CAGcast #398: Virtual Reality Reality

CheapyD

Head Cheap Ass
Staff member
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The gang discusses the latest GDC news, including an uphill battle for Project Morpheus (and VR in general) and Nvidia Shield.  Also learn why Kinect is hated by parents worldwide.

Download (1 hour 12 minutes) - iTunes - Stitcher - RSS
https://audioboom.com/boos/2957289-cagcast-398-virtual-reality-reality
 

Get $5 off your order (with free shipping) at http://www.harrys.com with coupon code cagcast


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1_KWbrz9lQ

Grab the free CAGcast app for iOS and Android! 

 
Show Linkage/Notes:
Intro - Outro
 
Please submit your show questions via CAGbag or Twitter.

I guess you can listen to Wombat's other podcast, Uninformed Opinions.

 
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Glad Wombat finally got a Vita. Please play Persona 4 Golden!

Shipwreck, I had the same thing happen with OlliOlli. I couldn't get the timing down on the PS4. I think a combination of TV lag and the thumbstick being larger and less springy made it impossible for me to get the hang of it. I'm playing 2 only on the Vita now.

 
Bagging on Sony for abandoning the Move while saying there's no point in Sony releasing a peripheral that uses the Move as part of its centerpiece. Okay then!

Cynicism overload these days with this show. 

 
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I think the Wii U is still best for homes with kids. Lots of family friendly games and the Gamepad let's them play while you watch football.
 
I might hop on the Harry's bandwagon and shave my mustache. $10 after coupon isn't bad, but then again I can get a pack of triple blade razors for $2 from the dollar store. Wombat's shaving video will be the deciding factor.

 
Wow, a user gave Wombat $170 retail worth of PS Vita. That's a lot of lunch. But hey at least some money is going toward charity.

 
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I finally jumped on that Harry's offer. I've been hearing about it on multiple podcasts but this was the first time I'd seen anyone pop up a picture. That pushed me to actually go buy it. I even upgraded to the aluminum one with letters engraved!

Luckily I did not see that shaving video until after I'd completed the sale...not the most attractive picture..

 
I finally jumped on that Harry's offer. I've been hearing about it on multiple podcasts but this was the first time I'd seen anyone pop up a picture. That pushed me to actually go buy it. I even upgraded to the aluminum one with letters engraved!

Luckily I did not see that shaving video until after I'd completed the sale...not the most attractive picture..
So you're saying Wombat shouldn't be the spokesperson for Harry's?

Wombat, I thought the promise was that you would shave all of your body hair if Harry's sent you stuff.
 
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Oh man I love you guys but the unrelenting cynicism is exhausting. VR will fail, the Wii has already failed, the way things are named is stupid, Windows phone is a joke, Nintendo is clueless, HoloLens is a lark, Dark Souls is weird, Microsoft screws everything up, Kinect should be avoided, the Shield has no market, only idiots like sad movies (too "depressing"), and omg I could go on and on. Then the minute Wombat gets excited about a free game, Ship and Cheapy mock him. 

Shitting on everything does not make you sound smart. My god if VR succeeds you better admit your were colossally wrong. Try focusing on things you like, instead of criticizing everything you don't. Would be a much shorter show though.

 
I've been listening for years now and haven't felt the need to say this until now but, Wombat, you have the worst taste in stories and comics ever if you think the West Coast Avengers were good. The only good thing about the West Coast Avengers was that it had US Agent on the team.  

 
I've been listening for years now and haven't felt the need to say this until now but, Wombat, you have the worst taste in stories and comics ever if you think the West Coast Avengers were good. The only good thing about the West Coast Avengers was that it had US Agent on the team.
I can't take a Ben Reilly fan seriously. I just can't.

 
I think the Wii U is still best for homes with kids. Lots of family friendly games and the Gamepad let's them play while you watch football.
Or....I can get in some "Kirby" time while the kids watch Sesame Street! Love that new Kirby game...never turn on my TV.

 
Kids fight over who gets the gamepad and who gets a wiimote. We avoid playing it for that reason.
 
For Homeworld, yes Cheapy the game is stupidly hard, but for the wrong reasons. There is only one strategy to use: Salvage as many ship as possible. Mission 6 can be passed by reloading mission 5 and bulding bunch of defender ships and assault frigates.  Missions 7 and 8 are probably the worst, you get attacked as soon as you jump into the mission!

 
Hey Cheapy, what heatsink did you buy? My custom built computer is also too loud, and I'm looking for something that doesn't wake me up when my computer randomly kicks on in the middle of the night (for whatever reason that happens).

 
I've been listening for years now and haven't felt the need to say this until now but, Wombat, you have the worst taste in stories and comics ever if you think the West Coast Avengers were good. The only good thing about the West Coast Avengers was that it had US Agent on the team.
West Coast Avengers, especially the original miniseries, was great. Showed what Graviton was capable of. They borrowed that take on him for the first episode of Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes.

And Ben Reilly was the low point for Spider-Man.
 
From the trailer it looks like the last season of Community is going to be making fun of VR. The Dean strapped to all that gear looked hilarious.
 
so much bitchin' and complaining... do you guys even enjoy doing the show anymore?

I've been listening since the first episode, I always felt like Cheapy was bit cynical but that was part of the charm of the show, it was offset by Wombat and Shipwreck's attitude, but now even Ship comes off like a know it all with a sourpuss opinion on everything.

We also went from Cheapy telling funny stories in Japan to him complaining about New York every other week, I would probably stop listening if it wasn't for Wombat providing levity.

