Oculus Rift is the true people's choice in the virtual-reality community. From its grassroots upbringing through crowdfunding to its multibillion dollar buyout by Facebook last week, Palmer Luckey's immersive headset, which tracks the head movements of the wearer to plunge them into virtual environments, has grabbed the attention of independent and international developers alike. Having lived through the rise and fall of many innovations that were reportedly the future of gaming, I was naturally skeptical of the Rift and its place in the industry, so I jumped at the chance to attend Osaka's OcuFes on March 29 to find out more.
I was expecting OcuFes to be a huge and bustling event; what I got instead was a "festival" that took place in a small office, with a dozen or so designers showing off their wares to a select group of the public. Indeed, if you did not have the inclination to actively find out about the event, it would have passed by without a blip on your social radar.
Even so, there was still a sizeable crowd of people at the event who had just 15 minutes or so to peruse the various stalls, before being asked to wait outside so that the next cycle of curious customers could have a glance. Many waited for a second or third trip, and were as excited to talk with and probe the designers as they were to try out the wide range of games and experiences on offer.