Can Sports Games be Played with VR Devices?

The concept of virtual reality has changed the way we see and experience video games, among other things. With devices such as Oculus Rift, Nintendo Labo, and Sony Playstation VR, we are now able to put ourselves inside the game and become the character.

Therefore, VR gaming is much more active and sometimes requires us to use our entire body to play a video game. When it comes to sports games, you would think that the transition to VR would be almost natural. However, we still don’t see some of the most popular sports video game titles available in VR, or at least not their main features. Why is that so, and will these games be compatible with VR headsets in the future?

Physical Activity Limitations

When you think about it, the biggest obstacle for VR sports games is the actual physical activity a player will be required to do in order to play the game. Your room is not as big as a football or basketball field, so running around freely is an immediate issue. Also, how will the game register whether a move or a shot taken is good enough or not? If it catered to players who are talented at sports, then it wouldn’t be fair to those who are not as talented, and it would be just…well… spots, and the gaming element would be meaningless.

Even if you had more space to work around with and the level of required skill was somehow evened out, there would still be a problem with things like sweating, which would cause you to constantly take off your headset and swipe your eyes and your forehead. Also, nausea would be a real issue, as even some VR games that don’t make you change the perspective that much are nauseating to some people.

Sports That Are Compatible with VR

Although we may not experience football, hockey, baseball, or basketball video games on our VR headsets anytime soon, there are still some sports that work quite well with virtual reality.

For example, bowling VR games exist and are quite popular. They don’t require a lot of movement and your head will mostly be pointing in only one direction. Table tennis is also pretty realistic, as all the moves require you to move only your arms. Another incredibly fun sports video game that’s becoming increasingly popular is dodgeball, and we strongly suggest you try it out.

Conclusion

As VR tech keeps getting better and better, we can honestly expect some major development in connecting sports video games to VR. In any case, making us work out more while playing video games is certainly a move in the positive direction.