That Was AWESOME!

[Koz]

Winter is coming and that means less time fishing and on my kayak, especially with the hours I put in at work and the less daylight this time of year. So I need some recreation. That's not always easy living out here in the boonies.

 

So today I pulled the trigger and bought the Oculus Quest 2 VR package. I downloaded a few games, but have only played one so far. Naturally, it was a fishing game. The graphics aren't quite lifelike due to hardware limitations, but they are pretty good. You don't see your body, but you see gloved hands and the gloves look real, especially the way they catch the light. As I move my thumb on the controller my virtual thumb move. My virtual hands react seamlessly with the movement of my hands.

 

You start off with a basic spinning rod and one lure, and when I look down the light catches the chrome of the handle and the housing of the reel. OK, it looks very close to real life. Even with that one lure, reeling at different speeds can prompt different fish to strike. And yes, you have to set the hook. Reeling them in is arcade like, and you have to stop reeling or release a little tension show the fish don't break the line. 

 

Like in actual fishing with spinning gear, my right hand holds and controls the rod while I have to make actual cranking motions with my left hand to reel in. But you have to exaggerate it a bit with a wide circle. and sometimes I crash that controller into the other one. These controllers supposedly have vibration capabilities, but they are not used in this game. That's a shame - I will have to email them about that. Or maybe I have to check the settings to turn it on.

 

That would be great if they have that feature. I saw some soft baits available after I earn some more in game coin.

 

The first fish you catch is an LMB as you go through the tutorial. Then it's been bluegill, small carp, minnows, and smaller fish. As you earn points you open the next levels. I hot level 3 and there are bigger fish but so far they get away. I will probably have to level up my gear to land them.

 

At the first lodge you start at there is a row boat and a bigger boat and while I can get in them I can't use them yet. More leveling up is needed. The game also includes saltwater fishing as you level up.

 

The entire experience is immersive. I was actually surprised at how much so. I also purchased a boxing game that I need to try out next. The ping pong game is also supposed to be good, and I may try that out as well. There are a lot of interesting titles, including a rock climbing game that is supposed to be spectacular. One thing that I like is that as far as games go they are relatively cheap at around $10-$20 for most as opposed to the $60 for XBox or Playstation games.

 

Maybe this VR thing gets old quick, but so far it seems great. You can also watch videos and movies and I may try that as well. Supposedly it feels like an iMax experience.

 

The only drawback - and it is a big one. Is that Oculus is owned by Facebook and you MUST have a Facebook account to use it. All these years I have stayed away from FB, but today I needed to create an account. But I locked it down and made it as private as possible.  With all of that stealthy data collection that FB does I really hate having to join. A lot of other people feel the same way and are writing their members of Congress regarding being forced to sign up. Maybe that will gather some steam.

[Koz]

With the next lake I unlocked the water and surroundings were photorealistic. 

 

It is a bit awkward to use it with glasses. Also, I have progressive lenses and larger frames so the fit was not good. I bought a pair of reading glasses and that helped.

 

I loaded up the boxing and it was pretty cool. It was like you were really in the gym. I did the workouts and equipment and sparred. It was a good workout.

[HaydenS]

Sweet, sounds like a fun time.  Oculus might be selling more systems, once bass fisherman up north figure out they can beat the hard water, virtually...