It's Life Jim, Pretty Much As We Know It

 "The reason that most virtual reality movies don't work is because movies ARE virtual reality." - Roger Ebert

In this pandemic world, I have made an investment in essential survival equipment: an Oculus Quest 2 stand-alone VR headset with nifty hand controllers. 

It's a step up from my Oculus Go - two virtual hands instead of one, and better movement tracking, plus improved graphics. Got it last night and instantly started looking for stuff to load into it, and spent as much time exploring those worlds before the motion sickness set in. 

There's not an awful lot out there for it yet, by the way. Oculus has built it but mostly they haven't yet come, the developers. The platform has limitations, among the worst is that you need an awful lot of set design when a player can look in any direction. Still something caught my eye.

One of the most popular apps (can't really call this a game) is Netflix. Like Netflix on your TV, or phone, the app is free but you have to have a subscription to see the movies. The difference in Oculus is when you boot up you are in a ski lodge, on a nice leather couch, with a HUGE screen in front of you. You start a movie (I took another crack at Enola Holmes, still didn't like it) and the lights dim. You're in a darker room, but you're still watching a big TV. 

I happen to have a nice couch with a coffee table in front, facing a TV, and I sat down and watched a movie for a few minutes there. It was fun and then I started getting distracted. Why can't I get up? Why can't I get off the couch during the slow parts and see what's in that loft upstairs? Maybe I could put an Espresso machine on that counter?

There are plenty of other games available where you CAN walk around. One is Google Earth, sorta, and you can bark out any address in the world and there you are, in street view. And you'll find an awful lot of opportunities to shoot at homicidal robots or play virtual tennis or chat with ten-year-olds in other nations. But the idea that one of the most popular apps is Netflix and the attraction is you can be alone in a nice lodge instead of surrounded roommates in your crappy apartment... I think Roger Ebert's grave spinning is up even higher now.