Virtual reality (VR), in time, will be an avenue for many different types of experiences. A huge variety of industries – education, healthcare, military and more – have already jumped on board and made it noted that they have a vested interest in the medium, however it will be videogames that drive the adoption rate of VR in the first instance. While there’s been considerable debate and flux in the area of platform exclusives of late, there will always be videogame experiences that perform better on one head-mounted display (HMD) than the others. VRFocus endeavours to pick out the highlights of each platform’s software catalogue.
The Best Games for Oculus Rift
Launching first, the Oculus Rift has a selection of high quality videogame titles available via the Oculus Home client. Recent changes in Oculus VR policy have opened the door to allow HTC Vive owners to purchase and play former Oculus Rift exclusive titles, but there are still titles such as Lucky’s Tale and Edge of Nowhere that arguably perform better on the Oculus Rift.
Oculus VR are continuing to invest in software development with third-party studios, including the likes of Insomniac Games’ The Unspoken and Feral Rites, as well as internally produced titles such as Dead & Buried for the upcoming motion-control solution, Oculus Touch.
The Best Games for HTC Vive
Given that the HTC Vive’s software catalogue is distributed via Steam, there is already a lot of content available for the platform that isn’t the best showcase for VR. However, there are a number of standout titles that take advantage of the roomscale technology and motion-controller staples of the HTC Vive, including Cherry Pop Games’ Pool Nation VR, Hover Junkers and the Steam Early Access title, Vanishing Realms: Rite of Steel.
The upcoming line-up of software for the HTC Vive is undoubtedly the most complicated of all three major HMDs, given that the control of the digital marketplace is far looser than either the Oculus Rift or the PlayStation VR. The HTC Vive will be littered with half-finished cash-ins and projects simply trying to jump on the bandwagon (as it arguably already is) so sorting the wheat-from-the-chaff on HTC Vive will certainly be a difficult proposition.
The Best Games for PlayStation VR
The PlayStation VR could be considered the HMD in the best position to deliver high quality VR videogames as it is in fact built upon a platform that is designed almost entirely around videogame entertainment. Indeed, big name developers and publishers have already begun putting their weight behind PlayStation VR, with Warner Bros. Interactive having recently announced Batman: Arkham VR as a launch title for the HMD. Additionally, huge videogame franchises such as Final Fantasy, Resident Evil and Star Wars: Battlefront are all set to receive exposition on PlayStation VR.
The future catalogue for the PlayStation VR HMD is still shrouded in mystery; given that the HMD hasn’t yet launched, Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) are keen to keep all eyes on that extensive launch line-up that the company has been cultivating for some time. However, given the quality and variety of developers that have signed-up for PlayStation VR development, you can almost guarantee that there’ll be plenty of groundbreaking experiences for the HMD coming in 2017 and beyond.
