The Oculus Quest 2 just had its Nintendo 64 moment — and that's a big deal

The Oculus Quest two only had its Nintendo 64 moment — and that'due south a big deal

Screengrab from viral Nintendo 64 Christmas unboxing video.

(Image credit: raw64life | YouTube)

Scott Galloway, professor of marketing at NYU'southward Stern School of Business concern, has some harsh words for the Oculus Quest two. He's gone and then far as to call it a sexual depressant, an object that's so unappealing it will prevent humans from begetting children.

VR is a rubber ensuring yous will never conceive a child, equally no i will want to get near you. (In this example, ensuring zip gets done every bit colleagues won't want to work with you.) https://t.co/RMADmvim3OAugust 20, 2021

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It's a harsh, if humorous take on the globe of virtual reality, one that's becoming increasingly dominated past Mark Zuckerberg's Meta. The Oculus Quest two, now named Meta Quest two, is the most attainable VR headset on the market. At $300, it can play a good majority of titles on our all-time VR games list, as well every bit social VR experiences similar VRChat. And information technology can practice and so without being plugged in to an expensive gaming PC.

Merely still, it was long seen as a niche product, simply for those that were into cutting edge gaming or simulation racing. But this past Christmas, videos started flooding the cyberspace of Quest ii unboxings and funny first experiences. Information technology's clear that Mark Zuckerberg's VR headset was the must-have gaming gadget of the flavour.

One item video began circulating on Reddit of a kid opening up his Christmas gifts. The video, posted on a subreddit that we can't name as information technology violates our manner guidelines, shows a kid frantically opening upwards his Christmas gift to find an Oculus Quest two within. He then proceeds to totally freak out.

You tin find the video here. Warning: refuse the volume.

Seeing this kid screech like a mythological banshee and so proceed to "Naruto run" across the living room filled me with second-hand embarrassment and joy. I was embarrassed considering I could easily see myself equally that child. But I felt happy for him as he probably experienced a level of happiness I oasis't felt since I too was a child opening up a highly desired souvenir.

Thankfully, no video of me engaging in such a level of hysteria exists online. Merely it did remind me of another viral video from nearly ii decades prior, the famous Nintendo 64 video. In it, a blood brother and sister freak out just as much over receiving Nintendo'due south cartridge-based console.

And here's the affair. The Nintendo 64 was a proper mainstream gaming device. It'due south gone downward as an important office of gaming history, bringing genre-defining titles such as Super Mario 64 and The Fable of Zelda: Ocarina of Fourth dimension. I never really considered the Quest ii to be in the same league equally the N64. Simply every bit I continued browsing through subreddits, I came to see the VR headset graduate to the next level of mainstream. And I could tell by the number of posts complaining virtually kids ruining online multiplayer.

(Although Meta does non permit kids under the age of 13 from making an account, i could play games on a Quest headset using a parent's Facebook page.)

I post pleaded with parents to not let little kids play multiplayer games. In the Reddit thread, user Ok_Priority_3281 said kids are "normally toxic, annoying and stupid."

In another Reddit thread, user johnnydaggers claims that kids have made using apps such as Repeat Arena and VRChat downright caustic, insisting he would sometimes find himself "surrounded with kids spewing racism, sexism, sexually explicit conversations, etc."

"I suspect it'due south due to a mix of immaturity crossed with anonymity and a sense of disembodiment while inhabiting a virtual avatar," said user johnnydaggers.

In fact, johnnydaggers went so far as to make a mail service on Oculus' User Vox forums calculation suggestions on how the platform can deal with mass boyish toxicity.

As frustrating as it might be for Quest ii's early on adopters, the cat is out of the virtual pocketbook. During Black Fri, the Quest 2 was a top-selling item on Amazon. Retailers like All-time Buy had Quest 2 headsets stocked to the ceiling. Any recent flood of toxic kids and teens into VR spaces is indicative of how far Meta has been able to push VR into the mainstream. At this point, no level of online pleading with parents will help control the influx of young'uns craving the tiniest smidges of agency afforded to them. And allow's face information technology, parents probably want a interruption from some of those kids too.

Much to the chagrin of Professor Galloway, the Quest ii has gone mainstream. Whether it volition lead to a birthrate crunch two decades from now remains to exist seen.

Imad Khan is news editor at Tom's Guide, helping directly the day's breaking coverage. Prior to working at the site, Imad was a full-time freelancer, with bylines at the New York Times, the Washington Post and ESPN. Outside of work, yous can find him sitting blankly in forepart of a Discussion document trying badly to write the first pages of a new volume.