Mint Virtual Reality

US retail giant Walmart is now selling a range of ultra low price VR headsets.

SteamVR Headsets

Three models of the SteamVR headset are listed. A 960×1080 per eye model for $20, a 1280×1440 per eye model for $30, and a 1440×1440 per eye model with IPD adjustment for $45.

Like most other PC VR headsets they connect to your PC via HDMI and USB. But unlike other PC VR headsets, they do not feature 6DoF positional tracking. That means you can rotate your head, but not move around.

The cheaper models run at 60Hz, whereas the $45 model is claimed to run at 90Hz. They all use cheap, small lenses so don’t expect a wide sweet spot or good sharpness.

All three models come with a USB gamepad, so in theory you can play any SteamVR game which doesn’t require tracked controllers- as long as your PC is capable.

Standalone Headsets

Two models of the standalone headset are listed. One uses a 1080p screen for 960×1080 per eye, the other has the same 1280×1440 per eye resolution as Oculus Go.

The headsets run a modified Android OS. The app store is called Nibiru– used by various Chinese mobile headsets. Therefore the content available won’t come close to Oculus or Daydream.

They’re powered by a low end chipset from 2014. That makes them significantly less powerful than other standalones. Stunningly, the GPU in the chipset is actually an overclocked variant of that used on the iPhone 4S back in 2011. If you think normal mobile VR graphics are bad, you probably don’t want to use these headsets.

You control the headsets with buttons built onto the top. Or if that gets tedious, you can pick up a remote for $20 extra.

You Get What You Pay For

While we haven’t tried them ourselves yet it’s hard to recommend buying these headets even at such a low price. They’re a great example of how low the price of VR could get if too many compromises are made. Hopefully buyers of these headsets realize that they don’t represent what VR truly has to offer.

Tagged with: Daydream, Oculus Go, walmart

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Gearbox Software is set to host a panel in March at PAX East, where it promises "never-before seen reveals." The next entry in the Borderlands franchise, Borderlands 3, is the only game known to be in development at Gearbox.

The post Is the wait nearly over? Borderlands 3 reveal could happen at PAX East in March appeared first on Digital Trends.

As a Freelancer in Anthem, there are plenty of opportunities to make money. Anthem's in-game currency, coins, can be spent on new Javelins, crafting materials, and appearance changes. Here are the best ways to make money in Anthem.

The post How to earn Coins fast in Anthem, and where to spend them appeared first on Digital Trends.

The pirate-themed season 8 is off to a great start in Fortnite! In this weekly challenge, we're tasked with finding and visiting seven pirate camps on the map. Here is our guide to finding and visiting all the camps.

The post Fortnite season 8, week 1 challenge guide: Visit 7 pirate camps appeared first on Digital Trends.

Gaming desktops are powerful, but they tie you down to your desk. For those of us who prefer a more mobile experience, here are the best gaming laptops on the market, ranging from budget machines to maxed-out, wallet-emptying PCs.

The post The best gaming laptops for 2019 appeared first on Digital Trends.

The Division 2, the sequel to Ubisoft's most successful new franchise, arrives on PS4, Xbox One, and PC on March 15. The Division 2 has a new setting, interesting new systems, and much more. Here's everything we know about The Division 2.

The post Everything we know about The Division 2 so far appeared first on Digital Trends.

Ubisoft is hosting an open beta for The Division 2 on PS4, Xbox One, and PC from March 1 to March 5. Unlike the private beta, anyone can participate. Here's how you can get in on the action.

The post How to get into The Division 2 open beta appeared first on Digital Trends.

Epic Games unveiled Fortnite season 8. The new content is largely pirate-themed, with a powerful cannon weapon and new areas underneath a volcano spewing lava. An addition from Apex Legends was also made.

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We’ve been pretty interested in Proze ever since the release of its free prologue last year. We were hoping to get our hands on the first full episode this month. Sadly, it looks like we’ll have to wait a little longer.

Proze Episode 1: Enlightenment is now arriving on April 11th. Developer SignSine recently confirmed as much over on Steam. “Everything looks promising and we’re almost at the finish line – but need a little more time to wrap things up,” the team wrote. “The first full chapter of PROZE story will be out on April 11.”

SignSine also promised that a new trailer was on the way. In the meantime, there’s this one that we missed before (ignore the February release date).

Proze is a first-person adventure game set both past and present. You explore a Cold War-era Soviet facility, hopping between the two time zones. In the 1970’s, you follow an engineer that uncovers the work going on at the facility. Then in the present day you explore the aftermath of those events. Puzzles and horror elements fill out the episodic story. We’re not sure how long each episode will last, nor how many installments are planned for the series.

We tried out the free prologue and, though brief, it provided a glimpse of a promising adventure. If the puzzles are kept in check and the horror hits the right notes, Proze could be a winner. Beta testing for the game is currently underway (you can apply for a key on Discord). The game will launch on the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive.

