Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube Twitch
    Game on Aus
    • News
      What’s coming to PlayStation Plus in June 2023?

      What’s coming to PlayStation Plus in June 2023?

      June 1, 2023

      IT’S JUNE! — and that means two things: it is officially the rainy season & it’s time for the next…

      ANZPL Split 1 2023 Trophy

      ANZPL Split 1 2023 LAN Finals: Champions Crowned

      May 30, 2023

      This is it. The ANZPL Split 1 2023 LAN Finals. Who would win the Lower Final and make it to the Grand Final to face the Skorpions?

      Company of Heroes 3 Xbox console give-away

      Company of Heroes 3 Xbox console give-away

      May 30, 2023

      TODAY’S release of the Company of Heroes 3 Console Edition released on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S, FiveStarGames…

      Assassin’s Creed: Mirage details emerge

      Assassin’s Creed: Mirage details emerge

      May 25, 2023

      AT the PlayStation Showcase this morning there was a few moments of excitement for me, one of them being the…

      PlayStation ’23 Showcase report

      PlayStation ’23 Showcase report

      May 25, 2023

      PlayStation went ahead with its PlayStation Showcase earlier this morning and kicked off the old E3-style season presentation of a…

      View All
    • Reviews
      Crucial T700 – The SSD powerhouse!

      Crucial T700 – The SSD powerhouse!

      September 6, 2023

      The Crucial T700 sets a new standard in performance when it comes to Consumer Grade SSDs, pushing speeds faster than…

      Hyper Karting and Hyper VR street signage

      Hyper Karting & Reality Hyper Amazing!

      June 7, 2023

      I recently visited Hyper Karting, a go-kart and VR centre in Sydney. As well as the go-karts, I was very keen to experience Hyper Reality.

      Company of Heroes 3 (Console Edition) – Tactical Brilliance

      Company of Heroes 3 (Console Edition) – Tactical Brilliance

      June 5, 2023

      Company of Heroes 3 marks the highly anticipated return of the critically acclaimed real-time strategy franchise to consoles. Developed by…

      Diablo 4 Review – A Dark and Thrilling Return to Glory

      Diablo 4 Review – A Dark and Thrilling Return to Glory

      May 31, 2023

      Diablo 4 is the long-awaited continuation of the iconic action role-playing game series developed by Blizzard Entertainment. I had the…

      Alienware AW510K Low-Profile RGB Mechanical Gaming Keyboard Review

      Alienware AW510K Low-Profile RGB Mechanical Gaming Keyboard Review

      May 25, 2023

      When I reviewed the Alienware AW720M Tri-Mode Wireless Gaming Mouse at the start of the year, I came away intrigued…

      View All
    • Podcasts
      Nuts & Bolts Ep 84 Hero Card

      Nuts & Bolts Ep 84: What Is The LCS Doing?

      June 3, 2023

      The World Of Tanks ANZPL LAN Finals have decided the Split 1 champions. Jim takes us through the action! Lots…

      Nuts & Bolts Ep 83 Hero Card

      Nuts & Bolts Ep 83: Let’s Get Down To Business

      May 20, 2023

      There’s lots to cover this week. Join Mercury and Jim as the World Of Thanks ANZPL heads towards their LAN…

      The Weekly Show Ep 279 Hero Card

      The Weekly Show Ep 279: Tech Issues: The Show

      May 19, 2023

      Doomcutie joins Stormie and Jim as they talk through mods, leaks and so much more! Plus our Bloody Good Game Of The Week thanks to Aussie Broadband.

      Nuts & Bolts Ep 82 Hero Card

      Nuts & Bolts Ep 82: We Missed You!

      May 13, 2023

      It’s been a couple of weeks so Jim and Mercury catch up to talk all things Dreamhack Melbourne. Plus Snoop…

      The Weekly Show Ep 278 Hero Card

      The Weekly Show Ep 278: Look Who Just Drops In

      May 12, 2023

      Doomcutie joins Stormie and Jim as they talk through mods, leaks and so much more! Plus our Bloody Good Game Of The Week thanks to Aussie Broadband.

