What Impact Will HoloLens Have on PC Gaming?

[[Coi] Mr.CLuBBeR]

When physical and virtual worlds collide

Microsoft made a handful of revelations during its press event yesterday, such as that Windows 10 will be a free upgrade for Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 users for the first year, and that Cortana is headed to the desktop. But one of the most intriguing things Microsoft talked about was HoloLens, essentially a head mounted display that splatters holograms all over your living room, or wherever you happen to be wearing it. There are several potentially viable applications for this kind of technology, though the one I'm most curious about is gaming.
You'd have to be blind, deaf, and dumb, and live under a rock the size of Manhattan to have not noticed the industry wide push towards virtual reality, especially in the gaming sector. The name that comes to mind, of course, is Oculus and its Oculus Rift headset. Oculus captured the imagination of gamers and developers alike when it solicited funding on Kickstarter, and now that it's owned by Google, funding is one thing the project should never have to worry about again. Instead, the big question is when will it be ready for mass consumption, followed by what will the experience be like?
So it goes with HoloLens, though let's be careful not to clump the two together. Whereas Oculus Rift and Project Morpheus are VR headsets that cover your entire line of vision so that all you see is a virtual world, HoloLens is different. It's an augmented reality experience, somewhat like Google Glass, though arguably more ambitious. When you wear a HoloLens headset, it fills your real-world environment with virtual objects and overlays, and you can manipulate them. Oh, and in case you're wondering, Oculus founder Palmer Luckey is "Super excited" about HoloLens, further underscoring that these are different products.

Several applications come to mind, like 3D modeling and virtual exploration. And of course PC gaming -- one of the demos Microsoft is fond of showing is Holobuilder. It looks like Minecraft and works like Minecraft, filling your mapped out environment with blocks and bits and pieces that you can then manipulate. I haven't tried it, nor have I experienced HoloLens in person, though I've done my fair share of reading. You can too, and I'd suggest checking our own Jimmy Thang's in-depth impression of HoloLens, along with that of our sister site, PC Gamer.
I agree with Jimmy that HoloLens has the potential to be an all-around transformative technology, but what I wonder is if something like this has the legs to excite developers and gamers alike. I'll go ahead and assume that Microsoft hashes out the hardware challenges so that users don't have to heave a 5-pound battery over their shoulder, and that HoloLens in its finished form will be lightweight, comfortable, and truly wireless. Those are challenges on the design end, and I suspect they'll be figured out.

The bigger roadblock is getting game developers on board to create interesting content, and then convincing gamers that there's something here to be excited about. I'm skeptical, mainly because I wonder about the viability of gamers adopting headsets on a mass scale. I have no doubt there will be a niche audience, but what about mainstream users? Will the price be set at a place where gamers at large can afford to join the HoloLens party, or will this be a high-end experience for gamers with higher levels of disposable income?
If Microsoft can clear that hurdle, then it needs to get developers to make some games that go beyond Minecraft. For me, it's a bit easier to envision gaming on VR headsets like Oculus Rift as opposed to augmented reality gear like HoloLens, but I'm keeping an open mind about it.
My other fear is that gaming will be gimmicky and that the novelty will wear off after the first few titles. If you own a Wii, you know what I'm talking about -- it's fun to flail about in the living room when you first try it, and you'll quickly invite friends over to see what the fuss is about, though after awhile the 'wow' factor diminishes -- I'd much rather pay Skyrim some attention if I only have time for one or the other.

Still, I'm reminded of Populous and how much fun I had with that game several years ago. I think a modernized version would be a prime candidate for something like this, and since your environment dictates the shape and form of the virtual world that's overlayed on top of it, it would be easy to keep things fresh. A more modern (though still dated) example would be Black & White, another God game that seems like a natural fit.
I'm sure there are other potentially fun scenarios, and it will be up to developers to figure them out and then deliver on whatever experience they're shooting for. Though this technology has been around for some time, I consider this new territory, and only by exploring it will we find out if there's something here for gamers to be stoked about.
Finally, if not HoloLens, I wonder what other hardware will help shape the future of PC gaming. Don't get me wrong -- I see myself wielding a mouse and keyboard for the foreeable future, but if the HoloLens earns itself more than just a footnote in the history of gadgets, it could inspire a slew of add-ons and peripherals, as well as competing headsets that go beyond the place where HoloLens is currently at.
In any event, the short answer, quite simply, is that I don't know what impact HoloLens will have on PC gaming, and while I'm skeptical it will transform the industry, I'm willing to keep an open mind, or at least indulge in some novelty fun (somebody please develop a Populous-type game for this!).
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