Viveby HTC

Vive is not only immersive, but also strangely social thanks to an additional window that pops up on your monitor whenever SteamVR is active…

Vive is not only immersive, but also strangely social thanks to an additional window that pops up on your monitor whenever SteamVR is active that shows onlookers exactly what you're seeing in-game. I found this incredibly helpful when guiding my friends through games for the first time or for the times when I wanted my friends to see what I was seeing in VR.

Although HTC has certainly made progress with the Vive's design, it's still a bit bulkier than I'd like. The headset is noticeably heavier t…

Although HTC has certainly made progress with the Vive's design, it's still a bit bulkier than I'd like. The headset is noticeably heavier than the Oculus Rift, and there are three long cables that have to rest on top of your head — and that doesn't include the cable for headphones.

But playing room-scale Vive experiences leaves me feeling giddy about gaming in a way I haven’t felt...well, since the earliest days of the …

But playing room-scale Vive experiences leaves me feeling giddy about gaming in a way I haven’t felt...well, since the earliest days of the Oculus. Walking around. Touching things with my hands. Truly inhabiting a space. These are logical next steps for virtual reality and for gaming, and it leaves the Rift looking backwards by comparison. Safe, even.

I don't think I'll ever get over the giddiness of putting on the HTC Vive headset and leaving reality behind. Yes, I did get tired after a w…

I don't think I'll ever get over the giddiness of putting on the HTC Vive headset and leaving reality behind. Yes, I did get tired after a while, but I was more active than I've ever been playing video games ...

In some ways, Valve and HTC have a huge advantage over Oculus with Steam. It’s a program that’s on almost every PC gamer’s machine already, …

In some ways, Valve and HTC have a huge advantage over Oculus with Steam. It’s a program that’s on almost every PC gamer’s machine already, and it can support games in both VR- and non-VR modes, so you won’t need to buy them twice ...

The HTC Vive offers a flat-out amazing virtual reality experience with sharp visuals, great motion controls and full-room sensing to walk ar…

The HTC Vive offers a flat-out amazing virtual reality experience with sharp visuals, great motion controls and full-room sensing to walk around in virtual space.

Even if you’re not into VR, or have no interest, you need to try the Vive. This is the VR experience you’ve always dreamed of. No competitor…

Even if you’re not into VR, or have no interest, you need to try the Vive. This is the VR experience you’ve always dreamed of. No competitor, including Oculus Rift, can compare to the Vive right now. It’s the closest thing we’ll get to The Matrix anytime soon.

The HTC Vive is both the most expensive and fully functional VR system you can get. It's a solid $200 more than the Oculus Rift, but the mot…

The HTC Vive is both the most expensive and fully functional VR system you can get. It's a solid $200 more than the Oculus Rift, but the motion controllers and whole-room tracking with the base stations mean the Vive can do a lot of things that the Rift can't do yet. That might change when Oculus releases its own Touch controller later this year, but for now the Vive is the only way to get the full VR experience, complete with a virtual space to move around in, in one package.

As fun and mind-blowing as the Vive is, a lack of built-in audio and a sometimes confusing interface are disappointing. The amount of setup …

As fun and mind-blowing as the Vive is, a lack of built-in audio and a sometimes confusing interface are disappointing. The amount of setup is frustrating, too, especially for those of us who live in tiny apartments or houses that don't have the room or a cluster of outlets to spare.

In addition to the controllers that get your hands into the game, HTC's Vive includes a tracking system that allows you to move around and i…

In addition to the controllers that get your hands into the game, HTC's Vive includes a tracking system that allows you to move around and interact with your virtual environments. Valve calls this room-scale VR, and it's not a gimmick. Rather, it's what sets the Vive apart from Oculus' Rift.

Ever since the unveiling of the HTC Vive, much has been made of its unique space requirements. ... Coffee tables? Sectional couches? Get rid…

Ever since the unveiling of the HTC Vive, much has been made of its unique space requirements. ... Coffee tables? Sectional couches? Get rid of them. Lamps and bookshelves? Better safe than sorry. You’ll also need to find space on your walls to mount a pair of motion-sensing Lighthouse base stations.

