Oculus Rift DK2: Rift Away's Cyber Space

Watch as a person who doesn't like heights or crazy amusement park rides experiences Rift Away's Cyber Space demo for the first time. Warning: Lots and lots of cussing.

Download the demo here.

Here are some impressions I wrote on NeoGAF afterward:

As someone who isn't into crazy amusement park rides, that thing is terrifying. I'm not a fan of heights, and the demo gave me the same feelings I get on the rare occasions I have ridden a roller coaster or gone on something that shoots me up into the air. Admittedly I have many more demos to try, but Cyber Space is the most convincing one I've played yet. It also lets you launch yourself from the ride at anytime, in which you can then examine your decapitated body afterward from the viewpoint of your head. I highly recommend everyone who has a DK2 check it out.

The cool thing about the demo is that it didn't give me motion sickness like DK1 demos would (though I never tried Cyber Space on the DK1), but it did make me feel very uneasy, but in the way you would expect on a ride like this. I was grasping the bottom of my chair as tightly as I could the entire time.

The same developer made Chilling Space, which I have read good things about. I think I will check that out next. I'm expecting a much more peaceful experience.

Oculus Rift DK2: Configuration Utility Demo Scene and Quick Impressions

I received my Oculus Rift Development Kit 2 today. This video covers the configuration utility demo scene and I give my quick impressions on the device afterward. There are a lot more videos to come!

My after-credits scenes are becoming more and more stupid.

If you're having issues with the Config Utility recognizing your Rift, try these steps:

Shutdown the Oculus App in the Taskbar
Go to C:\Program Files (x86)\Oculus\Service
Run OVRService_x86.exe
Go to C:\Program Files (x86)\Oculus\Tools
Run OculusConfigUtil.exe

and make sure you have updated the firmware of the Rift via the Config tool.

Here are more impressions I wrote over at NeoGAF:

Quick first impressions from someone who has a DK1 and just used their DK2 for the first time (just the config utility demo scene).

The screen door effect is still there, but the image is noticeably clearer than it was with the DK1.

I immediately noticed the borders on the DK2, which is something I never experienced with the DK1, but that might just be because I kept reading about them in this thread. I completely forgot about them a few seconds later.

In the ConfigUtility demo scene, there is a large screen that says "Oculus VR" in front of you. I was getting a reflection of this in my lens somehow, and I could see it even if I looked down, though the text was only readable when looking at the black screen again. It's weird and I don't know what's causing it. I am not sure if it is intentional or not, and I feel like I have read other people seeing reflections in other demos, though I could be wrong.

No dead pixels for me! At least, I didn't notice any (please don't let there be any). I had one on my DK1 and it really takes you out of it when you notice it. There was some dust on the inside, but the cups are really easy to remove, and I used a squeezy air blower (no chemicals) thingy to get them out. All good now, though I hope it doesn't become an issue like it does with the DK1. Dust specks were constantly getting inside of that thing.

It is smaller, but heavier than the DK1. Not by much, but it is noticeable if you are holding both of them. Turning my head at an angle puts pressure on my nose which hurts. This may be fixed by making the straps a bit tighter, though the headset fits me well without any adjustments.

The way they handle cables is much better. No more clunky control box!

I think that's it for now. I haven't needed to make any adjustments to anything. I have 20/10 vision and am using the cups already installed.

Destiny Beta (Xbox One): My Playthrough

Playlist

This playlist contains my entire playthrough of the Destiny beta on the Xbox One. I played the alpha on the PlayStation 4 and already knew what kind of character I wanted to create. I played as a human Titan.

2014: Upcoming Projects

I made a video showcasing snippets of various projects I am working on, from big to small. The song used is "What This Could Be" by The Hamster Alliance. I have a lot on my plate!

GameStop Treasure Hunt Thursdays: An End, Once and For All

What happens when GameStop tries to give away $5 Xbox Live codes but their website is overloaded? What happens when one man refuses to give up? Is there a happy ending? Find out in this touching video of a giveaway gone wrong and the many people it affected.

Five Guys: Burgers and Woka Woka

Continuing the trend of spotting drawings of video game characters every time I go to Five Guys (Mega Man, Sonic the Hedgehog), I saw Pac-Man at a Five Guys in Lakeland, Florida during my visit to see a friend for the Fourth of July weekend.

I also like the tweaked-out duck in the middle. He's fiending hard for that burger.

This Five Guys had an additional drawings board.

Oculus Rift DK1: One-Year Anniversary

It was one year ago today that I received my Oculus Rift Development Kit. It was also the day that the passing of Ryan Davis was made public, so I waited until the 9th to actually start covering the device. Wait, that's wrong. I missed delivery of my Oculus Rift on the 8th due to Ryan's death and had to wait until the next day for UPS to try again. I even put a sign on the door the next morning. (This post was already made public before I realized my error.)

In my year of having it, I only made nine videos, covering seven different demos. The motion sickness I would experience would sometimes be so severe that I wouldn't feel normal until a couple of days later. I have ordered the Oculus Rift Development Kit 2 and am hoping it resolves such problems. I hear that it has and expect delivery of my unit soon, barring any production issues. In the mean time, I'm going to do what I physically can to cover as many DK1 demos as possible. Not only to feel justified in my purchase of the device in the first place, but also so I can better appreciate the improvements of the DK2. Videos can be easily accessed through my dedicated Oculus Rift page.

Oh, one more thing. The fake project name I created to access the Oculus Rift Developer Center was "Attack on Fluffy Booty". It was the first thing that came to mind. I was reading a lot of hype about Attack on Titan at the time.

Five Guys: Burgers and Hedgehogs

In May 2011 I spotted Mega Man on the drawings board at a Five Guys in Fayetteville, NC. Two years later I returned to the same restaurant and saw that Sonic the Hedgehog had taken his place.

Sonic says, "I'll chose 5 guys over any restrant." If only he was eating a chili dog.

Here's a bonus Captain America that was on the same board.

White Guys Wearin' Oculus Rifts

The White Guys Wearin' Oculus Rifts Tumblr is the "number one web resource for images of white guys wearin' Oculus Rifts!"

Upon discovery of this site, I went trawling through its archives to see if the photo I had taken back in September 2013 made it on there. I was posted up on March 20th.