Perhaps one of the biggest problems associated with the Oculus Rift is that there weren't a whole lot of games ready to work with the device. There were some, certainly--Hawken, Team Fortress 2, Doom 3 BFG Edition--but that's a comparatively small roster for a platform that may ultimately represent the future of video gaming. But now there's one more that will work with the Oculus Rift, and it's nothing less than Skyrim itself.
Yes, the magnificent sword and sorcery epic, the latest DLC-packed installment of the Elder Scrolls series that not only makes us hungry for the next one but also for the next Fallout, is making its way to the Oculus Rift thanks to Chris Gallizzi, who did the necessary heavy lifting to get the headset to work with the game.
The bad news here, of course, is that the solution isn't official. That means it's going to take a little doing to make the jump for every system. Gallizzi, meanwhile, used the Vireio Perception Driver to bring Rift support to other games, and then tweak the settings at the Skyrim local level in order to get the experience just right.
The bad news here is that there could well be some disorientation involved, but the good news is that Gallizzi, like a lot of folks out there, is nearsighted. Yet he had no trouble making the Oculus Rift work with his own lack of long-range vision, a very good sign for those of us out there who, like myself, need a little extra long-range help with vision.
But the wider implications here are what's particularly important. With perhaps one of the biggest first-person adventure games now at least somewhat able to work with the Oculus Rift, it's a good question to wonder just how long before other games are spotted working with this system. No developer will want to be left out in the cold on this one, so it's worth suggesting that most any first-person title--shooter or otherwise--will want to make that jump and be available for that little headset that turns a game experience into a wildly realistic and immersive affair.
We may well be seeing a lot more titles like this--either with developer support or modified--in the near future, and that's good news for anyone who's been eager to get more immersion out of their gaming.
