I’ve had my Oculus Rift for about a year now and have had some time to really try it with several games. Overall I think it’s an amazing piece of hardware. It truely adds to the immersion level in almost everything I have played. My biggest complaint is of course the resolution. In flight sims and racing or driving sims the immersion is amazing but it’s difficult to read the instrument gauges or signs. Most of the time the immersion of feeling like you are actually in the plane or car or truck is more of a positive than the inability to read gauges is a negative but once the initial wow factor wears off then the resolution issues really become an issue. The head tracking has always been fantastic and very responsive. I don’t think the screen door effect is that big of a deal either. The headset gets a little warm so a fan blowing toward your face really helps of you are using the headset for any length of time. Some games look sharp and clear while others look pixelated and washed out. Overall, I don’t regret purchasing the Rift and am glad I got to experience it. I will say that the resolution issues are a serious problem though. I’m sure this technology will continue to improve and can’t wait for the next gen VR headsets. Once they get the resolution up it will be incredible for sim racing and flying.

It's hard not to be impressed with these VR units, for a few hundred dollars you can get experiences you never could just a couple years ago. You can go anywhere with google earth, explore space, get exposure therapy for phobias, etc. All is not perfect though so let's go through some of it.

The resolution could be better, when you first looking into it, people talk about the resolution, and it's true it's not great, however once you are "in" there and your brain starts doing things, you completely forget about it. It's absolutely amazing how well it "tricks" your brain into thinking things are real. The other issue is higher resolution means you need more graphics card, and even at the current resolution you need a pretty expensive graphics card. You can easily drop $1200-$1800 on a machine that has a higher end graphics card to run the system smoothly at full frame rate. Currently none of the Mac's have enough video oomph for the Oculus but it sounds like they are working on it.

It really does trick your brain, and it's scary how well. I actually got mine to see if I could exposure therapy a fear of heights and it absolutely works, almost too well. There are several heights experiences and when I first started they all instantly triggered my fear of heights. You can find yourself flinching from objects that might hit you and bracing for impacts. The other issue in some games, roller coasters etc. can be motion sickness (or they call it VR sickness, but same feeling). The roller coaster rides can be real enough to your brain your stomach can drop out and feel turns etc.
and I can pretty quickly get motion sick after a few minutes on those games. However, for most games it's not an issue for me.

Overall if you don't mind the expense, or if you already have a gaming PC with a big video card, it's an amazing experience. It would be great if it was cheaper, or they had a dedicated PC/graphics unit they sold with it, or it could offer higher resolution without needing $1000+ graphics card etc. but overall it's pretty amazing what you get for $500.

‎ One thing they don't mention is if you do not have the 5mm DVI Video Cable or similar way to connect both the Oculus HDMI cord and your monitor to your video card at the same time, you cannot use the virtual desktop programs, or switch to your VR display while playing games like ARK and others, that allow you to use VR, but don't require it to play. As far as the Oculus goes I recommend you wait to see witch one of these Third-Party VR Headset providers will come out on top in the next few years. Your really not going to miss much until VR becomes the standard medium for video games or one or more of the major game producers starts putting out games built from the ground up for VR. In summery: Oculus is a fun system to use, but there really isn't very much for it; yet. Be sure to order a Cable Matters SuperSpeed USB 3.0 Type A Male to Female Active Extension Cable 5 Meters/16.4 Feet or similar device, if your planning on standing to play, using Three Sensor Tracking, or using the Oculus Touch Controllers, your going to need it. Also if you plan on sharing the Rift headset, by witch I mean Letting Anyone else use it, Ever; You may want to grab a set of the Disposable Oculus Rift Mask Inserts.T&B Disposable Oculus Rift CV1 VR Mask Hygiene White Replaceable Blinder Replacement Accessories for Oculus Rift Virtual Reality Headset 50 Pc Its kind of gross when you go to put it on after someone and its cold and damp from their sweat collecting on the removable band. Speaking of this band, the one that comes with the set dose a great job of keeping sweat from your eyes while playing. After a 10 hour playing session my first day I felt no pain nor did I have any lasting marks. The headset its self is quite lightweight and comfortable when wearing it. Three strap system, goes on like a gasmask for a tight and comfortable fit. Straps tighten quite well, I over tighten because I enjoy a snug, unmoving fit and have not noticed any overall looseness in the straps . There is only a slight indention in my face from having to slide my glasses into the headset before I put it on. Product Note: If your glasses do not fit inside the headset there is unfortunately no way around this. Some people report not having a problem with picture quality, but if your vision is anything like mine, terrible without my glasses, you'll need them. You should try to find a couple real life systems, Oculus rift, HTC VIVE, etc., to see if your frames will fit. The eye slot on the Rift is fairly wide and as long as your frames are not to big you should be fine. For most tittles I can see fairly well without my glasses, however, your more graphics orientated programs, such as visual novels for example, I feel like I'm missing something. There is a way to adjust the lenses some, and it helps but its not the enhanced, or at least better than my own, vision I was hoping for.

The best game I have played so far is a free one, that came with the set, at the time, Robo Recall. (The set I got was the Oculus Rift Virtual Reality headset + Oculus Touch Controllers + Oculus Rift Earphones Bundle, but Robo Recall says it comes with any purchase of the touch controllers.) I recommend you play this game first and focus on the movement system. Its strange at first, but after you get used to it you will be back on your way to becoming the beast you were in other console and PC games. The Robo Recall movement system is pretty standard for the Oculus games I've played, (the other was on a track like old school arcade shooters), but if you haven't played any VR games its going to be weird at first. Its what I see most people having trouble with when I let them play for the first time.

P.S I am not selling anything or being paid for this review. Products I have linked are not mine and you should
definitely check for better prices, at least, because I just linked the first ones I saw. Make sure you have at least Three, 3.0 USB slots (They're blue FYI) if your using Oculus Touch. Only one 3.0 USB and a HDMI slot in your graphics card are all you really need hardware wise if you only plan on using the headset. Mine came with an X-Box one controller and wireless adapter for my PC. This was a very nice addition I was not expecting. In conclusion, if you want to get in early and be ready for what, I predict, will be one of several innovations in the next Generation of Gaming consoles, Then choose Oculus Rift. (We need the gamers for Versus and co-op games.) Hope this helps.
{If you have the Oculus Rift add me ~LordGrimm}