Vive VR headset test: We try a dozen games — and one makes us sick

SEATTLE — I played the HTC Vive virtual reality headset with a full set of near-finished games at an event held by Valve, the creator of the Steam VR system that the gear uses. And the verdict is that it’s a good simulator of an immersive experience, and it can provide you with a good way to interact with the VR worlds that you visit.

HTC plans to release the PC-based Vive sometime in April, but it hasn’t disclosed its final price or how much the games cost. Valve said the hardware wasn’t final yet, so consider this more of a preview than a final review of the system, which will come later. But this hands-on experience in Seattle was a treat, as Valve and HTC have been much quieter about showing off what the Vive can do than rivals Oculus VR’s Rift (coming in March) or the mobile-based Samsung Gear VR, which launched in November. I’ll have individual descriptions of each game coming in later posts.