I have been a VR owner since the first Oculus hit the shelves. I dipped my toe in with the GearVR when I bought a galaxy s7 and jumped in with both feet as soon as the rift came out. Since then, I bought a Vive for my wife and a PSVR for my daughter. So we have all three major players. There are a few stand out things I have learned along the way.
VR is situationally awesome. Any time I put on the VR, I am essentially "checking out" of my family time. As a father yourself, I'm sure you understand the time issue. I only get a few hours a day with my wife and daughter once work and essentials have taken their toll. So the vast majority of my gaming time is spent on a normal screen.
The Rift and the Vive are the two main ones. Most of the others (quest, go, focus, etc) aren't nearly as comprehensive and the PSVR is a bit... wonky. For me there was no middle ground. I either liked it enough to jump in, or I was going to stay at the gearVR level (aka oculus go). Keep in mind, the base Rift is only $500. It isn't wireless, but you'll get far more use out of it than a $400 Quest. It would be a waste of money if you go halfway in, only to buy the full version a few months later. When it all comes down to it, I'd much rather have a wired version that can play all the games than a wireless version that can only play a small portion.
Wireless is the way to go. You are absolutely correct. If you want to do it right, go wireless. When I had a wire it was constantly on my mind. I couldn't really get into the immersion the way I can on wireless. Both the Rift and Vive offer a wireless option (rift through 3rd party tpcast and vive with more money). Both are very much worth the money.
Room scale is the way to go. It takes some effort, but both the vive and rift can be set up for room scale. Combine this with wireless and you have one hell of an experience. Especially when you double down and both you and your wife can be in the same game (like OrbusVR, Arizona Sunshine, etc.).
There is no "next gen" on the horizon. Between hardware, software, and industry constraints, there won't be much for true innovation for a while. They have some fancy new stuff, but the games will all be made to work on the base Rift and Vive. The technological differences for versions like the vive pro and Rift S don't warrant the price hike, not at all. The performance difference between the rift/vive and anything "next gen" on the horizon is fairly similar to the difference between the ps4 and ps4 pro. They are so close that you really need to look to find any differences.
The eternal Rift vs Vive debate. Rift has access to all the games, vive doesn't. The rest can be explained by the PC vs Mac debate. The Rift is cheaper and has a touch better performance. However, the Vive is much, much easier to set up and use. Glasses are worth mentioning too. The vive works well with glasses, the rift doesn't.
If you want something for guests, get Gear VR. You can get the HMD for $40 new and if you have a samsung s6 or s7, you're all set. You have essentially the same exact thing as an oculus go. It'll be enough for guests to experience the whole thing. Your HMD is more of a personal thing. You sweat like hell in it, it's kinda gross, and it creates "goggle face". It's fine if it's yours, but not exactly prime for polite company.
At the end, it comes down to how badly to you want to join in. I was very happy with how it played out for me. I ended up with a S7 on my cell plan and it came with Gear VR. So dipping my toe was easy. From there, I knew that I wanted to go all the way. It was just a matter of putting the money away at that point. If I were to give any advice though, it would be to go for it. VR is here, it's fun as hell, and it's just going to keep growing. That said though, I would only go with either the rift or the vive. If money is tight, go Rift. If you want the seamless easy to use experience, spend the money and go vive with wireless.
