Please Bring Virtual Reality to the Dumpsite! :)

I have to wholeheartedly agree. Considering the sheer amount of hardware you NEED for VR to work as well, it just doesn't seem feasible. A large upside to GoG is since many games are older titles, you don't need a big beefy computer, you can probably get one second hand for $200 or even free if it's a hand-me-down and play your games just fine. VR? Expect a $1,200+ machine, plus $600+ for the headset. Not to mention the space required in most houses which is something like 32 square feet, or a dedicated room.

Also hearing a lot of crap VR titles are coming out as those same devs that shove crap likeThe Slaughtering Grounds are churning out titles hoping to sell and make some money.

VR needs to prove itself as a viable platform and have a lower entry bar before it will be a good option to bring here. Not only clearly labeling games that are VR, while on Steam apparently they are failing on that (or so I've heard).
I think they should bring it here... As a patch or an extra you can apply rather than making the entire game VR. Considering it would probably replace the exe and add a DLL or two, it shouldn't be very big or be intrusive.

Same for other games that support it. However my comment above stands, VR-only games shouldn't come until the tech proves itself.

Don't forget that since the 80's they were toting that VR would be the biggest thing ever.. In theory they are right, IF we have the proper titles and games/environments we'd cover our eyes to see.

No, that was not my point. It is like requesting that a radio station should support Bose speakers. ie. to me it sounds like a completely irrelevant request, a request directed to a completely wrong direction.

What exactly do you mean GOG should "bring VR to GOG"? Have they said they refuse to sell any games which include VR functionality, or what is the problem? Isn't it merely up to the decision of each and every game publisher to decide whether they support VR in their games, or not?

From my point of view, the VR support should be integrated to the games irrespective from which store the game has been bought. If it is a store-specific service, then it is fucked up like if the support for a certain graphics card would depend from which store you buy the game. Doing it that way just fragments the PC gaming market, it should be an OS level service/functionaly, not a store level.

Hey buddy, I like the cut of your jib.

OK, maybe 'bring' was the wrong choice of words. I'm not saying they should go out of their way to look for VR games, however, it would be nice if they provided at least some way to highlight or filter games which do support VR and perhaps include extra information about what is required (i.e. Rift, Vive, etc., wired or wireless controllers, seated or room-scale), for any games which are noted as supporting VR.

...as I was saying earlier, I would prefer to purchase them DRM-free on GOG, but if I have to purchase it on Steam, so be it.

OK, this is not the case for SteamVR games. SteamVR is not tied to the Steam store, it is Valve's implementation of the OpenVR API. On the other hand, Facebook/Oculus had made modifications (and reverted them due to public backlash) to attempt: a) only allow games from Oculus home to run on the Rift headset; and b) eventually included a check for the headset when launching their games. An injection tool called ReVive bypassed (a) and eventually (b) (which made it more open to piracy), but when Oculus removed (b), the ReVive developer rescinded that bypass and still allows (a) to occur. In other words, games you bought on the Oculus home store could be used on your HTC Vive (most anyhow), but many people prefer to purchase from Steam as their SteamVR implementation works equally on the Vive and the Rift.

I installed the SteamVR library when installing my HTC Vive software/drivers, Steam does not need to be running. There are already a handful of games here on GOG which support VR, when installing and launching them, they work just fine.

The majority of PC gamers agree with your sentiment, games should not be tied to a specific headset or store, lest they cause market fragmentation (similar to the console market) as you aptly pointed out. I think we're on the same page here.

I think ultimately what I would like is if GOG made it somewhat easier to find these games should I wish to purchase them here instead of another store.

The cost of entry as you pointed out is pretty hefty, but this will change over time. Aside from the HMD itself, people can put together a decent VR compatible PC for around $600 to $700 (of course you could spend $1200 or more) people have spent this much on unlocked phones and tablets in the past. One offering that will be more affordable is Playstation VR due to be release end of this year, so people who already have a PS4 will have access to it from < $300.

Yes, there is a lot of "shovelware" games in VR right now, it is still a new medium for indie developers, however, there are some really awesome titles (no AAA games yet, but that is supposed to change soon) and a few good experiences although many of them are short. Some of the best games I've played so far:

The Lab
Job Simulator
Raw Data
The Assembly
Waltz of the Wizard
Hot Dogs, Horseshoes and Hand Grenades
Project Cars
DCS World
Elite Dangerous
The Vanishing of Ethan Carter
The Solus Project
Rec Room
The Brookhaven Experiment
ModBox
Apollo 11 VR
NoLimits Coaster 2
Vanishing Realms
Grav|Lab (beta)
Locomancer
Out of Ammo
Pool Nation VR
Neon-Retro Video Arcade
Holopoint

Some of the best tools I've used so far:

Tilt Brush
Envelop (Beta)
Kodon
Simple VR Video Player
Drumkit VR
SoundStage VR

Not sure what you heard about the games on Steam with regards to mislabeling then for VR or stating their exact VR requirements as that seems to be fairly accurate. Usually these days my go-to source for information about released games in VR tends to be Reddit, specifically the Vive sub-reddit.

