In the past week,
there’s been an eruption of news in the gaming world, what with E3 happening.
New information about next-gen consoles has been released, launch titles have
been announced, new titles and IPs have been shared, and most importantly, a
guy dressed up in the creepiest Parappa the rapper costume to ever exist was a
thing. Essentially, all is relatively well in video-game world. Yay we’re all
going to be broke soon!
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| It might be hard to see, but the creepy is there. |
However in the midst
of all this buzzing, one piece of technology has been overlooked I feel: The Occulus Rift. This beautiful Daft Punk-esque headset had everyone vomiting
smiles when it was announced, because it essentially meant that we’re now at
the point where virtual reality can be a thing. Someone can put on the
Occulus Rift and be transported fully to the video game world, fully immersing
them in the environment and the game itself. Imagine putting on the Occulus
Rift helmet and instantly being transported to Skyrim! Gorgeous snow-capped
mountains, evergreen forests with tiny rabbits bouncing around, and realistic
dragons breathing fire right in your face-you could actually BECOME the
dragonborn! This is inevitably where gaming was going; even though Nintendo’s
own Occulus Rift, the “Virtual Boy”, failed in 1995, gamers could look at it
and know that it was possible! It told people that virtual reality will
eventually come to gaming. Well here it is, and what do we do with it?
Well, not full-on
porn, but essentially yes, porn. Developers Sinful Robot have announced a “game”
for Occulus Rift titled “Wicked Paradise”. Described as an “erotic adventure”
by the developers, the game has you essentially talking to and, with skill (?)/luck,
seducing her, all within the virtual reality the Occulus Rift provides.
Essentially, you can pick up a woman without actually picking up a woman. Great
news for us socially-inept, neck-bearded, acne-ridden video game players, right? Thank you
so much Sinful Robot! You are the true wing-man of gamers everywhere.
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| Me, right now. All the time. |
I MEAN I really don’t
know how I feel about this. I know it’s not meant to be taken seriously, and
that it’s just supposed to be fun and everything, but I guess I’m just afraid
that this is what the Occulus Rift will turn into: a virtual porn machine. Even
worse, it mentions nothing about being able to play as a girl where you attempt
to pick up guys (or pick up girls as a girl, or pick up guys as a guy for that
matter), thus worsening the outside perception of the boys-only club that is
gaming.
Now I’m not saying
that this game will single-handedly ruin everything for anyone, and I honestly
don’t expect it to sell at all considering the virtual non-existence of
porn/sex-based games in the past. But if it turns into a step in that
direction, and the Occulus Rift is famous for that game solely (I haven’t heard
of any other games being developed for it at the moment, besides a port of Team
Fortress 2), then it’ll be a little disappointing, especially when you take
into account how cool the Occulus Rift could be. Can you imagine playing
Amnesia or Slenderman on Occulus Rift? It’d be the ultimate horror experience, no equals. Or, experiencing the amazingly beautiful world of Columbia in Bioshock Infinite
with your own eyes, in your own head! The possibilities are there, but until
then, I guess “Wicked Paradise” will take the reins for us.
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| Someday. |
