Top 10 Funniest Moments in VR Gaming

Virtual Reality (VR) is still relatively new, and its gaming application is even newer. The first headset suitable for VR gaming was the Oculus Rift, which was not commercially available until 2016. Developers expected immediate demand for VR games and headsets. Actually, the VR gaming market grew slowly at first.

There were issues with motion sickness and the delay between a player’s action and the response to the headset (called “latency” in jargon). When Valve released Half Life: Alyx in 2020, the developers had fixed some of these issues. Headsets got cheaper and the range of games increased. Google has introduced a range of cardboard headphones, bringing the price down to an affordable level for everyone.

As people interact with a virtual world, their reactions are often fun to watch. The reason why we find VR gamers so much fun to watch is easy to find. The players are immersed in a situation that we can perhaps see on a monitor, knowing what is coming and that the game is completely fake. For the player, the world of VR is real, even though deep down they know it’s just a game. These are our ten funniest moments in VR gaming.

Related: Top 10 things that will shatter your perception of reality

10 A screaming good time

In this video, the player repeatedly tells himself that he doesn’t like what is happening to him. Judging by his reactions, this is undoubtedly true, but it raises the question of why he doesn’t remove his headphones. We will see other videos that make us ask the same question. I guess the answer must be that he wants to see what happens next and is afraid of looking weak if he gives up.

Note that the man does a fair amount of yelling. What good do you think he will do that? Screaming is not rational, so why do we do it when we are afraid?

The amygdala is a structure in the center of the brain that processes emotions triggered by fear. A cry in the amygdala makes our brain more alert and increases our power of analysis. This can help you escape from a haunted house, but it will help you a lot if you jump out of a plane and your parachute doesn’t open.

Still, it’s fun to see people react in a primitive way.

9 down the rabbit hole

You have to admire mom’s persistence in this clip. She is willing to try virtual reality, although she is almost scared to death. Her family finds her antics funny because they know she is safe at home and not where she thinks she is. Of course, her mom would know this too if she could think rationally about the situation. But the thing about virtual reality is that it affects the brain on a more primitive level.

In Lewis Carroll’s enduring classic novel Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Alice follows the White Rabbit to its burrow and finds herself in a surreal and meaningless world. Her experience doesn’t help her much in a place where her rules of logic often don’t apply. Very similar to the experience of putting on a VR headset.

Mom has gone down the rabbit hole and, on one level, her brain is convinced that this is a real experience.

8 this game has teeth

The girl here is a bit cautious about what her boyfriend tries to persuade her to do. She’s honest enough to admit that she hasn’t played before, so she doesn’t quite know what to expect. The girl has experience with virtual reality games, so she is aware that this underwater world is artificial.

Still, sometimes primitive emotions come to the surface. This game is distinguished by the fact that the player has no control over what happens to him. She is in a protective cage and is warned that something is coming. Like many of our players, she says that she doesn’t like what is happening. Still, there’s not much she can do about it if she wants to finish the game.

One interesting benefit of virtual reality gaming is that it can help people overcome phobias. If people can have fun with sharks, it can help them overcome their fear.

7 Going into the deep end

This one is interesting because it’s a challenge shared by people you know who would probably be too ready to scoff at failure. As you will see, the premise of this game is simple. Players have to walk on a short board suspended high above a city. If they make it to the end, they can go off the end and fall to the ground. The graphics clearly show an imaginary location; there is no attempt to trick players into thinking this is real.

Our brains are divided into reptilian (or primitive), limbic, and neocortex (although some use different terms). When our players walk the board, the reptile section is dominant. This is the most primitive of the three parts and controls vital functions such as balance, respiration, heart rate, and temperature. Rationality is not part of its function; it deals with basic survival.

The dominance of the reptilian brain explains the reactions of gamers in all of our videos and explains why those of us who use more rational parts of the brain find VR gaming fun.

6 releasing steam

Although the player assures himself that he is safe inside a room, rationality flies out the window once he has his VR headset on. He babbles from time to time and curses a lot. There’s a lot of swearing in some of our videos, and most are louder than the occasional “damn.”

Swearing is a release of security that allows us to relieve tension, and the stronger the curse, the more effective the action. This player is always clear that his experience is completely artificial, removing his helmet to take a breather before diving back in. A good idea if you start to feel overwhelmed by the experience. But our player can’t resist diving back in. The world of virtual reality is challenging, fun and addictive.

5 Security First

Here, we see a mix of experiences from people who aren’t used to VR gaming. We have seen them in other videos. The players close their eyes, scream and contort their bodies as the spectators laughingly remind them that they are safe.

What is particularly striking about this video is the number of times people bump into objects in the real world. This can be dangerous, especially for inexperienced users immersed in a virtual world with no spatial relation to reality.

I guess the lesson is that you shouldn’t use VR technology unless you’re in a safe environment. This is one of the reasons why some players prefer to play in arcades. There they are monitored and can immediately share their experiences with others.

4 this game is sick

This compilation backs up what we’ve said about other videos. At one point, one of the players says, “I get dizzy,” and this may be a problem with the VR technology.

Many gamers report feeling dizzy or nauseated when using VR headsets. Basically, this is the difference between what the eyes are telling the player and what the body is actually doing in real space. For example, if a player is climbing stairs in a game, but the body knows that it is actually on a flat floor, the player may become disoriented.

This feeling can be accentuated by something under the impressive name of “convergence-accommodation conflict.” This occurs when, in VR, your eyes focus on something that appears to be far away but is actually on a screen right in front of your eyes.

But seeing people twirling and staggering as if they’ve gone too far at the Christmas party can be comical.

3 Don’t do VR alone

This video highlights the fact that people shouldn’t just be using virtual reality. You might find—in fact, you probably will—that everyone else in the room is cracking up. You don’t like it when you’re going through a terrifying experience. It does not matter, you will have your turn to laugh at others, and it is better to be safe than sorry.

I wonder if it would be a good idea to build a proximity sensor into the VR headset so that people are warned if they are too close to a real object.

2 With Metaverse, it’s only going to get better

The commentator on this video points out that space is important. He is talking about having enough space to play safely. It is a point we have already made, and it is certainly true. However, in virtual reality, two different spaces collide: the real world and the imaginary one.

The fact that the Facebook group has changed its name to Meta tells us something about the limitless ambition that drives the company. Now he is dedicated to building a Metaverse. The idea behind a metaverse seems to be the construction of an alternate reality that is internally logical but allows users to perform actions in the “real” world.

Gaming will undoubtedly be a major feature of the Metaverse, and companies are developing new technologies to make the experience more real. More real and more fun for everyone.

1 fast food futures

I don’t know if “funny” is the right word to describe this latest clip. “Surreal” could be better. The normal activity of ordering a meal at McDonald’s is turned into an interactive shooter with first-class graphics. Duke Nukem.

The only limits in VR are the limits we put on our own imagination. The gaming world is changing, and the changes aren’t just limited to video games. Virtual reality can change the way we interact with the world. The way we live, work, play, and relate to others can change dramatically.