The show has been going on for years and when you keep criticizing the same things (anything Nintendo, peripherals, Wombat's love for free shit) it's like beating a dead horse. Talk about what you enjoy more and keep it fresh.

 
I've got a question, mainly for Cheapy, who mentioned VR won't really be taken seriously on PS4 due to it's lack of power.

I agree that the current PS4 is going to struggle rendering decent graphics in a high res VR headset when and if one is ever released.

What do you think the chances are for Sony to release a PS4 S (or something similar) though? Bringing consoles yearly or bi-yearly updates seems to make more sense given how close they are to PCs and how quickly the technology moves.

Sony could reduce the price of the current PS4, release a faster model that supports high res VR games while keeping both on the same platform. 

?

Look forward to the next show, keep it up guys.

Anthony.

 
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Anthony, just like going from Forza Horizon 2 or Driveclub at 30FPS to Forza 5/6 and likely the next Gran Turismo all requiring double that framerate with 1080p/60, graphics can be adjusted accordingly. You don't need the highest level of graphics for it to succeed or be an enjoyable experience, just like how consoles sell even though you can get better graphics on the PC.

Check out this video of the Tested guys who just used Morpheus at GDC and came away very positive:

http://youtu.be/BaCxLZDcNBo?t=6m47s

 
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Shipwreck, just started listening to this week's show and I feel I need to point something out to you: Best Buy isn't losing money from you buying the game at 20% off. I used to work for that shitty company and the profit margins aren't super high but they're not losing anything. The only good thing about working there was a discount you can get off the items, which was 5% over their cost of the item. A $50 game would usually end up costing about $42-ish and I'm not sure what they pay for games now since the last gen jacked it up to $60 per title but believe me they're not really losing much. Your $30 will definitely cover whatever loss they get from the games IF they take any hit at all (unlikely they would).

Some items are more profitable than others, for sure. I got some $10 monitor cables back in 2000 when I worked there and they ended up costing $1.80 with the discount. If anybody out there wonders why they push accessories so hard, it's because they make a lot of money from the markups.

 
Instead of arguing with your other hosts about how you have to know what Puo Puo is, just assume your listeners don't know and give a brief synopsis.  This pretty much applies to everything you talk about, not just Puo Puo.  The hosts rely too many times on inside information that listeners may not know.

 
Instead of arguing with your other hosts about how you have to know what Puo Puo is, just assume your listeners don't know and give a brief synopsis. This pretty much applies to everything you talk about, not just Puo Puo. The hosts rely too many times on inside information that listeners may not know.
It's kind of like Dr. Mario.
 
Picked up a Harry's box using the cagcast code! Even though i use a double edged razer for my face, I still use these handle style ones for my head. I might have just found an alternative if these blades can last a while...

 
Cheapy, I hate the new updated site.  It looks more cluttered and information is harder to find.  I cant tell whats new or whats old.  This has cause me to drop off your website. Am even thing about removing yoursite from my bookmark.  The twitter feed is even harder to scroll.  Go back please!!! It's not better.

 
The kids trying to use Kinect section had me cracking up.  Especially Cheapy's comment.  Thanks for that.

 
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Good show, i know wombat was wrong about something but i forgot what that thing was, something about lcenses i think.
I mainly just want to think shipwreck for the code to Alphadia Genesis, i have not play much of it yet cause im a little burn out on JRPGs, but it seems like a fine game for what it is so far.

 
I haven't heard another podcast with such overwhelmingly negative views of VR. Most are extremely hyped on the potential and hope the software is there to prove that potential or else it'll die like the last time they tried to push it. You don't need motion controllers to play VR games, as regular controllers and keyboard/mouse work fine for the games that work best with that.

Wombat doesn't need to buy Morpheus since he'll just get it for free a year later.

 
Here's a counterpoint to everyone harping about cynicism. Maybe it's because I happen to agree with a lot of what you guys are saying, but I'm not seeing cynicism so much as three guys who just aren't buying into the hype. For example, I'd much rather have the discussion about VR where the CAGcasters brought up a lot of very valid concerns about VR that no one else is mentioning rather than yet another instance of commentators being blinded by the new and shiny. When so much surrounding videogaming is nothing more than frothing, over-the-top hype, it's refreshing to hear healthy skepticism which is what I think many people are mistaking for cynicism. But, what do I know? I'm old and probably outside the target demographic for this shit anyway.

Now, when the CAGcast gets to talking about comic book stuff, that's when I tune out. Could not care less about that, unless we're talking Xmen vs. Street Fighter. ;)

 
Just wanted to correct Cheapy on the resolution required to render for the current VR specs. You're not rendering 4k for any of these headsets, that would be ridiculous as they are targeting 90 fps or higher performance.

All of the ones that have been shown, with the exclusion of Valve's Vive feature a single 1920x1080 display that simply renders two images side-by-side, one for each eye. That's 960x1080 resolution per eye. It is literally just a smartphone display shoved in there.

The Vive prototype is slightly different in that instead of having a single display displaying two images it actually has two separate displays, one for each eye with a resolution of 1080x1200. It only has a slightly higher resolution of 240x1080 pixels per eye. The rendering required is 2400x1080 as opposed to 1920x1080 for the others.

You will still need a beefy PC to run those resolutions at 90 fps for some of the newest games out there but you don't need a monster PC capable of crazy fps at 4K as Cheapy said in the show.

 
I also picked up the Harry's fathers day bundle for my dad. Thanks to the CAGCAST code I saved a few $. I got his initials engraved with the savings.

 
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