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So I'm on the road again and finally got a day off here in Charlotte, NC. With the laundry  done I decided to head over to the Microsoft store to see if I could get into a VR demo and I got to try both the Samsung Odyssey and the Oculus Rift... My mind is now blown...

I tried the Samsung first and I the first thing I got to see was some kind of Mars landing. I was blown away by the detail, first you were outside of the ship as it began its entry and then inside. I was amazed at how clear the image was. looking over the planet from a 100 miles up was a bit disquieting but when the view switched inside the capsule you really felt like you were there inside the ship. I then did a 360 degree video where you were on a yacht and then in the water with a school of Dolphins. It was pretty neat, but you really noticed the lesser quality of the screens (from a perspective of a good monitor) as things were a bit grainy due to the screen door effect. I then played the Holo trainer till my session timed out. It was really neat.

For the Oculus session I opted to just do the tour as I was interested in how the screens compared more than games. I didn't get to see anything that wasn't computer generated such as the 360 video but I was very impressed. The second cut had you standing on top of a building at night in a very large city. It was pretty awesome, I had prepared myself for the look over the platform so I didn't feel afraid, but then, unsuspectingly, I caught myself as I was looking around suddenly wondering where my feet were in relation to the edge of the platform! Then there a village made of paper that looked so real and cool, leaning down to look around things was really neat. But the final thing was the T-Rex coming around the corner and walking up to me, roaring and bending down to look me in the eye. As it walked over me and exited I was amazed by the scale of it. Just mind blowing!

So if I were to buy a headset?

The pros of the Oculus are that it has many games and is $100 cheaper than the Samsung. The Samsung has a nicer screen, I like the way it fit my head ands the weight of it felt better. It's cables and lack of light houses were a plus. I would say that the Samsung is my favorite and were they closer in price it would be a no brainer. Still, I really like the Samsung.

Here in Ottawa we have Colony VR which uses the HTC Vive setup. Only did the intro and Space Pirate Trainer for about 20 minutes total but it was great fun.

As an Oculus (DK2) user, I have to say that it is always worth spending more to get a higher-resolution display, and if the Samsung is lighter, that just makes it more comfortable.

Pville_Piper wrote:

So if I were to buy a headset?

The pros of the Oculus are that it has many games and is $100 cheaper than the Samsung. The Samsung has a nicer screen, I like the way it fit my head ands the weight of it felt better. It's cables and lack of light houses were a plus. I would say that the Samsung is my favorite and were they closer in price it would be a no brainer. Still, I really like the Samsung.

I pre-ordered the oculus head set when the CV1 was announced, so I have had about a year and a half to play with mine. I do not know what the software on the Samsung is like, but Oculus's storefront has matured quite nicely, considering how it launched on day one. In addition, Oculus with touch is 400$ right now, which is an incredible steal in my mind. Oculus also bundles Lucky's Tale, which I tend to go back to every few months are so, because it's so simple but fun, and Dead and Buried, which was an absolute blast when it shipped, I'm sure I've dumped 100+ hours into it, which is quite unusual for me. I do not know if Dead and Buried still has a "strong" user base or not, but if you can find a group of 4, you're in for a treat.

Rango is a rather simple but enjoyable puzzle solver with cool tribal music.

The games I've been less impressed with are the on-rail shooters, like Arktika.1, bleh. Fun for about 2 minutes.