
Those are some of the best PSVR aim controller games. Others keep coming out at regular intervals, and if you’re a fan of shooters, the aim controller is certainly recommended.
Just so you know, there are two models of the HP VR Backpack PC. One is the HP Z VR backpack PC, which is entirely geared towards industrial and professional applications and is superbly over-powered. The other version is the HP Omen X VR backpack PC, which is a lighter version more geared towards gaming.
Both PCs are similar in terms of design quality and ease-of-wear, and both have been designed specifically for virtual reality. The differences between the two lie mainly in the graphical capabilities of each… and in the price of each. The HP Omen is significantly cheaper than the Z.
And now, on to the review…
The HP Z VR backpack PC is the latest avatar in a line of backpack PCs from HP
It is a powerful PC designed to be worn on a user’s back and has been specially built for virtual reality. While anyone can buy this PC, the design, at the moment, is focused upon professionals. The HP Z VR backpack PC is a quantum leap forward in virtual reality technology.
By creating this, HP automatically positions itself as a technological source for companies seeking to accelerate their design and production cycles, improve their training processes, and offer immersive customer experiences. This is one of the first portable professional PCs, equipped and designed to improve one’s immersion in virtual reality. HP’s VR backpack technology relies heavily on strong partnerships with, among others, Intel, NVIDIA, Technicolor and HTC Vive.
The HP VR backpack PC is a response to the irritating wires that seems to be a trademark of most VR headsets today. While cutting-edge VR headsets offer extreme resolutions, and an immersive experience, they still tend to trail wires that can get entangled in a person’s body or even in one’s legs. You can just imagine how much tripping over the wires that link your VR headset to your PC can detract from the immersion of your VR experience.
There are two ways that companies are looking at to get past this difficulty.
Some companies are working on a wireless connection between the PC and the headset that will dispense with the wires, while other companies like HP are focusing upon actually creating a backpack that contains a VR capable PC.
That’s exactly what the HP Z VR backpack PC is
There are certain reasons that HP has for having made this choice. Firstly, experiments by companies using wireless technologies have come up against an inherent latency involving wireless transmission that limits the technology.
Microsoft has made some experiments with what it calls its HoloLens. In the case of the HoloLens, the mixed reality headset itself contains the processing unit. This creates a wireless experience that bypasses both the problem with trailing wires and the latency issue with the wireless transmission. However, the fact that the processing unit also has to sit within the headset limits the power of the onboard computer – at least at present.
HP’s solution seems to give one the best of both worlds
Firstly, you have a state of the art VR computer resting comfortably on your back, where the weight distribution allows it to be almost imperceptible. You do not have any trailing wires or any latency issues with the wireless transmission. You can simply put on your HTC Vive or Oculus Rift headset and wander through the virtual worlds of your choice.
While this may seem to be the VR gamers’ dream come true, the HP Z VR backpack PC is really not focused on gaming.
You’ll be far more likely to find someone using this backpack PC designing a car or building a model in 3D. The HP Z backpack PC is entirely cued to industrial applications, such as product development, employee training, or customer immersion.
Training people, and keeping them out of hazardous situations
One of the uses that HP suggests for its backpack PC is to simulate training in dangerous situations. Other possible uses of the backpack PC include teaching advanced medical professionals, such as surgeons. For example, a medical student learning surgery could operate upon a simulated heart in virtual or mixed reality, thereby learning practical skills in the process. Such a VR PC could also allow surgeons to increase the scale of the perception of their operations, making movements much more precise.
Other applications include operating extremely heavy machinery safely, by placing the operator far away from the machine itself. There are applications in real estate as well, allowing for virtual tours of available properties while the client sits in the comfort of the estate agent’s office.
3D modelling has already been used for decades to create everything from moulds for toys, to the complex engineering of a gear box. The HP backpack PC can make all these commercial and industrial applications much easier and certainly has the power to support the most cutting-edge industrial VR technology.
A premium product
The HP Z VR backpack offers impeccable looks with a rugged and robust construction. The PC also allows you to use it rather like a hybrid, as it can either be used in the backpack rig or simply as a normal computer, as it allows you to plug a conventional monitor and other controllers to an integrated docking station. In other words, the docking station allows you to connect the backpack to a screen in an ordinary manner, turning the backpack PC into a desktop computer, albeit one whose configuration is ideal for the use of most professional 3D applications in real time.
Under testing, this VR backpack certainly allowed a person complete autonomy, and complete freedom of movement in every direction. Even used intensively, and with the most demanding applications, the battery pack of the backpack lasts for at least an hour. Most professionals will smile at that, considering that an hour’s operational time is hardly significant on the scales at which they operate.
