One thing gamers—including us here at Honey’s Anime—always yearn for in a good video game is a higher level of immersion. Immersion simply means for a game to whisk the player away into its virtual space and make players forget they are playing a game at all. If we’re being honest, very few games can honestly do this and while many have tried—examples could be seen in games like Heavy Rain, the Uncharted series and Skyrim—most just come up a bit short for that true immersion needed to make a game so much better. However, with VR technology, the gaming world could see a change in the gaming landscape by actually making players feel engaged in the game beyond just holding a controller and staring at a screen for hours on end.

Currently there are dozens of VR games out there that do exist and already are showing an extreme level of realism. Some of these games are horror games like Resident Evil 7 which can be played with VR or Star Trek: Bride Crew which allows players to become a pilot on the Federations team. These VR titles put players behind the wheel and while they may still be holding a controller in some shape or form, the tense action and horror filled moments are not just on a screen but in your face thanks to the VR headsets. Resident Evil 7 especially makes us here at Honey’s Anime sweat and feel tense as we see an enemy breaking through a wall or running at us as if that is happening in the real world. Even simpler games like Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes can create a true level of immersion thanks to the tense feeling of being in a room holding a possible exploding bomb. VR has the best shot for true level immersions which in turn will keep not only players happy with their constant shouts for it but also help the gaming industry provide better experiences for gamers worldwide.

As great as VR is right now, it’s still what many would consider in its infancy stage. Unfortunately, VR might be a very cool thing, but it hasn’t quite reached the levels like we see in anime such as Sword Art Online or .Hack//Sign. As of writing this article VR still has players utilize heavy helmets that are attached to numerous wires. Even the cell phone based VR headsets such as the Oculus Rift still can be cumbersome for some gamers thanks to various issues of a screen being easy to fog up and or just being too tight for some gamer’s heads. However, if we can fix these issues with VR technology then the gaming industry in turn will have an easier time selling VR games and units.

Now, does this mean VR headsets are all garbag? The short answer is heck no, VR headsets like the Oculus Rift we mentioned earlier is still an amazing piece of technology. The main issue is that it’s still not full immersion—which we talked about before—and that breaks the limits of how much a player can enjoy a game. If one day, VR can enter the realm of giving players full range movement via their bodies then VR will become a must have in every household from America to Japan. So, here’s hoping we eventually reach the level of Nerve Gears but minus the whole becoming trapped in a game thing. We want immersion yes but we also like to not die if we die in a game or get trapped in one.

Immersion and better technology offer one other concept of gaming that is very important, enjoyment. Once the VR world of gaming can become ten times better than it is currently, gamers out there will begin to jump for joy as the gaming landscape becomes even more fun than it already is presently. Gamers will become more robust in every sense of the word. Imagine an adventure feeling like you’re literally walking outside and seeing beautiful sites or a horror game that literally has you running away from nightmarish creatures. The amount of things VR can accomplish is mystifying and can give gamers a whole new way of playing video games. However, there is also one more element of VR that will help the gaming industry and that is change.

We here at Honey’s Anime have played video games since the conception of Arcades, but that doesn’t mean we’re old by the way. Nevertheless, video games are as cool as they have become in recent years with large fantasy worlds to explore and or tons of enemies to shoot in horror filled scenarios. Yet, games have begun to plateau. The gaming world needs change and it needs it faster than ever before folks. VR has the means of doing this by giving players new genres that while still adhere to the past themes, maybe add new hybrid themes. Instead of a game just being a roleplaying game, it could be a first person roleplaying game. Once VR expands and the technology for it changes, games could become something never before seen in this gaming world and that will create a much-needed change for the gaming scene which will result in more gamers and more revenue for companies that may be losing money as of recent. Seriously, just imagine Final Fantasy XV being in first person with you holding the sword and using magic, that would be amazing without a doubt.