      View All
    • Categories
      • BY PLATFORM
        • Playstation
        • Xbox
        • Nintendo
        • PC
        • Mobile
        • VR
        • Retro
      • BY GENRE
        • Action
        • Action-Adventure
        • Battle Royale
        • Fighting
        • FPS
        • Horror Games
        • RPG
        • Simulation
        • Sports
        • MMORPG
        • MOBA
        • Platformer
        • Strategy
        • Survival
        • Indie
      • GOA ESSENTIALS
        • Esports
        • Conventions
        • Tabletop
        • Hardware
        • Funny
        • Streaming
        • Win
        • Podcast
        • Video
    • More
      • About Us
      • Contact Us
    Game on Aus
    Home » Oculus Quest – Standalone VR headset represents a leap forward
    Oculus Quest – Standalone VR headset represents a leap forward
    GAMING HARDWARE

    Oculus Quest – Standalone VR headset represents a leap forward

    Royce WilsonBy Royce WilsonAugust 9, 2019
    Share
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email

    VR tech has come a long way over the years and we’re now at a point where there are viable wireless systems which run off a smartphone, which seemed like speculative science fiction even a decade ago.

    While Sony’s PlayStation VR (PSVR) is probably the most widely-adopted of the consumer VR entertainment units, it still needs a PlayStaton 4 Pro to run, and there are a lot of cables involved.

    The latest VR unit on the market, however, does not have those limitations and represents a leap forward in a number of aspects.

    The Oculus Quest – developed by VR company Oculus – is a self-contained wireless VR unit, in that it doesn’t need to be connected to a PC or console, and its connection to the internet or a smart device is via wi-fi and Bluetooth.

    The unit comes in two versions – a 64Gb memory unit (RRP $649; reviewed) and a 128Gb memory unit (RRP $799) and setup was very easy and straightforward – although it did require creating an Oculus account or connecting to your Facebook account. There are speakers built into the headset, and the hand controllers run on a single AA battery each. It was all very clean and uncluttered.

    As someone who is quite a fan of VR – my PlayStation VR unit gets a lot of use – the Oculus Quest really impressed me with the quality of its visuals and its overall design.

    The main headset charges via a USB cable, much like a smartphone – it was all familiar territory, although I acknowledge I’ve been using VR stuff for a few years now.

    Oculus Quest – Standalone VR headset represents a leap forward

    What I liked was the ability to set a virtual ‘boundary’ around your playspace with the Quest, allowing you to ensure you didn’t bang into furniture or walk into a wall or anything. The way it works is the unit lets you use one of the controllers to ‘spraypaint’ a boundary on the floor, and if you go outside it, the unit starts displaying a grid on-screen to let you know you’re leaving the playspace.

    The home menu was pleasantly designed to look like the inside of a minimalist modern living room overlooking a forest, and the menus were straightforward to navigate.

    The images were sharp and clear, and the controllers worked really well too – I never had the feeling my digital hands were out of alignment with what I was doing.

    While most of the games on the Oculus platform are paid, there are a few free ones available, so I decided to play around with Bait!, Epic Rollercoasters and the Beat Sabre demo.

    While the graphics were OK in Epic Rollercoasters, I did find I was starting to get mild simulation sickness from some of the more intense roller coasters – but the available tracks had some thrilling moments that worked well in the VR setting, too.

    Bait! proved surprisingly relaxing though – virtual fishing, with pleasant settings and a pretty laid back vibe. The controls were very natural and I spent quite a bit of time in a digital deck chair casting a virtual line and causing the kids to ask what I was doing.

    Beat Sabre was also a lot of fun, using lightsabres to cut boxes in time to music; the VR effect worked quite well here too and it’s a good game to get active to as well. I was also particularly impressed with how the Quest eyepieces didn’t fog up when I was playing.

    Oculus Quest – Standalone VR headset represents a leap forward

    It isn’t all games either, with there being some VR-enabled videos accessible through the Oculus store; I watched several including one joining US Air Force paratroopers as they went skydiving; it was quite an impressive experience, especially in the 360 degree VR environment.

