Does blockbuster rent consoles: Blockbuster Announces PS2 Rental — GameSpot

Did Blockbuster rent game consoles? – Gzipwtf.com

Lifehacks

Diana Montgomery2019-06-11

Did Blockbuster rent game consoles?

Blockbuster said subscribers will be able to pick games for major platforms, including the Nintendo Wii, Sony’s PlayStation 2 and 3, as well as Microsoft’s Xbox and Xbox 360. …

How much is it to rent an Xbox 360?

Xbox 360 Console w/ Controller For Rent

Available for Rent
First Week	$59.00
Additional Week	$55.00
Additional Day	$10.00
Daily Rate	$49.00

Can you rent Xbox consoles?

At Rent-A-Center, you have your pick of state-of-the-art game consoles, including the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One.

Can you rent games blockbuster?

Today, Blockbuster announced that they were starting to offer video game rentals as part of their Blockbuster Online service. Even more surprisingly, the price won’t increase: it’s still $8.99 a month for unlimited numbers of rentals (assuming you get one at a time).

Did Blockbuster sell consoles?

Blockbuster also acquired Rhino Video Games, a chain of video game stores in the Southwest, and renamed them Game Rush. These stores sold and bought DVDs, games, game consoles, and accessories.

Did they sell video games at Blockbuster?

The newer generation of gamers may not remember Blockbuster Video. Their “Blockbuster Exclusive” titles were available only at their stores, and only to rent—not to buy. Now, had these Blockbuster Exclusive games disappeared like the snows of yesteryear, perhaps we wouldn’t be having this conversation. But they didn’t.

Can you rent consoles from GameStop?

Finally, GameStop is working with a third-party to offer a rent-to-own option, whichs allow the customer to pay a small upfront amount, take home the console, and pay the rest over 1-12 months.

Can you borrow a game console?

As a GameFly member, you can rent as many console and handheld games as you want and get them delivered right to your mailbox for one low monthly fee. If you like a game so much that you don’t want to send it back, you can Keep it for a low used price.

What happens if you lose a GameFly game?

in the same way What happens if you don’t return a game to GameFly? You may cancel your GameFly membership at any time, even while you are still enjoying your rentals. Your rentals must be received within a week of your account’s cancellation so you aren’t charged a replacement fee for any titles you have out.

Did Blockbuster sell video games?

Category: Lifehacks

Blockbuster Video Game Rental vs.

GameFly – Which to Choose?

It’s no secret that Blockbuster has been struggling mightily financially. Chances are there’s an empty storefront in your area that was once a Blockbuster store bustling with activity. After Netflix, Redbox, and cable company video-on-demand, it seems that Blockbuster is getting a little stale.

Now, as someone who reviews video games, this was welcome news. While most very nice publishers will send me copies for review, there are others (ahem, do you hear me Ubisoft?) who ignore my pleas for review copies. So I end up having to shell out money to buy a game. And when the game ends up sucking being overpriced and sucky (ahem, Your Shape at $60), it hurts.

No doubt you’ve experienced the same thing. You’ll head to Amazon, see a bunch of fake five-star reviews, buy the game, and feel like those Bugs Bunny Cartoons where your head transforms into a big donkey or lollipop.

The problem, of course, is that up to now there’s been only one game in town (no pun intended)–GameFly. I’ve always felt the $15.95 monthly charge was a bit excessive–after all, there are a lot of games out there you can outright buy for only a few dollars more. So I was happy to see Blockbuster provide a little competition.

Question is, which should you choose, Blockbuster or GameFly? I signed up for both services and I’ll give you my honest assessment of each:

1) Title Availability

Rather than pontificate, I’ll go through the Top 10 Wii Fitness Games list, as well as five titles on the Upcoming Wii Fitness Games list, and see which is available on each site.

EA Sports Active: GameFly-Not in Catalog, Blockbuster-Not in Catalog
Wii Fit Plus: GameFly-YES, available now, Blockbuster-Not in Catalog
DDR Hottest Party 3: GameFly-Not in Catalog, Blockbuster-Not in Catalog
Walk It Out: GameFly-YES, available now, Blockbuster-Not in Catalog
The Biggest Loser: GameFly-YES, available now, Blockbuster-Not in Catalog
Just Dance: GameFly-YES, available now, Blockbuster-Not in Catalog
We Cheer 2: GameFly-YES, medium availability, Blockbuster-Not in Catalog
Active Life Outdoor Challenge: GameFly-Not in Catalog, Blockbuster-Not in Catalog
Gold’s Gym Cardio: GameFly-YES, medium availability, Blockbuster–Available Now
The Cages: GameFly-YES, available now, Blockbuster-Not in Catalog
10 Minute Solution: GameFly-YES, available now, Blockbuster-Available 10/21/2010
Nickelodeon Fit: GameFly-Available 11/30/10, Blockbuster-Available 03/01/2011
Active Life Explorer: GameFly-Not in Catalog, Blockbuster-Available 1/25/2011
Family Party: Fitness Fun Game: GameFly- Available 9/30/10, Blockbuster-Available 01/12/2011