Tagged with: Proze Episode 1: Enlightenment

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HTC has a lot of new VR headsets. There’s much to learn about the Vive Cosmos, but there’s two new additions coming to the enterprise side too. The upcoming Vive Pro Eye improves on the first Pro with integrated eye-tracking, for example. Meanwhile, the newly-announced Vive Focus Plus succeeds a three-month-old headset with new six degrees of freedom (6DOF) controllers.

Despite surpassing their predecessors, though, neither of these headsets will be fully replacing them. Why is that?

I put that question to Vive General Manager Daniel O’Brien at MWC this week. He told me that it was down to the difference between consumer and enterprise markets. “It’s really about — when you’re talking about enterprise — it’s a very long lead sales times,” O’Brien said. “And you’re also talking about time that you need to service and you need to keep supporting those customers. They’ve built business cases around them, they’re going to deploy them, they’ll ramp in that new hardware when they’re ready to ramp it in.”

Having previously worked in HTC’s phone division, O’Brien said he understands how that may look to a consumer market. “You’ve got to give your customer enough time,” he added. “And sometimes that cycle can be 12 – 18 months. You’ve got to be very respectful of your customers and how they purchase products and not cause friction to their planning process or else you’re out of business.”

Speaking of the Pro, I also spoke to O’Brien about the decision to sell the kit to consumers too. When HTC introduced the Pro at CES 2018 it seemed marketed toward both consumers and businesses. When the hefty $799 price tag was later revealed (for just the headset), it became clear it was focused on the latter audience. The company caught a lot of flak for the price online. So why sell it to consumers at all?

“We just knew on the consumer side if we blocked them out of a higher resolution display and more comfortable headset, we were going to upset them,” O’Brien explained. “And we didn’t want to upset those customers.”

He told me that the company was selling “a lot” of Pros on the enterprise side. “I know it seemed confusing in the messaging, but we were just trying not to upset anyone,” he said.

Vive Pro Eye will be much the same case. Prosumers will be able to buy the headset when it launches in Q2, but it’s more built for business use than gaming. Instead, it’s Cosmos that will be HTC’s next consumer-focused VR headset. The device is due to launch this year. HTC remained tight-lipped about it at MWC, however.

Tagged with: b2b, Dan O'Brien, enterprise, htc, htc vive

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At the end of last year, Magic Leap launched its Independent Creators Program in a bid to foster new ideas and content for its headset, the Magic Leap One. This week the company has announced the successful applicants out of a pool of 6,500.

Magic Leap has chosen 31 companies to participate, provide independent developers with the financial, development and marketing support necessary. Those picked include Resolution Games – the studio behind Magic Leap title Angry Birds FPS: First Person Slingshot – Funktronic Labs (Starbear: Taxi, Cosmic Trip), Metanaut (Gadgeteer), Felix & Paul Studios (Marshall from Detroit, Traveling While Black), Within and Immersiv.

“We had so much fun creating our first Magic Leap title, Angry Birds FPS: First Person Slingshot. We’re super excited to have been selected as a Creator and look forward to pushing the possibilities of gameplay when creating a mixed reality experience from the ground up. We can’t wait to get it out and into the hands of players,” said Tommy Palm, CEO and co-founder of Resolution Games in a statement.

Such was the quality of the applications Magic Leap decided to award nearly 200 additional applicants with Magic Leap One devices so they can continue developing their projects.

Magic Leap expects the mixed reality (MR) experiences developed as part of the Independent Creator Program to begin launching within the next 90 days. All titles resulting from the Independent Creator Program are expected to be released within the next 12 months.

The Magic Leap One Creator Edition was announced just over a year ago, with a retail price starting from $2,295 USD. Originally the US only, now anyone can purchase the device from Magic Leap’s website. Still very much a developers edition rather than final consumer version, studios have still created gameplay experiences like Insomniac Games with Seedling and Funomena with Luna: Moondust Garden.

The system is comprised of three parts, the main headset (called Lightwear), a battery and processing unit termed ‘Lightpack’, and a 6 degrees of freedom (6DoF) movement controller. Magic Leap’s main rival, Microsoft’s HoloLens recently unveiled the HoloLens 2 at Mobile World Congress (MWC19), improving aspects such as comfort and FoV. As further details regarding Magic Leap are released, VRFocus will keep you updated.

Battle royale games like PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds’ and Fortnite have become the biggest trend in video games. The genre is also pushing the envelope in Twitch streaming and eSports.

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The absence of Terminators in 2019 means VR is probably the closest we’re going to get to time travel. But how do we ensure trips to our past are as accurate as possible? NHK Enterprises (NEP) and Rhizomatiks have one idea.