For the moment, Vive offers the most feature-rich VR experience there is. If you list the features it has compared to Rift, there will only …

For the moment, Vive offers the most feature-rich VR experience there is. If you list the features it has compared to Rift, there will only be a few differences, but Vive's few advantages make a big difference in practice. To go with Rift is to wade in the waters of VR; choosing Vive is like jumping into the deep end.

Step 1 of the Vive’s setup ought to read, “Buy a bigger house.” You’re going to a want an unobstructed 15-by-15-foot patch. Coffee tables an…

Step 1 of the Vive’s setup ought to read, “Buy a bigger house.” You’re going to a want an unobstructed 15-by-15-foot patch. Coffee tables and ottomans will have to go. Pets, too. Think of this $799 gadget less like buying a new TV, and more like installing a swimming pool.

If there were a word I’d use to describe this piece of hardware, it would be ambitious. It tries so many damn things, and it gets most of th…

If there were a word I’d use to describe this piece of hardware, it would be ambitious. It tries so many damn things, and it gets most of the things so right, though not every feature is a home run. $799 is a lot of cash, but it really feels worth it here.

If you’re worried about walking into walls, there’s a safety measure in place to ensure you don’t venture beyond the Vive’s designated area …

If you’re worried about walking into walls, there’s a safety measure in place to ensure you don’t venture beyond the Vive’s designated area to prevent such accidents. When setting up the Vive, the machine will ask you to map out the space in which you plan to use the headset by physically tracing a border around the room with a controller. This is what the Vive calls the “play area,”

Yes, at $799 it's more expensive than the $599 Rift, and you need a potent PC to drive it. Frankly, though, the ability to pace around your …

Yes, at $799 it's more expensive than the $599 Rift, and you need a potent PC to drive it. Frankly, though, the ability to pace around your very own Holodeck is more than worth that premium.

As a first generation room-scale VR experience you can actually have in your home, it looks like HTC and Valve have delivered something dece…

As a first generation room-scale VR experience you can actually have in your home, it looks like HTC and Valve have delivered something decent out of the box. It also looks like there's plenty of room for refinement, ...

We're going to need a bigger living room.

We're going to need a bigger living room.

The HTC Vive is the most advanced VR system ever sold. Its headset is ridiculously powerful, so you can look around in all directions withou…

The HTC Vive is the most advanced VR system ever sold. Its headset is ridiculously powerful, so you can look around in all directions without a hitch. Its wireless controllers make it easy to interact with objects in the virtual world. Even cooler than all that, the Vive lets you walk around in the game—which sets it apart from every other VR headset ever made.

HTC doesn't have the game exclusives that Oculus does, but Vive offers exclusive experiences that aren't yet technically possible using any …

HTC doesn't have the game exclusives that Oculus does, but Vive offers exclusive experiences that aren't yet technically possible using any of its competitors. If you want the fullest VR experience that's available right now — and you have both the space and the computer to support it — the Vive is your answer.

Its demanding setup and fits of unreliability give the Vive major caveats, but the simple fact is that this is an unprecedented piece of har…

Its demanding setup and fits of unreliability give the Vive major caveats, but the simple fact is that this is an unprecedented piece of hardware that opens up absolutely amazing possibilities for gaming and beyond.

Do you actually need to devote an entire room to the HTC Vive to enjoy it? ... Technically no, but you’ll feel compelled to once you’ve trie…

Do you actually need to devote an entire room to the HTC Vive to enjoy it? ... Technically no, but you’ll feel compelled to once you’ve tried room scale gaming experiences like Vanishing Realms or Unseen Diplomacy. Valve’s room scale technology allows your entire body to be accurately tracked inside a large play area of up to 15 x 15 feet.

It’s natural to be somewhat skeptical of a concept as different as the room-scale virtual reality “holodeck” the Vive is trying to sell. Bef…

It’s natural to be somewhat skeptical of a concept as different as the room-scale virtual reality “holodeck” the Vive is trying to sell. Before you use it, the idea of having to get up and/or move your hands to play a game just seems like a lot of extra effort without much benefit. ... when the only real analogies for a new piece of technology come from science fiction, it might be worth overlooking a few hassles.