Lets face it: life can be pretty disappointing sometimes. Many of us live out our lives going though the same monotonous motions everyday, secretly wishing for more excitement or adventure. This is one of the reasons video games (or really any medium) appeal to us, as they allow us to live out our fantasies from the comfort of home. In real life, I may live a normal life of going to work from 9 to 5 every day in order to financially support myself in a down economy, but in a video game I can be a globetrotting treasure hunter or a space marine who needs to save the galaxy. Video games can suck us into a new world populated with interesting characters and fascinating environments, all while making us feel important or larger than life. And as the technology continues to advance, the immersion becomes more powerful. Its a common fantasy to be able to put on some kind of device and be transported to a new world; a virtual reality if you will. The industry has attempted it before, with disappointing results. Nintendos Virtual Boy and the R-Zone were awful failures, not just because of the eye destroying red graphics, but because the technology simply wasnt there. The video game industry was in the early days of commercial success, and it was experimenting. Yet despite the failure, nothing will stop gamers from imagining what it would be like to experience and interact with a true virtual reality. Great video games already do a fantastic job immersing the player, and one can only imagine what it would be like experiencing these games directly in front of us without that separation between you and the screen. In the last couple years, it looks like weve gotten closer to actually achieving what can be called true virtual reality. The Oculus Rift has been buzzed about for a while now, and nearly everyone who has been lucky enough to try it has reported intriguing results. Unlike past attempts, the Oculus takes into account details we rarely think about to simulate reality and immerse the player. The integration of head movements, peripheral vision, and motion blur are just some of the ways that the developers have been able to make the Oculus a greater success than its predecessors, which just projected one screen onto both of your eyes. There is an immediate disconnect from reality with this method, and the Oculus is attempting to overcome this through its focus on the details. While it has yet to hit the consumer market, it is a promising first step to what we can only hope will eventually be true virtual reality.
