TL;DR

Linus dusts off a mid-’90s VR rig—think bulky, beige headset and chunky controllers—to see how “next-gen” virtual reality looked when DOS ruled the earth. He boots up Quake, Rise of the Triad and Descent, and while the graphics are blocky and the tracking wobbly, the experience is surprisingly playable and even a bit charming in its retro awkwardness.

Along the way he teases apart the hardware (CRT displays, chunky cables, limited field of view) and marvels at how far VR has come. Spoiler: it’s way smoother now, but it’s fun to see the clunky roots of our modern headsets.

Watch on YouTube