Oculus Quest 2
- Thread starter Ravenpoe
- Start date
I got an original Quest. Haven't really played with it in a while, though. I just picked up the star wars stuff just before the move, so I suppose I should make some time soon 
I keep thinking of getting one, but I REALLY don't like that mandatory Facebook thing.
I bit the bullet on that. I don't use my Facebook account for anything anymore, so it's mostly easy to ignore. If it didn't require Facebook I would immediately recommend it as the best VR device in affordability and usability
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I've found myself surprisingly playing a lot of pokerstars vrI got an original Quest. Haven't really played with it in a while, though. I just picked up the star wars stuff just before the move, so I suppose I should make some time soon
Dammit, I'm getting tempted. I've been looking into getting a PS5, but I can't find one anywhere. And I checked, my local Best Buy DOES have an Oculus Quest 2 available in the store.
Hmmmmmm.
Hmmmmmm.
As someone with both a quest 2 and a PS5, I'd go with the quest 2. Don't get me wrong, the PS5 is great, but its still going to be a little while before we get games on the PS5 that make it a "must buy" If you haven't done VR before, it's a new and interesting enough experience to warrant the purchase.
I think so far, the most fun (in terms of quanta of fun units) I've had in one sitting is making all my family (including my wife's 70 year old mother and aunt) walk the plank in Richie's Plank Experience. That's a one-shot deal, though.
I hated setting up my vive. The fact that the quest 2 is wireless and I can literally just put it on anywhere and play it makes it a lot easier to use
Yes to both, sort of.
You can load games right on it AND it can wirelessly connect to your Steam to play games from Steam on your PC, as long as you are on the same network.
So, the quest itself is a mobile gaming platform, similar in power to a high end cell phone. You don't need a pc, you can connect it to wifi and download games from the oculus store directly onto it and play it off the headset hardware itself. It uses room tracking instead of the old lighthouse system of the vive, so it's literally just a headset and controllers and you can take them anywhere and play them anywhere with a battery life of, in my testing, about 3-4 hours (though if you are plugging it into quick charge capable chargers it charges very quickly)
If you want super high end graphics, or just games off of steam instead of the oculus store, you have to connect it to a PC. This can be done either through a usb cable, or there is a wireless option called oculus link that kinda works but my home network is not near fast enough to really use it so it's all wired for me. But what I'm finding is that the lack of super high end graphics isn't that big a factor for me. The quest is capable of 'good enough' graphics and the 3D element of the virtual space makes it all look that much better anyway. So the only time I plug it into usb is to play steam games.
Welp...I bought one. It was kind of impulsive of me, but it was either that or a PS5 and I think @Terrik is right. The PS5 just isn't worth getting right now.
While I was at the store, I also got a long cord that someone there suggested for connecting my PC to the Oculus Quest 2. Unfortunately, I didn't realize until after I got home that it's USB-C to USB-C, which is no good for me since I don't have any USB-C slots on my PC. So I'll have to figure where to get a good, long USB-C to USB cord.
EDIT: And I've been fiddling with the Oculus Quest 2 since bringing it home. Ravenpoe is right. This thing is amazing. Bit of a pain setting up and syncing to my phone, but once I got it going, it's fantastic. Though the apps for it are kind expensive, which sucks.
While I was at the store, I also got a long cord that someone there suggested for connecting my PC to the Oculus Quest 2. Unfortunately, I didn't realize until after I got home that it's USB-C to USB-C, which is no good for me since I don't have any USB-C slots on my PC. So I'll have to figure where to get a good, long USB-C to USB cord.
EDIT: And I've been fiddling with the Oculus Quest 2 since bringing it home. Ravenpoe is right. This thing is amazing. Bit of a pain setting up and syncing to my phone, but once I got it going, it's fantastic. Though the apps for it are kind expensive, which sucks.
