Microsoft has a strategy, and they are sticking to it. Part of that plan appears to discount VR as a prominent part of what they want to do in the short term, at least according to Albert Penello, Microsoft's Senior Director of Product Management and Planning. Penello told Wired (via WCCFTech) that past experience has taught the company that fully investing in a peripheral that hasn't fully established itself in the market is not a "winning strategy."
Penello said:
"There’s still a tonne of experimentation in VR. That’s not designed to be a backhanded statement. There are obviously consumer products. Moving the problem into the display of your goggles versus the limits of the TV was a result of some of the 3D TV challenges. But VR has so much potential. Is it a viable consumer product? For a certain size of audience.
We learned with Kinect and the Wii that just translating a typical game experience to VR is not a winning strategy. It’s the oddball VR-specific stuff that makes it sing. It wasn’t something we wanted to distract developers with this year."
It makes a lot of sense for Microsoft to be hesitant to jump in on the VR train. When the Kinect came out promising to be the ultimate in Motion Control gaming, it quickly became apparent that the idea was little more than a novelty. Nintendo dropping motion control as a prominent feature of their next console, the Wii U, and a few awkward on-stage E3 Demos didn't exactly help the Motion control cause.
This is not to mention that VR is still fairly costly to acquire and it hasn't yet found its killer app either, so right now it feels more like a luxury than an essential. The Xbox One X is VR-compatible, so it's just a matter of time before Microsoft dives in. For now, gamers will just have to settle for true 4K console gaming. First world problems, amirite?
