Random trivia; VR is so 90s 🤪 - this is a photo of an offer for a https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VFX1_Headgear for ~500USD in 1997. Apparently it was compatible with games like Mech Warrior 2 and did already feature stuff like head tracking for compatible games.
Had a CyberMaxx VR headset back in the days. It had a whopping resolution of 505x230 per eye at a combined 60 Hz (so each eye only got 30 Hz). Headtracking worked with 3 degrees of freedom. The included mouse driver for DOS made the head tracking available for every DOS game even if it didn't have support. It came with Tekwar and a Flight Unlimited demo I never could get to run.
Some games worked with stereoscopic 3D. That was about the only really awesome thing about the headset. But the 30 Hz displays made sure that you could only play for a short while anyways. Descent was nausea inducing on its own. But in VR it was a guaranteed pukefest.
Thinking about playing with the headset was always much better than actually doing it. I'd pull it out every few years and then put it back into storage. Last I heard it died at my brother's.
Heh, during that time I only toyed around with cheap anaglyph 3d glasses. I totally love that Elite Dangerous still features such a mode to this day 🤪
This is the kind of magazine page that 90s-kid-me would stare at for hours fantasizing over. Even looking at it now, it's surprisingly easy for me to ignore the objective technical limitations and get hyped.
Side note: can we talk about that 1ST PC GUN on the mid-left there? Dude...
I'm not even sure why this was in one of my drawers at all. Stumbled over it randomly today and was confused by this initially because somehow "VR" is marked with "brand new shit" in my head. I should know better but kinda forgot all about it.
pew pew. pew pew pew. :D
Yes. That's why I was utterly confused when big companies dug out hat dead horse (yet) again.
And they are still trying to ride it.
Because technology advanced a tiny bit and it does make more sense.
Even if it dies now, it will come back with even better hardware.
Your statement sounds like, "why did they release the iPhone, there are already PDAs"
It's funny that you mention the iPhone - a device that had zero innovation compared to its competitors, and just managed to take the market because of marketing.
Nice revisionist history there!
Revisionist? I am old, I was there. But if you don't believe me: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symbian
(And while I didn't own a Symbian phone myself, a good friend did. Oh, but what I owned was a tablet computer. Way back in 2002. And now you will likely call me a Revisionist again, because I owned a device before Apple invented it...)
I'm aware of Symbian, it ran on over half of the world's smartphones before 2009. It's not some hidden knowledge.
You're the one who said it had zero innovations, which is patently false. Here's a short piece from AllAboutSymbian.com on the topic. I never claimed they invented the smartphone or anything like that, but it's obvious that you think I did since you added that part about the tablet.
This conversation is not worth my time, you’re free to think whatever you want. Have a nice day!
Thanks for the article, super interesting to see his predictions, they weren't that far off.
Huh. Never heard of her. Sounds like something I'd binge :D
Welcome to the interwebs
Ahh... Pearl. Home of every kind of future landfill fodder disguised as tech (and even some legitimate products), dubious feature lists and even more dubious included bonuses for almost 30 years. At least the cover girls aren't dressed like discount Playmates anymore.
I like how on this page they aren't specifying the "car racing game" and "full version of well known flight simulator" packed in with the "Multi-Gamestation^Plus". I think I can hear the creaking of this thing's cheap, hard plastic through space and time. It seems like the VR headset and 3D glasses weren't shipping enough units, given that this is at least the second time they discounted them:
https://archive.org/details/pearl-basis-katalog-weihnachten-1996-1997/page/n9/mode/2up
But they made up for it by driving up the price of the "Multi-Gamestation^Plus" a little.
Ich hab gar kein Konzept von DM. Waren das ok-e Preise?
Das war knapp ein Jahr bevor ich mich ernsthaft angefangen habe, mit dem Thema zu beschäftigen, aber um dir ein paar Anhaltspunkte zu geben: 10 DM im Jahre 1997 entsprechen 8,39 € heute. Die Preise für die Joysticks, Gamepads und Lenkräder entsprechen grob den Preisen, an die ich mich erinnere (wobei ich selbst als Kind nie ein Gamepad für 15 DM gekauft hätte - das konnte nichts taugen). Gerade Lenkräder waren trotz niedriger Qualität (Force-Feedback war selten und die Verarbeitungsqualität dürftig) generell sehr teuer zu der Zeit. Die Spiele sind fast alle zwei Jahre alt (Pearl war und ist eine Resterampe) und entsprechend etwas reduziert im Vergleich zum Neupreis. Wenn ich mich recht erinnere, fing die Software-Pyramide erst im Jahr darauf an, den Preis von älteren PC-Spielen deutlich nach unten zu treiben, entsprechend können das durchaus normale Preise sein.
Das VR-Headset war zu dem Zeitpunkt ebenfalls zwei Jahre auf dem Markt, ziemlich lausig (263x230 pro Auge waren selbst 1995 nicht der Brüller), die Firma dahinter bankrott und das Gerät entsprechend stark reduziert, aber immer noch kostspielig. Es gab freilich keine Alternative für Heimnutzer. Ich konnte keine Preise von anderen Händlern aus dem Jahr finden, entsprechend kann ich dir nicht sagen, ob das ein gutes Angebot war. Der Rabatt ist aber echt.
Zum Vergleich ein kleiner Exkurs: Ein Budget-PC kostete in dem Jahr (ohne Bildschirm) um die 2000 DM - und mit einem lausigen kleinen 14 oder 15 Zoll CRT, dem man nicht mehr als 800x600 Pixel zumuten sollte, gerne noch mal 500 DM mehr. Der Durschschnittspreis für einen PC mit Internetzugang lag in dem Jahr bei 4621 DM. Die hohen Preise sind ein Grund dafür, warum selbst 1998 nur 38,7% der Haushalte in Deutschland über einen Computer verfügten.
Außerdem war anders als heute die teure Hardware sehr schnell veraltet: Der schnellste Prozessor im Jahre 1997 lief mit 500MHz, aber nur zwei Jahre später wurde die Gigahertz-Grenze durchbrochen - und Software, gerade Spiele, neigte viel eher als heute dazu, relativ neue Hardware vorauszusetzen. Schönes Beispiel: Dieser High-end PC von 1997 für 6666 DM hat einen 500 MHz Prozessor, 64 MB RAM und eine 4 GB Festplatte. Wir haben 2001 unseren ersten PC gekauft, für ca. 1800 DM: 1,3 GHz, 128 MB RAM, eine richtige (wenn auch lausige) Grafikkarte in Form einer Geforce 2MX und 10x so viel Festplattenspeicher.
Was ich damit sagen will: OK-Preise für Technik im Jahre 1997 waren immer noch viel Moos.
Super spannender Exkurs - vielen Dank für den Aufwand :)
Schönen Samstag wünsche ich dir noch!
Nö. Das war pervers teuer. Und das noch von nem Laden, der nur Zeug verkauft, was sonst keiner wollte xD
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