I borrowed an Oculus last night and decided to show it off to some friends and family. First I had my folks come over. My Dad was really curious about it. he doesn’t play games but he likes to read articles about them since he knows it’s such a big part of my life. He was aware of the Oculus but had never seen one in person much less used it.
I started him off easy with a walk around an art gallery and then graduated to a simple undersea stroll. He was blown away by it. He has never been so amazed by a new technology he told me and this is a guy whose favorite programs as a kid were radio shows. I asked if he was ready to try something more intense and he said yes so I put him in the roller coaster. We recorded the results.
(sorry for the shaky cam that is my son recording)
So yeah that’s my Dad totally losing his shit on a virtual reality ride. The best part is he absolutely loved it. After this he wanted to see more. I took him through a guided meditation on a beach and then a space walk. He could not get enough.
Next it was time for Gabe’s friends to give it a go. I had a bunch of boys come over ranging in age from 9 to maybe 13 and they were all ridiculously excited to try the Rift. I did the same thing with them, starting simple and then moving up to more exciting stuff. I got permission to post this video of our neighbor trying the roller coaster.
I “helped” them all by lifting and moving the chair in time with the ride. They honestly all reacted this way and it was super fun. They all had a great time listening to their friends scream as they hit the drop off. Eventually some parents wandered over and I repeated all the demos. I had a houseful of kids playing Rift games until we finally kicked them out around 10:00. As they were leaving they kept thanking me and the parents wanted to make sure I knew how much they appreciated me taking the time to show their kids all these games. I told them that the only thing I like more than playing games is showing other people how amazing games are. I think I was probably having more fun than any of the kids.
-Gabe out
