This week, Valve hosted the SteamVR Developer Showcase in Seattle, with 12 separate games demonstrated running on the latest Vive Pre hardware. We were invited along, the event consisting of a full afternoon of demos running in sequence - 15 mins on a particular demo, followed by 15 minutes to gather thoughts and write notes. Suffice to say that putting together an article with so much source content is going to take some time, but we can kick off with some observations on the latest revision of the hardware itself - said to be very, very close to final production product.

The last time we at Digital Foundry had access to Vive was at GDC 2015, where a prototype device was set up in the Valve booth, combined with early controllers, which were wired at the time. The sense of being 'strapped in' to the experience was quite overwhelming, but once the headset was moved into place, what became clear was that this was the premier VR experience - absolute consistency in the frame-rate, class-leading image quality and of course, mobility: Vive gave you the ability to explore VR in a way that its competitors didn't.

Almost one year on and much has changed. One of our crucial issues with the hardware has been addressed: back at GDC 2015, I was unable to use the headset while wearing glasses, a difficulty I also experienced with Oculus' Crescent Bay prototype (PlayStation VR was fine). It can be a tight fit at times, but the Vive Pre works just fine in this regard. On top of that, the panel in the headset also appears to have improved - I couldn't quite put my finger on what made it better, but speaking to developers, I understand that the panel is brighter and has fewer motion blur issues. What was already a rock-solid experience now looks even better.

Despite the impressive 1080x1200 resolution per eye, the virtual reality experience still has a slightly blurry, low resolution look to it, and it is still possible to discern individual pixels on the OLED panels. Consciously focus in on them and a screen-door effect is noticeable. However, in general gameplay, the sheer experience trumps these issues and obtrusive pixel-popping aliasing didn't manifest to any noticeable degree in any of the demos I played. There are also no issues with stereoscopy - it just works, providing a very natural view. Depth perception in particular is flawless, and this is crucial bearing in mind that the vast majority of the demos I played utilise the Vive controllers as virtual hands in the VR world, and interactivity is key to many of the experiences.

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One issue that won't be solved in first-gen hardware concerns that thick cable that connects the rear of the HMD to your PC. Vive's functionality - supported by many of the games on show at the showcase - allows for full 360-degree mobility around a VR environment. In many cases, I did find my feet bumping into the cable, causing some concern - and I saw another journalist trip, pulling the cable from the breakout box connected to the PC (Vive requires HDMI 1.3 and twin USB 3.0 ports). Developers on-site acknowledged the issue but said that generally, you tend to get used to the cable and work around it.

Vive's SteamVR controllers The HTC Vive comes with two controllers, monitored in 3D space by the satellite lighthouse positional trackers. They're a curious shape, reminiscent of Star Trek TNG phasers. Principle interaction is via motion tracking, with various buttons - the main trigger, side-mounted 'grip' buttons (activated by squeezing the controller) and two more buttons that sit above and below a highly sensitive touch-sensitive circular pad that is used for more granular in-game interaction. Rumble-style functionality is built into the controller. During the games we tested, the controllers worked brilliantly both as surrogate hands in titles such as Fantastic Contraptions, The Gallery: Call of the Starseed and Job Simulator, and as FPS weapons in Space Pirate Trainer, Arizona Sunshine and Hover Junkers. Most of the developers on-site at Valve's event are working on cross-platform VR projects, with Unity as the engine of choice (11 of the 12 games showcased ran on the same middleware platform). All but one of those 11 require 3D capable interfaces, and there was a great deal of concern about the lack of in-the-box Oculus Touch controllers. There are ramifications for Sony too: will PlayStation Move remain an optional purchase when a 3D controller is so crucial to so many VR titles? The Vive controllers were said to be far more accurate than PlayStation Move, a strong endorsement bearing in mind how precise Sony's 3D controller is. Gallery: A look at Vive's phaser-like 3D controllers from various angles. This content is hosted on an external platform, which will only display it if you accept targeting cookies. Please enable cookies to view. Manage cookie settings