Looks like there’s no competition here. As far as Wii fitness games are concerned, GameFly puts Blockbuster in the dust.

2) Website Speed: GameFly very obviously copied NetFlix on a lot of things. Their search results come up lightning-fast, and they use AJAX technology to ensure a very fast site experience (this is a fancy way of saying that when you click a button, the Web page reacts instantly instead of making you wait for the page to reload). The result is a quick, very easy-to-use site.

Blockbuster’s Web site is painfully slow. In fact, when putting up the list above, I literally finished all 15 of the GameFly searches in the time it took for one search to be completed on Blockbuster. It is a hair-pulling experience.

3) Website Navigation: This is another area where GameFly’s advanced Web design (similar to NetFlix’s interface) was a very smart move.

Log in.
Search for your game in the search box.
Instantly see all the games that match.

Click “RENT” to add to your queue. You’ll instantly see a window overlaid that says the game has been added to your queue. From here, there are very clear links letting you know what you can do next: continue browsing, go to your queue, or select options they recommend for you.

If you go to your queue, you can remove games or change the order you’d like to receive them with drag-and-drop efficiency. Everything is quick and pleasant.

I’m not sure why it’s so difficult for Blockbuster to just duplicate the same thing. Here’s what I experienced with them:

I log in and search for my game in the search box.
I wait, and wait, and WAIT for the search to complete, cursing all the while at the hourglass icon.
The search results are often amazingly poor, just a mess of seemlingly random movies and games, often which don’t match what I typed in at all. I have to search through the whole list to find if what I want is in there. Worse, the buttons and icons are terribly non-intuitive.

When I do add to the queue, I have to put up with the hourglass icon yet more. Then, I see a nondescript blue popup. While GameFly’s pop-up was fast, clear, and well-designed, it’s clear that Blockbuster’s pop-up was designed by people who don’t understand user experience interaction. There are two “close window” buttons and an almost apologetic message that says you can turn off the pop-up. Having worked on big company Web sites before, I can guess that their Web team was forced to put this in by some higher-up who read in a magazine somewhere that pop-ups are bad. Here’s a news flash for that person: if a pop-up is done as well as GameFly did it, they’re not bad.

When you visit your queue (which is almost impossible to find), it just seems like a very, very poor imitation of GameFly’s. Trying to adjust the order of your items or remove items is more a chore than a pleasure.

4) Community: GameFly is much stronger than Blockbuster at soliciting reviews from its members, on their Web pages and in their emails. As a result, you get an extremely unbiased reviews from a large enough sampling of people that you know that A) the ratings can’t be manipulated like Amazon reviews, and B) it’s a pretty good consensus on whether a title is good or bad.

5) Price: Blockbuster is the winner here. At $8.99 a month for one-game-at-a-time, it’s almost half of GameFly’s $15.95.

6) Flexibility: Blockbuster is unique in that it offers both video and games. It’d be nice if NetFlix and GameFly were to merge one day and offer the best of both worlds, but until then Blockbuster’s the only game in town.

The verdict? Sign up for Blockbuster if you are willing to put up with poor choice of titles and an extremely subpar Web site. Sign up for GameFly if you don’t mind paying a little more for great quality in a Web site and selection.

In a few days, I’ll share with you my experience of receiving the games.

8/11/10 Update

Today I logged back into the Blockbuster site. The problems with site slowness seemed to go away, which leads me to believe that their site was just inundated with traffic on 8/10 when they announced that they were starting to support online video game rental.

That’s the good news. The bad news? Take a look at this screen:

This is Blockbuster’s list of “New Wii Releases”. Notice a problem? The date is 8/11/2010, and the earliest available date for most of these is either October, or the game is not available yet! This applies for games that have already been out for a while, including 10 Minute Solution and Lego Harry Potter!

I’m hoping these issues with site speed and product availability are just growing pains on Blockbuster’s part and not an indication of how their service will be run, or it may be a very short run indeed.

