Hacker News Reader

Comment by neals | Hacker News Reader

Maybe not a popular opinion right now... but I'm so glad there's at least one brand out there that isn't jumping the 'VR'/'AR' - bandwagon.

I've tried to get into VR with the oculus and the VIVE, but no, it's just not for me. Happy to see Nintendo do what they do best: come up with a great formfactor, but let games be games.

View on HN

I like VR, but I agree with you. I'm happy Nintendo is trying something different again, even moreso that this actually looks like a good idea (as opposed to the trainwreck of product and marketing that was the Wii U). It's great to have companies focused on different things, helps make gaming better overall.

A big part of the 3DS launch was AR [1][2]. They actually used it in unique ways. They haven't yet gone to head based VR/AR but device level like mobile was part of the 3DS pitch/features.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43uSXA9qUe8 [2] http://www.nintendo.com/3ds/ar-cards

Don't know if you own a 3DS, but personally I never used AR again beyond the 5 minutes after unboxing and I got one pretty soon after launch. Is it used in titles in any meaningful way?

I didn't even know the 3DS had AR features and I probably have 300 hours logged at least on it.

When it first launched, that's basically all we had to play.

This is totally not a meaningful use, but one that surprised me when I stumbled across it:

Bravely Default, the Square-Enix RPG, had an intro where a fairy crawled out of my carpet and flitted around. I don't remember any more AR in that game, but it was kind of a neat gimmick that I hadn't seen since unboxing the handheld.

They might have made a big deal of it at launch but there's barely any gameplay there and I personally didn't use the AR for more than 10 minutes after I first got the 3DS.

I am a big believer in the future of VR (and possibly AR). But even if it succeeds, there's still a big market for a device like the Switch. It's just a completely different category and good to see what looks like an innovative game console focused on games as we know them.

Nintendo tried VR in 1995, but it did not go well.

Then they tried AR in 2011 with the 3DS. It went better.

It wasn't much better. The cameras on the 3DS are absolutely garbage. AR was a fun pack-in distraction.

I agree with you. I still firmly believe VR/AR will be tech niche.

Nintendo seems to have built something they hope is simple, but entertaining.

If VR technology doesn't advance fast enough to solve its current issues (nausea, lack of DoF and gravitation) in the near future, we will likely enter a period of stagnation like the AI Winter.

This seems prime for AR to me. Head out with your device, catch some pokemon, then plug it into the big screen.

Most plausibly you could connect it to your phone for the AR experience á la Pokémon Go

Meanwhile I'm sitting here wondering if I can shove this thing into a Google Cardboard.

Totally agree. The nature of VR is such that it's as immersive an experience as possible, which just isn't best platform for every type of media consumption. I think it will become more of a niche thing once the hype dies down.

I disagree. I think it's a massive lack of imagination on the part of manufacturers that has led to mediocre deployments.

I think your comment reflects a sentiment that I agree with which is that HMD based systems today do not give the same degree of awe that happened when the NES came out - or even the playstation.

I'd rather see Nintendo invest heavily ($5BN+) in an AR VRD and infrastructure that changes the landscape. But nobody seems to want to do that. Again I chalk it up to lack of imagination/leadership.

Sounds pretty risky, even if they solved the technical side of it there is by no means a proven market.

Right, well that's the the whole point of being a leader - it's risky. Sometimes you fail.

AR needs better hardware still. It needs very powerful GPU:s and processors, running at very low power with good and yet lightweight batteries.

While we probably can produce great AR content today and produce headsets to display it, it will likely take almost another decade before it can be made portable in something you WANT to use.

Yes, that's the whole investment part. That stuff doesn't just appear - you have to build it.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com