Oculus CTO John Carmack has developed a new approach to VR video playback which makes it possible to play 5K 3D 360 video on headsets like Oculus Go and Gear VR. The results, as shown in the recent re-release of Henry, are very impressive. In a new blog post, Carmack breaks down how the player works and offers up a sample for developers interested in using the technique.
Launched initially on Daydream in early 2017, and now available on Gear VR, Oculus Go, and Oculus Rift, Virtual Virtual Reality’s smart interaction design gives players freedom and control which—combined with a narrative tying it all together—makes Virtual Virtual Reality one of the most immersive mobile VR games to date. This guest article by Mitch Mastroni, Interaction Designer at Tender Claws, the studio behind the game, explores how the game achieved significant immersion even on more restrictive mobile VR headsets.
Successfully combining educational value with an entertaining, playful presentation, The Big Table is a VR laboratory that teaches many fundamental chemistry concepts, aimed at students aged 13 to 17. The app recently launched on Gear VR and Oculus Rift.
Following the wave of pre-show announcements and conferences, here’s a final roundup of all our E3 2018 coverage. Vive Wireless Adapter news, Wolfenstein: Cyberpilot platforms clarified, Ready at Dawn interview, and we go hands-on with Astro Bot Rescue Mission, Trover Saves the Universe, Blood & Truth, Megalith, Beat Saber, and Firewall: Zero Hour.
With the Echo Combat open beta just around the corner, we took a few minutes to catch up with Ready at Dawn CEO Ru Weerasuriya who filled us in on the newest abilities coming to the game, how it might change prior to launch, and the studio’s commitment to VR.
Ever since the early days of PSVR, fans have been hoping for games like Counter Strike or Rainbow Six—the sort of team-based shooters most gamers are familiar with one way or the other, be it on PC or console. Now First Contact Entertainment, the studio behind VR shooter ROM: Extraction (2016), have set their sights on the multiplayer, objective-based shooter genre; what I experienced at E3 2018 has not only shown that the four vs four shooter checks all the right boxes, but it does it with the sort of immersion PSVR players have been waiting for.
While E3 2018 didn’t technically start until Tuesday this week, much of the big news comes during the pre-show period from Saturday to Monday. Here’s a roundup of our coverage of E3 2018 before the official start of the event.
Beat Saber has been making big waves on the Rift and Vive since its early access launch back in May, having sold more than 100,000 copies in its first month. Now the game is officially headed to PSVR and this week at E3 we got our first look at how it plays on the console.
Megalith is an upcoming first-person arena brawler from Disruptive Games which puts you in MOBA-style combat against other heroes as you—and your pint-sized minions—sally forth to destroy the other team’s base.
The World Cup is due to kick off today, and Oculus announced that US residents will be able to watch select matches of the quadrennial football championship for free in Oculus Venues, the company’s social VR event viewing app for Oculus Go and Gear VR.
Budget Cuts, a first-person stealth VR game, has been eagerly awaited since Stockholm-based indie studio Neat Corporation first released a free demo in 2016. The demo, which quickly became a breakout success in the early days of consumer VR, demonstrated a unique portal-teleportation mechanic, that, when married with the ability to throw knives at robot guards, spelled an instant hit—at least from a basic gameplay perspective. Two years later, the full release of Budget Cuts is here and it’s definitely been worth the wait.
Blood & Truth, a promising VR action shooter from Sony’s first-party London Studio, got a brand new demo for E3 2018 which brings improved gunplay and a new bullet time mechanic while showing off a new level.
Neat Corporation today announced that Budget Cuts, their upcoming VR stealth game, now has an official launch date after difficulties with framerate stability and other bugs encountered in the game delayed the game’s May 31st launch. And there’s not much time left to wait, as the game is set to launch tomorrow, June 14th at 10 AM PT (local time here).
With mostly prior confirmed PSVR titles presenting at E3 2018, we expected Sony to dedicate a few moments during its E3 2018 keynote to highlight the platform’s upcoming VR games, of course with the understanding that high-profile PS4 titles would mostly overshadow VR titles. Well, that’s a bit of an understatement.
During Bethesda’s E3 Showcase, the company announced a new standalone VR title: Wolfenstein: Cyberpilot, a game set to launch sometime in 2019. Having talked to a Bethesda spokesperson, we can now confirm the upcoming VR game is targeting PSVR and HTC Vive with a prospective 2019 launch.