8/30/10 Update

After a few weeks of experience with Blockbuster Online, I’ve found their selection has gotten a bit better. In all fairness to them, they probably got pummeled with a huge amount of demand, more than they could keep in stock.

I’d still say they’re probably not the ideal choice if you want to have the exact title you want immediately. On the other hand, they are the ideal choice if you rent DVDs by mail and ever find yourself out of movies to rent. Chances are you can put a video game you’ve never played into your queue and enjoy that while you’re waiting for the next batch of movies to come around.

Gamer finds an old game from Blockbuster that is overdue for 15 years

A gamer finds an absolute blast from the past — a box office forgotten Blockbuster Xbox 360 video game that his father forgot to bring back.

A gamer finds a forgotten video game Xbox 360 that his father rented from Blockbuster many years ago. This popular rental franchise once dominated North America until the popularity of streaming services like Netflix drove them out of business. Now there is only one «Blockbuster» left, and it can be found in Bend, Oregon. nine0003

Today, Blockbuster may have been completely wiped out and the days of rentals are over, but a documentary about it aired in 2020 on the popular streaming site Netflix. It details what led to the death of the rental chain, as well as some other interesting points. In addition to this documentary, a sitcom-style series called Blockbuster is coming to Netflix and promises to be both hilarious and nostalgic. For those who grew up renting films from Blockbuster, this is a chance to introduce the modern generation to the franchise, which has been an important part of the lives of many families. Seeing this iconic store come to life in the show will likely bring back many happy memories. It was an unforgettable time, from late fees to forgetting to return a rental item. nine0003

AFTERWORD: An Xbox fan created an incredible dashboard concept featuring 360 blades and more

Now Reddit user ChloefortheW has shared an image of a forgotten Xbox 360 Blockbuster they stumbled upon. Their father rented the game Crash of the Titans about 15 years ago and never returned it. It’s funny, but the Xbox 360 rental of this game was only for five days, hardly enough time to enjoy the game. nine0003

My father forgot ? by xbox

Many other users have also commented that they are surprised that Blockbuster didn’t even give gamers a week to enjoy the rental. A gamer who came across this forgotten video game said that his father played the Xbox right up to the birth of his brother. The Xbox 360 may have come out over a decade ago, but another gamer ended up getting a red ring of death on their Xbox 360 console; we hope that this is not what led to the fact that the father of this gamer did not play video games. nine0003

Some other users challenged the original poster by telling him to drive to the last Blockbuster store and return the game. Other users who may not have been at the time when Blockbuster was at its peak learned that in addition to movie rentals, they also rent out video games such as Xbox 360 . It’s not uncommon to see other console games on the shelves of retro video game stores bearing the iconic «Property of Blockbuster» sticker. Perhaps this will inspire others to see if they have a rental game from Blockbuster somewhere. nine0003

Oculus Rift blockbuster: what will be the market for VR content? What will be the content for a new type of virtual reality?

2016 was a very important year for virtual and augmented reality. The largest manufacturers — Samsung, Google, Oculus (owned by Facebook), HTC and Sony — released their first virtual reality helmets for free sale to the general user. In AR, albeit technologically and simply, the first game hit Pokemon Go was released, which collected $ 600 million in revenue in 2016. The first mixed reality helmets from Microsoft, ODG, Meta became available to developers. Many start-ups in the industry have received strong investor support, with the scale of some funding rounds going down in history: for example, Magic Leap, working on mixed reality glasses, raised almost $800 million in February, taking its total raised to $1. 4 billion without even showing the public the first prototype of his device. nine0003

Global revenue in the VR/AR segment is still very small — it is estimated by experts in the range of $2-3 billion in the virtual reality (VR) segment and about $1 billion in the augmented reality (AR) segment. The number of VR/AR helmets sold in 2016 from leading manufacturers (not including cardboards) does not exceed 7 million in total

every year for the next 5-6 years and will reach $108 billion by 2021. nine0003

It is predicted that the main revenue in the market in the foreseeable future will come from VR. But at the same time, starting from 2018, one can expect explosive growth in augmented reality, and by 2021, it will already be estimated to account for about 75% of the market.

In the near future, most of the VR market will be owned by manufacturers of virtual reality helmets and their peripherals. But the equipment market is high-tech and capital-intensive. While there is an important trend towards technology platform standardization that will allow new players to excel in hardware, the greatest interest in terms of business opportunities and value can be found in the area of VR content and services. nine0003

Increasing the installed base of VR-enabled devices is required to generate income for content and service producers. Overall, the potential is huge: the number of gamers on PC and consoles is estimated at about 1.8 billion, and the number of smartphone owners exceeds 2 billion. (games, movies/videos) will grow from the current 5-10% to 70% or even higher.

