If preparing cars for motorsports in VR sounds like your idea of a good time, indie game Wrench is one to keep an eye on. Showcased in this recent ‘prototype trailer’, Wrench features painstakingly detailed car parts which the developer hopes to use in a rewarding, problem-solving car shop game.
Jaunt was once a cinematic VR company which produced high-quality 360 video, and to boot even a professional-grade 360 camera dubbed NEO. Taking a step in a decidedly more AR direction with its recently revealed volumetric video capture solution, Jaunt further announced it’s also acquired both Personify’s ‘Teleporter’ volumetric video streaming tech and the engineers behind it.
Earlier this year Oculus CTO John Carmack revealed a new video playback technique designed to bring high-resolution video to mobile headsets like Oculus Go. Oculus released a sample of the system and developer Cubicle Ninjas saw a perfect opportunity to adapt the code to their Guided Meditation VR app, resulting in a vastly improved visual experience.
As one of the first full-length games for VR, Windlands (2016) pioneered a movement scheme that sends you soaring high into the air, using your grappling hooks to swing from bush to tree in the desolate world that was fractured and destroyed after a planet shaking conflict. The latest Windlands isn’t simply a continuation of the hunt for all-important power crystals and Easter eggs though, now boasting enemies, multiplayer co-op, races, and a classic gaming-inspired story that confronts players with the disastrous forces that wrecked the once prosperous world; it feels like the true beginning of the series.
Meta, makers of an AR headset dev kit, was close to raising a new round of funding before a Chinese lead investor backed out, Bloomberg reports. The Chinese investment firm had reportedly put up $20 million for the deal. Meta claims that the Chinese government urged the investment firm to reconsider the deal following trade tensions brought on by the Trump administration.
The long-standing golf series Everybody’s Golf is getting a PSVR game, developed by Clap Hanz in association with Sony’s Japan Studio. Announced today as a part of the pre-Tokyo Game Show ‘PS Lineup Tour’, Everybody’s Golf VR is coming exclusively to the platform.
Déraciné, an upcoming VR story adventure from Dark Souls and Bloodborne developer FromSoftware and Sony Japan Studio, is coming exclusively to PSVR in November.
Square Enix and Disney today announced that a special Kingdom Hearts: VR Experience is headed to PSVR this holiday season.
DeNA, the Japan-based mobile game developer known for their work on several Nintendo properties including Super Mario Run (2016) and Fire Emblem Heroes (2017), announced a new VR adventure game targeting PSVR, HTC Vive, and Oculus Rift. Dubbed VoxEl, the game is said to include puzzle-solving as well as combat.
While Pimax has been met with several delays in delivering its ultra-wide FOV headsets, the quest to get headsets out the door to backers of its successful Kickstarter campaign may soon be coming to a conclusion. The company says the first “8K” and “5K” headsets will begin shipping to backers by the end of September, and also announced a new “5K” Plus model; backers of the original “5K” will automatically be upgraded to the “5K” Plus.
Magic Leap One, the company’s long-awaited AR headset, has been out for a month now. While we’ve been teased with some pretty interesting upcoming content for the platform, such as Weta GameShop’s shooter Dr. Grordbort’s Invaders and a newly announced mocap project with Andy Serkis (Gollum from Lord of the Rings) performing as an “orc-like character”, you’d be forgiven if you thought most of the still unreleased games and apps planned for the headset are still being developed behind closed doors. That’s not entirely true, as a group of AR/VR developers are currently testing out the headset’s abilities to create multiplayer experiences with a pretty inspiring first success.
Firewall Zero Hour (2018), the tactical team shooter from ROM: Extraction (2016) developers First Contact Entertainment, has apparently celebrated some serious notoriety since it launched late last month on PlayStation VR; Sony has ranked it the top most downloaded PSVR game of August.
Odd Raven Studios, the Stockholm-based developers behind Carly and the Reaperman – Escape From the Underworld (2018), announced that the VR couch co-op platformer is getting a single-player experience starting today.
Gravity Sketch fills an interesting role in the world of VR modeling tools. More focused on design than art, the app functions much like a 3D sketchpad for exploring ideas of form and color as part of a broader modeling workflow. An update to the Early Access app brings new and improved tools to make 3D ideation faster and easier.
Thumper (2016), a totally unique rhythm game and verifiable indie gem, has launched on Oculus Go. As far as mobile VR is concerned, Thumper is a pretty big deal to see ported to the headset, and will likely set the stage of more ports to come as the launch of Santa Cruz, Oculus’ high-end mobile VR headset, draws nearer.