The pair this week announced a new project set to showcase at SXSW next month. Simply named The Time Machine, it will allow audiences to travel back to 1964 Tokyo. Crucially, the Japanese capital has been recreated not through interpretation but by using actual pictures of the city taken from that year. The aim is to provide photo-accurate 3D renditions of sites around Tokyo. Check out the trailer below.

We’ve seen this process, named photogrammetry, used in VR before. It’s being utilized to preserve historic artifacts, for example. But this is the first time we’ll have seen images from the past used to allow people to step back in time. That means that the world you see will be in black and white.

Using an HTC Vive, viewers will find themselves standing at the iconic Shibuya Scramble Intersection in the present day. They’ll then travel back to 1964, visiting sites like Hachiko statue at Shibuya’s JR Train Station, the Tokyo Bunka Kaikan (Tokyo Cultural Center) and Miyamasu-zaka Hill.

Produced by Toshio Tsuchiya, the piece is a part of celebrations leading up to Tokyo’s 2020 Summer Olympics. The games were last held in Tokyo in, you guessed it, 1964.

The Time Machine will be up and running from March 10th – 13th at the Austin Convention Center.

Tagged with: SXSW, The Time Machine, tokyo

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The next couple of months should be fairly exciting for virtual reality (VR) fans, with the Game Developers Conference (GDC) 2019 only a few weeks away, and then F8 2019 the month after with possible Oculus Quest launch details. Resolution Games has been involved in both the VR and augmented reality (AR) industries for some time now, having seen great success with fishing title Bait! It’s most recent videogame was Angry Birds VR: Isle of Pigs in collaboration with Rovio Entertainment. Now the studio has revealed a few new plans.

Resolution Games will be attending GDC 2019 to announce information regarding several new titles the studio is working on for Oculus Quest. It’s not discussing any further details at this time but the likelihood of a few ports is definitely high.

Titles such as Moss, Robo Recall and The Climb have already been confirmed for the launch of the standalone headset, and Bait! for example, would make for an excellent Oculus Quest experience, being able to fish wherever you chose. Having originally debuted on Samsung Gear VR before coming to Oculus Rift why should Oculus Quest miss out.

And the same goes for Angry Birds VR: Isle of Pigs. It’s not too graphically intensive, plus the new 6DoF controllers are perfectly suited to flinging all those birds at those unsuspecting green pigs. VRFocus would certainly like to see that happen, giving the videogame a solid 4-star review, saying: “While there aren’t really any major surprises when it comes to content and gameplay the adaption to VR has worked superbly well, with the studios retaining the high production values they’re known for. Angry Birds VR: Isle of Pigs is Angry Birds just in VR, and that’s no bad thing, equally fun and frustrating as it ever was.”

GDC 2019 should be a big event for Oculus Quest as it’s most likely the last one before the standalone headset launches. A new title from Face Your Fears developer Turtle Rock Studios will be on display, and hopefully so will Sanzaru Games’ latest Asgard’s Wrath. VRFocus will be at GDC 2019 to bring you all the latest news and announcements.

Next month might be the third anniversary of Oculus Rift’s launch, but the industry is slightly more focused on one of the companies other products, the soon to be released standalone headset Oculus Quest. Scheduled for a Spring 2019 launch, Oculus will be hard at work helping developers get their titles ready for either launch day or soon after. In a new blog posting on the Oculus Developers page, the company has detailed what it expects from developers, stating that a high bar will be set when it comes to content.

When it comes to online videogame stores and the content they list each will have its own set of parameters regarding the quality of the experience studios can submit. Steam, for example, isn’t particularly strict, whereas the Oculus Store or Viveport won’t just let anything onto the store – and getting onto PlayStation VR is even harder.

It’s a fine balance between regular content to keep customers interested but of a good enough quality that its not a yard sale of junk with a few gems here and there.

With the Oculus Quest it seems the company is looking to keep that bar raised fairly high saying: “We hope that when players get into their Oculus Quest headset their library showcases the innovation, sophistication, and development talent that exists in VR today, and inspires future developers.

“To get to that bar, we have to start with a quality-first approach.”

Oculus then goes on to add: “High-quality, innovative titles tend to be expensive to build, and developers need confidence that they are shipping into an ecosystem that will generate a return on investment. We’ve set a high bar for content quality on Quest, higher than we’ve ever enforced before, in order to build a platform where everyone has confidence in the quality of the titles they’re buying and developers know that their investments have a strong chance of success.”

With Oculus Quest Facebook isn’t taking anything for granted, ensuring the launch could be the biggest this year. The headset will be on demonstration at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) 2019 next month, with Oculus also attending the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in June. Oculus has previously said that over 50+ titles would be available at launch including Moss, Robo Recall and The Climb.