Despite the success of 2016, many people look at the current hype around the technology with skepticism. There is a sense of disillusionment and doubt among concerned observers about the future of the technology. The main problem that occupies the minds of participants and observers is the low number of blockbusters both in the games segment and in 360 movies. Because of this, more active sales of equipment are held back, which in turn would spur content creators to bigger and more interesting projects. More than once, observers recalled the strong rise in interest in VR at 19The 90s, when the technology, due to cost and technical limitations, was not widely used. More than once, 3D TVs were also remembered, which for home use have not gained popularity.

History shows that it’s all about content. But to find the right analogy, let’s look back at the past of the gaming industry. In the 1970s and early 1980s, there was an absolutely unprecedented growth in the number of arcade games: in 1972, the first arcade game Pong was released, which made it possible for the general public to play and understand what a computer game is. K 1978-1979 the very popular Space invaders, Asteroids, Pac Man and other arcade games came out. Against this background, over the past 10 years, the number of arcades in the United States has grown, according to some estimates, to 24,000, and the number of free-standing slot machines to 1. 5 million. A similar increase was observed in the homeland of game arcades — in Japan, on a smaller scale — in Europe.

Only by the end of 1979 — beginning of 1980 did the home analogue of the arcade — the home game console — gradually begin to force the arcades out of the market. Today, you can often hear that the cost of VR helmets limits their audience to avid fans. Sony VR helmet costs about $500 (with camera and controllers), Oculus or HTC Vive for PC — about $900-1000. But for comparison: the first hit among consoles, the Atari 2600, and the Nintendo (NES) that followed it, cost about $750-800 in current money.

Interestingly, when the Atari 2600 entered the market in 1977, with content similar to that available in arcade machines, only 500,000 consoles were sold. Sales of the console took off only towards the end of 1979, when hit games like Adventure appeared under it. Adventure offered users a gaming experience where the action was not limited to one screen. The game world extended further, thus calling for longer game sessions and saving progress. As a result, 30 million Atari 2600 consoles were sold and 60 million of the NES that followed it. nine0003

So the problem is really in the content.

Arcades and amusement parks — this is the format in which the first real blockbusters in VR will appear (the company of the author of the text develops a space for mixed reality quests. — Forbes). But where will this content appear: for consoles / home PCs, in arcades or for mobile phones? What will be the analogue of Adventure, which will show users a new horizon of sensations and experiences?

At this stage, it is impossible to say for sure what exactly will create an outstanding user experience that cannot be obtained outside of VR. But there are a lot of arguments in favor of the fact that on the horizon of 1-3 years a breakthrough will occur precisely in arcades and will follow in mobile and stationary VR only in 3-7 years:

— Short sessions are ideal for VR and mobile, namely short sessions will be the main focus of developers, because:

* For most users, staying longer than 15-30 minutes in VR is still uncomfortable

* The complexity and cost of producing content for VR high

* There are synergies from releasing games immediately for both PC/Console and VR, but the amount of necessary improvements for VR is very large

— The effect of immersion on a specially prepared site can be increased

* Moving around the scene with controllers in VR leads to motion sickness, and the ability to move freely through space on your own feet greatly increases the effect of immersion recreate only in prepared rooms and with the help of additional peripherals

— Home VR for PC / Console for the majority will remain an unaffordable and unnecessary luxury for a long time:

* VR equipment is expensive and requires frequent upgrades

* In most developed countries, real estate is very expensive and few can afford to completely empty 20 sq. m for games

* A lot of exclusive content is only available for one of the platforms, that is, to play the latest novelties, you need to have all three platforms

— Mobile VR requires that

* Even the latest line of premium Android phones requires big compromises as graphics compared to PC

* The lack of built-in ability to track the movements of players in space significantly limits the possibilities for gameplay and immersion

* Using a mobile phone in VR mode quickly drains the battery

* With content quality restrictions, it is not easy to persuade the Android audience, which is difficult in terms of monetization, to purchase

The most developed country in terms of VR, China, is already massively following the path of arcades — programs have been launched to create tens of thousands of spaces. That is, we are already talking about scales comparable to those observed in the best years, in 1970s.