However, HP provides for a newly charged battery to be swapped “hot” for a depleted battery. That is to say, that the batteries of the device can be changed while the device is operational, and even working on some complex task or running a sophisticated 3D application. Having a number of battery packs to spare, and charging them in sequence, can allow you to continue working for the entire duration of a normal working day. This solution is of course aimed at design professionals who may need to use the backpack for several hours. For customer or product demonstrations, the hour’s working time of the backpack PC will, of course, suffice.
Dealing with the weight
While some reviewers had concerns about the weight of the backpack, these were quickly put to rest. The entire backpack weighs just over 4.5 kg, which is hardly an excessive weight. Reviewers found that the weight was quickly forgotten in the immersion of the VR experience. Most reviewers believe that the backpack could be used for extended periods in virtual reality and that its weight was not a constraint at all.
Perfect heat management
The backpack PC is designed to let air flow away from your back, thus preventing the PC from getting too hot. This air flow system prevents the PC from becoming uncomfortably hot in use. Lastly, we may point out that the HP Z VR backpack has been designed to integrate flawlessly with the HTC Vive Pro, perhaps the finest headset in regular production today, making the combination of the headset and the backpack the ultimate solution for companies and professionals seeking to use virtual reality as a cutting-edge design tool.
How about gaming?
While the HP Z VR backpack can certainly be used for gaming, the backpack in combination with the HTC Vive Pro might be expensive for the average gamer, even for a dedicated one. There is no need to worry, though, because HP offers a gaming backpack PC that is just a little more than half the price of the professional version. I’ll give you the technical specifications on the two PCs here.
The professional version – the HP Z VR backpack G1
This PC is designed for use in industrial environments and has a reinforced chassis with a built-in LED display that shows the power status of the PC. It comes with a docking station that allows the PC to be converted into a conventional PC. It incorporates a 7th generation Intel Core i7 processor with vPro technology. Its graphics card is an NVIDIA Quadro P5200 with 16 GB of GDDR5 memory. It has two SO-DIMMs for 32 GB of maximum memory. It can support a multi-display of four screens, and comes with high fidelity headphones, and is also compatible with a wireless connection.
The gaming version – the HP Omen X VR backpack PC
This is the version of HP’s backpack PC that is ideal for gamers. While it is less powerful than the professional version, as you will see, its capabilities are perfectly adequate to VR gaming. While this can be used for gaming, it is also designed to be optimal as a nomad workstation that allows you to move your office where you please quickly and efficiently.
The battery of this version can last to up to 1.5 hours, depending on what applications you’re using. As with the professional version, changing the battery is provided for. The technical specifications for HP Omen X VR backpack PC include an Intel Core i7-6700 HQ quad-core processor that clocks at between 2.6 to 3.5 GHz. It also includes an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 graphics card. It has 32 GB of RAM and provides 256 GB SSD storage space. It weighs around 5 kg.
The new VR backpack PCs are really one of the finest innovations in virtual reality technology today. For those who are interested in VR technology primarily for gaming, one of the best backpack PCs available today is the Zotac VR Go. It has some very interesting specifications. Its heart is an Intel Core i7-6700T processor, with 16 GB of RAM and an NVIDIA GTX 1070 graphics card. It also has a 256 GB hard drive.
What makes the Zotac VR Go “go”?
The Zotac VR Go is an exceptional personal computer in more ways than one. In one sense of the word, it’s a traditional graphics PC, but exceptionally compact, so much so that it is hardly bigger than a home console. It is exceptionally powerful and absolutely suited to video games, and of course, to virtual reality.
The word “Go” in its name refers to the fact that it is possible to wear this personal computer as a backpack, and also to connect it to an HTC Vive. Its two removable batteries hold a charge that allows it to function for about two hours. Moreover, the VR Go can be used as either a fixed PC, functioning on a mains power supply, or as a mobile virtual reality PC or workstation.
In being so, the Zotac VR Go solves one of the crucial problems facing virtual reality today, that of the endless amount of cables that haunt just about every high-end virtual reality headset on the market. These cables tend to wrap themselves around people’s legs or torsos, to trip them up, or to yank themselves out of the headset or the PC. Either way, they are a pure nuisance and a definite detraction from one’s immersion in virtual reality.
Well, perhaps ‘impact’ wasn’t quite the word to use here, since I seriously doubt that this PC would survive a severe impact. This isn’t to say that it isn’t ruggedly built, because it is. However, I wouldn’t subject it to any abuse if I were the owner of it.