The Facebook Developers Conference (F8) at the end of April is when the Oculus Quest is expected to officially launch – like Oculus Go last year. As further details are released regarding Oculus Quest, VRFocus will keep you updated.

Beat Saber is great fun to play and an excellent workout when playing the high difficulty levels. But no matter how enjoyable the gameplay is swinging those sabers around the experience is nothing without some good quality tunes. Beat Games hasn’t released a massive selection of official tracks, however, that’s soon going to change with the first Music Pack next month.

#DevNews: Another milestone in the Music Pack development for PS VR has been reached and we're almost ready to go! Now, our priority is to finish the development for PC and prepare everything for the release. Excited!

— Beat Saber (@BeatSaber) February 27, 2019

The studio announced that the PlayStation VR version of the pack had been completed and the team were now applying the finishing touches to the PC version. Beat Games has previously mentioned that the Music Packs will feature 10 tracks and there are three packs in the works, although it’s highly likely that only one pack will be released in March. As for the songs themselves they have yet to be revealed.

While PC players have been waiting the longest for more official tracks to drop, only seeing American electronic duo Knower’s One Hope and viral hit POP/STARS from the League of Legends universe arrive at the end of 2018, the community has supported itself through modding. That has meant PC Beat Saber players have had a massive amount of tunes to enjoy, even when Beat Games release an update that occasionally breaks the mod software.

PlayStation VR players, on the other hand, don’t have that benefit due to the closed nature of the PlayStation platform. The headset does have some of its own unique songs but the community on PlayStation VR has been rather vocal on social media regarding more songs – the videogame is quite addictive if you hadn’t noticed.

Beat Games did update the PlayStation VR version earlier this month so that fans could experience the rather insane Expert+ mode, and then a couple of days ago the studio launched the title in Japan.

As Beat Games release further details in the next few weeks VRFocus will bring you the latest updates.

Titans are some of the most dangerous enemies you can come across in Anthem. They have multiple deadly attacks, but with our guide, you and your squad can kill Titans and reap the rewards.

The post How to defeat Titans in Anthem appeared first on Digital Trends.

Now that GDC is fast-approaching more and more VR developers are coming out of the woodwork to place their “We’re making games on Oculus Quest!” billboards for all the world to see. Recently Fast Travel Games, creators of Apex Construct, did so on Twitter and now Resolution Games, creators of Bait!, Narrows, Angry Birds VR, and Wonderglade are doing the same:

UPDATE: We’ve been a little quiet because… we are currently hard at work creating a few games for the #OculusQuest! We can’t wait for you to play them. Stay tuned! #gamedev #VR pic.twitter.com/RubUvDIAJ3

— Resolution Games (@resolutiongame) February 27, 2019

Today on Twitter, Resolution Games announced that they’re working “a few” Oculus Quest titles. We can assume that at least one of them is the port of Angry Birds VR, since they already told us that was a targeted platform, and probably Bait! since it seems like they’re biggest hit so far. Narrows seems less likely, although porting from Go would be very easy and the same goes for Wonderglade, but those could get ports later on.

What we’re hoping for are some new titles. We should get more details in just a few weeks as Resolution Games will be showing off what they’re working on at GDC 2019 in March. There is a big pre-GDC showcase from Oculus planned, but if Resolution is showing off Quest stuff separately then that probably means they won’t be at this showcase — and that other devs might do the same. With 50 titles planned for launch there are still a lot that we don’t actually know about for sure yet.

What do you think these other Quest games are? Do you think they’re working on brand new content, or just a bunch of ports of their existing catalog? Let us know what you think down in the comments below!

Tagged with: Angry Birds VR, Oculus Quest, resolution games

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Looking for the best PS4 games out there? Out of the massive crop of titles available, we selected the best you should buy. No matter what your genre of choice may be, there's something here for you.

The post The best PS4 games you can get right now appeared first on Digital Trends.

BioWare's Anthem can be a little bit overwhelming if you're new to loot-based online shooters. Here is what you need to know to get started as a Freelancer and get to saving the world.

The post Excel as a Freelancer with our Anthem beginner’s guide appeared first on Digital Trends.

A new blog post authored by Facebook’s Chris Pruett announces a stricter process for software approval on the upcoming Oculus Quest Store.

Facebook’s standalone VR system should ship in the coming months starting at only $400. Quest is a hybrid of the company’s previous efforts with Oculus Go, Gear VR and Oculus Rift. Like Go, Quest is a fully self-contained VR system. Like Rift, Quest ships with Touch controllers and 6DoF tracking perfect for engaging games like Superhot and Face Your Fears.

Quest Competes With Nintendo Switch

Oculus Quest is also a departure from earlier VR efforts at Facebook.