From an entrepreneurial point of view, arcades and amusement parks are also a very interesting niche. This is a niche where not only content creators and equipment creators have investment opportunities, but also a wide range of entrepreneurs who have the opportunity to invest in a highly profitable and fast-growing business. Moreover, it is worth thinking about the current state of amusement parks. Isn’t it time to change such entertainments as bowling, billiards, slot machines and laser tag to more technological and modern ones? nine0003

Amusement park AR/VR formats

Three types of parks will be developed simultaneously:

a) Computer clubs/mini arcades

The simplest format is computer clubs where retail helmets are rented to consumers. In the minimum version of the arrangement of such a club, you can limit yourself to even 2-3 VR helmets. To meet the demand for arcade games, one of the leading helmet manufacturers, HTC, is launching the Viveport Arcade, a turnkey platform that covers licensing and a number of operational issues. nine0003

For content developers, arcades may soon become almost the main source of income. If forecasts for the growth of their number are realized, then it will be possible to earn on a successful project about tens of millions of dollars at rental in arcades against single million dollars on sale to private users.

From the point of view of an arcade operator, investments in such a business are quite attractive — you can return the invested funds in 1-2 years if you manage to create user traffic without going broke on rent. The first players have already appeared both in Moscow (Virtuality Club, ARENA, 3dVR) and in the regions. nine0003

The limitation of this format for the operator is that, due to low barriers to entry, competition will gradually lead to a significant drop in the price of such an experience, and therefore a drop in the return on investment. Probably, only locations with high traffic will be able to create traffic.

Some Russian players have decided to follow the path of creating exclusive content. For example, the Russian foundation VR Tech hosts dozens of arcades in the neighborhood and in partnership with cinemas, creating games based on upcoming Russian films (Viking, The Defenders). In the long term, these players will have to work very hard to pit their exclusive content against what will be released to the wider arcade market. For example, the same VR Tech plans to launch up to 100 arcades in 2017. In comparison: only in the Chinese market through Viveport it will be possible to “reach out” to thousands this year. nine0003

b) VR attractions

The market is now producing an incredible amount of VR attractions that provide a more interesting experience than the usual home version of VR devices. These are booths, capsules, suspension systems, platforms and other devices that allow you to increase the effectiveness and depth of immersion in what is happening in VR. Usually attractions are designed for a specific, rather narrow set of application scenarios, often of a sports nature. The devices cost from $5,000 to $100,000 in addition to the cost of VR helmets and computers. nine0003

The same HTC Vive is now actively developing an ecosystem of peripheral manufacturers: weapons, unusual controllers and just trackers for physical objects that can be made part of the game. These devices greatly diversify the arsenal of developers and arcades in a more moderate price category.

Our team at Cybercube Claustrophobia (formerly The Complex) has created an alternative format in this segment. These are spaces in which immersion in the virtual world is provided by video projection on the walls, and interaction occurs through gestures. This approach allows for a more effortless and natural immersion while also maintaining the ease of live communication throughout the experience. nine0003

It is to be expected that all this variety of attractions will be primarily used by amusement parks as an addition to conventional VR helmets in order to differentiate from small gamers. They will be in no less demand as stand-alone entertainment in places with high traffic.

c) Hyperreality parks and VR quests

There is a category of premium parks where you can immerse yourself in a specially created adventure for a certain set configuration, with the ability to use various physical objects in a real game (tools, levers, buttons) and additional boosters immersions (the same platforms, systems for simulating wind or rain, smells, suits that transfer the physical impact of virtual contacts to the body). nine0003

Implementation variations are many, but they all share the same problem: in the pursuit of creating a premium experience that justifies higher price levels and exclusivity of content rentals, capital costs inflate very quickly, and with them payback periods.

The world’s most famous players like The Void and Zero Latency invest millions of dollars in development and require more than $500,000 investment per location. There are also Russian players in this segment: VR Tech, Interactive Lab, Hello Computer, etc.

It can be assumed that this segment in its simpler form will become part of VR amusement parks/arcades. More expensive versions will appear as bold experiments, which over time, having accumulated a sufficient number of technological solutions, will be able to become independent amusement parks. But before that, probably 4-7 years.

A whole series of new technologies are on the way, designed to significantly increase the impact and freedom of expression in VR.

