Which market? The games industry pays much less than the FANNG market rate (about 50%). I know a number of people who moved on from game dev to working at Google, Amazon, etc.
Yup, I've tried Pinball Fx2 on the Rift. It's certainly not the same as real-life pinball, but I enjoy being able to look around the whole table rather than the camera automatically panning where it thinks I want to look.
It's obviously not the same as a real pin; I've yet to find a PC game that simulates nudging to my satisfaction.
One interesting data point is that my 10 year old son is more interested VR pinball than either regular PC pinball or real life pinball. I think it's because of:
- the novelty of VR
- the animations on and around the table (these can be either fun or distracting)
- the tables are easy for a beginner
- the fact he's taller in VR. At an arcade he's either not tall enough or has to stand on a stool, but in VR he can look down on the table as if he's 6 feet tall.
Pinball Arcade is working on VR version, so I'm interested to see their take on it. They mentioned it in passing for their AC/DC table kickstarter (since cancelled but still under development).
Pinball in VR is surprisingly immersive. It's a much better simulation of playing pinball in real life, plus you can press your face to the "glass" to see the fine details of the playfield.
This link is a few years old, but will give you an idea: https://www.gamasutra.com/salarysurvey2014.pdf