How Meta Quest 3 is beating Apple at its own VR game
Who cared about passthrough before Apple demoed the Vision Pro headset?
My first experience with modern virtual reality couldn't have been more different than my most recent. Back in 2012, I tried a very early Oculus Rift prototype, literally built into a pair of ski goggles wrapped in black tape and tethered to a desktop computer. With an Xbox gamepad, I played a little Doom 3 and suffered severe motion sickness for the rest of the day. With new Meta Quest 3, a direct descendent of that original prototype, VR feels like its finally ready for prime time.
From 2016 on, starting with the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive, modern VR's fortunes have ebbed and flowed. But nothing got VR fans' blood pumping like years of endless rumors about an Apple-designed VR headset. I finally got to try that device, called Apple Vision Pro, earlier in 2023 in an impressive, if highly controlled, demo session.
The thing that jumped out to everyone who demoed the Vision Pro was how it was built for use in passthrough mode, which means capturing the outside world via built-in cameras and transmitting it in reasonable color and clarity to the wearer. That kind of merging of real and virtual -- literally mixed reality -- is the latest attempt to sell headsets to the masses.
At $3,500, the Vision Pro is not exactly going to be a stocking stuffer. The new Meta Quest 3, on the other hand, is a not-unreasonable $500, and offers a similar color passthrough feature that's miles beyond the grainy black-and-white version in the older Quest 2.
But I won't oversell it. If the Apple Vision Pro passthrough is Blu-ray quality, then the Quest 3 is DVD quality. And the Quest 2 was an old PXL-2000.
But that slightly muddy color view is still miles beyond what most VR fans are used to, and as close as most of us will get to Apple's version, considering the still-unreleased Vision Pro's insane price. Having used both, I can say that the Quest 3 will scratch your mixed reality itch just fine.
And, with no new Nintendo Switch coming this year, and limited other new gaming hardware options, the Quest 3 feels like the default holiday gaming gift of 2023.
Read my Meta Quest 3 review at Gizmodo.
Gaming gets its own World Cup (aka, my Rockin' Riyadh Adventure)
I just flew in from Saudi Arabia, and boy are my arms tired. Seriously. I spent a day and a half in Riyadh, moderating a panel at an event called the New Global Sport Conference, where a new Esports World Cup was announced, complete with guest appearances by FIFA head Gianni Infantino and soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo.
How did I end up here? An industry colleague asked via email if I was interested in moderating a gaming panel. I said, "Sure, I love moderating panels," and only after that did I learn it was in Saudi Arabia in less than two weeks. But, I figured when am I ever going to get a chance to hang out at the opulent Ritz-Carlton in Riyadh? That's the same thinking that's led me to panels and speaking appearances everywhere from London to Shenzhen.
I ended up on stage talking to execs from Sony, Ubisoft, Take-Two, Tencent, Sega and other game publishers, about everything from changing tastes in gamers to the influence of AI on game design.
I thought the most interesting take was from Dr. Songyee Yoon, President of NCSoft, who said that game developers and publishers were using AI for things like concept art and other behind-the-scenes tasks, rather than putting generative AI output directly into games, where fans might strongly object to human artists and writers being replaced by artificial intelligence.
That closely matches with my own long-time thinking about AI for journalists and creatives -- that it's a tool best used as part of your internal process, rather than a consumer-facing end product on its own.
Acer Helios 18 gaming laptop review
Even after all these years, I still love reviewing new hardware. My latest is the Acer Helios 18, a huge 18-inch gaming laptop, and the third 18-incher I've reviewed this year. From my review:
“Many recent gaming laptops have shrunk down to 15-inch screens, which can be more portable and less expensive, but the overall experience pales in comparison to playing the same game on a bigscreen TV through a $500 PS5 or Xbox Series X. Bumping your laptop screen up to 18 diagonal inches makes games feel much more immersive, as I discovered when playing new games like Starfield or Baldur’s Gate 3.”
I hope this screen size option sticks around longer this time -- I recall reviewing an 18-inch Alienware back in 2013, but the category then went dormant until 2023. If you're mostly keeping it at home or the office, an 18-inch laptop feels like a gaming-ready all-in-one that you can easily tote from room to room.
Read my Acer Helios 18 review at Gizmodo.
Some big career news for Dan
Boy, that’s a lot of newsletter. Yes, this is a little longer and more in-depth than my usual newsletters. That's because I'm stepping down as Editor-in-Chief of Gizmodo and starting a new Editor-in-Chief role later in November.
More on this as soon as I'm able to share. In the meantime, you can catch all my latest reviews and analysis right here so please subscribe, share and follow me on the social links below.
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