Last week, we discussed why virtual reality (VR) games cannot gain mass adoption without first eliminating the nausea that VR’s fast-paced action may cause in some players. For VR games to succeed on a massive scale, we need to address two key issues: rotational latency and positional disjunction.
One cause of VR nausea is rotational latency, sometimes referred to as judder and blur. This occurs when a person quickly turns his or her head, and the headset display cannot keep up with the speed of the head turn. The images the player sees do not reflect the movement the player experiences because the game, or the equipment, isn’t fast enough to keep up.
As we discussed in the seasickness example of our last blog, that disagreement between what the eye and inner ear sense can cause nausea. In VR gaming, the inner ear senses smooth, rapid movement, but the eye registers slow movement and pixelated, ghostly images (judder and blur) due to the lag in the headset’s visual response time.
Some technological solutions are already addressing rotational latency, and we expect hardware companies to resolve this issue in time.
Head-mounted devices are already implementing faster frame rates (a greater number of video stills, or frames, per second) for a smoother video experience. Sony is looking to make 120 FPS the standard rate to improve on the current standard of 90 FPS. But the current hardware is not doing the job. For example, in Los Angeles two weeks ago, VR demos of “Resident Evil 7: Biohazard” at E3 barely managed to run at the minimum 60 FPS required for Sony PlayStation VR to work.
Some developers say that they have already solved this problem with new hardware and software. Some boast that increased response speeds from expensive OLED displays for each eye have eliminated judder and blur, along with some latency issues. Facebook’s Oculus Rift has just announced its new software technology solution for this problem, designed for Windows, which is called — and we kid you not — Asynchronous Timewarp (ATW). The company claims that ATW warps time to make images match gameplay.
While it will take some time, almost everyone feels that new hardware will fix the rotational latency problem. But there is another, tougher problem to surmount: positional disjunction.
Positional disjunction is another example of the “seasickness” problem. Remember that seasickness nausea happens, for example, when you are in a ship’s cabin and your eyes indicate that you are sitting still, but your inner ear tells you that you are bobbing up and down.
In VR games, the experience is similar, but reversed. Your eyes register significant changes in position while your inner ear tells you that you are stationary. Your eyes tell you that you are dodging around, left and right, trying to escape from a dragon with your treasure, but, in fact, you are seated at a table, and your inner ear tells you that you are still. The nausea that results is hard to overcome.
So what is the solution? One idea is to change the gaming paradigm by creating games that allow people to move as they play, like the holodeck on “Star Trek.”
In our next post, we will discuss a set of emerging companies that are trying to make this sci-fi technology a reality.
There have been so many "Star Wars" video games in the 40 years since the franchise began, and most of them were not good. Hell, a couple of the ones I list here aren't good. But they all deliver an experience you can't get anywhere else, and that's worthy of some praise.
Not actually good, but still great. It's a game that defies description because there's nothing from the past two decades to compare it to. For that reason alone it makes the list.
12. "Masters of Teras Kasi"
How we haven't been inundated with "Star Wars" fighting games is anyone's guess -- aside from "Soul Calibur IV" letting you play as Yoda or Darth Vader, "Masters of Teras Kasi" on the original PlayStation console is the only one. And it was the style of fighter that was easy to learn and enjoy, so we remember it fondly.
11. "Yoda Stories"
This weird and cheap little "Zelda"-esque thing had Yoda sending Luke Skywalker on bite-sized randomly generated missions, and somehow it was extremely engaging. We are well overdue for a smartphone version of this thing.
10. "Jedi Knight 2: Jedi Outcast"
If we're being honest, the beloved "Jedi Knight" video game series is pretty mediocre all the way around. "Jedi Outcast," though, is the peak as it features the closest we've ever gotten to realistic video game lightsaber combat.
9. "The Force Unleashed"
The "Star Wars" universe is full of stories about good apprentices going bad and wreaking havoc on the good guys, but we've very rarely gotten the inverse. That made "The Force Unleashed" a really novel experience. You play as Darth Vader's secret apprentice in the years between the original and prequel trilogies. You're a dark side force user and soldier for the Empire who goes rogue in a really epic way.
8. "Rogue Squadron"
We'd been flying in space battles for years with "X-Wing" and "TIE Fighter," but "Rogue Squadron" gave us something new bringing our starfighter into a planet's atmosphere. "Rogue Squadron" was also built to be accessible, which was a pretty new thing for a "Star Wars" game.
7. "X-Wing Alliance"
Develops the minimalistic narrative approach of "X-Wing" and "TIE Fighter" and develops it in a great way -- you're still a grunt, as a fighter pilot for the Rebellion, but now you're a named character who has real-life concerns beyond the next confrontation with the Empire.
6. "Racer"
There aren't a lot of "Star Wars" racing games, weirdly enough, but "The Phantom Menace" provided the perfect in with its big pod racing sequence. It turned out pod racing translated perfectly to video games.
5. "The Old Republic"
Bioware attempted to meld their style of story-focused role-playing game with a "World of Warcraft"-style online game, and that was a mistake. But it's still full of really outstanding "Star Wars" stories that are better than most all of the ones you'd get elsewhere. It's also funnier than most others.
4. "Knights of the Old Republic"
If you're trying to replicate the beats and "feel" of a "Star Wars" movie, you do it like this: with an entirely new cast of characters in a fresh story. "KOTOR" even manages to have a twist as powerful as "I am your father," but without feeling as though it was copying "Empire."
3. "Rebellion"
Not a technically great game in the traditional sense, but the first galaxy-scale "Star Wars" strategy game is still a blast. It's also great fuel for the imagination because you can mold the war between the Rebel Alliance and the Empire in whatever way you want.
2. "TIE Fighter"
It's a great example of minimalistic "Star Wars" storytelling, putting you in the boots of a a mostly anonymous Imperial pilot during the Rebellion period. You're a grunt, but things are happening around you, and it's weirdly enthralling.
1. "Knights of the Old Republic 2: The Sith Lords"
Obsidian Entertainment created an experience that manages to subvert basically every way "Star Wars" has ever operated, starting with its predecessor. It's a total downer, every character is in a bad mood, and none of the decisions your character makes will ever be greeted with approval from her master. "There are no right choices" is not the normal "Star Wars" way, and it works perfectly.
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There are so many ”Star Wars“ games to choose from, but these stand out from the pack
There have been so many "Star Wars" video games in the 40 years since the franchise began, and most of them were not good. Hell, a couple of the ones I list here aren't good. But they all deliver an experience you can't get anywhere else, and that's worthy of some praise.
Dan Schechter is a Managing Director and Partner at L.E.K. Consulting, and he leads the firm's Global Media, Entertainment & Technology practice. He has broad experience within the media, entertainment and technology sector, including TV, film, Internet content and commerce, radio, magazines, theme parks, advertising and news. He also has experience working with retail, consumer products, travel and industrial clients. Dan was awarded his MBA from Stanford University and his BA, cum laude, from Harvard University.
Last week, we discussed why virtual reality (VR) games cannot gain mass adoption without first eliminating the nausea that VR’s fast-paced action may cause in some players. For VR games to succeed on a massive scale, we need to address two key issues: rotational latency and positional disjunction.
Some technological solutions are already addressing rotational latency, and we expect hardware companies to resolve this issue in time.
So what is the solution? One idea is to change the gaming paradigm by creating games that allow people to move as they play, like the holodeck on “Star Trek.”
