I just played my i-racer...and all of a sudden Virtual Reality seems like the future of gaming. That is rather odd though, because Virtual Reality gaming has been on the cards for decades. Its been the stuff of science fiction for years, heck its even been on Star- Trek, Red Dwarf and blockbuster movies in the form of Virtual reality training simulators. So why on earth is Virtual reality not here yet? I dont mean somewhere in a Japanese testing room or in some University campus experiment...thats always been going on.I mean here, now, in my living room, in YOUR living room, in everyone's bloody living room!

When I placed my i-racer headset on and got it working, I could hear the sound in my ears, and could see nothing but cars, cars, cars (ok, it was hardly Next Gen graphics...but those complaints were for a previous 'One for the Road...' see GDC 2008). I felt immersed, nothing else was there to distract me. Take away the crappy LCD graphics and I could have been at 'Le Mans'! almost. I really did feel a sense of 'why is gaming not like this all the time?'.
When you play the immersive Call of Duty, Gears of War (as good as that was) or Halo, its great but then there is your wife nagging you or you see the cat taking a pee in the corner of the living room...its too much reality...(is that irony?), I want to ignore all that, block it out and really immerse myself in a gaming world.

Why though is it not here yet? Largely its down to cost. Thats what they say. But I am not sure thats true. What I know is true is that in some parts of the world, technology is released and developed around 10 years ahead of the UK on average. Translated that means Japan is 10 years ahead. Could it be that someone somewhere already has the know-how to produce Virtual Reality gaming? Of course there is..do you honestly believe that it cant be done to at least some degree? So why dont they release it now? Answer, because 'normal' gaming is still alive and buzzing and is making many people a pretty dollar.....and also partly because it may have not been perfected enough to release to mass market....however virtual reality gaming in its true form would end gaming as we know it. Fact. So one day...in the not too distant future it will happen. Who will lead that charge? Nintendo! Nintendo already know that 'Innovation' wins races...and what an innovation VR will be....would they want to miss that boat? It would not surprise me to hear that there is already a deal signed, somewhere, for when VR mass market happens.

Either way, I want VR now....I am ready..bring it home Nintendo