A Big Name In Video Games Thinks Oculus Rift And Others Are Just A 'Fad'

A co-creator of Doom, the popular science-fiction, first-person shooter by id Software, had some interesting comments about what others consider to be the future of video gaming.

"[Virtual reality] is going away from the way games are being developed and pushed as they go back into multiplayer and social stuff. VR is kind of a step back, it's a fad." said John Romero said during an interview with Ars technica. "Maybe in the future there will be a better VR that gets you out of isolation mode." 

He compared virtual reality hardware like the Oculus Rift to other non-standard gaming devices and said they have trouble catching on for one reason.

"Really the best optimal design for games is minimal input for maximum output," he said. "That's the way that games work best. When you watch people playing with a mouse and keyboard, you see them barely moving their fingers and hands, but on-screen you see crazy movement and all kinds of stuff. Everyone always goes for the path of least resistance, and that kind of input is it. Until it can fix the path of least resistance, I can't see how VR is going to be something that's popular." 

Romero's opinion on virtual reality gaming comes as a small shock, since fellow Doom creator John Carmack obviously doesn't feel the same way.

He's been one of virtual reality's biggest "boosters," according to Ars technica, and joined Oculus Rift as its chief technology officer last year.

Oculus told Ars techinca at E3 that it expects to sell only one million units of its first consumer version of the headset, but founder Palmer Luckey has suggested VR displays will completely replace flat panel monitors within 20 years.