Ok that clarified it more me, thanks. I hope those "SteamVR" games really as just as playable and usable outside of Steam, not requiring one to ever even installing the Steam client in order to get all the same VR content and options. And that it doesn't cause any more work for developers to provide their "SteamVR" games to all other services/stores too, without sacrificing any SteamVR functionality. Then they can't use the excuse that bringing the same VR to other services is extra work.

One question: since there is this OpenVR API, why did Valve make its own implementation of it (SteamVR)? What are the differences, if any? You don't need the Steam client even for configuring the VR content in SteamVR games?

Just wondering whether it is a similar thing like with the Steam controller, with which to my understanding you do need the Steam client to get all the benefits and usability out of it (e.g. configuring it and so on), even if it (sort of?) works also outside of Steam.

I hear the occasional complaining from some YouTubers I watch who are far more active on steam than I am.

Of course as I understand games going on the front page are badly labeled half the time if they are early access games.

The easiest solution would be to split the 'front page' among a few different sets, for early access/greenlight, older titles recently re-released, General Software, and VR. But I don't see Gabe doing such a basic system. Another option being putting a ribbon on the thumbnails of games to identify them better.

Well, this is their implementation of the OpenVR API (meaning they expose the same functionality which could technically be used by other headsets).

However, the reason why they have their own implementation is because Valve partnered with HTC in the development of the Vive. This is probably to also to provide features to the extra functionality that the device supports, like the HMD camera (which was a cool idea) and the bluetooth link with cell phones.

Interestingly enough, aside from the lighthouses the Vive uses, SteamVR apparently also works with the Rift cameras and touch controllers (the controllers as of yet to be released).

While Valve did partner with HTC to get Vive launched, they are clearly all for providing a platform that will work with all current and future HMDs as they become available. Of course, their interests are more in making money off of the software sales and having a larger audience of potential buyers is not a bad strategy.

Edit: I forgot to address your concern about development: it's actually extremely easy using either Unreal Engine 4 or Unity 4, 5 to add SteamVR support and in Unity, SteamVR provides a free asset to do so (Valve even released the renderer they used in 'The Lab', but some devs use their own for other reasons.)

Creating a VR game does have some new paradigms, but it is not that difficult to create something and play it in VR. Some people are using Unity to build a 'virtual' version of their house and walk through it.

Well, I do have to admit that early on there was a bit of confusion with new games and in some cases, developers not properly classifying their games or not adding a classification when they update (which still occurs on occasion).

Some games have received horrible reviews because folks had purchased them, found out they were VR-only titles (and didn't have a headset) and then promptly refunded, some of them very good VR games too. Getting a bad rating on a game is kind of a stigma, especially early-access titles, some of which blossomed after a few months of development.

The game requirements are definitely more pronounced now, along with not only identifying which HMD the game will work with (Vive, Rift or both), whether it uses wired or wireless controllers or keyboard, seated, standing or room-scale experience and in some cases, the minimum area required to play for room-scale. All good criteria for helping determine whether or not a game would match your needs.

One thing they haven't categorized yet is locomotion, with several different methods and still some experimentation being done, people like games which provide more than one choice. There are some people who get VR motion-sickness, others who overcome it, some who never do and it depends on several factors. Locomotion is part of this, especially when people use game pads to move around. Other options are teleportation, arm swinging, running in place, sometimes a hybrid.

I will say that adoption of VR is going to be a slow process, consumer VR (i.e. sold in stores) has just started becoming available since April of this year, more headsets on the way (such as Playstation VR) and there are already VR arcades and attractions that are open for business. It is slowly becoming mainstream and definitely a lot more advanced these days than the false start of the 90's when it was really expensive and still not quite there.

My concern was not about the support for different kinds of VR devices nor whether it is hard to implement (albeit those are important things too), but that does using SteamVR in a game somehow favor Steam games, and Steam users? Compared to, say, Origin or GOG.com users?

Good question, I'm not sure. I know from within the steam client you can launch SteamVR controls and update to newer or beta versions, but I don't think it has any particular advantage that the client gives you to any particular storefront, be it GOG, Origin or even Steam itself.

Like I said, The Solus Project (which I bought way back when it was in development here on GOG), ran without any issue (although they have been updating its VR support recently to address some shortcomings). I don't see any indication that it favors users of any Valve games (like The Lab, for which they made their renderer freely available to Unity developers) or users of the Steam network.