Half-Glass Gaming [Episode 40] : Record Scratch

BB8 Hug

“Where are the facts?” you may ask if you listened to last week’s low-key episode. Well, the facts are back, Jack. This week, we’ve got a whole stack.

But before all that, we catch our listeners up on some of the adventures we’ve had since the last episode. Julian pays way too much for ice cream, Josh and Mandi explore a prohibition-era gangster cave, and the Rev weighs in on breakfast smoothies. We’ve also got opinions on the first trailer for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, as well as movie trailers in general. And, after panning all of your favorite movies in previous episodes (including The Shawshank Redemption and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial), we put our collective stamp of approval on 1993’s Demolition Man. Clearly, there’s no real pattern to our taste in movies.

After the break, we dive into the history of virtual reality and augmented reality, which is a history filled with failures. From the Atari Mindlink to Nintendo’s Virtual Boy to the Philips Scuba Virtual Immersion Visor (as well as the incredible farting backpack), we give you the rundown on what went wrong with all of this technology.

We’ve also got some personal stories, like the time Mandi got kicked off the VR machines at Dave & Buster’s (we’re actually siding with Dave & Busters on this one) and when Josh tried an early Oculus Rift prototype while hungover at E3. We have some VR opinions as well, and, as it turns out, none of us actually want to use VR with video games though we wouldn’t mind using the technology to watch Ty Cooper wrestle.

Gird your loins, folks, because we’re going to punch you right in the information sack.

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Jimmy Mamatas
Jimmy Mamatas
8 years ago

Great episode! I can’t say I care much for virtual reality or other accessories myself. I prefer to keep things simple. I wouldn’t mind keeping one of those farting backpacks around for laughs.

Jdcomix
Jdcomix
8 years ago

It’s sort of funny. I’m a gamer but I’m not interested in vr for the games at all. I’m curious about trips to mars, that sort of thing. If that worked as advertised I might buy one.

JulianWhatThe
8 years ago
Reply to  Jdcomix

I agree wholeheartedly. I get enough immersion staring at my tv, or at least just enough to feel a part of the game without needing to feel as if I’m actually in the game. I don’t want to trick my brain to assign even more realism to games that these days already have a striking resemblance to realism. The last thing I need is to develop a real life impulse to hunt Saber-tooth Tigers or wander a desolate wasteland. My example of using it to bring one to a wrestling or other live sporting or non-sporting event really intrigues me. Go to see your favorite band, from your sofa.. Stuff like that.

Jdcomix
Jdcomix
8 years ago
Reply to  JulianWhatThe

Yes I don’t watch sports but going to see a band would be cool. I just hope all games don’t become vr because I would stop playing them if that happened.

JulianWhatThe
8 years ago
Reply to  Jdcomix

I definitely don’t see that happening. VR is new and interesting and there are a decent number of people that are hyped over the prospect of it, but the likelihood that it will become the de facto gaming venue isn’t very high. Taking into account how many people only play games like Madden or Call of Duty, it is reasonably doubtful that so many of those “casual gamers” acoupled with the high population of “hardcore gamers” that don’t care about VR would ever be forced out by something as niche as VR. At least I hope that is the case. I do not want to sit on my couch for an hour plus playing a game with a bucket on my head.

mako33
mako33
8 years ago

I find a lot of VR to be off-putting and even slightly disturbing. I did think the Virtual Boy had some good games though.

Thief921
Thief921
8 years ago

I’m all for healthy eating but I’m not sure about a spinach smoothie. Sounds a bit awful to be honest. Add me to the list of people who aren’t on board for VR games. Who’s preordering all that rubbish, I wonder?

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