Efforts like Oculus Share, Concepts, Gallery and the Mobile Game Jam encouraged widely sharing unfinished work. There’s also an Early Access section available on Rift for projects that are in active development. With Quest, though, Facebook aims to compete directly for time against the likes of Nintendo Switch.

On Oculus Rift, it is a simple toggle in the menu system to allow unapproved content while on Oculus Go you need to sign up as a developer to activate “sideloading“. This is how developers can distribute apps among friends and testers. In contrast, game consoles typically limit user access to the operating system and software releases are approved and available from a single storefront. We’re still getting a picture of where Quest sits on that “openness” spectrum.

“We haven’t changed our stance on the massive value of early experimentation. In fact, we’ve increased our investment in independent developers with programs like Oculus Start. We don’t intend to shut down sharing of builds amongst friends,” Pruett wrote in an email in response to questions. “Like Oculus Go, Quest builds can be shared easily to others who have Developer Mode turned on. The goal of this new policy is to ensure that the contents of our storefront are consistently high quality. We have a lot of quality on Rift, and much of that is thanks to experimentation. Many of those titles will make their way to Quest as well. That’s part of the reason we’re not changing the Rift store policy.”

Facebook is still keeping the Quest launch lineup under tight wraps. The company is investing considerably, though, with partners in bringing titles to the system. We expect details in the coming weeks at the Game Developers Conference. In the meantime, though, the blog post from Facebook set some new expectations ahead of the VR console’s broader availability.

“We’ve set a high bar for content quality on Quest, higher than we’ve ever enforced before, in order to build a platform where everyone has confidence in the quality of the titles they’re buying and developers know that their investments have a strong chance of success,” Pruett’s post states. “It’s important to submit a concept document for review as early in your development cycle as possible. Those titles that pass this early review unlock direct support and resources from Oculus to help you make your title as high quality as it can possibly be. This new process is specific to Oculus Quest: no changes have been made to our application submission system for Rift or Oculus Go.”

Open Questions

I asked Facebook if they might implement a similar Early Access program on Quest as they do on Rift.

“We don’t have an Early Access program for Quest today, but it’s something we might consider in the future,” Pruett wrote. “We are not changing the store approval process for Rift or Oculus Go, but the Quest quality requirements may indirectly affect developers who intend to launch on both Quest and Rift.”

Tagged with: Oculus Quest Store

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As of firmware update 4.0, all PlayStation 4 consoles support HDR, but if you're not playing with it on, you're missing out on some major graphical enhancements. We'll show you how to get the most out of your 4K TV and PS4/Pro.

The post How to set up HDR gaming on your 4K HDR TV and PlayStation 4/PS4 Pro appeared first on Digital Trends.

Charge up your lightsabers beat sabers and get ready for some new music! The first-ever paid DLC Music Pack is coming to Beat Saber next month in March 2019 according to the official Beat Saber Twitter. It seems like it will be coming to both PC and PSVR at the same time.

Earlier today the account tweeted that “development” on the PSVR edition of the Music Pack was complete and that it’s almost ready to go, with the priority shifting to the PC version:

#DevNews: Another milestone in the Music Pack development for PS VR has been reached and we’re almost ready to go! Now, our priority is to finish the development for PC and prepare everything for the release. Excited!

— Beat Saber (@BeatSaber) February 27, 2019

Then, in a follow-up tweet reply to someone, the account stated that the Music Pack will be releasing in March. They didn’t say when in March, so maybe as early as this weekend if we’re lucky. All the way back in November they announced the Music Pack (with 10 songs) was in active development. In fact, over 30 new songs are being planned right now.

Until now all of the previous songs released since the original collection of just 10 have been for free. First there was Angel Voices that came to the PC version shortly after Early Access launch, then the PSVR version launched with a handful of exclusive songs which eventually came to PC, an EDM song released and came to Beat Saber on the same day, and then the viral hit k-pop song about League of Legends, K/DA Popstars, hit both platforms at the same time.

Hopefully we find out more about the first paid DLC Music Pack soon. Let us know your thoughts down in the comments below!

Tagged with: Beat Saber, Beat Saber DLC

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If you're serious about games, a good graphics card is essential. There’s no one-size-fits-all option for graphics cards, but our recommendations can help you pick from the best graphics cards for your needs.

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The Scuf Vantage is the best high-performance PlayStation 4 controller you can get with all the customization options a dedicated gamer can ask for, but with such a high price tag, we have a few reservations about its issues.

The post Scuf Vantage PS4 Controller Review appeared first on Digital Trends.

Want to know how to make a clan in Destiny 2? Here's everything you need to know, including how to design your clan's banner, earn extra loot, and help other players with guided games.

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More than four years into its life span, Microsoft's latest console is finally coming into its own. From Cuphead to Halo 5, the best Xbox One games offer something for players of every type.

