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Does the Half-Life franchise still interest players?

Are you waiting AL:Alyx ?

  • Yes, and I have a VR headset

    Votes: 35 20.2%
  • Yes, and I don't have a VR headset

    Votes: 58 33.5%
  • No, and I have a VR headset

    Votes: 12 6.9%
  • No, and I don't have a VR headset

    Votes: 64 37.0%
  • I wasn't interested by HL until the VR game announcement

    Votes: 4 2.3%

  • Total voters
    173

Bootzilla

Banned

The latest Steam Hardware survey indicates that 0.26% of users who responded to the survey have a virtual reality headset. In January, it was 1.31%. Even the share of the Valve Index has declined despite stock-outs. You have to believe that the Christmas gifts are already in the closet.
This survey is not super accurate. It frequently fails to detect my Rift, even when it's on and running a game. It's also going to underestimate the recent flood of Quest users who don't keep their headset attached to the PC when they're not playing PC games

Some of the decline in VR share lately is also to do with Steam opening up to the Chinese market, and a lot of new users coming in that don't use SteamVR hardware, rather than a declining number of total VR users.

Half-Life is certainly not as big as it once was, and it's highly unlikely a VR exclusive will do anywhere near the numbers the series once did, it's also blatantly obvious this is the biggest VR exclusive title to date, and it's going to be huge in that world.

But what does huge mean for VR? 500,000? A million? The installed base for PCVR is still only like 4 milllion at most and it's hard to see it doing much more than a million in its first year or two (although it's sure to be a bit of an evergreen title as VR adoption grows). A million seller VR title would be a big deal but still small potatoes in the AAA gaming space.
 

12Goblins

Lil’ Gobbie
considering its fucking impossible to get an index right now because people are lining up to play 1 game for $1,000+ get this fucking garbage out of here
 

Wonko_C

Member
considering its fucking impossible to get an index right now because people are lining up to play 1 game for $1,000+ get this fucking garbage out of here
Sounds like a killer app, a bonafide system seller.
 
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NAI1210

Member
To be honest, I have only played the first game, and portal, played a little bit of half life 2 and seen little parts of hl2 episode 2 so I'm not as invested in that world as many gamers are, but I really want to see a Continuation or a conclusion to the franchise the fans deserve it, and if the game was awesome it would get the attention of new players who would end up checking out the earlier games
 
Half Life Alyx is a big fuck you to everyone waiting for HL3. It's like Diablo Immortal. "Don't you have VR headsets?"
Not remotely the same. Diablo Immortal is being built for a platform that has many downsides for the franchise. VR is a step up in most ways for the Half Life franchise.

Not to mention that I was waiting for HL3 and I would definitely have wanted it to be VR. I'd rather wait and get a truly revelatory experience than something mediocre.
 
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Yes, I would happily trade my 3 most anticipated games any year for a proper, non VR Half Life 3.

I'm not a VR hater, I just don't have the room for it.
The vast majority of people who say they don't have room for VR actually do have room.

Everyone has room for VR as a technology, but PC VR does require a little bit more room because you have to account for the tether in your PC which means you couldn't just take it to another place in the building. However if you can manage to have a wire coming out of your PC with enough room to sit down and move your arms in front of you in a forward arc, you are good to go for Alyx and lots of other VR games.
 

Bootzilla

Banned
Half Life Alyx is a big fuck you to everyone waiting for HL3. It's like Diablo Immortal. "Don't you have VR headsets?"
It's not because no one was expecting HL3 anymore, and because it does seem to be a bridge/set-up to a continuation.

A sensible reading is that they drove down a dead end, and this is them backing up and getting the ball rolling again.

HL3 would have been Duke Nukem Forever if they actually released it. There are good reasons it was never finished. And also good reasons why this project actually came together and clicked. And I'm sure they have every intention of keeping that momentum going.
 
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Diablo Immortal is an interquel from a franchise that has had its last release less than a decade ago and a new full mainline game getting a release in the next Not Blizzard Soon years on traditional PC.

Since Alyx is also an interquel, my guess the next mainline HL, if it happens, will be on PC albeit they're going to want to raise the bar again somehow. Maybe it'll be another Crysis or whatever. Who knows.

