The turn towards marketing VR headsets as essentially a big screen steam deck was definitely something I saw coming. When the Index was first launched the VR market was very nascent, but nowadays the Quest has dictated the standard. High-End VR will always have a niche among the sim and enthusiast community, but right now the majority of VR is happening on a Quest, they are being sold at a loss to ensure that. Those dreams of AAA VR games are gone and now if it cant run on a standalone Quest 2 you may as well not bother to make it. Valve is pretty much the only ones who can challenge the Quest in any way with their steam compatability. You can see this in how it is being advertised, the VR games are an afterthought, this is essentially a slightly better Quest 3 with dedicated steam compatibility.
Interesting to see how it plays out, alot of which depends on the pricing. But as a VR user with no interest in flat screen gaming with it I will probably stick to the Index, the built in headphones (which are fantastic, any VR headset could be instantly improved by adding Index’s sound system to it), top strap and controllers (The new ones aren’t even rechargeable!) are not worth losing for a very slight upgrade in resolution and wireless.
EDIT: After watching the entire PC Gamer review, The main focus seems to be on streaming with minimal lag from a PC, and the speaker system does seem a little more sophisticated with a set of back speakers too.
The turn towards marketing VR headsets as essentially a big screen steam deck was definitely something I saw coming. When the Index was first launched the VR market was very nascent, but nowadays the Quest has dictated the standard. High-End VR will always have a niche among the sim and enthusiast community, but right now the majority of VR is happening on a Quest, they are being sold at a loss to ensure that. Those dreams of AAA VR games are gone and now if it cant run on a standalone Quest 2 you may as well not bother to make it. Valve is pretty much the only ones who can challenge the Quest in any way with their steam compatability. You can see this in how it is being advertised, the VR games are an afterthought, this is essentially a slightly better Quest 3 with dedicated steam compatibility.
Interesting to see how it plays out, alot of which depends on the pricing. But as a VR user with no interest in flat screen gaming with it I will probably stick to the Index, the built in headphones (which are fantastic, any VR headset could be instantly improved by adding Index’s sound system to it), top strap and controllers (The new ones aren’t even rechargeable!) are not worth losing for a very slight upgrade in resolution and wireless.
EDIT: After watching the entire PC Gamer review, The main focus seems to be on streaming with minimal lag from a PC, and the speaker system does seem a little more sophisticated with a set of back speakers too.