Variety: Ali Wong: VR Is Like Weed, Give It a Try | Bonfire PSVR preview

Earlier this year comedian Ali Wong participated in a different kind of project: Baobab Studio’s interactive virtual reality (VR) movie “Bonfire,” in which Wong voices the robot sidekick of a stranded intergalactic explorer.

To commemorate the release of “Bonfire” for Sony’s PlayStation VR headset, Wong recently told Variety about her work on the project, and her thoughts about VR in general.

[CanadianTurtle]

But weed helps my nausea, unlike VR which does the opposite.

[ApocalypseShadow]

If you have a problem with motion, and you start out with VR and play motion games instead of stationary VR or teleporting to get your legs first, who's fault is it? I see it all the time where gamers jump to full locomotion games and get sick and wonder why that happened? Then, downplay VR as if it's the platform's fault. Some gamers get no nausea whatsoever in VR. Negating the naysayers opinions that VR makes you sick. It doesn't. It's like saying gaming gives you epilepsy. No. Not all people are susceptible to lights. Do we blame the games and say it gives everyone an epileptic attack? No. Why is VR held differently? I remember years ago when some FPS games made me sick with the fishbowl camera. Wasn't the game's fault. It was me.

Anyway, watch Phil Spencer go and play this too since he loves HL Alyx VR but won't give his base an option to play any VR. But gives gamers options with $200 Elite controllers that don't sell to everybody.

I'm going to check out this Bonfire as I have that option to. I have the option to smoke weed but I have no reason to. But it's there if I want it. CBD is alright. Works great as a rub on knees.

[Gazondaily]

Lol this ladies and gentleman, is the most amazing post.

1. "If you have a problem with motion, and you start out with VR and play motion games instead of stationary VR or teleporting to get your legs first, who's fault is it?"

That's right. Apocalypse is blaming YOU for getting motion sickness. You weak, pathetic human with your silly motion sickness.

2. "Some gamers get no nausea whatsoever in VR. Negating the naysayers opinions that VR makes you sick. It doesn't. It's like saying gaming gives you epilepsy"

Yeah some gamers dont get nausea you weak pathetic scum! Man up!

3. "Anyway, watch Phil Spencer go and play this too since he loves HL Alyx VR but won't give his base an option to play any VR. But gives gamers options with $200 Elite controllers that don't sell to everybody."

Somehow Phil Spencer made the cut in this amazing comment. Damn Spencer not giving his 'base's an opportunity to play on VR (isnt PC part of 'his base'?- no whatever...what a shit he is that Spencer!).

4. "CBD is alright. Works great as a rub on knees."

What...a.....legend

[porkChop]

What the hell does Phil Spencer have to do with motion sickness? Is that your response to everything? "B-b-but Microsoft..."

[Ripsta7th]

damn you had to take a jab at MS, and phil spencer who isnt even being mentioned in tye comments . like you were going out all good , till your fanboyism started kicking in

[AnubisG]

🤣🤣🤣 ahhhhh this guy is serious🤣

[lptmg]

man... you're not a good VR spokesperson...

[Neonridr]

PC is most certainly part of Spencer's market. And the last I checked, there are numerous options there.

[Wasabi]

@Apocalypse

***"Negating the naysayers opinions that VR makes you sick. It doesn't"***

***"I see it all the time where gamers jump to full locomotion games and get sick***

You've just "negated" your own argument.

[sprinterboy]

Agreed, start with the demo disk for the first week at least then slowly work up to batman or moss then try more advanced vr games after that.
The only one I got motion sickness with was rigs.
There is just as many people who suffer from car sickness than vr sickness.
I don't see people moan about that all the time.

[darthv72]

Typical shadow. Cant make any comment (regardless of topic) without a dig at MS.

Man that wreaks of insecurity.

[Automatic79]

Another person who tries to bash Xbox when Xbox has nothing to do with this topic. Lol

No wonder real gamers are getting sick of this nonsense.

[xTonyMontana]

Problem with your first paragraph though is that most people have just tried it and don't own it. It takes time to build your VR legs and you didn't exactly explain that well. I had problems to begin with, had mine since Monday and still only playing in short bursts but the argument you're trying to make is sound. Trying it and dismissing it because of motion sickness based upon an initial play is a little unfair. My second game I played was Sairento.. new to VR, you can imagine just how bad that was for me doing backflips and such lol. I'm fine with it now... in short busts.

[ApocalypseShadow]

And let's blame the ocean for giving swimmers the bends or let's blame the mountains for making hikers feel light-headed or have headaches. Let's blame the desert for dehydration and the winter for frostbite.

