If anyone has ever wanted to not just only play a game, but be in the game, virtual reality may be for them. With it, the player can wield a lightsaber with their own hands and face off against Darth Vader, repair robots in Aperture using handheld multitools, and even paint in three dimensions – virtual reality puts the player inside the game.

Virtual reality began with Nintendo’s “Virtual Boy,” released in 1995, but its popularity was short-lived due to poor graphics and design. Fast forward 20 years, and the Oculus Rift was revealed, during the summer of 2015.

The newest and most sophisticated VR product to be released for consumers officially is the HTC Vive. The VR kit comes with the headset, tracking cameras and controllers (required for most VR-focused games). The HTC Vive was developed in partnership with Valve Software and already has multiple games released specifically for virtual reality use. The games include “The Lab” by Valve, “Elite: Dangerous” by Frontier and “Tilt Brush” by Google.

Games built specifically for virtual reality are based in a minimum of a 10-foot by 10 foot play area. The user can walk around in the game, tracked by the included tracking cameras, and interact with the game environment using the handheld dual controllers.

Brandon Oldberg, junior, played Valve’s “Robot Repair Demo” at the PAX Gaming Convention and thought the experience was amazing. “Trying out the Vive was really good; it’s like I was in the game. The controllers were also extremely advanced and added to the experience immensely,” Oldberg said.

One problem with virtual reality is the initial feeling of nausea when a new user first begins using the software. This is caused by the extreme disorientation that comes from being in a completely different area (usually even worse when in a game that involves driving as the vehicle is moving, but the user is stationary).

“The only issue with the hardware was the initial motion sickness,” Oldberg said. “I got over it relatively quickly, however.”

Since the technology is only just coming out for the public, it’s not easy to say whether it will quickly become obsolete (a fate similar to Google Glass and Xbox’s Kinect), but from the software growth by large game developers built specifically for these products, there seems to be no end in sight for the possibilities for growth and expansion of VR application.

As usual, many people are skeptical about how “real” VR is. They often think that it’s a gimmick and isn’t nearly as good as its advertisements claim. However, the HTC Vive has been in development and testing since early 2014 and was officially released April 5.

While the Vive was in development for over two years, the teams working towards building and perfecting the hardware and software have remedied every major flaw, and very few minor errors remain, which are located in the software, and can be updated to further versions as they are fixed.

Although no “perfect” hardware/software combos exist to obtain the exact feeling of being in the game world itself, the virtual reality gaming movement headed by the HTC Vive has certainly made progress towards a more innovative future and more realistic game play.