How one gamer turned his Nintendo Switch into a VR headset
Between the surprising popularity of PlayStation VR to Microsoft’s promise to bring virtual reality experiences to Project Scorpio, it seems only a matter of time before Nintendo introduces its own VR solution. Unfortunately, there’s no real timetable at the moment (or at least not a public one), but that didn’t stop YouTuber Nintendrew from taking matters into his own hands with the Switch.
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As Nintendrew notes in the video below, Nintendo filed a patent for a VR headset last year, but that doesn’t mean we’ll ever actually see a retail product from the company. So rather than wait around to see what Nintendo would do, Drew picked up a Durovis Dive 7 headset to slot the Switch into, exploited the hack that gives users full access to the Switch’s hidden web browser and played a VR test video of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D from YouTube to see how VR content would look on the console:
As you can see it was a fairly successful test, with some important caveats. With its hardware limitations, the Switch will never be able to offer the same VR experiences made possible by the PS4 and Project Scorpio (much less a powerful PC), but that hasn’t stopped Nintendo in the past. It often thrives when bound by restraints, as Wii and 3DS owners can attest. VR could be a similar story.
On the other hand, Nintendo might have to release an upgraded version of the Switch to take full advantage of virtual reality. But for now, at least we know it’s possible for VR to exist on the Switch. Of course, most people still can’t even manage to buy a Switch unless they’re willing to pay a premium to get one now on Amazon, so trying this yourself anytime soon is probably out of the question.
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