Critically Acclaimed Rhythm Action Game ‘Thumper’ is Coming to Quest at Launch
Oculus announced that Thumper (2016), the popular rhythm-action game, is officially coming to Quest at launch.
Google’s VR Painting App ‘Tilt Brush’ is Coming to Quest at Launch, Cross-Buy with Rift
Already own a copy of Google’s VR creation tool Tilt Brush (2016) from the Oculus Store? Then you’ll be able to hop right into the company’s intuitive painting app with Oculus Quest, the upcoming standalone VR headset.
Oculus Job Posts Point to Facebook-built AR Headset on the Horizon
As first reported by PocketGamer, Facebook is advertising a few new posts at its VR subsidiary Oculus, laced with the notion that a Facebook-built AR headset is definitely on the rise.
These Developers Hacked Knuckles & Vive Controllers to Play MIDI File Music
We’re still holding our breath of the next wave of consumer VR headsets yet to come, namely Rift S, Quest, and Valve Index. None of them have official release dates yet, so some intrepid developers found a way to bide their time by making the Valve and the soon-to-launch Valve Index controllers (ex-Knuckles) hum beautiful MIDI files just for the fun of it.
‘High Fidelity’ Shifts Focus Towards Non-VR Due to Slow Growth
Philip Rosedale, CEO of High Fidelity and founder of Second Life, announced at a High Fidelity community meeting recently that the company will be scaling back their VR efforts, focusing more on improving their PC and Mac performance. The company has also shut down all first-party user spaces and associated servers except for a single orientation room, which will be used for new users only.
Next-gen PlayStation Will Support Current PSVR, Sony Confirms
In an interview with Wired, the lead system architect on the next PlayStation console, Mark Cerny, confirmed that PS5 (naming still unconfirmed) will retain support for the current PSVR headset.
‘Dreams’ Launches into Early Access on PS4, PSVR Support Still Pending
Media Molecule’s hotly awaited creator tool/game Dreams is here, albeit in Early Access on PS4. While the game is slated to include VR support at some point, it’s still unclear when users will be able to jump into their creations with PSVR.
The Surprising Brilliance of ‘Vacation Simulator’s’ VR Paintbrush Tech
Having released the ever popular Job Simulator as a launch title for the HTC Vive back in 2016, Owlchemy Labs is one of the most veteran VR game studios that exists today. Over the years the studio has built a strong foundation of VR interaction design which is seen throughout their newest title, Vacation Simulator. Interactions which might seem simple and usable to the player are often much more complex than they appear. Case in point: some surprisingly brilliant paintbrush tech that just feels right in VR. Developers from Owlchemy are here to explain how they built it.
‘ForceTube’ May Not Make Its Kickstarter Goal, But Creators Still Aim to Fulfill Orders
With only a few hours remaining in ForceTubeVR’s crowdfunding campaign, the creators behind the VR haptic gun accessory are facing the facts: either their Kickstarter gains the outstanding €16,000 (~$18,00) for their all-or-nothing campaign to succeed, or they head to ‘Plan B’.
‘Audica’ Adds Official Support for Custom Beat Maps (Using the Game’s OST)
Harmonix has officially released tools and documentation that will help users modify beat maps for Audica (2019), the studio’s recently released futuristic ‘rhythm shooter’.
‘Superhot VR’ Has Now Generated More Revenue Than The Original PC Game
Superhot VR (2016) just celebrated a big milestone. Having sold more than 800,000 units across all supported platforms, developers Superhot Team say the VR title has now generated more revenue than their original hit PC game Superhot (2016).
Oculus Quest & Rift S Controllers Could Hide an Unintended Easter Egg Message Inside
Nate Mitchell, Oculus co-founder and head of VR product at Facebook, revealed that a number of Touch controllers for Quest and Rift S hold an unintended hidden message inside, something he calls “inappropriate.”
‘Star Wars Vader Immortal’ Confirmed for Oculus Rift, New Trailer Revealed
Today during the Star Wars celebration event, a panel of creators developing the upcoming Star Wars Vader Immortal confirmed that the experience will be coming to the Oculus Rift, in addition to Quest which was previously confirmed.
Dent Reality Aims to Bring AR Indoor Directions to Malls, Airports & Retail Stores
Navigating indoors is still a pretty old school experience: you look for a map of shops, bathrooms, and accessibility ramps and follow signs to your desired destination, all the while knowing that the super powered computer in your pocket has lost a core functionality without GPS signal. Dent Reality, a UK-based studio, is creating its own augmented reality-based SDK for iOS to remedy this.
‘RoboCo’ Looks to Fuel Interest in STEM by Letting You Build Useful (and Crappy) Robots
RoboCo is an upcoming robot-building game from Madison, Wisconsin-based indie studio Filament Games that aims to spark interest in STEM fields by offering players the tools to unleash their problem solving skills and creative potential. That may be true, but it also looks like a great way to have fun building sh*tty robots in VR.
