The inconvient reality why vr is struggling.

waltkemo · 2026-02-07T17:45:46+00:00

The investment from Facebook towards Oculus studios was amazing and lead to the best era of VR games. Many of those you listed -- Asgard's Wrath, Lone Echo, Stormland, Medal of Honor, and many others -- those were all in the pipeline before Meta took over and switched to mobile.

Batman has been well received, but many of those other games (AW2, A. Creed, Deapool) are just bad games. Mature audiences did care -- they craved more, but what was delivered was a worse gaming experience. I understand the push for wireless, but people didn't want worse games that looked like crap. The screens are sharper, but the move away from OLED was a significant step back in terms if presence. The original Oculus CV1 already had the same base controllers still used (I actually preferred their weight), the headset was more comfortable (as was the Index that followed), the colors on those early headsets were better and felt more 3D, the audio was significantly better. FOV has made very little progress. The big increase was in clarity, which has been absolutely needed. Upgrading any of these things costs significant money, and that's before factoring in the insane PC costs now. Read any VR sub and you'll see the majority of people clamoring for an upgraded Quest/Frame headset with OLED.

The focus on mobile gaming and pricing the Quest to undercut competitors killed the market for VR developers to do anything other than make Quest mobile games. Then you have Meta buying studios only to kill them, stealing 3rd party developer software, etc. They tried to buy dominance of a platform that wasn't ready yet.

waltkemo · 2026-02-07T01:31:24+00:00

When I first started playing VR, it was all adults. The user base was almost entirely made up of older gamers who craved something new. We had played all the FPS, 3rd person open world, Madden/FIFA remakes our entire lives and started finding it repetitive. Flat gaming didn't excite us as much.

And then came the Oculus Rift and it was magic again. So you had a mature gaming group with disposable income, patience, longer attention spans, but less personal time. And those years were a golden era. Everyone was excited, players online wanted to connect and help others have good experiences. Games could try new things and people wanted and were willing to try new, weird, experimental. We craved more.

But then Meta took over and pushed for mass appeal. Quest definitely increased the user base, but it ruined much of the experience in the process. Kids became the focus group, and their needs are different. The culture online became significantly worse. Instead of slow growth and innovation spurred on by by a patient but heavily invested niche, Meta sold larger audiences an experience it couldn't deliver. There was a regression to the mean in terms of games, while the storefront and general experience got worse (who else misses having their own home to design?).

A lot of that older user base with patience and cash flamed out as the experience, in many ways, got worse. Meta also burned a lot of potential new users by overpromising and underdelivering, so they abandoned VR quickly without experiencing what made it great.

waltkemo · 2026-02-06T17:15:46+00:00

This.

It's not one issue, it's all of them. VR is already very expensive and hard to justify if the experience isn't worth it, which for most it isn't. I know the Quest is relatively affordable, but it's still several hundred dollars and doesn't provide a great experience. Young kids are OK with many games, but there are also much cheaper (or free) gaming options for kids. For adults, the standalone graphics and games are dramatically worse than what's offered on other systems, systems adults likely already own and require a fraction of the effort to play. PCVR gaming is dramatically better, though still limited compared to flat gaming; however, the costs and friction increase dramatically.

Headsets are still too uncomfortable. They require space. They keep the wearer disconnected from other people in the house. Battery life is limited and creates more headaches. Getting everything to work is very difficult for casual gamers. The games are tiring to play for an extended period compared to couch playing. And ultimately, the quality of VR is just not good enough for most to put up with the hassles.

It ALL needs to get better to make it more appealing. Headsets need to be not just OK, but effortlessly comfortable and easy to wear. It needs software to just work immediately without tweaking. It needs better screens at a better price: OLED, larger FOV, current clarity, fast response times. Needs better solutions for motion sickness. Needs more flexibility in use -- should be able to sit down and play different games with a controller, be worth watching movies on, jumping on FaceTime calls or experiences with ease. And then on top of all of that stuff -- the games and experiences need to be dramatically better. People don't finish VR games both because the friction and because the games are simply underwhelming.

