A funny thing happened on the way to my futuristic dive into the Super Bowl in virtual reality — it never happened.
Yes, I have my own, fancy Oculus Rift set up along with a pricey high-spec computer to help me immerse myself in the virtual waters of everything from gaming to animation and, I thought, sports events.
But it turns out that Fox Sports, in its mainstream content wisdom, decided to offer its VR presentation of the Super Bowl exclusively on the Samsung Gear VR version of the Oculus store, and not the Oculus store for the Oculus Rift.
I know I speak for my Rift brethren out there when I say, WTF?
Focusing on the wrong users
At first I thought maybe this had something to do with the mobile VR app Fox Sports developed being perhaps too lightweight and not high-resolution enough for the high-end environment provided by the Rift, but nothing could be further from the truth.
Not only is the Fox Sports VR Super Bowl presentation insanely well-designed, the app, its interface and its array of video and data offerings look about as good as any non-gaming content I’ve seen on the Rift.
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The virtual VIP box framing the Fox Sports Super Bowl LI VR experience.
IMAGE: FOX SPORTS VR
Now, a couple of days later, after I’ve plumbed the depths of the app, I’m here to say that there’s simply no excuse for this amazingly well done, immersive sports experience to not be available to people who have paid upwards of $2,000 to equip themselves with the best available VR.
Yes, we know that there are far more people who own mobile VR headsets like the Gear VR, Cardboard and now Google’s Daydream View. Mobile VR is great, but at this point, focusing on it over high-end VR headset users is like walking into Walmart and passing out Hamilton fliers — you’ll get a few bites, but you’re not reaching people who know and care about the Broadway musical.
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One of the many interactive game stats screens available in the Fox Sports Super Bowl LI VR experience.
IMAGE: FOX SPORTS VR
Denying passionate VR lovers access to a huge VR event like the Super Bowl doesn’t make any sense: Oculus users don’t necessarily own or even want a low-end headset, plus they may or may not be on Android (the only phones that work with Gear VR or Daydream View). So the result is VR’s most loyal users are cut out of the biggest thing happening in the medium. Who thought that was as good idea?
Similarly, the premiere of 24: Legacy, which aired on the same network just after the Super Bowl, also had an incredibly well produced VR experience (“The Raid”). Yep. You guessed it. It’s only available on the Gear VR.
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A scene from 24 Legacy ‘The Raid’ on the Samsung Gear VR.
IMAGE: SAMSUNG VR
So, just to make sure you’re keeping up, here’s what VR users were presented with on Sunday:
1. The Fox Sports VR app is available on Oculus store for Gear VR, but not the Oculus store for Oculus Rift.
2. The 24 Legacy “The Raid” app is only available on Samsung VR app, but to get “that” app you must first download the mobile Oculus app. And no, you can’t get any version of “The Raid” app on the Oculus store for the Oculus Rift.
Did you catch that? It’s almost like a riddle. (In which the answer is: Do I actually care this much?)
Not. Confusing. At. All.
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Source: Mashable