Mind-bending VR Adventure ‘The Under Presents’ Coming to Steam This Week
These Are the Countries Where You Can Still Buy Quest & Rift S Direct From Oculus
With a successful holiday season under its belt, Facebook was no doubt looking forward to resupplying its retail partners with more Oculus Quest & Rift S stock. However in a perfect storm of high demand, low supply, and on-going supply chain disruptions due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), both headsets have been largely unavailable for purchase.
Valve Explains the Deceptively Simple Design Process That Made ‘Half-Life: Alyx’ Excellent
The secret to Half-Life: Alyx’s near-universal acclaim is… well, not as secret as you might think. Yes, the game surely had a budget much larger than any other VR game to date, but it’s far more than money that makes a great game.
Etee SteamVR Controller Creators Share ‘Half-Life: Alyx’ Gameplay and Q&A
Etee, the finger-tracking VR controller with SteamVR Tracking, has nearly reached its Kickstarter goal with plenty of time to spare. Though the controller is designed to be free of buttons, sticks, and triggers (relying instead on finger tracking), its creators say it can adapt to existing VR games. TG0, the company behind Etee, has shared Half-Life: Alyx gameplay with the controllers and a Q&A which speaks to the decisions underlying the controller’s design.
Mozilla Updates the Unity WebXR Exporter to Run VR Apps in the Browser
WebXR is an open standard which allows VR apps to run directly from web browsers. While the tools for building WebXR apps are designed to be familiar to web developers, many VR developers use game engine tools like Unity to build their apps. With the Unity WebXR Exporter, developers now have the option of targeting browsers as their publishing platform, making their app easily accessible on the web.
‘Boneworks’ Update Adds New Weapon, Sandbox Maps, & “significant improvements” to Player Physics
A new Boneworks patch, Update 1.4, has been released with a handful of additions and tweaks.
Physics Simulator ‘Universe Sandbox’ Comes to Magic Leap 1
Universe Sandbox, the physics-based space simulator from Giant Army, made a splash on PC back in 2015, later getting VR support so you could physically smash the Moon into the Earth with your own two hands. Now Giant Army has released a version of its galactic physics sandbox on Magic Leap 1, bringing what the studio says an “undiluted” experience.
‘Beat Saber’ Wants to Get Your Heart Pumping in New Free Track ‘FitBeat’
Beat Saber (2018) is a great tool if you’re stuck indoors and want to stay fit. To keep you up and moving, Beat Games today released their latest free track, called ‘FitBeat’, which aims to get your heart pumping to its high BMP, obstacle-laden track.
GameStop is Selling Refurbished PSVR Headsets for $99, Available 1 Day Only
Whatever your opinion on GameStop, we know a deal when we see one. For today only, on April 8th, GameStop is selling refurbished PSVR headsets for $100.
Apple Seeks to “identify new computational display technologies for AR/VR” with New Hires
In its latest hiring bout, over the last month Apple has sought more than a dozen new hires specifically for AR and VR roles. Among them, the company is looking for a Computational Display Engineering Manager for incubating advanced display technologies for use with upcoming Apple products.
VR Puzzler ‘FORM’ Launches on PSVR Today
FORM, the VR puzzle game that made a splash on PC VR headsets back in 2017, is now available on PSVR starting today.
‘No Man’s Sky’ April Update Brings Mechs to PSVR & SteamVR Headsets
Ever since last year’s Beyond update to No Man’s Sky, which among other things brought VR support to the galactic sandbox game, there seems to be a steady stream of content still rolling out from developers Hello Games. Now, players on all platforms, including PSVR and PC VR, can pilot their very own bipedal mech.
Become an Avatar-style Earthbender in ‘RUMBLE’, Early Access Coming Soon
While there aren’t any official Avatar: The Last Airbender VR games out there, RUMBLE definitely wants to fill in the gaps with its Earthbending fighting game where, like the series’ telekinetic martial artists, you control the very ground beneath your feet.
Analysis: Monthly-connected VR Headsets on Steam Reach Record High of 1.7 Million
The latest Steam Survey data became available this week, showing a record number of headsets in use on the platform as well as a surprising shift in the popularity of specific headsets.
‘Half-Life: Alyx’ Modding Tools Still in the Works But No Release Date Yet
At the announcement of Half-Life: Alyx last year, Valve promised it would release Source 2 tools which would allow the community to extend the game’s content and functionality. Now, two weeks after the launch of the game, Valve says it’s presently working on the tools but isn’t ready to share a release date just yet.