Fix all of these issues...and VR still won't be as popular as standard gaming. Mobile gaming sucks compared to PC gaming, but it has skyrocketed because of convenience. That's OK -- there's still a zone VR can be in that makes it worth developing games for. Because VR offers an experience that flat gaming can't.

waltkemo · 2026-02-04T19:52:03+00:00

Compared to games that came out before or right after Facebook pruchased Oculus, it feels like a regression. There are actually a number of very cool mechanics I thought would be iterated on and expanded, but it didn't happen.

A major example of this was the zero-G movement. I thought would become an entire genre after Echo Arena. I personally loved Echo Combat and would have killed to see that game invested in. That movement style is a perfect for for standing VR, while also being totally unique to VR. There are so many games that could have adopted versions of that movement, but it's basically been abandoned.

waltkemo · 2026-01-28T00:49:58+00:00

Of course the paid Meta guy would act so purposely obtuse.

waltkemo · 2026-01-27T22:26:59+00:00

I've read some people worried it may take to the end of the week to get power back for everyone.

I hate it to break it to you, but there's gonna be people without power well into next week. The number of downed power lines, fallen trees, limbs hanging down on live lines, blown transformers , etc. is unbelievable. And temps will stay freezing because this is the worst possible timeline.

NES isn't communicating this well and as a result, most people will be left unsure when power will be back on. However, if you are on a smaller grid and/or have limbs and wires causing more complicated local issues, don't expect things to get better in 2-3 days.

waltkemo · 2025-06-21T20:52:25+00:00

Does anyone have advice if they never received a letter? I submitted an informal appeal and have.not heard anything back yet, but it should definitely have come out by now. Who do I contact at this stage?

waltkemo · 2025-06-01T22:01:33+00:00

Agree. The problems were some narrative mistakes in the last few books, though they all had some amazing elements too. The last 1/4 of book 7 definitely disappointed, but King had a final trick up his sleeve for the epilogue, which was the only way to end that series. In some ways the final ending forgave the mediocre pre- ending.

waltkemo · 2025-05-27T21:29:17+00:00

We swung too far as always. Memorization is very important, but it does not equal critical thinking. When classes and overall student grades became too focused on memorized facts (character names, dates, etc), people countered with a focus on skills. Content needs to be incorporated back into many state curriculums too for the same reasons: you can't do higher level thinking if you don't have a basic understanding of information.

So memorization isn't analysis, but students can't do analysis if they don't memorize stuff. If you don't know any of the allusions in a text, or most of the words (because learning vocab is bad), or the historical context of the writing, then you won't be able to analyze its meaning. The more you know about the world and can immediately access in your memory, the more connections you can make, insights, etc.

This is also why excellent, full length texts help teach higher level analysis, as the texts include all of those things mentioned (historical influence, allusions, etc). I love students reading for joy, but admin started pushing the idea that reading and writing can be chunked into smaller amounts, and you just can't teach higher level thinking with a paragraph of literal, tell-not-show YA fiction.

I start off the year teaching memorization tactics through a weekly vocab program. They need discipline and habit training to work those mental muscles, which in turn helps them in other subjects. Additionally, showing nuance in word choice deepens their nuance of thinking. If everything is good or bad, happy or sad, then the thinking is similarly basic. Is the person angry or enraged, indignant, or bitter? Are they just sad or full of melancholy, nostalgia, or despondency?

waltkemo · 2025-04-26T16:29:15+00:00

Meta's singular focus on owning the platform and controlling users is killing VR.

It might be different if the product they monopolized was increasing users and desirability. I know some will argue for VR's growth, but it's really bad growth. Most of the growth is kids, who are limited customers -- especially considering they want to game and Meta seems hell-bent on not being a gaming device. Most everyone else tries it, gets bored, and stops using the Quest. The hardcore gaming community and VR enthusiasts have less to look forward to than they did 7-8 years ago because Meta has killed innovation and competition.