I'm no fan of Alyx being a VR game but I'd rather a single player full VR game though then say something like Nosgoth (haha you're favorite franchise now is just a stupid arena mp game) or lol mobile garbage.
 

V4skunk

Banned
I started playing Black Mesa yesterday and there's this funny part at the beginning in the toilets where you go grab some toilet paper and throw it over the door to save a fellow scientist from an embarrasing situation. The whole process of grabbing and throwing stuff just feels archaic, janky and not fun at all in comparison to what we've seen in the HL Alyx trailers so far.

All the interactivity with the environment is what has me excited about Alyx, so much that It has kinda ruined Black Mesa for me, to the point of thinking about refunding it.
That part isn't even in the original HL1.
Go refund it but your excuses is lame tbh.
 

Romulus

Member
Had a coworker of mine demo my VR months ago. He said he couldn't afford his own VR set but absolutely fell in love with the technology. He just texted me earlier. "Tell me what I need to play that new Half Life. I got my tax return. Fuck bills." lol
 
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I like the Half-Life games, replay them every year, and I was interested in Alyx when it was announced. Great first trailer. I don't think I'm going to play it right away though. I've yet to actually purchase a VR headset but the technology is definitely intriguing. Maybe if this prequel (or interquel, to be precise) does well, we might see Half-Life 3 next?
 
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Romulus

Member
$1000 Valve Index immediately sold and backordered 8 weeks after only hours being back in stock.



Oculus Rift S and Quest,(both versions) still sold out for months on end.
 
Pretty frustrating that they can't keep up with demand. I feel frustrated and I'm not even trying to buy one lol

#VRisDead
 
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Wonko_C

Member
$1000 Valve Index immediately sold and backordered 8 weeks after only hours being back in stock.



Oculus Rift S and Quest,(both versions) still sold out for months on end.
I'm happy that every headset has been selling well since Alyx's announcement, but I'm sad for those who can't even buy them now.


I like the Half-Life games, replay them every year, and I was interested in Alyx when it was announced. Great first trailer. I don't think I'm going to play it right away though. I've yet to actually purchase a VR headset but the technology is definitely intriguing. Maybe if this prequel (or interquel, to be precise) does well, we might see Half-Life 3 next?
Valve has stated that Alyx is just the start of their return to the Half-Life universe, but it would be odd if they went back to non-VR for the next installment. It would feel like a regression, gameplay-wise.
 
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RPS37

Member
So I’m not even going to be ridiculous and pick up a headset just to play this even if I wanted to?
 

Alexios

Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
Still lying stats in the OP, says 0.26% which is just Oculus % and total VR % is 0.97% at least. Still lower than last month's but as said there can be many reasons for that, over VR kits going in closets (lol). Idk why nobody's fixing at least that if not the assumptions and bs too.
 
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desertdroog

Member
To those who seem to have such an aversion/dislike towards anything VR, is this just as simple as "I don't have/can't afford it, so I don't like it" or is there something more legitimate?
I have a VR headset, now it is an early one that I got with my Samsung Edge phone, but it cemented my belief that VR is useless until they figure out how to project a 3D hologram in a space without head gear. It's science fiction, but just like 3D tv's I am not willing to labor through VR to play any game, much less a Half-Life game which has the main writers gone.

I hope it is good enough to get Valve back into making games like Left 4 Dead or Portal, but I won't hold my breath. They are on a different trajectory for game development.
 

Alexios

Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
That's not just "an early one" that's mobile phone crap at best fit for viewing videos (which are crap VR regardless of the kit used to watch). Barely a step above cardboard VR and mostly for the build quality rather than the (lack of) capabilities, so, nothing like real VR, as the average flat mobile game is nothing like Half-Life 1 & 2.

You're basically a guy being told about video games and going all, meh, vidya gaemz, I've played E.T. on my Atari, they're crap until they get good like Star Trek holodeck adventures or The Matrix, completely oblivious to everything that's been created since yet still mouthing about it all as lackluster based on that one experience.

Edit: thanks mods for editing the lying stats in the OP, which indicated a crazy drop to 0.26% from which the assumptions of VR kits going back in closets spawned from, though those remain, when the real stats are 0.97%, a far smaller drop that can be explained in many other ways, ie, new Steam users outpacing new VR users.

