You can trust VideoGamer. Our team of gaming experts spend hours testing and reviewing the latest games, to ensure you're reading the most comprehensive guide possible. Rest assured, all imagery and advice is unique and original. Check out how we test and review games here
The original System Shock was a huge step forward for gaming technology in the 1990s, bringing a full 3D world with physics interactions and a deep story to PC gamers in a way that was genuinely mind-bending for gamers still stuck to the world of 2D RPGs and platformers on console.
Alongside the game’s huge step forward for 3D gaming, developer Looking Glass Productions also worked to support virtual reality headsets of the time. VR headsets from the 90s, such as the Forte VFX-1, were supported, but it was not a great experience for anyone involved.
System Shock VR devs needed a “barf bucket”
Speaking on the VideoGamer Podcast in an upcoming episode, original Xbox creator and System Shock physics programmer Seamus Blackley explained that the team at Looking Glass made their games playable for VR headsets of the time, but they were “pretty bad”.
“We actually made System Shock work for early VR headsets, and Flight Unlimited,” Blackley explained. “We used to have a trash can by the desk so you could barf in it because the stereo problem was so bad.”
Blackley explained that, to this day, VR still has the same fundamental issues, although the technology has improved massively.
“It still is pretty bad,” he explained. “I still get sick when I wear those things for too long.”
In the decades since the original System Shock supported virtual reality headsets, both the series and the technology has expanded massively. The original System Shock has been completely remade by Nightdive Studios in an amazing redux, and fans have created a pretty damn good VR mod for the game as well.
In fact, it’s almost surprising that no one has created a true VR experience of the original System Shock for modern headsets. With teams turning old 3D games like Star Wars: Jedi Outcast and Return to Castle Wolfenstein into amazing virtual reality experiences, there’s definitely an audience for re-experiencing the original Looking Glass immersive sim in full VR.
For more on our chat with Seamus, read about the Xbox creator’s thoughts on the brand’s constant “power” message, or read about his thoughts on the purpose of consoles in the modern era.
About the Author
