This year, Google unveiled its new VR headset that uses new GPU and higher resolution gyroscopes on board the phones. Only a few phones are Daydream ready, though by the end of the year many more phones will likely also fit this category. The phone that Google unveiled this year was the Google Pixel, it's daydream ready, and it is what I have been using so far.
Google Cardboard was the first stepping stone toward mainstream VR content for a very affordable price. Cardboard works with almost every phone other than a flip phone. Cardboard, while having a plethora of apps and being moderately easy to use suffered this horrible gyroscopic spin where the front of the camera would move all on its own. If you watched a normal YouTube video in VR theater mode the screen just moved all on its own. Cardboard devices were also uncomfortable and the lenses were not very good. Cardboard also suffered from the fact that you had to take the phone out of the VR headset every time you wanted to change the video.
All of those above things daydream solved, for a price of $90. I personally feel that $90 for this kind of technology is so worth the money. Daydream is comfortable and easy to use. It also provides many more capabilities for gaming interfaces in VR by having a controller be used with it. The controller also makes the VR feel more natural. So yes, Daydream VR headset by Google hit the ball out of the park, and if it catches on within the year could really usher in a new era in gaming. This is especially true since Google has teamed up with Unity, which is a popular game engine amongst indie game developers.
One of my favorite things about the new headset is how well YouTube VR works on it. With no screen spin and a very comfortable headset, it using it for an hour and a half or more at a time is easy, though it doesn't recommend it I really don't care. I can watch my favorite videos on YouTube in theater mode while lying down in bed. You can readjust the horizon in YouTube VR simply by pulling the screen up. It makes it all very simple and very enjoyable. Nothing was like rewatching the Interstellar docking scene in YouTube VR, or my favorite episodes of Gundam. YouTube theater mode is not alone, Netflix and HBO also have their own daydream apps. Personally, I cannot wait to watch the next season of GOT in VR Theater mode.
So far Daydream has been amazing, but its greatest strength is its gaming capability. Here are five games that are already out for Daydream VR and that I cannot wait to play. I have not played any of these yet, but looking at them it's easy to tell that VR has a lot of potentials, and I was a denier for years. But Google Daydream's controller feels oddly natural and just nice, it makes you want to use the daydream VR.
Gunjack 2
Gunjack Is a first person shooter based in space, it is the costliest game on this list at $13. But it looks incredible. Fair warning that Daydream games tend to easily take up a lot of memory. But here is the trailer for the game.
Hello Mars
I've always been a space nut and this game looks perfect for me so I cannot wait to play it.
Google Arts and Culture VR
Remember Jurassic Park, and walking with Dinosaurs on BBC. Well I do, and every sane person should realize the power of Dinosaurs and VR, and welp it appears google did, and they are in this app. Both a Plesiosaur and a and Brontosaurus are available, I hope google adds more, there has to be a T-Rex soon.
Twilight Pioneers
A first-person fantasy game, because of course, it needed one.
Epic Citadel
This game showcases the power of the Unreal Engine which, by bringing it into the Daydream platform will expand its capability.
