> This brave new display technology is a strictly “look, don’t touch” affair, controlled primarily through a standard Xbox One gamepad that seems built for an entirely different way of playing. In the Rift, you have to tamp down that first instinct to simply reach out and grab at the convincing world surrounding you.<p>This right here validates my decision to order the Vive. I want a real VR experience, not just a fancy HMD. The price difference isn't significant for me and the reality here is that even when Oculus launches its touch controllers they'll have a library of games that dont support it (and developers worried if designing for touch will result in lost sales as not every Rift will have it). Looking at the fairly uninspired games available today, I can't see how they could. You can't just tack on motion control. Its a completely different experience, like say, the difference between a NES game and a Wii game.<p>I think the Vive leapfrogged the Rift here. The demos I've seen of the Vive software look like what most people would consider VR. The Rift has exclusives but, Lucky's Tail? Farlands? These are boring console games shoehorned to work with a HMD. That's not what I want VR to be. There's a real Sega Saturn feel here with the Rift. The same way the Saturn was not-quite 3D graphics, the Rift ecosystem is not quite VR. At least not yet.
Really big mistake to not ship with motion controllers; you feel like you are "at" the game rather than the "in" the game you feel with Vive.