But let’s look at the most important question: will there be a breakthrough in content in the near future that will force players to go to arcades, buy a new generation of mobile or stationary VR devices? VR is about immersion. Every detail is important to him. Every slowdown, suboptimally placed interface, incomprehensible interaction model, seen pixel, etc. pull the user out of this immersion. VR technology is very young, many technical solutions for it are just beginning to be developed. nine0003

But development is progressing by leaps and bounds, and already on the horizon of 3-24 months we can expect breakthroughs in a number of areas. These are not guesses of experts, but in many respects already understood technologies are either at the prototype stage or at the stage of the first commercial products. These breakthroughs will reduce the cost of more advanced AR/VR entertainment parks by 3-5 times, increase the creativity of creators, and thus usher in a new era of arcades and amusement parks (and later a new era in mobile and home VR). nine0003

1. Spatial tracking system for players, scenes and objects

The spatial tracking system is a critical element that must work at a very high level in order for users to have a comfortable experience. Moreover, it determines where and how the player can move.

Existing quality trekking systems are either very expensive (>$15,000 for a 40-50 sqm area) or severely space-limiting (up to 20-30 sqm). At the moment, the tracking system «from the inside» is the most promising in terms of implementation cost and application potential. It allows you to achieve high-quality tracking on fairly large unprepared areas due to artificial intelligence, rather than installing expensive cameras with high technological performance. The first strong product with this technology was released by Microsoft with its Hololens. On its basis, in 2017, a whole series of VR helmets is expected from conventional manufacturers of computer equipment in the Windows ecosystem: Lenovo, HP, Dell, Asus, Acer. Other manufacturers are also working on their solutions in this area, including Intel and Oculus (Facebook). nine0003

One of the market leaders HTC is developing in parallel. They create an ecosystem of introductory device developers around them that use their high-precision marker tracking system with laser scanners. They are likely to strongly consolidate their leadership in the niche of small prepared spaces.

2. Spatial Sound Tools

Although few people know about it, sound was one of the most important drivers of cinematic impact in the 20th century. It is the sound in the cinema that allows us to feel the volume and space. Sound in VR reaches the next level of importance: it is not only necessary for convincing immersion, but it becomes almost the main tool for managing attention, allowing you to unload the overview from interfaces due to musical solutions. Against the background of 3D graphics, the tools for working with 3D sound are very primitive. In the next two years, the toolkit should be greatly improved: calculation of reflections depending on the quality and location of materials, deeper integration of control and sound programming tools into development platforms. nine0003

3. Light field rendering and texture stitching technologies

Light is almost the most important tool in increasing the believability of a picture in a virtual environment, especially when it is possible to look at objects from different angles. In terms of performance, calculating light reflections is an incredibly expensive process. Fortunately, technologies for creating light fields are developing. This allows you to prepare the scene in advance for moving through it in a much higher quality.

At the same time, methods of shooting the light fields of scenes or actors are developing, making it possible to achieve a high level of photorealism, which work not only from one angle, but also when moving in space. nine0003

4. Tracking the user’s gaze

First, the gaze is a very fast and natural tool for interacting with the virtual environment. Secondly, it allows you to apply the technology of focused rendering (foveated rendering), which uses the phenomenon that a person does not distinguish much with peripheral vision. Thus, the system allows you to focus valuable computer resources on drawing graphics of those objects on which we are focused, and not on unnecessary details. Thirdly, tracking the direction of the gaze allows you to make interaction with virtual characters much more emotional and personal. nine0003

5. Headsets with 4k resolution

The current resolution of VR helmets at 2-2.5k (1-1.25k for each eye) leaves much to be desired — from such a close distance, even with an untrained eye, it is easy to «see pixels». On the horizon of 2-4 years, it is also worth waiting for the release of a wave of helmets with a resolution of 4000 pixels. Although a really high-quality picture in VR is 8000 pixels, already 4000 will make it really realistic. The first 4k helmets are already on sale, but so far they are more likely to be prototypes. For these helmets to show themselves, the next generation of computers / graphics cards must also appear. nine0003

Technology will be followed by content development. When the first movies were made at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, directors and producers tried to recreate theater or magic tricks on the screen. It had some success, but quickly got bored. The real breakthrough in cinema came when, by the 1920s, the film industry had mastered the moving camera, shooting the same scene from different angles, and meaningful editing. Computer games have gone from the first slot machines (Pong) to the first hit on consoles (Adventure) in 7-8 years, that is, almost three times faster. nine0003

A similar evolution is taking place in VR/AR, only faster. At first, the players tried to implement classic game mechanics, but realized that many of them are not suitable for VR. Now the development of technologies and tools expand the possibilities of creators, we should expect many innovative artistic solutions that will allow you to fully experience the power of the format and will be possible only in it. In 2017-2020, we have every chance to see an analogue of Citizen Kane in VR, and with it a revolution in the entertainment market.