A USB-C to A adapter is pretty cheap. Just make sure you get a name brand because otherwise they can be finnicky
Good timing with this bundle:
Includes:
-Zero Caliber VR
-A Fisherman's Tale
-House Flipper VR
-Paper Beast
-Arizona Sunshine
-Until You Fall
-Wands
Redeemable through Steam.
www.humblebundle.com
Includes:
-Zero Caliber VR
-A Fisherman's Tale
-House Flipper VR
-Paper Beast
-Arizona Sunshine
-Until You Fall
-Wands
Redeemable through Steam.
Fall VR Emporium Bundle
Behold! A VR bundle of games like Arizona Sunshine and Zero Caliber VR that’ll amaze and delight!
www.humblebundle.com
So I was just playing around a little with virtual desktop after connecting to my computer through Oculus Air. It's not a perfect set up, but it's neat. There's also apparently an app called Virtual Desktop that I've seen many people recommend. Didn't get a chance to try anything on Steam just yet, but I did snag the above linked bundle.
I also played around a little with Bigscreen, which is not only a free way of watching movies, but you can have rooms of people to watch it together. And it's amazing. I popped into a room that was just starting to watch Cell (based on a Stephen King novel). Didn't stick around to watch it, but just the experience was incredible. I could see myself watching more movies like this. And I guess there's a way you can download your own video files onto the Quest 2? I haven't looked into how yet.
I also played around a little with Bigscreen, which is not only a free way of watching movies, but you can have rooms of people to watch it together. And it's amazing. I popped into a room that was just starting to watch Cell (based on a Stephen King novel). Didn't stick around to watch it, but just the experience was incredible. I could see myself watching more movies like this. And I guess there's a way you can download your own video files onto the Quest 2? I haven't looked into how yet.
GasBandit
Staff member
I used to play around with Bigscreen, too, and Dei, Terrik, Snuffles and I all watched a movie in there once - I've already forgotten which one. Throwing popcorn at each other seemed to be the most engaging
I think it was Bill and Ted 3I used to play around with Bigscreen, too, and Dei, Terrik, Snuffles and I all watched a movie in there once - I've already forgotten which one. Throwing popcorn at each other seemed to be the most engaging
GasBandit
Staff member
You're right, that's exactly what it was.
So I tried a little, free tech demo during my lunch break. It's called Elixir. Just a short, 15-20 thing that shows off the Quest 2's hands tracking option. Basically, you can do stuff without the controllers.
And I highly recommend trying it , because it's a total hoot. I think hand tracking is still relatively new, but with further developments, I could see it replacing controllers in VR environments. It's slightly clunky, but surprisingly responsive.
And I highly recommend trying it , because it's a total hoot. I think hand tracking is still relatively new, but with further developments, I could see it replacing controllers in VR environments. It's slightly clunky, but surprisingly responsive.
Got the Steam VR working and played around with Steam's VR Home a bit, which was neat. Kind of redundant with Oculus Home, really. I'm still trying to find the most efficient way of going from the Oculus menu to Air (wirelessly connecting to desktop) to Steam VR to a Steam game. Annoying, there's a lot of steps just to get into a Steam game versus the convenience of going directly through the Oculus (and probably by design so people less stubborn just go "Screw it, I'll use Oculus").
Still, once I got it working, it was pretty fun.
I played a bit of Until You Fall, which is a sword-swinging rogue-like. Pretty neat and I worked up a bit of a sweat. I'll probably play that a bit more.
Also briefly played Paper Beasts, which was as gorgeous as it is strange. It's by the creator of Another World. There's apparently a non-3D version out, too, but I don't know if it would be as captivating.
Also tried Google Earth VR, which was...humbling. Aside from Toronto, I'm so used to smaller place that when it dropped me above, say, Hollywood, California, I had no idea how large that place was. Same as massive nature vistas. Also kinda odd dropping into San Francisco and seeing how much of Watch Dogs 2's design mirrors it (not exactly, but close enough that I was like "Oh wow, I was there!")
Finally, I got Bigscreen working, first through Steam VR and connecting wirelessly to my desktop. I could access pretty much any of my "legally obtained" movies, though some video formats weren't compatible. Surprisingly not many. But then I also discovered I could connect a USB-C to USB-A cord to my desktop (I have a very short one to charge my phone) and upload directly right onto the Oculus. And of course, the first movie I had to try was the horror movie...Oculus. And it works like a charm. Uploading them that way rather than streaming from my PC the whole time will probably be easier on the battery. So I'll likely be watching full movies that way at some point.
