05-03-2019, 06:18 AM
Video: Digital Foundry Takes A Technical Look At Zelda And Mario Odyssey In VR
<div><div class="media_block"><a href="http://images.nintendolife.com/b7199a0b0cca0/large.jpg"><img src="http://images.nintendolife.com/b7199a0b0cca0/small.jpg" class="media_thumbnail"></a></div>
<figure class="picture strip"><a title="Zelda" href="http://images.nintendolife.com/b7199a0b0cca0/zelda.original.jpg"><img src="http://images.nintendolife.com/b7199a0b0cca0/zelda.900x.jpg" alt="Zelda"></a></figure>
<p>When we first heard about the possibility of reliving both <strong><a href="http://www.nintendolife.com/games/nintendo-switch/legend_of_zelda_breath_of_the_wild">The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild</a></strong> and <a href="http://www.nintendolife.com/games/nintendo-switch/super_mario_odyssey"><strong>Super Mario Odyssey</strong></a> – two of our favourite Switch games – in VR, we were incredibly excited. Nintendo’s latest <a href="http://www.nintendolife.com/games/nintendo-switch/nintendo_labo_toy-con_04_vr_kit">Labo kit</a> has made it all possible, and for the price, the kit itself is <a href="http://www.nintendolife.com/reviews/nintendo-switch/nintendo_labo_toy-con_04_vr_kit">pretty darn good</a>, but Mario and Zelda in VR didn’t turn out quite as well as we’d hoped.</p>
<p>Mario’s first VR experience <a href="http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2019/04/hands_on_super_mario_odyssey_vr_-_a_non-essential_but_pleasant_return_trip">isn’t actually too bad</a> at all, even if we wouldn’t exactly call it an essential one, but Breath of the Wild’s VR upgrade had us <a href="http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2019/04/hands_on_legend_of_zelda_breath_of_the_wild_vr_made_us_want_to_puke">feeling physically sick</a>. The likely reasoning for this was always down to the fact that the game can’t handle the necessary frame rate and resolution to run smoothly in VR, but tech wizards Digital Foundry have now explored those very statistics to see just how well (or not) it really performs.</p>
<p>The compromises of Nintendo’s budget VR setup are pretty clear right from the off, and the boost in performance needed to run Zelda’s scenes twice (once for each eye) takes the base game’s usual 30 frames per second down to somewhere between 20 and 30fps, occasionally jumping around within that range and causing motion sickness issues.</p>
<p>The Switch’s native 720p display also causes some problems, especially when – again – Zelda’s VR version takes a bigger hit. Digital Foundry reports that the area directly in front of your eyes is being displayed at around 480p with resolution increasing along the periphery. You can see the full rundown for yourself via the video below.</p>
<aside class="object object-youtube">
<div class="youtube"><iframe class='youtube-player' type='text/html' width='900' height='507' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/QfU0DyhiyP4?version=3&rel=0&fs=1&autohide=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=0&iv_load_policy=1&hd=1&wmode=transparent' allowfullscreen='true' style='border:0;'></iframe></div>
</aside>
<p><em>How have you found your experiences with Mario and Zelda in VR? Have you had any issues, or have you enjoyed your time playing them? Let us know in the comments below.</em></p>
</div>
<div><div class="media_block"><a href="http://images.nintendolife.com/b7199a0b0cca0/large.jpg"><img src="http://images.nintendolife.com/b7199a0b0cca0/small.jpg" class="media_thumbnail"></a></div>
<figure class="picture strip"><a title="Zelda" href="http://images.nintendolife.com/b7199a0b0cca0/zelda.original.jpg"><img src="http://images.nintendolife.com/b7199a0b0cca0/zelda.900x.jpg" alt="Zelda"></a></figure>
<p>When we first heard about the possibility of reliving both <strong><a href="http://www.nintendolife.com/games/nintendo-switch/legend_of_zelda_breath_of_the_wild">The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild</a></strong> and <a href="http://www.nintendolife.com/games/nintendo-switch/super_mario_odyssey"><strong>Super Mario Odyssey</strong></a> – two of our favourite Switch games – in VR, we were incredibly excited. Nintendo’s latest <a href="http://www.nintendolife.com/games/nintendo-switch/nintendo_labo_toy-con_04_vr_kit">Labo kit</a> has made it all possible, and for the price, the kit itself is <a href="http://www.nintendolife.com/reviews/nintendo-switch/nintendo_labo_toy-con_04_vr_kit">pretty darn good</a>, but Mario and Zelda in VR didn’t turn out quite as well as we’d hoped.</p>
<p>Mario’s first VR experience <a href="http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2019/04/hands_on_super_mario_odyssey_vr_-_a_non-essential_but_pleasant_return_trip">isn’t actually too bad</a> at all, even if we wouldn’t exactly call it an essential one, but Breath of the Wild’s VR upgrade had us <a href="http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2019/04/hands_on_legend_of_zelda_breath_of_the_wild_vr_made_us_want_to_puke">feeling physically sick</a>. The likely reasoning for this was always down to the fact that the game can’t handle the necessary frame rate and resolution to run smoothly in VR, but tech wizards Digital Foundry have now explored those very statistics to see just how well (or not) it really performs.</p>
<p>The compromises of Nintendo’s budget VR setup are pretty clear right from the off, and the boost in performance needed to run Zelda’s scenes twice (once for each eye) takes the base game’s usual 30 frames per second down to somewhere between 20 and 30fps, occasionally jumping around within that range and causing motion sickness issues.</p>
<p>The Switch’s native 720p display also causes some problems, especially when – again – Zelda’s VR version takes a bigger hit. Digital Foundry reports that the area directly in front of your eyes is being displayed at around 480p with resolution increasing along the periphery. You can see the full rundown for yourself via the video below.</p>
<aside class="object object-youtube">
<div class="youtube"><iframe class='youtube-player' type='text/html' width='900' height='507' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/QfU0DyhiyP4?version=3&rel=0&fs=1&autohide=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=0&iv_load_policy=1&hd=1&wmode=transparent' allowfullscreen='true' style='border:0;'></iframe></div>
</aside>
<p><em>How have you found your experiences with Mario and Zelda in VR? Have you had any issues, or have you enjoyed your time playing them? Let us know in the comments below.</em></p>
</div>