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I really don’t like saying ‘mixed reality’. In my opinion, it’s a term that needlessly confuses two similar but separate technologies – VR and AR. HoloLens isn’t an MR headset, it’s an AR headset. Windows’ MR-based VR headsets are really just that, VR headsets. But at MWC this week I saw a glimpse of true mixed reality; something that combined both VR and AR.

That would be Intel and the USC School of Cinematic Arts’ Batman experience. This was a small slice of a wider experience built with help from AT&T, Ericsson and Warner Bros.. It was running off a wireless HTC Vive Pro as one of the many 5G showcases at the show. You can see pretty much the entire piece in action in the video below.

It’s a piece of, quite literally, two halves. Look to one side and you’ll see the real world, as captured through Vive Pro’s cameras. Bat-baddy Scarecrow appears in front of you and litters the environment with spiders. Then he steps over to the other side, a fully-rendered VR environment where he does battle with Batman. Nothing about the AR or VR portions was separately special. But, combined together, they made for something intriguing.

Again, this was just a slice of the main experience and the demo conditions weren’t perfect. I couldn’t hear what was being said over the noise of the show floor and the right earphone wasn’t working. Not to mention that it was weird to see Batman and Scarecrow fighting from one angle only to turn around and see MWC carrying on with little care.

Still, it set my mind ablaze with possibilities for true mixed reality experiences. Imagine theatrical performances where you’d see real actors interact with virtual characters or games where the consequences of the virtual world spilled out into ours. You’d need conditions far more controlled than this, but the potential is definitely there.

This felt more like a proof of concept; a technological achievement more than a creative one. But the truth of the matter is that VR headsets aren’t that great at doing AR (yet) and AR headsets aren’t very good at VR (yet). Until the pair inevitably merge, experiences such as this will remain decisively experimental.

Tagged with: Batman, Intel, mixed reality, USC School of Cinematic Arts

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Virtual reality (VR) dungeon crawlers like The Mage’s Tale, The Witching Tower, Gates of Nowhere and In Death offer some of the best, and most immersive experiences, transporting players to majestic fantasy worlds they just want to get lost in. If you are a fan of these types of videogames then you may want to keep an eye on Steam Early Access next month, as indie developer The Pixel Mine will be releasing its debut title, The Morrigan.

Sounding like some ancient beastie – the Celtic Queen of the dead as it happens – The Morrigan looks to be more of a playful action-adventure instead of some gruesome journey into the bowls of hell. The role-playing game (RPG) is all about raiding the dungeon of the Morrigan, defeating her legions of the dead using trusty weapons like the sword and shield for when they get too close and a bow for those distance kills.

Looking at the early access trailer The Pixel Mine has released plenty of the gameplay will be physics-based melee combat, with players having to learn the classic basics of block, parry and counters – which most VR gamers should already be well versed in. There will be just over 20 weapons to choose from to perfect your combat moves, and when you’re not fighting there will be puzzles to solve and traps to avoid.

It also seems that the studio has catered for all movement eventualities – which is always welcome – with both smooth locomotion and teleportation options available.

On top of all this The Morrigan does look rather good, doesn’t it? With a cartoon style, cel-shaded aesthetic, the design flits between the rather haunting to the ‘ah doesn’t that skeleton look adorable’.

The Morrigan is scheduled to arrive in March via Steam Early Access, supporting both HTC Vive and Oculus Rift. There’s no specific release date just yet, with the studio expecting early access to take around six months. The initial release will feature six levels of the dungeon, with the final version adding more. When The Pixel Mine release further details, VRFocus will keep you up to date on the latest announcements.

Age Of Empires II is approaching its 20th birthday. It has a loyal following that has grown over the past five years. New always-online games like Anthem would love to remain relevant for so long, but they have a problem. They're just not good enough.

The post Why Anthem could learn a lot from Age of Empires II appeared first on Digital Trends.

Nintendo and Game Freak have announced Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield, the new role-playing games coming to Nintendo Switch in late 2019. The games are set in the all-new Galar region and feature new monsters.

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We’ve tried HoloLens 2 and we kind of love it. In a few months’ time, Microsoft will let even more people test it out.

The company this week announced Mixed Reality Dev Days. Mixed reality is Microsoft’s semi-confusing term the covers everything from HoloLens to its VR headsets made with partners. Running on May 2nd and 3rd 2019, this event will welcome developers to Microsoft’s Redmond Campus. There they’ll get hands-on time with HoloLens 2 along with other MWC announcements like Azure mixed reality services, Azure Kinect Developer Kit and, in the company’s words, “more”.

The event will be feedback-focused, Microsoft is looking for impressions on its latest offerings and ideas on how to improve them.

Interestingly, the show takes place just a few days before Microsoft’s annual Build developer conference kicks off. We’d expect to see more MR updates at the show. We’ll also be interested to see if Microsoft has anything else to share on the MR front at GDC next month.