Maybe it's not the ocean or the mountains or the hot or cold weather. If you don't acclimate to something, don't blame that something for your illness. It's you for not taking the time to get used to it or using the right tools to prevent something.

I got used to FPS games over time. Played a lot of them from Halo, Killzone, Resistance, Golden Eye, etc. It takes time to get used to something. And not all FPS games did it.

Didn't you know, septic, Phil loves VR. But he believes his base doesn't want it. He's a hypocrite and two faced. He'll be playing Bonfire too.

[Neonridr]

I mean it is the desert for dehydration. It is the cold weather which leads to frostbite. You can't blame a person because their bodies aren't designed to handle these situations.

[rainslacker]

All I know is you dont start off ace combat vr. That one will turn your stomach easy

[Knushwood Butt]

Phil Spencer gives me motion sickness.

[CanadianTurtle]

This is the most ridiculous non-sense I've heard in my life. You're telling me I have to train myself and put effort into getting used to VR just so I can enjoy it on a basic level? Nausea from VR is actually very common. It's not just a rare subset of people that experience this. I've been playing games my whole life through multiple console generations and never had problems with nausea or epilepsy, etc. But when I tried VR, I immediately felt like something was wrong. If VR is so bad that even people who are used to it need to take breaks every hour, then maybe the technology just isn't quite there yet. Maybe VR truly does suck ass at the moment.

You seriously can't expect the average gamer to train themselves just to enjoy VR. People have busy lives, and they want to come home and play games at the end of the day. Not give themselves nausea.

[Kornholic]

Simple, it's technology's fault.

[StarLink]

You get more pathetic and desperate with every comment that has "but but Microsoft" in them.

p.s. you dont know nothing about the Xbox base.

[ILostMyMind]

Use both.

[thejigisup]

combine them to achieve perfect equilibrium

[jznrpg]

Well smoke weed then play VR? Weed+games is a great combo anyway. I would smoke if I could but we still have states and the fed gov that haven’t legalized it yet . Also I get car sick very easily!! I started out with games without a lot of motion and jumping and such And slowly worked my way up. It has helped my car sickness too.

[Abnor_Mal]

Playing VR whilst smoking weed makes the experience all the more better. Especially when the game is already trippy af.

[crazyCoconuts]

Must be...when I was playing Firewall Zero almost every random squad I joined had at least one partaking lol

[Abnor_Mal]

*Cue Brian Griffin singing "A bag of weed".

Cause everything's better with a bag of weed.

[xTonyMontana]

I tried this when I first got it, Played Vader Immortal and having Vader come up right in my face had me nearly shitting myself. I look forward to getting used to it to the point where I can enjoy a smoke again.

[Abnor_Mal]

Try something simple in VR first, like Tetris Effect which is stationary but with very VERY trippy visuals.

You can also try the VR demo shark cage dive.

[xTonyMontana]

Shark Cage? F**k that! Jaws I think did a thorough job creating that fear.

Yeah my friend said the same thing, gotta find my VR legs as he put it. Other game I bought was Sairento which was mindblowingly awesome but difficult to control. Seem to have found my groove in Skyrim VR though.

[telekineticmantis]

While VR does feel like what contemporary gaming should be... Kids stay off drugs.

[Noctis]

weed is not a drug, get with the times

[ShadowWolf712]

Weed is a drug, fam.

Like, by every definition, weed is a drug. It's just a drug with medical application as well.

[Abnor_Mal]

@ShadowWolf712 what I think Noctis means is that weed does not go through any kind of chemical alteration, like how many true drugs are manufactured like cocaine, heroin, and meth to name a few. It is not changed from one form through manipulation to become something else.

The better counter I think would have been to talk about the rise of synthetic weed, which is made from other most times non natural ingredients.

Besides many recreational drugs can also have medical benefits if not abused, like how many abuse pharmaceutical drugs which are indeed chemically altered and oft times used recreationally.

[Imalwaysright]

Weed is a drug but so are cigarretes and no one bats an eye over them.

[xTonyMontana]

Even caffeine is technically a drug lol. Problem is people have a negative perception of the term "drug"

[Sophisticated_Chap]

It has nothing to do with "the times". I have friends who are no longer here, because they died of drug overdoses. Weed wasn't the drug they overdosed on, but it was the drug where they first found their addictions. Usually, people who deal weed, also deal other drugs, and that's where you get people experimenting with access to drugs that will ruin their lives.

It's the saying that "birds of a feather flock together", and where you get people smoking weed, you also get people doing other drugs, because it's basically one big drug culture. I used to think weed wasn't a big deal too, but my life experiences have shown me otherwise. It's used to be uncool to use drugs, and now you're not cool if you don't, as it would seem. We are certainly living in the twilight zone these days, and not just where it concerns drugs.

