Since the days of the Nintendo wii, motion control games and plastic peripherals have gone hand in hand promising to add ‘realism’ to your gaming experience, fast forward to 2023 and the gaming world has changed somewhat with the wide-scale adoption of VR though there is certainly still a market for these plastic accessories for headsets but the question stands do they actually help or are they a waste of cash? Well I took it upon myself to try a range of different options from golf clubs and saber grips all the way to weights for your controls so let’s dive in and talk Quest 2 accessories.
Wielding the Sabers
It’s no secret that each accessory is normally built with a specific game or use case in mind leading to having a draw full of these chunks of plastic for the range of games and experiences and for the most part this still holds true though there certainly are a few exceptions. Let’s take the Yoges 2 in 1 Beatsaber grips for example, it’s sort of in the name here that these grips are primarily built for the rhythm-based hack and slash.
In the box you get the 2 grips, 2 detachable wrist straps and a connecting bar for when you want to channel your inner Darth Maul, attaching your controllers couldn’t be simpler if a little worrisome, just slide your controller into the end and use the provided Velcro to attach around 1 side of the controller. Now I hear what you’re saying and I thought the same ‘Velcro? This is a disaster waiting to happen’ but surprisingly even during the most vigorous play session I never found the controllers coming loose, the velcro strap really did hold up well here.
Outside of Beatsaber though these elongated grips did help to add a certain amount of immersion to other titles like GORN and other sword-wielding experiences, I found the grips to disperse the weight a little further up your hand giving a more floaty sword-wielding experience. Though these grips were not without their downside, if you wanted to use any buttons or sticks on the controller you would need to carefully move your hand up the grip to the face and fumble to find the correct button in your headset. A less than ideal experience but quite honestly after starting a Beatsaber song I soon forgot about the controllers and just enjoyed the experience.
Working on my Stroke Game
After all that sword fighting and Neón block murdering I wanted to unwind with some golf and of course, there is an accessory for that too. The Yoges golf club is a short club that feels more well-built than most and is nicely weighted. Just like before the controller slips in and Velcro’s in place and you have yourself a golf club, was it intuitive to use? Sure. Did it immerse me in the golf experience? Absolutely and I really appreciated it, these sports titles are the sorts of experiences that truly benefit from bits of plastic to help with immersion as you feel like you truly are holding a nicely weighted golf club.
However just like the above sabre grips I found that simply using velcro to attach the controllers felt somewhat risky as if I could take out my TV, partner or other precious objects partially when swinging so before you even consider using these sorts of accessories ensure you have a wide open play space and you’re not going to hit anyone or anything because of course being in VR you aren’t going to have any presence or understanding of your outside space.
Working up a Sweat
On perhaps the more niche end of the Quest 2 accessories scale are the weight sets by Kiwi Designs, it’s no secret that many people use the quest 2 and its many fitness apps to get a sweat on and there is no better way to enhance that experience than through relatively light and simple to install weights to add a little more resistance to movements. These are the sorts of accessories I really appreciate not only do they help with immersion they add something to the overall experience and all I can say is if you do workout with your quest do yourself a favour and get a pair of these weights you will thank me later.
Lock stock and smoking controllers
Realistic VR first-person shooters are all the rage, to the point games like ONWARDS now have full tournaments so gamers are turning to accessories to gain the upper hand and even add some immersion, so on the market, there are a range of gun stocks from the small gimmicky pistols all the way to the much more involved magnetic machine gun style where controllers can quickly be disconnected for reloading, lobbing grenades and other actions. These kinds of peripherals are certainly on the more expensive side running you upwards of £100 but if you play a lot of these styles of games the advantages are clear and quite honestly there is no immersion quite like this when it comes to motion gaming.
Summary
So in summary did these grips and accessories help to add immersion absolutely, were they necessary to the experience? Bar a few exceptions absolutely not but were those Wii golf clubs and tennis rackets really needed? Of course not but for the select few who want the most immersive experiences possible these accessories are great, cheap options for VR gamers.