Tickets to the Dev Days won’t be free but pricing hasn’t been announced just yet. You can sign up to the company’s developer program to get an alert for when the invites go out.

HoloLens 2 is set to come out later this year. The AR headset improves upon the original device with a bigger field of view, improved interaction and better design. When I tried it at MWC this week I found one of the first AR headsets I could actually see myself using on a day-to-day basis. It’s an enterprise-level device (starting at $3,500) so not something that game developers will be looking to embrace.

Tagged with: HoloLens 2, microsoft, mixed reality

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Currently being developed by Eagre Games and Skymap Games is a new surreal adventure experience called ZED, which is being published by Oblivion creator Cyan Ventures. Supporting both standard PC monitors and virtual reality (VR) headsets,  ZED is due for release this Spring. With the launch not far away Cyan has just released an official trailer for the title.

Very much a twisted puzzle adventure, the trailer gives a good demonstration of the weirdness that the development teams have been creating. A synopsis explains that: “ZED is the story of an artist suffering from dementia — desperately trying to reconnect fragmented memories. The player explores the dreams of the artist’s crumbling mind in hopes of helping him assemble enough meaningful images to leave behind a loving memento and final legacy for his granddaughter.”

“This game is very personal to me,” said Chuck Carter, founder of Eagre Games in a statement. “I had a dear friend and mentor pass a few years back. He suffered from dementia in those final years and my visits to him became the inspiration for ZED. This is not his story, but a broader cautionary tale of not waiting till the end to examine your life.”

“ZED is just the type of game Cyan Ventures wants to publish, said Rand Miller, CEO, Cyan. “We formed Cyan Ventures because we believe that now is the time to experiment and explore the new possibilities in VR storytelling. Chuck’s very emotional exploration of an artist’s struggle to examine the meaning of his life through the fog of dementia is a provocative approach to narrative gameplay. We’re very excited to have a part in bringing ZED’s moving and inventive narrative to VR and PC.”

Eagre Games has been working on ZED for a while now, having held a successful Kickstarter crowd-funding campaign in 2016. Managing to raise over $50,000 USD, backers will soon be able to enjoy the videogame they supported 3 years ago.

Cyan plans on releasing ZED for PC as well as HTC Vive and Oculus Rift in Spring 2019. When a more concrete release date has been announced VRFocus will let you know.

Startup Modulate aims to change how your in-game characters are portrayed with "voice skin" neural network technology. The technology allows your voice to match your characters' appearance.

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Undead Citadel first caught our attention late last year. It’s a VR zombie-slaying game from Dark Curry (still a great name) that looks visually astonishing. That remains the case in this new minute-long clip.

Players make their way through a gorgeous medieval setting, dismembering zombies and locking blades with skeletons. Swords and axes are at the ready as is that most trusted of VR weapons, the bow and arrow. This trailer also sees the debut of a shield and throwable explosives.

Of course, the jury’s still out on if these visuals are truly the real deal. It all looks a little too good, doesn’t it? Plus, inside headsets, visual quality is somewhat distorted by the screen door effect.

Combat still looks promising, though. Dark Curry says the game runs on a “hybrid physics-driven combat system.” You can see it in the hefty axe swings that cause skulls to explode and the way enemies react to arrows. We’re still looking for what will really separate this from the other 100 VR zombie games out there, though. We’ll need to get our hands on it to find out.

There’s still a lot to learn about Undead Citadel. The previous teaser trailer suggested the game would have some sort of story-based progression. The end of this footage also confirms there are bigger, tougher enemies ahead.

Undead Citadel is due for release on Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, PlayStation VR and Windows Mixed Reality later this year. No specific release window has been announced but the developer says it’ll be out “when it’s perfect”. Ambitious.

Tagged with: Undead Citadel

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Here at VRFocus, we’re big fans of all the weird and wonderful content that comes from Japan. Over the last year, one project that has kept our interest is MyDearest Inc.’s virtual reality (VR) mystery novel, Tokyo Chronos. First teased in the Spring, the studio then went on to launch a successful Kickstarter campaign in the summer, managing to raise over $90,000 USD. Now, as the launch approaches the team has released a new trailer showcasing the adventure’s protagonist, Kyosuke Sakurai.

Via the official Tokyo Chronos website the official overview of Kyosuke Sakurai reads:

Your Kingdom Hearts adventures aren’t done yet. Well, that is if you have a PSVR headset.

Square Enix’s Kingdom Hearts VR Experience finally launches in Europe on February 28th (tomorrow!). That is according to a PlayStation Blog listing. It’s exclusive to PSVR, so don’t expect a PC release. It previously hit Japan last month. We don’t yet know if it’s also coming to the US this week, but it’s a good bet that it does. It’ll be free to download. Take a look at some gameplay we recorded below.

