Having recently bought another PSVR to train myself to get better at playing on it [I normally feel sick super fast] I thought I’d give Beat Sabre a go. It’s a game where the two PlayStation move controllers become light sabres and you have to destroy blocks as they move towards you in time with the music. You end up a little tired and if you complete a level well then it’s quite satisfying. It’s a bit like that disco dancing arcade game but for people who don’t like moving their feet.
Here’s what my view looks like, except for the fact that inside the PSVR it’s a wraparound view.
It’s interesting to see that video as I wouldn’t have said I move around that much and that my view tends to be quite static and then you realise that’s an illusion caused by the brain to make you able to see things while you are moving. I would imagine that VR could be used for some lovely research into how the brain works.
This next view is what I look like outside the VR world.
I think a game like this is a little more of a workout than the Nintendo Wii but overall it’s absolutely nowhere near as good as getting out for a run.
I have had some issues where the right hand controller isn’t detected and I think that’s down to the outside light coming through the front door, it’s simple to fix.
Rock Band and Guitar Hero had a training area to try and get up to speed with the hard stuff and I might have to slow the songs down in Beat Sabre to get the extreme version playable and practiced. After getting used to a song I reckon I’ll be ok for full speed. Let’s wait and see.
The game is officially called Beat Saber but that’s plainly spelt wrong. Hence nearly everything I’ve written is Sabre. It’s the English way of spelling the French word. The following is from the Online Etymological Dictionary [a favourite website of mine].
saber (n.)
type of single-edged sword, 1670s, from French sabre “heavy, curved sword” (17c.), alteration of sable(1630s), from German Sabel, Säbel, probably ultimately from Hungarian szablya “saber,” literally “tool to cut with,” from szabni “to cut.”
The Balto-Slavic words (Russian sablya, Polish szabla “sword, saber,” Lithuanian šoblė) perhaps also are from German. Italian sciabla seems to be directly from Hungarian. Saber-rattling “militarism” is attested from 1922. Saber-toothed cat (originally tiger) is attested from 1849.