Virtual Reality Gaming.

That is not really impossible

VR and AR tech are definetly on the horizon if not already upon us but I think gaming in these new modes will take a while to really become comparable to traditional stuff. Im actually a bit more curious to see where augmented reality devices will take things since the control systems for this kind of tech has much more potential to be intuitively linked to ones actually movements. Would also be funny seeing people use it in their houses.

Theres alot of new variables to consider and the direction they can go is kind of comparable to the switch from 2d gaming to 3d. Itll be bumpy for a while but could basically create a whole new style of games.

I doubt we will see anything like sao though people... The explaination for the combat system, the fact that the bodies dont even move for any input system in real life because it is somehow magically all in done through the mind. These things just wont be something I can see becoming mainstream hardware in the future and if they do, it would be in an extremely finicky manner. I also precieve massive headaches as a side effect.

We may see an online fantasy mmo with support for certain vr hardware but I dont actually think the genre goes that well with vr. First of all, it is traditionally a 3d person experience for obvious character custimization reasons amoung other things. The only first person mmos I know of are shooters and I guess the new ESO thing. They also usually require a ton of input, something which vr will not really excell at providing. The most input it can feasibly account for would be that of a console controller. A keyboard would just be too hard to navigate while wearing the.. helmet?

Rather than implimenting vr to work in already existing game models what needs to happen is for games to be designed specifically to build upon and take advantage of vr tech in new ways.

Its like motion control. When tacked on, it is kind of gimmicky and kind of meh but when established intuitively they can add a neat dimension to the mechanics of a game.

I think in the start, the oculus is mostly gonna be used for flight sims(in space!), but later on will be used for those kind of more experience oriented games(like dear esther). but I think for competitive games where you move the camera a lot, it will take some time.

This was how The World was played in the .hack series: a VR helmet and a controller, so I feel like it is a better example than SAO for a realistic VR MMO (not to mention .hack came first).

I know of .hack but have never seen it. If it uses a controller it certainly is a more believable portrayal of what VR could be. I was more just responding to the multiple different sao posts in the thread and the general hype it caused on the internet.

I still think mmos really arent the genre for vr. The association of the two seems to come from the assumption that further immersion of the senses in a game world would mean the true actualization of it as a fantasy escapist online world. Whereas I could see something like skyrim working with vr in this sense, the usual level and equipment grindfest spectacle of mmos probably wouldnt..

I suppose .hack and sao are not really set up like traditional mmos though so maybe something that changes the genre like these things could work.

I talked with a guy from uni about it, he has a dream about having a VR MMO, I was destroying his dreams: "really, you want to pass hours swinging your arm at monsters until you lvl up?" ( he comes from korean MMOs, so grindfest+nice visuals).
I see no future for this category of games, people will get tired if it still follows the old ways, with just a different monitor.