OIVO For NS Pro VR Headset

Hardware Type: Accessory

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Review:

The OIVO For NS Pro VR Headset, released sometime in 2019-2020 (it’s hard to tell for sure) is an oddity when it comes to Nintendo Switch accessories. This is a device intended to act as a more upscale replacement for the standard VR Headset included in the Nintendo LABO Toy-Con 04: VR Kit. That headset, as with many Nintendo LABO constructions, is one players build with cardboard… partly. The VR Kit sorta’ fudged that part of things, with the cardboard acting as a housing for a visor made of plastic, glass lenses, and internal mirrors. However, much as other constructions in the LABO product line, players still had to follow instructions to piece the unit together. Or, depending on your point of view, they got to piece it together – the building process was arguably part of the fun, after all.

That sort of build-your-own fun isn’t what the OIVO For NS Pro VR Headset is about. This accessory already comes fully-constructed, with housing made out of foam and synthetic fabric, along with a head strap to keep it secured, something Nintendo’s own headset lacked. That’s probably the biggest selling point here – this headset allows you to use the unit hands-free.

To be clear, this headset doesn’t completely house the Nintendo Switch while using it – there are still open slots on either side if you want to slide in/out any Joy-Cons. However, the rubbery piece holding the Nintendo Switch in place along with some reasonably strong Velcro does a good job keeping the Nintendo Switch snug and firmly in position. At no point did I feel like the Nintendo Switch was sliding out of place while using this.

Having said that, there was an issue I had with the construction of this headset, and that is that the head strap needed a lot of fiddling to get it to where I felt confident that it wouldn’t slip off my head. The problem here is that with a Nintendo Switch housed in the headset, it becomes very front-heavy, and if the strap going behind my head wasn’t low enough, I felt there was a risk the entire unit could slide forward off of my head.

Even with the straps adjusted to the point where the unit didn’t seem poised to precariously slide off my head, there was yet another issue – the weight at the front of the unit would press down on my nose uncomfortably. This particular issue may just be a personal issue, I’ll note – I tend to find that even normal glasses can put too much pressure on my nose when I try them on. However, it’s definitely a consideration if you’re considering getting this headset or a similar one.

I should note that while this headset does work for almost all of the games the Nintendo LABO VR headset works with, the one you probably won’t want to use it with is the Nintendo LABO Toy-Con 04: VR Kit itself. That is because not only does much of the functionality of that kit depend on the various odd devices you attach to the Nintendo LABO VR Headset, such as the Blaster, but the functionality of the headset even when in its own seems designed around the idea that you’re holding onto the Nintendo Switch while using the headset, which defeats the purpose of a headset designed so you don’t have to do that.

As for other games that make use of the Nintendo LABO VR headset, it’s a small selection that contains a mishmash of major first-party games and oddball indie titles, though it’s rare to see games that used the headset in a significant and meaningful way. Games like Super Mario Odyssey and Captain Toad Treasure Tracker use the headset in extremely limited ways, and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate uses the headset in a gimmicky way that is simply not conducive to that game’s gameplay. Meanwhile, the headset is also supported by games like Neonwall and Spice and Wolf VR… neither of which I own as of this writing.

There is really only one major game supported by Nintendo LABO VR that’s more than just a gimmick you’ll pick up once for a few minutes and then never touch again – The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, which supplements that game’s standard camera controls by allowing your head movements to move the camera as well, with this support extending to the full game.

However, even then… well, VR on Nintendo Switch still feels like a tradeoff that isn’t really worth it, even if you’re not stuck keeping your hands near your head. The problems here are all the same that I noted in my review of the Nintendo LABO Toy-Con 04: VR Kit – the Nintendo Switch just isn’t built for VR, and trying to force it into the system, while intriguing, severely reduces the resolution you’ll be seeing, and despite The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild being the one game that seems to fully support this feature, it’s also arguably the one that benefits from it the least, with the 3D effect seeming far less pronounced than it does in other titles like Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker.

One more thing I should mention here. I acquired this headset a while back, but am only just now getting around to reviewing it, and I can see that it’s become somewhat hard to get on Amazon.com, with its value when it was in stock fluctuating from a low of $13 to a high of almost $40, with an average price around $25. I see that there are numerous other Nintendo Switch VR headsets selling for around $20-$30 as well, and while I cannot speak personally to the quality of those headsets, I suspect that they are at best comparable to this.

Overall, I think that the value of the OIVO For NS Pro VR Headset is highly dubious, even if it managed to do what it aimed to accomplish flawlessly… and it’s far from flawless. The front-heavy weight of the accessory when a Nintendo Switch is placed inside it makes it awkward and uncomfortable, and even if this wasn’t the case, this functionality is poorly-supported on Nintendo Switch, and it just doesn’t seem worth going to this sort of trouble, and certainly not to this expense. I suppose this may make for an interesting curio for players wanting to try out Nintendo Switch’s VR functionality without buying in on Nintendo LABO VR, but don’t expect this to be something you’ll get much use out of.

tl;dr – The OIVO For NS Pro VR Headset gives players a hands-free alternative to Nintendo LABO VR, but the front-heavy weight of the headset when the Nintendo Switch is placed inside it is less than ideal, and this headset still suffers from the fact that Nintendo Switch is poorly-suited to VR, and has only a select few games that support the feature (and most support it pretty poorly, at that). What’s more, you can’t even use it with most of the Nintendo LABO Toy-Con 04: VR Kit itself. Overall, this still might provide an interesting experience for those curious to try it, but do not expect this accessory to be much more than a fleeting novelty.

Grade: C-

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