The design of the case can be considered rather a classic, with a dominance of black plastic. It’s rather Spartan in its simplicity, and the only spikes of colour come from the start button on the side, and a panel that shows how much charge remains in the batteries. The materials used are strong and yet extremely light, and while we doubt it should be subjected to a hard blow, on the whole, the construction seems relatively solid, despite the predominance of plastic where fibreglass or metal might have been more durable. It is hardly bigger than an Xbox.
Streamlined connectivity
Basic connectivity with the HTC Vive is through the top of the case, making access easy. Note that the small box that usually connects the headset to the PC is no longer needed here, as all power is sourced directly from the Zotac.
Other connectors required by the headset are arranged along one side of the Zotac. There are four USB 3 ports, two HDMI ports, two display ports, two Ethernet outlets, and an SD card reader. There are also ports for your headphones and a microphone.
A perfect fit
The back of the case is what attaches to the backpack section of the Zotac VR Go, and the attachment is via a swivel button. Once you fit the straps to your person, the case is perfectly stable, and there are no safety concerns, and no danger to the backpack PC – unless you happen to fall heavily right on top of it. However, in testing it in use, we found that this is extremely unlikely to occur.
Performance
The Zotac VR Go’s Intel Core i7-6700T processor is a four-core CPU that clocks between 2.8 to 3.6 GHz. With 16 GB of DDR4 RAM, you’ll see an excellent performance in most of the VR games that you play. While the VR Go is really aimed at the VR gaming market, it is also perfectly capable of handling professional applications, including 3D modelling programs like 3D Studio Max and Maya. It can also be used for video editing, but the fact that it only has a single 256 GB SSD can limit this to some extent. If video editing is what you buy this PC for, you will have to upgrade the memory using the bay provided for a hard disk.
As you can imagine, with the specifications we’ve outlined, the Zotac VR Go is an excellent gaming machine. NVDIA’s 1070 graphics card is powerful enough to give you 90 frames per second with the majority of virtual reality games presently on the market. Note that this version of GTX 1070 is the “mobile” version, and therefore similar to the one found in laptops.
There is little difference between it and the desktop version, performance wise
The frequency of the mobile version of this GPU has been revised downwards slightly from 1506 MHz to 1442 MHz. Despite that, it has a larger number of calculation units, that is to say, 2048, against the 1920 calculation units of the desktop version. As far as performance goes, it is roughly equivalent to a notebook PC with similar specifications.
As an example, you would be able to play The Witcher 3 in full HD, that is to say, at a resolution of 1920 by 1080 pixels, with the highest level of graphics detail that the game has to offer, and you would still get frame rates ranging at around 70 frames per second.
Can this PC be upgraded?
Yes, the VR Go can be upgraded, but not all of those upgrades will be simple, and some of the possible upgrades are a little limited. Accessing the RAM and SSD is fairly simple and can be done by unscrewing five screws in a small trapdoor in the case. The same panel allows access to a bay that can hold a SATA disk. This bay will fit either a hard drive or an additional SSD.
However, if you want to actually access the motherboard, you will have to remove all twelve screws in the case, which gives you access to it, as well as to the GeForce GTX 1070 graphics card. This graphics card is mounted on an MXM module and is therefore quite difficult to replace. The update kits for this sort of mounting are quite rare and rather expensive. There is also an Intel Core processor, an i7-6700T. This is mounted on an LGA1151 socket, which is quite standard, and which will allow the processor to be upgraded quite easily.
Well, the backpack is rather light, weighing in at just 2.5 kg without the batteries, and at around 4.2 kg with them. However, if you factor in the weight of the HTC Vive as well, you’ll be carrying around 5 kg on your person.
In practice, though, the backpack and the headset go very well together, and the weight is so ergonomically distributed that one hardly feels it at all. The straps are well padded, and one feels almost no fatigue.
Of course, as this is virtual reality, so how fatigued or otherwise you feel will depend on the game you play. If you play a very active game, where large and fast motions are required, you’re of course going to get tired rather quickly. However, this would be true even if you were using the HTC Vive on a normal PC. On the other hand, when playing a game like Arizona Sunshine, you should feel very little fatigue.
Does it get hot on one’s back?
You might be surprised to know that despite its powerful configuration, the VR Go makes very little noise and manages to dissipate heat impeccably. Most of the hot air is flushed out to one side of the case, keeping the rest of the body at a decent temperature, and ensuring that you don’t feel the heat on your back. The range of temperatures remains between 36.2 C and 38.9 C. The sound generated by the cooling fans is virtually inaudible, unless you actually put your ear right next to the case.
