… indexed Quest (day 5) …

… the muscle ache is gone.

And the AMVR controller straps arrived!

Full disclosure – after my last post a Facebook friend from AMVR contacted me and offered to pay for the straps in return for a review, so I got the straps for free.
That won’t influence my review … but the fact that the very first round of beat saber I played with them was 195/195 hits for the first time might.
And given that I now saved almost 25€ I bought Beat Saber as my first Quest game.

So how did the controller straps do? Actually quite nicely! I can completely open my hands and the controllers stay in place and don’t feel like they drop at any moment. That they are lightweight without a strong force feedback motor certainly helps.

I especially like that they have different straps you can pick from when assembling everything. So you get 2 white, 1 red and 1 blue strap and I went for the Beat Saber color scheme. So now I can see which controller goes where by color.

The one thing I am doubtful about is the spring clasp, it seemed a bit simple and I am in wait and see mode if it still holds the strap well 6 months from now.
And obviously the extra grip does make the whole controller a bit thicker, but at least for my big hands that doesn’t hurt at all. It was certainly a lot more comfortable than the one that is on the way back to Amazon!

I am quite happy with it!

Now there is more in the package! A nose piece that I didn’t bother with and that I am not entirely sure how to use. I already have the silicon cover that I am happy with.

And then there is the lens cover … and I failed to get it in properly. Seems too big. Maybe I need to cut something or just fold it. No clue. I put it back into the package together with the remaining straps and the nose piece – got a Quest carry case in the mail from China anyway and hope that will make any lens protection obsolete.

 

Advertisement

… Quest Day 4 – first Loot …

Today I just spend a short while as my couch trained muscles decided they still need more rest.

So I went in with just a single round of Beat Saber (almost beat my own record) and then jumped into Sports Scramble.

But before I did that I first added a couple of accessoires that arrived today in the mail!

The first was a Carplink Silicon Mask because I wanted something that is easier to clean! At 14.99€ it was not exactly cheap, but right now there are not that many offerings and I am quite pleased with it. Snugs right on and I wasn’t even forced to remove the inside mask. But replacement takes too long to do in a demo setting for every user – so cleaning them with an anti-bacterial wipe seems like the best way to go. Also reduced the nose light leak a bit, but not entirely.

You can buy it here in Germany from Amazon (I don’t get a dime!):
https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B07WVBYPDM/ref

The second was a controller cover that was supposed to add an Index like ability to let go of the controller. It was 18.99€ and went into the return process of Amazon right away because the strap was too small and the holder (blue circle) was not connected to the base in a reliable manner, so pulling it tight with just one hand was not possible and the second hand needed was kinda busy.
Complete design failure and I won’t even share the link.

Instead I ordered an alternative for 24.99€ that should arrive tomorrow:
https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B07X33DW1Z/ref

The Sport Scramble demo was kind of fun, though I did feel it could give me a tennis arm even without the need of a physical racket. Not sure it would be good for my joints as my movements where nowhere near as smooth as with beat saber and I didn’t dare to step to the side a lot in my limited Playspace.

But the real game breaker for me was a game mechanic where you get a new ball or racket replacement when a mario kart style random item box was hit. This happens constantly and instead of just instant switch your ball/racket it goes into an animation to pick your random new thingie that breaks the gameflow.
It really took the fun out of what could have otherwise been a cool game to me. I do see a ton of potential in ball/racket games in VR though!

That’s it. I would have loved to play a lot more Beat Saber today. Given that I am still in the “need a perfect run in the demo” phase I believe the full version could be a serious fitness asset to me!