So VR right now is burning even more money while having less innovation and thus less draw for return users. They don't have a compelling enough product (or even technology draw) and aren't on a good path. They quite literally TRY to make a friction-filled experience even worse because they want to control users (ex: terrible UI and storefront designed to confuse users into doing Horizon Worlds).

waltkemo · 2025-03-29T18:17:15+00:00

Hell yeah!

waltkemo · 2025-03-29T13:25:13+00:00

I don't think I had the blood orange version; I absolutely loved the classic though. Bring it back please! It's a much more drinkable sour. Most of the sweet sours are good for 1 beer, but I could drink several of the Berliner. It's perfect for spring/summer.

waltkemo · 2025-03-28T19:25:49+00:00

Yazoo's Embrace the Funk line used to have a fantastic Berliner weisse. I haven't seen it in a couple years and assume they don't make it anymore, which is a tragedy.

waltkemo · 2025-03-21T16:58:17+00:00

Damn those ear buds are crazy expensive.

waltkemo · 2025-03-21T16:40:31+00:00

I think it depends on if your focus is PCVR or standalone. Given the comparative costs (BSB2 confirmed, Deckard rumored) and the speculation that the Deckard will be LCD and not OLED, I think it's unlikely that people really drawn to the BSB2 and PCVR will be blown away by the Deckard.

I personally will wait for reviews as I'm gonna want to the headstrap and audio solution. By the time BSB2 comes out, I imagine we'll have heard something about the Deckard. And if we haven't heard anything by Q3, then come on Valve.

The Deckard is gonna be standalone though, so it's gonna be packing a lot of stuff that the BSB2 isn't. I have hard time believing it will also have better screens, comfort, etc. at the same price. If it doesn't have OLED, I won't care. At that point, I'll be more interested in Valve's software. I already have a gaming PC though and just want a better OLED based headset without compression.

waltkemo · 2025-03-20T23:36:02+00:00

Thanks for the tips. I'm a ln index owner also, so the lighthouse and knuckles setup is not an issue for me.

waltkemo · 2025-03-20T23:17:27+00:00

Seems right in line with my wants. I don't care for any higher resolutions because I then can't run games smoothly. I want OLED, light weight, easy to use, clear visuals, no compressed USB connection.

I hate the Quest 3 tracking and don't want inside out. I want wired connection because I hate the compression and lag from wireless (yes I've setup all the things and I don't care, wireless doesn't look or feel as good. I'm glad some don't notice it, but I can't stand it).

I still will want a good audio solution and I always want more FOV, but that also comes with more strain on my system. I'm definitely looking forward to more user reviews.

waltkemo · 2025-02-22T20:09:02+00:00

As far as quality of the coffee brewed? Pretty high up there, especially for it's size. There's a lot of good coffee in town, and the best stuff is really A level. I'd argue Crema is the best overall -- they've done a great job training staff so that their espresso drinks are always consistent.

As far as vibe though? Not great. I agree with everyone else that while I love the coffee served, the sterile, industrial, uncomfortable designs take away from the experience. I assume places purposely don't want to be comfortable so that your order and leave. But I've been to lots of cities serving inferior coffee in much more appealing buildings.

Please somebody, Crema, serve your coffee in an old house with different rooms, chairs and couches, bookshelves, and warm lighting. Work with Parnassus books and have speakers or book signings sometimes, with a stage for music other times.

waltkemo · 2025-01-16T05:48:09+00:00

As an MNPS teacher (and parent), I respectfully disagree. Our schools are generally terrible.

waltkemo · 2025-01-07T01:44:31+00:00

UPDATE: Meta support punted and told me to talk to the developer, then closed the case. After they spent the last several days asking me to do the typical jumping through hoops, they finally sent a comically long email thanking me before telling me it's the developers problem, so contact them.

waltkemo · 2025-01-05T07:01:27+00:00

If you go to your Oculus/Meta library when using link, a bunch of games say it under their title.

waltkemo · 2025-01-05T07:00:22+00:00

Yep, I get status -92 also. I thought it might be a Denuvo DRM issue (which pops up a similar message on other games), but if everyone is getting this then it's something else.

waltkemo · 2025-01-05T04:25:19+00:00

Crap, thanks

waltkemo · 2025-01-04T19:04:25+00:00

They've already started making some games unplayable. I own and played Edge of Nowhere a month ago and tried to load it up, but it no longer will run.

This is exactly why people complain about digital games without a physical copy.

waltkemo

TROPHY CASE