Edit: the original French article has been corrected as well, yet once again the text with the assumptions remains intact, as if the difference between 0.26% and 0.97% is too small to change the conclusions and hypothesis surrounding it. Yikes.
 
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Alexios

Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
a shame you need 1000€ to even play Alyx.
You need less than half that. Just as you don't have the latest 8k UHDR TV and priciest mouse and mechanical keyboard and a pair of RTX Titans, it's fine to go with the best for your budget than the best yet. Granted much of it is out of stock in official channels but you could still find one in store at the normal non inflated price.
 
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Romulus

Member
I have a VR headset, now it is an early one that I got with my Samsung Edge phone, but it cemented my belief that VR is useless until they figure out how to project a 3D hologram in a space without head gear. It's science fiction, but just like 3D tv's I am not willing to labor through VR to play any game, much less a Half-Life game which has the main writers gone.

I hope it is good enough to get Valve back into making games like Left 4 Dead or Portal, but I won't hold my breath. They are on a different trajectory for game development.


If I had that mobile crap, I would hate VR and have no faith in the tech. It's an awful representation.
 
Still lying stats in the OP, says 0.26% which is just Oculus % and total VR % is 0.97% at least. Still lower than last month's but as said there can be many reasons for that, over VR kits going in closets (lol). Idk why nobody's fixing at least that if not the assumptions and bs too.
Look at Simplified Chinese on the Steam hardware survey. There was a gain of millions of new users, so the whole western market declined in everything. This has happened a number of times now and Valve tends to fix it after a month.
 
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I have a VR headset, now it is an early one that I got with my Samsung Edge phone, but it cemented my belief that VR is useless until they figure out how to project a 3D hologram in a space without head gear. It's science fiction, but just like 3D tv's I am not willing to labor through VR to play any game, much less a Half-Life game which has the main writers gone.

I hope it is good enough to get Valve back into making games like Left 4 Dead or Portal, but I won't hold my breath. They are on a different trajectory for game development.
If VR is useless until you can project holograms into thin air to the naked eye, you have literally no imagination or forward thinking ability. There's such a thing as headsets getting smaller, wireless, optical comforts that even TVs/Monitors can't keep up with.
 

desertdroog

Member
If VR is useless until you can project holograms into thin air to the naked eye, you have literally no imagination or forward thinking ability. There's such a thing as headsets getting smaller, wireless, optical comforts that even TVs/Monitors can't keep up with.
Don't care. Don't want VR.
That doesn't mean you or others can't enjoy VR.

The question posed in this thread is multifaceted, yet focuses on a Half Life game so past it's prime, no original writers are part of the new game. Me not wanting VR was a detail to expand on why I am not looking forward to the game. Me explaining in brief why I don't like VR isn't up for debate, as it is my opinion.

Don't take it as an insult and I won't be bullied into the tech, otherwise. I like traditional gaming with traditional controls on traditional monitors.
 

lukilladog

Member
I´m playing Black Mesa right now (hl1 for the first time), this Alyx game is static and dumbed down in comparison, what a joke.
 
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Allandor

Member
Well, Half Life outlived itself.
They needed to long to stay relevant. It was a good game and I really was interested in episode 3 or HL3 10 years ago, but now ... I really don't play shooters that often anymore. And I really don't care about VR (also because of motion sickness).
I'm really more interested in Portal 3
 
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Wonko_C

Member
Don't care. Don't want VR.
That doesn't mean you or others can't enjoy VR.

The question posed in this thread is multifaceted, yet focuses on a Half Life game so past it's prime, no original writers are part of the new game. Me not wanting VR was a detail to expand on why I am not looking forward to the game. Me explaining in brief why I don't like VR isn't up for debate, as it is my opinion.

Don't take it as an insult and I won't be bullied into the tech, otherwise. I like traditional gaming with traditional controls on traditional monitors.
Erik Wolpaw rejoined Valve as a writer to work on Alyx, and the game has members who worked on HL1 and HL2.
 
Don't care. Don't want VR.
That doesn't mean you or others can't enjoy VR.