Kingdom Hearts VR offers a highlight reel of the series’ history in VR. You visit some of the more memorable scenes from past games as if you were Sora himself. We tried it out in Japanese last month and it was kind of terrifying. Meeting Goofy and Donald Duck in VR isn’t as magical as you might expect when they’re speaking a language you don’t quite understand.

Scenes are also accompanied by musical performances which are neat, if not entirely memorable. All-in-all it’s not the most astonishing use of VR but I’m sure series fans will get a kick out of it.

The Japanese version of the app actually launched with a few levels still missing. We don’t know if this version will feature those levels or if they’re coming later down the line. In a trailer released last year we did see users wielding the Keyblade for themselves, but neither of the existing scenes let you do that. Hopefully these upcoming scenes will include that feature.

Tagged with: Kingdom Hearts VR

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Just before Christmas last year VRFocus reported on MWM Immersive (VR and AR division of Madison Wells Media) creating a spine-tingling version of Charles Dickens’ classic A Christmas Carol as a live theatrical virtual reality (VR) experience called Chained: A Victorian Nightmare in Los Angeles. Today, the studio has announced a partnership with real-time body animation specialist IKINEMA, alongside bringing the piece to New York City.

Chained: A Victorian Nightmare is the work of Justin Denton in collaboration with Aaron Sims Creative, and Here Be Dragons, using IKINEMA’s LiveAction technology to bring the story’s ghostly characters to life.

A solitary single-guest experience presented inside a fully detailed Victorian-era set, only one audience member can enter at a time. After donning a VR headset they’ll interact the entire time with live actors who are motion captured by IKINEMA then animated alongside other tactile objects, confronting their own past, present, and future through a harrowing journey.

“The ghosts of A Christmas Carol have become iconic characters, and they’re at the heart of our adaptation,” said Ethan Stearns, Executive Producer, MWM Immersive in a statement. ” IKINEMA LiveAction was instrumental in making each one feel like a living, breathing character who is standing right beside you. At MWM Immersive, we want to provide our creators the tools they need to tell their story in the best way possible, and that often means pushing the boundaries and capabilities of the technology at our fingertips. IKINEMA helped us accomplish that on Chained.”

“Chained: A Victorian Nightmare is testament to the close collaboration of creative and technical teams who harness our powerful LiveAction solution to bring life and realism for interactive virtual characters—qualities IKINEMA is in demand for,” Alexandre Pechev, CEO, IKINEMA adds. “We’re thrilled MWM Immersive have delivered what is next-generation VR storytelling using our technology.”

If you happen to be in New York over the next month then head down to the New York City Story Arcade Pop-Up, by organisers Future of Storytelling. Chained: A Victorian Nightmare is only available until 24th March, so book your tickets here. For further theatrical VR updates, keep reading VRFocus.

Epic Games and Honor have partnered to release an exclusive skin in Fortnite called Honor Guard. It's available now, but there's a catch. You have to purchase the Honor View 20, the first Android smartphone to feature 60fps for Fortnite.

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Electronic Arts and BioWare's Anthem features enormous Titans across its open world and in missions. You need to kill them to progress the story, and here's how and where you can find them.

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Cyan, the creators of Myst, Riven, and VR adventure Obduction, are back — this time as a publisher. Dubbed Cyan Ventures, this new arm of the company will allow them to branch out away from just development to help bring more of their style of high-quality atmospheric games to the world that might otherwise not get played. The first effort in this new endeavor is Zed from Eagre Games.

According to the press release:

ZED is the story of an artist suffering from dementia — desperately trying to reconnect fragmented memories. The player explores the dreams of the artist’s crumbling mind in hopes of helping him assemble enough meaningful images to leave behind a loving memento and final legacy for his granddaughter. The experience blends adventure, a rich narrative, stirring sentiment, and fanciful world exploration.

ZED is the vision of Chuck Carter, developed in association with Skymap Games and co-written by Joe Fielder (Bioshock Infinite, The Flame and the Flood) and David Chen (Metal Gear Solid series, Narcosis).  The game features compelling voice over work from an outstanding cast, including a riveting performance from veteran voice actor Stephen Russell (the Thief, Skyrim and Fallout series).

Based on the experience of its team alone, Zed is certainly worth keeping on your radar. We don’t have a firm release date yet, but according to the already-live Steam page it is expected to come this Spring, so hopefully not a long wait at all.

After  releasing Obduction, Cyan’s next game is going to be Firmament the last we heard from them. We got to try a brief vertical slice of it at GDC 2018 and appreciated the interactive puzzle solving.

Zed is coming to Rift, Vive, and non-VR PCs this Spring. Let us know what you think down in the comments below!

Tagged with: Cyan Studios, Eagre Games, obduction, Zed

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