[PlayableGamez-]

Terrible analogy.

[THC CELL]

Play wipeout

[CaptainHenry916]

I love my Oculus Quest and PSVR

[Neonridr]

as a Canadian.. I fully endorse that statement.

[Sophisticated_Chap]

As a Canadian I think you're a dope.

[Smokehouse]

I like her.

[gamer7804]

So VR will give you:

A greater risk of Depression & Anxiety, breathing issues including emphysema, decrease in bone density, increased change of Osteoperosis, reduced brain activity in certain regions, decrease cognitive development, tissue & cel damage, oh and Cancer....

Nice work variety!

[Sgt_Slaughter]

Going to source any of that or did someone just tell you that and you believed it?

[Zombieburger638]

He probably heard a radio or tv add.

[gamer7804]

No I lost a friend due to starting on MJ... another family member to emphysema, and another to Cancer from Cigarettes. Look it up, mainstream media doesn't really report on all the negative side effects of MJ.

(just fyi I'm not actually talking about VR here... just their crass comparison of it to MJ.)

[traumadisaster]

Maybe those sound like confusing medical problems but if you have just the basic level of understanding of health and the human body you’d not need a source as that’s been established decades ago.

Source up on your own if you don’t understand how mj works in the body.

[KwietStorm_BLM]

Cmon what are you a 80 year old politician? Cancer? lmao

[Imalwaysright]

There are as many carcinogens in weed as there are in cigarretes but there isn't any evidence that it increases the risk of getting cancer.

[gamer7804]

@Imalwaysright yes it does have an increased risk of lung caner. Also, if you also smoke cigarettes with MJ you are 2x more as likely to develop lung cancer than those who smoke only Cigarettes. You should do some research, could end up saving someone's life who is asking similar questions.

[JackBNimble]

I've been smoking cigarettes and weed for over 30 years...

[Sophisticated_Chap]

"but there isn't any evidence that it increases the risk of getting cancer"

That is because there haven't been any major trials to test whether or not smoking weed actually does cause cancer, because it has been an illegal substance for many years. Also, anyone stating that it doesn't cause cancer, is spewing out unscientific, anecdotal evidence, in order to further their own agenda. It would be pretty tough to test for anyways, because most people who smoke weed, also smoke cigarettes, although I suppose vaping has replaced smoking in many ways, but it is just as bad for you, if not worse.

[Imalwaysright]

Sophisticated_Chap

"That is because there haven't been any major trials to test whether or not smoking weed actually does cause cancer" wich is why I said that there wasn't any evidence.

"Also, anyone stating that it doesn't cause cancer" Wich I didn't do.

"is spewing out unscientific, anecdotal evidence, in order to further their own agenda." Wich is exactly what those that say that it does and those that say that it doesn't are doing. There is no definitive answear and that goes to both sides.

[Tross]

Darn, I was hoping for it to be like Acid.

[KwietStorm_BLM]

Best marketing ever.

[2ndhandcorn]

Struggling to afford weed let alone VR never tried VR rather be high.

[airshiraz]

vr will become a serious shit really soon its just calm before storm

[feedurhabit]

DUDE

[2pacalypsenow]

One addiction is bad enough, we don’t need two.

[SierraGuy]

Weed is not addictive.

[2pacalypsenow]

Yeah ok.

[jznrpg]

Yep it isn’t . I smoked weed a lot as a younger person for many years to try and lessen my depression and it worked for the most part but I quit easily one day . Took years off .I Smoked occasionally until I had children 10 years ago. Now pain pills my doctor prescribed for my back were stupid addictive. What Sierra is saying is there aren’t physical withdrawal symptoms like opiates and some other things . Mental addiction is whole different thing

[traumadisaster]

Had friends who waked & baked and said they were addicted

[SixEye]

Why are they try to make VR a thing now where all this BS coming from no one has cared all this year wtf now??.

[william_cade]

I will once I have a rig that can make it look good.

Weed sucks though

[Sophisticated_Chap]

"Variety: Ali Wong: VR Is Like Weed, Give It a Try"

What a great message to be sending to all the kids out there....

[gamer7804]

Exactly, you’ll see some on here who haven’t looked at even the cdcs website let alone newer studies that evaluated MJ and MJ + Weed. They only hear what they want to hear. One even said he was smoking it to help with depression when weed has been known to worsen depression and be a gateway to even stronger drugs... crazy. It used to be thought that weed helps with depression but what it does is masks the depression/anxiety which doesn’t help in the end but make those depended on the high. But I guess since those who smoke are more likely to develop mental disorders including schizophrenia So it makes sense sadly.

[kryteris]

at first glance thought this was about porn, damn.