Still, once I got it working, it was pretty fun.
I played a bit of Until You Fall, which is a sword-swinging rogue-like. Pretty neat and I worked up a bit of a sweat. I'll probably play that a bit more.
Also briefly played Paper Beasts, which was as gorgeous as it is strange. It's by the creator of Another World. There's apparently a non-3D version out, too, but I don't know if it would be as captivating.
Also tried Google Earth VR, which was...humbling. Aside from Toronto, I'm so used to smaller place that when it dropped me above, say, Hollywood, California, I had no idea how large that place was. Same as massive nature vistas. Also kinda odd dropping into San Francisco and seeing how much of Watch Dogs 2's design mirrors it (not exactly, but close enough that I was like "Oh wow, I was there!")
Finally, I got Bigscreen working, first through Steam VR and connecting wirelessly to my desktop. I could access pretty much any of my "legally obtained" movies, though some video formats weren't compatible. Surprisingly not many. But then I also discovered I could connect a USB-C to USB-A cord to my desktop (I have a very short one to charge my phone) and upload directly right onto the Oculus. And of course, the first movie I had to try was the horror movie...Oculus. And it works like a charm. Uploading them that way rather than streaming from my PC the whole time will probably be easier on the battery. So I'll likely be watching full movies that way at some point.
GasBandit
Staff member
You've got one of the holy 3 VR apps, Bigscreen... now you need the other two: Beat Saber and Gorn.
Beat Saber:
Gorn:
(I don't know why the stupid plugin won't embed twitch highlights any more, but here's the link)
The single player mode of War Thunder (the game is free) is a real trip in VR too. I don't recommend it in multiplayer because everybody else using mouse and keyboard arcade (easymode) controls will rip your immersive VR self a new one.
And I don't know if it still comes with it for free, but my Oculus Rift came with RoboRecall, and that's actually pretty fun too.
Beat Saber:
Gorn:
(I don't know why the stupid plugin won't embed twitch highlights any more, but here's the link)
The single player mode of War Thunder (the game is free) is a real trip in VR too. I don't recommend it in multiplayer because everybody else using mouse and keyboard arcade (easymode) controls will rip your immersive VR self a new one.
And I don't know if it still comes with it for free, but my Oculus Rift came with RoboRecall, and that's actually pretty fun too.
Quiet old man, we're talking about VR. You wouldn't know anything about that
I feel like I've unintentionally hijacked this thread in my excitement. Sorry, Ravenpoe. (Although this is one of those "Nick is probably apologizing for something he has nothing to apologize for" things.)
Anyway, holy shit, my shoulders are sore as hell today after playing Thrill of the Fight last night. And of course, I played it more again today.
In fact, I figured out how to cast my footage onto our TV. Normally, I guess you need a Chromecast or something. But I discovered a workaround: casting to my phone through the Oculus app, then using "Smart View" on my phone, pairing with my Samsung Smart TV. So I played a round of Thrill of the Fight to Mom to show her the game that has exhausted me several times. It's pretty neat that you can do something like that. I love modern technology.
Anyway, holy shit, my shoulders are sore as hell today after playing Thrill of the Fight last night. And of course, I played it more again today.
In fact, I figured out how to cast my footage onto our TV. Normally, I guess you need a Chromecast or something. But I discovered a workaround: casting to my phone through the Oculus app, then using "Smart View" on my phone, pairing with my Samsung Smart TV. So I played a round of Thrill of the Fight to Mom to show her the game that has exhausted me several times. It's pretty neat that you can do something like that. I love modern technology.
On the contrary, I'm happy you're posting all this because I'm lazy and I feel less obligated to now
Figures, ya couch potato. Here I am working up a sweat every time I play and you're metaphorically sitting by the sidelines throwing popcorn from the cheapseats.On the contrary, I'm happy you're posting all this because I'm lazy and I feel less obligated to now