Mobility and battery life
The VR Go comes equipped with two removable batteries that can keep it going for two complete hours. The batteries can be interchanged while the computer is operational, ensuring that you don’t have to interrupt what you’re doing when one of the batteries goes low on power. They are recharged via a dedicated dock, which is powered by the same AC adapter as the PC.
The only negative point here is that you cannot recharge them if you happen to be running the PC on mains power using the adapter. That is rather a pity, but other than that one point, it’s a very workable and satisfactory system.
It might interest you to know that field-tests of this device have found it running far beyond those specifications, with reviewers using this backpack PC with the HTC Vive reporting that they were able to use it nearly for two hours and twenty minutes before the PC shut down completely. Another reviewer reported that he was able to take a game up to half an hour beyond the two-hour limit before the PC shut down.
The cables of the Vive persist… to some extent
We might point out that the cables of the HTC Vive, being long, tend to hang down behind one. However, this can be dealt with by folding the cables into a bundle using a clasp.
The Zotac VR Go provides excellent audio output
It certainly does. Note, however, that you will experience a considerable level of distortion if you set the volume of the sound to maximum. However, if you reduce the volume slightly, say to around 94%, the distortion you will experience is minimal. Other than that, you should have few complaints as to the audio, with the power output being perfectly acceptable, and the entire sound spectrum being very well defined.
Strong points of the Zotac VR Go
An exceptionally compact and functional backpack gaming PC.
Two whole hours of functional virtual reality gaming time.
No audible running noise, and exceptional heat management.
Very easy to connect to the headset.
Negative points
Only 250 GB of storage space, though this can be upgraded.
The case is made of plastic, and one would have preferred something a little more durable, such as steel or fibreglass.
There is no inbuilt system for the HTC Vive cables, and they tend to trail behind oneself.
One cannot charge the batteries while simultaneously using the PC on mains power with the adapter.
Fairly highly priced even as VR PCs go.
Conclusion
This is an excellent example of a compact and wearable backpack PC that dispenses with the irritating headset-to-PC connection that is the bane of high-end VR headsets today. It is also reasonably light, even when you take into consideration the weight of the headset. One can certainly use the HTC Vive with this backpack PC for two hours without feeling any exceptional fatigue. If it falls within your budget, it is definitely worth purchasing.
Mark Zuckerberg has gone on the offensive with the launch of the Oculus Go, a brand new headset that is likely to be the most cost effective cutting edge VR experience yet, and one that Zuckerberg hopes will put VR well within the reach of the average person.
‘Virtual’ empathy
We’ve all heard the hype about Zuckerberg’s virtual trip to Puerto Rico, where he used a cartoon avatar to visit that devastated country. On that occasion, Zuckerberg said that virtual reality had the potential to make humans feel empathy and that we could usher in the future using this technology.
While one is left to question both the motives and empathy of the speaker in this little demonstration, the fact that Zuckerberg is forging the cutting edge of virtual reality today is undeniable.
Making virtual reality accessible via both ‘Rift’ and ‘Go’
Besides the fact that the Oculus Go represents a quantum leap forward in terms of cheap, functional, and accessible VR headsets, the price of the Oculus Rift was slashed last year to a massive extent.
While the price of the Oculus Rift when it came out was nearly 700 euros, with a user having to shell out another 200 euros for the controllers, in 2017, the price of the Rift was slashed to just 450 euros. This was an obvious preliminary move by Oculus to counter the proliferation of mixed reality headsets being pushed by Microsoft, and manufactured by companies like Samsung, Dell and Lenovo.
Since those headsets range in price between 350 and 500 dollars, Oculus was forced to slash the price of the Rift to a considerable extent to keep it competitive within that price range.
However, it is now becoming obvious that slashing the price of the Oculus Rift was only an initial move before unleashing a product designed to directly counter and supersede most of the cheaper range of headsets on the planet today.
While that may suit the ears of Zuckerberg’s stockbrokers, is it truly a possibility?
What makes the Oculus go so special?
For one thing, the Oculus Go completely negates one having to use an expensive PC or an almost-as-expensive Smartphone to power the VR goggles or headset. Yes, the processing power of the Oculus Go is inbuilt. This makes the Oculus Go special in several ways.
As a matter of fact, it is so obviously a cutting-edge innovation that it is sure to be setting off alarm bells across the entire VR industry. It is a headset without wires.
