I won't get excited for virtual reality until someone invents a device where I don't need to move in the real world in order to move in the virtual world. The current way VR is done is so restrictive in terms of what the player can do that I won't bother to get excited. I mean, sure, the Omni is cool, but it's not really practical as far as movement in the game world goes. Sure, it allows you to walk, run, even jump, but it doesn't allow you to move like you would in real life. Of course there are other solutions such as omnidirectional treadmills. Costs aside, they are still impractical and dangerous. Obviously, you can't have one in your living room. Even if you could, if you were on one an Oculus Rift on your head, movement would be awkward and you'd be very likely to fall over. Because the reality is that you rely so much on your vision, that if there is even a tiny discrepancy between the real world and the game world (e.g. distance from the ground or latency) you can't move properly because what you see doesn't correspond to what really happens. Finally, even if we had some magical virtual reality where the platform at which you move would be perfectly in sync with the game, let's face it, it wouldn't be so cool as you might think. You would get exhausted for running, you would still get severely hurt trying to do cool tricks in the game. When I imagine real virtual reality, I imagine a device that takes signals from my brain and translates those to actions in the game world and what I see is projected straight to my visual cortex. In essence, you would be sleeping while playing the game, allowing you to do anything. That's the only way gaming will ever evolve from using mouse and keyboard or controller as far as hardcore gaming is concerned (casual gaming has already fully adopted motion based controls). When do I think it will happen? Not for a while. If there is one thing in nature we have very little understanding about, it's our brain. Of course there are great examples of technology that allows brain signals to be translated to actions on a computer, but nothing to the extent that it could be applied to games. Until then, I'll be very happy with my mouse, keyboard, and gamepad.

I want a chamber (kinda like a cryo tube) where you are connected to the game via brainwaves and you are essentially dreaming the game. You have complete control over your character, you can feel all the feels, smell all the smells, and see all the sights. Of course with that kind of tech seeing organs and blood up close and horrifying smells would be unpleasant and could be optimized but will still be extremely immersive. That's the gaming I want. And yes, the side effects and cons are substantial.

It's already been done. Thanks to Porn Oculus will advance quicker.

Our eyes couldn't take that kind of light. You'd go blind in just a few hours at most.