My house is open, any friend who wants to give beat saber (or half life, or space pirate trainer, etc.) a spin is welcome. No need to spend $1000 without getting a proper demo.

I know not everyone has a friend with a high spec rig, but that is improving over time as well.

> If it was $200, I’d consider it.

Wait 10 years and then ask.

It's brand new, genuinely computationally intensive, tech - it's going to be expensive. The Original PlayStation cost more in today's money than I bought my Vive for.

Also, if you can get a used Vive or similar there is almost no risk. If you genuinely don't like VR then maybe its not for you but I've played a lot different games and I can't think of anything that remotely compares with VR. Super Hot with a mouse is brilliant, Super Hot in VR makes me genuinely excited that I'm going to be around to see the near future. Beat Saber is very good fun, too (quite hard to describe but even in a vive the graphics are very crisp and smooth).

> If it was $200, I’d consider it.

Apparently half life alyx is enjoyable in a windows mixed reality headset. There is also the Oculus Go at that price point although I've never touched one because I have a proper VR headset.

It's funny that you're making a really strong assumption about something that you've never even tried. You can get $2xx.xx Microsoft backed WMR VR headsets new. Facebook's all inclusive Oculus Quest is $400 new.

ymmv but I've been able to buy used VR systems like the Vive Pro for $375 on ebay. Just to use them for either driving or flying simulators, VR is already worth it.

That said, there's still plenty to complain about for VR but that doesn't mean it doesn't have mass market potential.

I spent like $2000 on a VR setup so I could play Half Life Alyx without ever trying VR before. Remember that the gaming PC is very usable without the VR headset! I built a backpack portable mini-itx build with a used NVIDIA 1080Ti. Then 6 months later I got a Valve Index. Didn’t change my room at all other than moving my coffee table when I want to play. My current game is Audica which is such a blast.

But yeah. It was like $3000 in total or something ‘~’

When the Oculus Rift and its development kits first released, early adopters would post invitations to interested people in their area to try them out. Many shopping malls and arcades now have VR demos or games on display.

There are options available to try high-end VR before you buy, and ~$200 low-end versions if you prefer going in blind.

I'll say for sims, (both flight and racing) the immersion and ability to move your view hands-free make VR well worth it. At this point I can't imagine going back to regular monitors for DCS. I do agree that there is significant pain getting into them though, as there's no real <$100 option to get your feet wet. I was lucky enough to have a local friend who had already purchased a headset, allowing me to get a full demo.

The Oculus quest is 400$ and it's pretty amazing.