Here’s why the Oculus Quest 2 is the ultimate Christmas present
OPINION: Thanks to the ongoing chip shortage, it’s going to be trickier than ever to find all your desired Christmas gifts this year but if you’re able to track one down, I can easily vouch for the Oculus Quest 2 as being the ideal present for anyone to receive this Christmas.
As we’ve all had to endure an existence that’s now largely relegated to staying at home, and the thought of travelling abroad is still a precarious one at best, video games have proven to be tremendous avenues of escapism, letting us forget about the daily grind and step into the shoes of someone completely different from ourselves. For the escapism offered on consoles however, it is nothing compared to the otherworldly nature of putting on an Oculus Quest 2.
With absolutely need to hook the headset up to a PC, the Quest 2 has everything you need to enjoy cable-free VR from the get-go. Just set up the virtual boundary around you using the Touch Controllers bundled in with the headset, and you can start enjoying everything that the Oculus ecosystem has to offer.
On the gaming front (and for the more adventurous out there), we recommend adding Resident Evil 4 VR as the first title in your Oculus library. The classic survival horror game that inspired a generation, Resident Evil 4 has been given a whole new perspective, moving the action from third to first-person and making the scares just that more terrifying.
If you thought that Resident Evil was tense before, just wait until you’re surrounded by deadly enemies and you have to physically reload your gun with the Touch Controllers – this is horror on a whole new level. If the thought of being scared half to death doesn’t sound too appealing then don’t worry, the Quest 2 also excels in low-key games that are both relaxing and easy to get into.
My personal favourite on that front is Eleven Table Tennis which is a simple simulation of the popular miniaturised game but with exceptionally realistic physics. You’ll get so drawn in by the allure of table tennis without the faff of chasing after rogue balls that you won’t want to stop playing. Of course, gaming is just one equation of the VR experience – thanks to VR optimised versions of YouTube, Netflix and Prime Video, there’s an endless amount of content to enjoy.
360-degree travel videos are particularly brilliant for letting you take a globetrotting trip from the comfort of your own living room. Alternatively, being able to watch a YouTube video on a gigantic scale can make it feel like you have your own private cinema screen at home.
With the ability to enjoy entertainment and gaming in a whole new way, I can’t think of any other tech item this year that would make for a better Christmas present than the Oculus Quest 2. At the very least, if the family dinner starts to veer into uncomfortable conversation then you can always pop the headset on and pretend that you’re on a rollercoaster instead. What could be better than that?
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.