    The Oculus Quest was a really impressive setup and it’s well poised to help push VR even further into the mainstream, being accessible to people who aren’t “gamers” in the traditional sense.

    Overall however, I was really impressed with the Oculus Quest – my only major criticisms of the Quest unit itself were that I couldn’t get it to totally block out the light under the nosepiece and the headset started to get a bit uncomfortable on my upper cheeks after extended play sessions.

    If you’re looking to get into the world of VR but don’t want to take the plunge into a PSVR setup, this is an excellent entry point and well worth looking into.

    Royce Wilson is a Brisbane-based games and tech writer; talk to him on Twitter @RoyceWilsonAU

    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email
    Previous ArticleWar Tech Fighters Review
    Next Article Intel launch new visual indicator logo for high-performance laptops

    Related Posts

    Crucial T700 – The SSD powerhouse!
    GAMING REVIEWS September 6, 2023

    Crucial T700 – The SSD powerhouse!

    The Crucial T700 sets a new standard in performance when it comes to Consumer Grade SSDs, pushing speeds faster than…

    Crucial Memory and DDR5: Unleashing Epic Experiences!
    GAMING HARDWARE July 13, 2023

    Crucial Memory and DDR5: Unleashing Epic Experiences!

    Our friends at Crucial offered us an opportunity to review some of their Pro series memory! Me being the avid…

    Subscribe

    Get the latest creative news from FooBar about art, design and business.

    Ads

    Categories
    • ACTION
    • ACTION-ADVENTURE
    • APPLE
    • BATTLE ROYALE
    • CLOUD GAMING
    • CONVENTIONS
    • DLC
    • ESPORTS
    • Events
    • FEATURE
    • FIGHTING
    • FPS
    • FUNNY
    • GAMING HARDWARE
    • GAMING NEWS
    • GAMING REVIEWS
    • GIFT GUIDE
    • GOA
    • GOA PODCAST
    • HORROR GAMES
    • INDIE GAMING
    • Industry
    • MMORPG
    • MOBA
    • MOBILE
    • NINTENDO
    • Open-World
    • OPINION
    • PC
    • PLATFORMER
    • PLAYSTATION
    • Press Release
    • PREVIEW
    • RACING
    • RETRO
    • RPG
    • SIMULATION
    • SPORTS
    • STRATEGY
    • STREAMING
    • SUBSCRIPTION GAMES SERVICE UPDATES
    • SURVIVAL
    • TABLETOP GAMING
    • TECH
    • VIDEO
    • VR
    • XBOX
    Related Article
    Crucial T700 – The SSD powerhouse!
    GAMING REVIEWS

    Crucial T700 – The SSD powerhouse!

    September 6, 2023Zak BearmanBy Zak Bearman

    The Crucial T700 sets a new standard in performance when it comes to Consumer Grade SSDs, pushing speeds faster than many other NVME PCI-E…

    Crucial Memory and DDR5: Unleashing Epic Experiences!
    GAMING HARDWARE

    Crucial Memory and DDR5: Unleashing Epic Experiences!

    July 13, 2023Zak BearmanBy Zak Bearman

    Our friends at Crucial offered us an opportunity to review some of their Pro series memory! Me being the avid gamer and hardware savant…

    Hyper Karting and Hyper VR street signage
    GAMING REVIEWS

    Hyper Karting & Reality Hyper Amazing!

    June 7, 2023Darren 'Str8JaktJim' MacneallBy Darren 'Str8JaktJim' Macneall

    I recently visited Hyper Karting, a go-kart and VR centre in Sydney. As well as the go-karts, I was very keen to experience Hyper Reality.

    Game on Australia Logo

    Game On Aus is an Australian games publication working across written, video and podcast, and supported by an ever-growing community of content creators and fans!

    Copyright GameOnAus 2023. Privacy Policy. Website by Digital Hitmen

    CONTENT
    • News
    • Gaming Reviews
    • Podcast
    • Tech
    • Indie
    ABOUT GOA
    • About Us
    • Contact

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.