Is that special? It certainly is, in an industry where even owners of the most expensive headsets complain about entangling their feet in the mass of wires that exit from those headsets.
Excellent graphics, even with limited processing power
The Oculus Go uses foveated rendering to deliver a surprisingly high standard in graphics. In foveated rendering, the centre of the image is displayed in extreme detail and high resolution, while places that the eyes aren’t looking directly at, that is to say, regions of the screen that are on the periphery of the vision, are rendered in much less detail, and with a much lower standard in graphics.
This little trick ensures that even a slower and less powerful processor can still deliver graphics that, since you’re seeing high-resolution graphics wherever you look (practically speaking), seem to almost equal those of the Rift or the Vive.
Cheap. Cheap. Cheap.
Not only does the Oculus Go solve a very crucial problem in being wireless, but since it doesn’t require an expensive PC or Smartphone to power it, and retails for under $200, it really goes a long way towards making VR truly accessible to the average person.
But what about the Gear VR?
What about Oculus’ supposed alliance with Samsung over the Gear VR, for that matter? The simple fact is that – if we put things bluntly – the Gear VR is nothing more than a shell.
Its heart is the Samsung Smartphone that powers the Gear VR. That Smartphone can cost anything up to $700.
When you compare the fact that you have to buy a Gear VR and a Smartphone, and you compare the combined price of those two with the price of the Oculus Go, which costs just $200, you begin to see just why Oculus believes that the Oculus Go will be the most widespread and far-reaching VR headset yet.
Gear VRs gathering dust
While Gear VRs were extremely popular even a year back, the fact is that there certainly is a niche Oculus feels the Go can fill. And that niche is all about low prices and convenience.
Pros and Cons of the Oculus Go
The pros of the Oculus Go hardly need mentioning.
It’s the missing link between mobile low-end virtual reality goggles like the Samsung Gear VR, and the ultra-expensive high-end virtual reality headsets like the Rift and Vive.
It is an all in one headset which incorporates a processor and negates you having to buy an expensive Smartphone or a PC. The Go relies upon a permanently integrated Snapdragon 821 processor from Qualcomm, which drives the built-in WQHD LCD display (no, the Oculus Go does not use OLED).
It doesn’t use cables, which means that you will not entangle your legs or trip over the cables of your own virtual reality device.
The device delivers a resolution of 2560 by 1440 pixels and has a refresh rate of between 60 to 72 Hz.
Foveated rendering ensures high-end graphics within the processing power of the device.
One final advantage is that the device provides positional audio, and can be used without necessitating your purchasing a dedicated or external set of headphones.
They say there is no such thing as a free lunch, and while the Oculus Go is a magnificent piece of machinery for the price, there have had to be compromises to enable the company to deliver this excellent product at a price that stands within $200.
One of the major compromises that have been made is the controller and tracking system. The controller supplied with the Oculus Go is largely similar to that of the second Gear VR. This has an advantage in that developers that are presently creating applications for the Gear VR will find it very easy to also create applications that are compatible with the Oculus Go’s controller. However, what’s missing is the inside-out tracking that is such a trademark of advanced headsets.
You will not be able to move freely in the room, with your movements automatically being transferred to virtual reality. That will be a major drawback to people who are used to the mobility and subsequent immersion of high-end headsets. And it goes without saying that the simple Gear VR clone controller cannot possibly match the extremely trackable controllers of the Rift, for example.
This is not to say that Oculus doesn’t see these issues and isn’t already moving to counter some of them.
For example, their project Santa Cruz is aimed at creating trackable controllers for the Oculus Go.
But that’s in the future.
For the present, the Oculus Go’s controller only tracks in three axes. However, as everyone knows, for movements in virtual reality you ideally need a controller that can track in six axes. One advantage, though, is that because of the compatibility in the controllers and aspects of the hardware, the entire library of the Oculus store, as well as virtually every app made for the Gear VR, will be compatible with the Oculus Go.
Conclusion
To conclude, there are many similarities between the Oculus Go and the Gear VR. The advantage that the Oculus Go has over the Gear VR is that at around $200 its price is a fraction of the cost of the Gear VR and the Galaxy S7 that allows it to become functional.
The Oculus Go is a dedicated VR platform
It is also very much more stable than most phone based VR headsets and goggles available today. For the moment, and speaking at the corporate level, the Oculus Go is the most accessible and hardest hitting VR breakthrough we are likely to the see in the near future, and Mark Zuckerberg is definitely within his rights to expect a billion sales of this new headset. The Oculus Go is light years ahead of the competition in terms of bringing VR within reach of everyone.
