Oculus Quest Racket Nx

I'm a big fan of Virtual Reality (VR) and have tested almost all eyewear. My enthusiasm goes so far that I recently bought a wooden lath in the hardware store, which landed in the living room, next to a fan. With these accessories, the VR game 'Richie's Plank Experience', which simulates a plank balancing act at dizzy heights, is even more realistic.

Many friends were thrilled when I showed them one of my VR glasses. But if someone asked me if he should buy glasses, I was always careful, especially if it was not hardcore gamer or tech enthusiast.

• Mobile goggles such as the Oculus Go, for example, are nice for 360-degree videos, but at games they are far behind what you can experience with PC goggles like the Oculus Rift or the HTC Vive. Anyone who once wore a rift and then bought a go would be disappointed, I feared.
• The purchase of a PC glasses on the other hand makes sense only if you have a powerful computer and enough space in the living room.
• On Playstation VR, the VR glasses for the Playstation 4, I'm torn. With her, for example, I find the handheld controllers unsuccessful - and like Rive and Vive, she also hangs from a thick cable that you can trip over.

Somehow, no solution was both beginner-friendly and intriguing enough to recommend to non-nerds. People who experience more than just the simplest VR, but do not want to buy a gaming PC.

Oculus Rift S and the standalone Oculus Quest both begin shipping on May 21, Facebook announced during its F8 event on Tuesday. Pre-orders are now live for both pieces of virtual reality hardware. Oculus Quest Information.

The best ever mobile glasses

Let's make it short: The Quest, a new VR glasses from the Facebook subsidiary Oculus, is the first product that I would recommend these people carefree. If you are financially able to spend 450 euros for technical toys, these glasses are the ideal entry into the world of virtual reality. It makes any previous mobile glasses, from the Samsung Gear VR to Lenovo's Mirage Solo, look old.

With PC glasses, the quest can not compete technically. In her tinkers a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor, as you know him from no longer brand new smartphones (all the technology you read in our photo gallery). But this disadvantage makes up for the quest through mobility.

photo gallery

21 pictures

Once charged, the goggles will run for two to three hours - and the only cable you'll ever encounter is a headphone cable, if any. You might put this in the wireless glasses, because the built-in headphones does not sound too great.

With the Quest, which in addition to the headset two excellent functioning, with the Rift controllers comparable hand controller belong, you can play almost everywhere. For outdoor use, the glasses are not suitable (sunlight and lenses are not a good combination), but in rooms it is ready for use in record time.

Jens Ressing / SPIEGEL ONLINE

One of the two hand controllers

Stop with external trackers

Unlike the Rift or the Vive, no sensors need to be placed in the room and wired. The quest relies on inside-out tracking. The headset recognizes with four integrated cameras how the player and the controllers move in the room.

Unlike many other mobile glasses, the quest also controls Positional Tracking: not only does it recognize the direction in which the player is moving his head, he also notices whether he bends down or leans to the side. This movement is then transferred to the game world. In action games you can look around the corner.

Before you start playing, you draw digital protective walls by moving the characters with the controllers, which later prevents you from running against furniture or walls. You have to create at least two by two meters of space for your own playing field.

Their lack of resources provides an excuse for them to get stuck in ridiculous predicaments, because they need gas or a firmware update.Vagrant Queen and Firefly both have a metaplot that pits the main characters against a tyrannical government hunting a fugitive. The vagrant queen. Television has gotten significantly more serialized since Firefly premiered in 2002, so the primary narrative thread is certainly stronger in Vagrant Queen than in Firefly.

photo gallery

19 pictures

Here it looks but mysterious

The protective wall painting only takes seconds and is even fun, because you get his room it shows in CCTV style. In the same view, the glasses change when you cross one of the borders: You can theoretically even go with the quest on the head even briefly in the kitchen or on the toilet. The only pity is that the Oculus Quest does not offer an emergency exit button that allows you to switch to the surveillance camera view immediately and within the limits of the field.

When the quest is available on May 21, around 50 games and VR experiences will be available (see photo gallery), including the lightsaber music game 'Beat Saber,' the most popular VR game ever. With 'Superhot VR', 'Job Simulator', 'Moss' and 'Space Pirate Trainer' there will also be other well-known and proven good games to choose from. I especially enjoyed the table tennis game 'Racket Fury: Table Tennis' while testing, I also found the action role-playing game 'Journey of the Gods' interesting.

Oculus Quest

Table tennis in VR

The look is not everything

Graphics that blew me away did not offer a tested title. It already suggests that the quest is mostly about games that have minimalist or cartoon-style graphic styles, but in which the player's two virtual hands play a big role. That sounds sobering, but in good VR games it often does not matter how good the graphics are. The well-known 'Minecraft VR' for example - which, however, has not yet been announced for the glasses - would be in perfect hands on the quest.

Unfortunately, the quest does not have games aboard. According to Oculus, the starter pack contains five demo versions, and most VR games cost between ten and 60 euros. As far as the game supply beyond the start line-up is concerned, nothing can be said yet. However, it is expected that the quest will still get some portals of Go games or slimmed down versions of Rift titles.

Unlike PC glasses, Quest should not be able to play prototypes put on the internet by indie developers - the goggles are similar to a classic game console. Constantly new content will be most likely in the field of 360-degree videos: These can be streamed via a browser via Facebook and YouTube, but also on other platforms.

Storage space is provided by the 450-euro version of the Quest 64 GB, of which more than ten gigabytes go for the Oculus software. Many of the first games are under a gigabyte in size, but it should be assumed that other and future games need more space. High-definition 360-degree videos playable on the glasses could also take up a lot of space. 64 GB are so narrow - the 128 GB variant of the Quest for 550 euros seems to me in proportion but too expensive.

Conclusion

advantages and disadvantages

Convincing virtual reality without annoying cables

Quick to set up in many places

Great hand controller, good tracking

Some good VR games like 'Beat Saber' as the starting title

Ideal for 360-degree videos and online multiplayer experiences

Quality and quantity of upcoming games are difficult to predict

In the 450 euro purchase price no game is included

Little internal storage space

Royal envoy 3 level 64. Royal Envoy 3 is rated 4.6 out of 5 by 23. Rated 5 out of 5 by lmwillan from Definitely worth your money This is one of those games that I like to come back to every now and again. The HMS Islandshire is exploring the South Ocean when all of a sudden they see new land! Previously unknown islands contain an immense amount of fish, pearls, and gold. Not to mention troves of ancient pirate treasure! Embark on an exciting expedition to crack the intriguing puzzles of the past, while developing these new lands for the kingdom!

Integrated headphones rather disappointed

The bottom line is my enthusiasm, especially since the quest did not get loud or hot while testing. Thanks to an included spacer, I could wear my normal glasses well underneath. The Oculus Quest is the perfect entry-level goggle for casual gamers without a gaming PC. Anyone who owns a gaming PC anyway, tends to be better served with the equally new Oculus Rift S.

It's a bit like Nintendo Switch vs. Playstation 4 and Xbox One duels: the quest is the weakest technical system, but hey: you can take it anywhere. This freedom has its own value.

Note: Oculus provided us with the goggles and access to just over a dozen games in advance.