‘Half-Life 2’ mod underlines a big problem with VR

Because the more immersive a game is, the stupider you look in the real world.

The following is a mod for the PC classic Half-Life 2, one that is being prepped for the upcoming Oculus Rift virtual reality gaming headset. As you’ll see, it allows for a truly engrossing experience, and that’s legit awesome. But at the cost of looking like a total idiot in the process…

One of the biggest complaints about the Kinect is how silly one looks when playing a game. Not that hopping up and down and flailing your arms is all that much more dignified than sitting there like a lump a pushing buttons on a controller.

But the mod above takes things to a whole new level. And what’s the number one rule of making an ass out of yourself? Being able to tell when people are pointing and laughing, and therefore when to pull the plug.

The creator of the video was smart enough to not include any footage of what the player looks like in the real world by the end, as to tantalize and engross the viewer, by emphasizing what the experience will be like, and the cost that comes with such immersion.

Sorry, but nice try; the image of the guy spinning around in his bedroom, with an orange plastic gun, is a bit hard to ignore or forget.