The question posed in this thread is multifaceted, yet focuses on a Half Life game so past it's prime, no original writers are part of the new game. Me not wanting VR was a detail to expand on why I am not looking forward to the game. Me explaining in brief why I don't like VR isn't up for debate, as it is my opinion.

Don't take it as an insult and I won't be bullied into the tech, otherwise. I like traditional gaming with traditional controls on traditional monitors.
You don't care because you literally cannot envision what I'm talking about. I'd be extremely confident that if we had a lightweight HMD with the advances I'm talking about, you'd be fine with it. Afterall you want the concept of VR but at a level of comfort that makes sense for you, which I can almost guarantee is well before holograms.

You won't be 'bullied' into the tech, but if things continue on as they are and continue to grow, VR will be integral to the function of society itself, so you'll most likely have to use it at some point.

It's always interesting to see the same responses though. "I like magazines. I don't want the Internet.", "I like tabletop games. I don't want videogames.", "I like radio, I don't want TV.", "I like 2D games, I don't want 3D games,"

The vast majority of those people reversed their opinions due to being ignorant of how things improved in the future.
 

Romulus

Member

What's false? Be specific.

Every user that posts about VR can attest that you're not only extremely negative about VR, but active. You really invest energy into it.

Now, are you saying you don't have extreme nausea? Because I know for a fact you admitted it.
 

Wonko_C

Member
You don't care because you literally cannot envision what I'm talking about. I'd be extremely confident that if we had a lightweight HMD with the advances I'm talking about, you'd be fine with it. Afterall you want the concept of VR but at a level of comfort that makes sense for you, which I can almost guarantee is well before holograms.

You won't be 'bullied' into the tech, but if things continue on as they are and continue to grow, VR will be integral to the function of society itself, so you'll most likely have to use it at some point.

It's always interesting to see the same responses though. "I like magazines. I don't want the Internet.", "I like tabletop games. I don't want videogames.", "I like radio, I don't want TV.", "I like 2D games, I don't want 3D games,"

The vast majority of those people reversed their opinions due to being ignorant of how things improved in the future.
I never saw the appeal of smartphones and was completely happy with my Nokia brick until not too long ago. I saw everyone was becoming these zombie-like people who stared all day at their small screens, furiously tapping it with their fingers instead of looking at the person in front of them. It all looked antisocial and isolating... (sounds familiar?) Until 2013 when I was gifted an iPhone 4s, better late than never I guess. :messenger_grinning_smiling:
 
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GV82

Member
I voted yes of course, I have been playing since 1998/99 when I got my first P.C, no headset now though.


1O48Pzp.jpg


At the time of my Vote - All the 3’s, perfect as should be for any HL fan.
 

EverydayBeast

thinks Halo Infinite is a new graphical benchmark
Console players would be happy to have Half Life, who wouldn't want Half Life, they won game of the year awards the PC situation is if you aren't releasing Half Life every year there's a fallout.
 

Romulus

Member
I voted yes of course, I have been playing since 1998/99 when I got my first P.C, no headset now though.


1O48Pzp.jpg


At the time of my Vote - All the 3’s, perfect as should be for any HL fan.


The crazy part is, even someone like you that has a PC and is interested in getting a headset can't unless you step down to a seller one. The best headsets are sold out. They really didn't expect the demand.
 
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desertdroog

Member
You don't care because you literally cannot envision what I'm talking about. I'd be extremely confident that if we had a lightweight HMD with the advances I'm talking about, you'd be fine with it. Afterall you want the concept of VR but at a level of comfort that makes sense for you, which I can almost guarantee is well before holograms.

You won't be 'bullied' into the tech, but if things continue on as they are and continue to grow, VR will be integral to the function of society itself, so you'll most likely have to use it at some point.

It's always interesting to see the same responses though. "I like magazines. I don't want the Internet.", "I like tabletop games. I don't want videogames.", "I like radio, I don't want TV.", "I like 2D games, I don't want 3D games,"

The vast majority of those people reversed their opinions due to being ignorant of how things improved in the future.
I remain unconvinced that VR is something for me; I've been playing games since Asteroids was new in the arcades. My refusal to buy into VR doesn't affect your enjoyment of VR.

Good day to you.
 
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