Brush up your Beat Saber skills; you’re going on a Quest.
The long-awaited mobile Oculus Quest headset is launching in only a matter of days. This is a major deal to many folks, for whom this will be their first advent into the wonderful world of VR. The release of the Quest is also a development that we at VR Fitness Insider broadly believe will lead many new players into the realm of active VR gaming.
Likewise, Beat Saber, an active VR game, is inarguably the highest-impact title for new players entering the platform. That’s why I came up with this quick list of seven ways to really get out there and juice Beat Saber to its max potential—augmented by the cable-free, fully mobile Oculus Quest headset.
1. Find the Biggest Open Area You Can Comfortably Play In
No longer needing to consider the size of your apartment or gaming room, you can literally take your Oculus Quest to any well-lit location where you feel comfortable having your vision occluded. You can bring it anywhere from your living room, to the locker room at your local gym, to the cockpit of a space cruiser. There’s really no limit here; the more open the area, the more room you have to maneuver freely.
I do advise against taking your headset out into a sunny area in broad daylight, considering that the sun can both interfere with tracking and cause serious damage to the display. On the other hand, Youtuber ‘Jugon Virtual’ has put together various videos of himself trying different Oculus Quest games outside at around dusk. It doesn’t seem like there’s a hard ‘no’ or a hard ‘yes’ here, so do this at your own discretion.
(Note that you also need to set up a new ‘Guardian’ boundary whenever you settle into a new area.)
2. Experience All 360 Degrees of Movement
This tip may not result in fantastic scores on Expert and Expert+ modes, but you might as well enjoy the fact that there are absolutely zero cables holding you down. Spin all the way around or just groove with the music however you’d like. You’re free to do exactly as you please.
3. Use External Headphones
The audio straps built into the Quest won’t provide you with a good auditory experience out of the box, which is a real shame, seeing as how rhythm-centric Beat Saber is. That said, you will certainly appreciate having a nice pair of AUX-connected headphones over your ears when playing Beat Saber or any other rhythm game in VR. My personal pick is the Audio-Technica ATH-M50x, but you don’t need professional-level headphones to enjoy Beat Saber. Stick to your budget, but apply the following rule: The wider the audio range, the better.
4. Get Yourself a Nice Powerbank
If you’re satisfied after two hours of consistent play between a fresh charge and no charge, ignore this tip. If not, consider getting a powerbank that can charge your Quest headset when the battery runs low. Keep in mind that you get a six-meter USB-C charging cable and a compatible wall adapter out of the box, but it seems sort of counterintuitive to have your Oculus Quest plugged into a wall while you play. Instead, you should find a portable powerbank that outputs 3A and 5v. If you’re strapped for cash, 2.4A powerbanks are also fine, but will not charge as quickly while you play.
5. Show Off for Friends and Family
Like the Oculus Go before it, the marvel of the Oculus Quest exists in the breadth of experiences you can pack into its internal memory and carry around with you to virtually any location. Unlike the Oculus Go, or any other 3DoF headset, the Quest gives you a pair of hands and a staggering amount of things to do with them.
Beat Saber is a fantastic first VR game, but more importantly, anybody can jump in and have a wonderful time playing it. If you’re taking it for a spin, most people will enjoy laughing at how goofy you look while playing. And then, when it’s their turn, you’ll get an opportunity to laugh right back at them. Remember that a VR headset is far from an isolating piece of tech when you can pack it up and share it with the special people in your life.
6. Show Off for Friends and Family—With the Power of the Internet
You can currently stream Oculus Quest gameplay to the Internet through a number of different outlets. Though some of those outlets involve wiring your headset to some other device, here are three ways you can do it wirelessly: through Facebook, through your phone, and through a Chromecast device. I’d like to plug David Jagneaux at UploadVR for providing this really well-written guide on all of the available streaming options.
Updated on 5/21: Some users are reporting that Beat Games has not yet activated streaming for Beat Saber. While I can’t confirm this myself until my Quest unit ships, I’d like to keep this tip in place until further notice. It’s reasonably likely that Beat Saber will offer streamlined casting support in the near future, given its popularity among streamers.
7. Slap on a Weighted Vest and Build Some Muscle
Beat Saber will make you sweat, move your body and burn some potentially serious calories over the course of your total playtime. You may as well augment that playtime by adding resistance gear that converts Beat Saber from just a game that you like to play for fun, to a legitimate full-body workout routine. That said, I already wrote a guide on exactly how to do that.
Other Relevant Beat Saber Resources on VR Fitness Insider:
- How to Play ‘Beat Saber’: Top 12 Tips & Tricks (From the Pros)
- GDC 2019 Rewind: Hands-On With ‘Beat Saber’ for Oculus Quest
- Beat Saber Game Review – A Jedi Samurai Rhythm Game
Are there any tips that I missed? Let me know in the comments.