Google first started its venture into virtual reality with Google Cardboard back in 2014. Since then we’ve seen the company’s ambitions in VR and AR continue to grow with the introduction and launch of the Daydream headsets in 2016, and new standalone Daydream headsets coming later this year. A look at the company’s job listings so far this year reveals Google’s expanding commitment and investment in VR and AR.
Chroma Lab is a mesmerising particle simulation and a simple but stunning VR showcase, using a custom physics engine to calculate the fluid-like behaviour of more than 100,000 particles. While there are no ‘game’ elements, indie developer Sean Tann has created is a well-crafted ‘sandbox’ that offers a number of useful options to tweak or significantly alter the experience.
Gamescom is one of the few truly gargantuan expos dedicated to gaming, holding within its massive Zeppelin hanger-sized halls all manner of ostentatious booth featuring all the big names in gaming. But it’s not all glitz, cosplay, and long lines at Gamescom. Back in the more demure B2B area, only accessible to trade visitors and press, was bHaptics, a Korean startup that recently joined HTC’s Vive X Accelerator Program specializing in actuator-based haptic devices, all of which ideally fit together to create a greater sense of immersion for VR games and experiences.
In the build-up to QuakeCon 2017, which starts tomorrow, Bethesda has announced launch dates for their three major VR titles for the holiday season. Skyrim VR (PSVR) launches first on November 17th, followed by Doom VFR (PSVR, Vive) on December 1st, and finally Fallout 4 VR (Vive) on December 12th, rounding out what promises to be a very merry VR holiday.
Stifled is an upcoming first-person horror game from Singapore-based studio Gattai Games. Heavily featured at this year’s Gamescom, in no small part thanks to their partnership with Sony Interactive Entertainment that’s seeing a number of Asian-born titles coming West, we got a chance to pop in and see just what the five-person developer team have accomplished.
Skyworld, a turn-based strategy game from Arizona Sunshine (2016) developers Vertigo Games, was initially introduced to the world as a demo during HTC Vive’s first public showing back in GDC 2015. At this year’s Gamescom, we got a hands-on with the ostensibly near-finished game, which should be releasing soon if the developers want to hit their Fall 2017 launch date.
VR design is still in the very early stages, but something that we know leads to immersion in VR is interactivity. One developer is taking interactivity to the extreme with Chroma Lab, a VR experience now available on SteamVR that lets you play with hundreds of thousands of simulated particles in real-time.
Everyone agrees: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) is a maddeningly good film. It is too good to tolerate, nearly. There is no one who does not think this; it is True. But everyone knows it’s missing something, and Kevin Cornish knows what that something is: aliens. But Cornish not only knows this, he’s actually set out to do something about it with Remember: Remember, a convoluted, if not altogether unappealing VR short.
The wildly popular puzzler The Talos Principle (2014) from Croteam is soon to be making its way to VR in a separate version, playable on SteamVR-compatible headsets; i.e. HTC Vive and Oculus Rift. Getting a chance to go head-first into Talos VR at this year’s Gamescom, I walked in asking myself if I actually wanted to spend the 20ish hours it takes to beat the game, in VR; and if given the choice between the two—the monitor and the VR version—that I would prefer to play in a headset instead of on a flatscreen. While my 20 minute demo didn’t exactly answer that question in full, a few things have certainly changed about how you interface with the game, making it a necessarily slower, but much more immersive experience to boot. And you know us, we like immersion.
In 2016, Bethesda announced it was working on a Doom VR project, and earlier this year at E3 the company revealed it as Doom VFR. Due to launch in Q4 2017, a Q&A video with the game’s developers shines more light on the kind of gameplay and world that players can expect.
There’s some healthy competition in the VR 3D modelling space, as Sixense brings serious enhancements to MakeVR in a new version of the product named MakeVR Pro, with precision tools to assist in detailed 3D creativity and production. Both versions are currently only available on Viveport, although there are plans to bring the software to other platforms.
Next to Oculus’ big $400 Summer of Rift sale, the $800 HTC Vive felt as if it was in another price bracket altogether. Now after a price drop to $600, the Vive feels very much back in the game compared to the Rift’s post-sale MSRP of $500. Despite the close timing, HTC says the price cut wasn’t a reaction to Oculus.
After we went hands-on with Kopin’s prototype headset featuring their 2K VR micro display last week, people are curious to know when the screens might actually hit the market. Speaking with Kopin and manufacturing partner Goertek, the companies tell us that the first products incorporating the ‘Lightning’ display are expected by the end of 2018.
IGN’s Lucy O’Brien traveled to Japan’s Shinjuku VR Zone, Bandai Namco’s newly opened VR arcade featuring bespoke VR games from top properties including Dragon Ball, Gundam, Evangelion, and yes, Mario Kart.
Hot on the heels of the $400 Summer Rift sale, HTC is doing some of its own price slashing, bringing the complete Vive system down by $200 to a new permanently lowered price of $600.
