April 2021

April 30, 2021 ,

Downpour Interactive, the maker of multiplayer VR first-person shooter (FPS), Onward, is the latest developer to be acquired by Facebook.

The news was announced today on the Oculus Blog, which states that Facebook will “support Dante [Buckley, Downpour CEO] and Downpour Interactive in growing Onward as one of the foremost multiplayer VR games”. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed, though Downpour did confirm that the entire team is joining Facebook.

Onward will continue to be supported on Steam, Facebook says, where it’s available in Early Access, following the acquisition. The blog post also confirms that Downpour has plans for “future projects” and that it hopes to release them to “as many people as possible”.

Since release on Steam in 2016 Onward has proved to be one of VR’s most popular multiplayer shooters. Its focus on military realism gave a lot of VR fans exactly what they were looking for in the early days of consumer VR and Downpour has offered consistent support for the game since, adding new maps, modes and fixes.

Onward came to Oculus Quest in 2020 with support from Coatsink. The standalone version of the game features full cross-play support with the PC VR versions, a fact that actually saw a drop in visual fidelity on PC at release. Downpour has slowly but surely continued to rebuild the PC version from a visual perspective, though.

There are plenty more plans for Onward, too. Anti-cheat measures were introduced into the game this week, and new maps are planned for future updates too.

Downpours joins Beat Games, Ready at Dawn and Sanzaru Games as Facebook-owned Oculus Studios developers.



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April 30, 2021 ,

Population: One Season 2 is coming in May and carries a Western theme.

Developer Big Box dropped a teaser for the game on Twitter earlier today. The short clip for Season 2: The Frontier suggests several new additions to the game. Firstly there’s a train complete with a station, onto which a player sporting a pair of cowboy boots steps. Some desert-themed environmental decorations can be seen in the background too. Check out the teaser below.

That’s all but, judging by the teaser and the name we can expect a heavy focus on this Western theme this season. We’d expect that might mean new weapons to fit the theme and perhaps newly-designed areas of the map too. And you can probably expect plenty of new cosmetic items to dress up in. No date has been given for the launch of Season 2 just yet.

Population: One’s first season, Uprising, launched in late February and introduced several new elements. Key changes like new weapons — including a melee system — were added for free while new cosmetic items were locked behind a $5 battle pass. As with other games of this type, you’ll need to buy that pass again if you want access to the next season, but expect some of the bigger updates to be available for free once more.

We’ll bring you more on Population: One Season 2 as soon as we have it. For now, why not double back and read our 2020 review of the game as it launched? We think it’s one of VR’s best takes on battle royale yet.



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April 30, 2021 ,

Sometimes getting it wrong means something must be going right.

Take VR Skater‘s curious approach to skateboard tricks, for example. They’re, well, tricky. Really tricky, in fact. Whilst simply moving in the game — swinging a controller past your body like a leg pushing off from the floor — feels instantly intuitive, nailing the basics of VR Skater’s approach to ollies and kickflips takes a lot of work, and a lot of getting it wrong. Kind of like the real thing, then, just with fewer scraped knees and chances of ending up on YouTube as you tumble down the stairs.

I’m not yet sure, though, if VR Skater is a bit too tricky for its own good. Bits of it definitely seem that way, but other bits of it are really pretty brilliant.

Out today in early access, Deficit Games is definitely onto something with VR Skater. One straight shot through the game’s high school environment, winding through multiple paths and springing over lunch tables, is enough to tell you that. Rather than setting up halfpipes in skateparks, the studio is designing linear courses that focus on grinds and ollies, and give you a real sense of the speed involved with the sport – not something that flatscreen games have captured quite as well.

Even without spending much time trying to master the game’s catalog of tricks, it’s immensely rewarding to gun it down the course with a sense of confidence I’ve never really achieved in real skateboarding. Ollies are simple – just hold down a button on your right controller (or left for a nollie) and let go. Turning using one hand with the trigger held down can feel sluggish at first but you can adapt to its learning curve quite quickly. Do so, and you’ll soon be jumping through windows, landing on rooftops and rolling down makeshift ramps formed from tables. It’s just the one map for now but Deficit hopes to add more as the pre-release phase progresses.

The more crucial element of VR Skater’s pre-release mode, though, is the Academy, which teaches you its tricks. They’re best when they’re simple – grinding is assigned to holding two buttons as you come down from mid-air and keeps the flow going. Kick and heelflips are quick to master too – wave your hand in a certain direction as you lift off from the ground to effectively spin the board and then hold the jump button back down at the right time to land.

This gesture-based system isn’t always so forgiving, though. Shove its are really tough to master, requiring you to throw your arms back and forth and nail the timing. With practice, I found I got better at them but it’s still tough to nail it just from a stationary position, let alone when speeding through a map. Eventually, you’re taught to handle kickflips and shove its in the same move and that’s when I found the system to really strain, often unsure of what I was asking it to do. With any gesture system it’s hard to tell if you’re not doing it right or if the game simply isn’t registering it right, and throwing that uncertainty into the game is frustrating. Its current video tutorials are very decent, but it’d be great to get a more detailed feedback system in that explains exactly what you’re doing wrong.

VRSkater Release Date

I don’t doubt, though, that there are people that are going to master VR Skater, and I’m looking forward to the inevitable YouTube videos of people racking up crazy scores and combos and reaching parts of the map previously thought inaccessible. That, I suspect, will be the real indicator of just how successful this fascinating new control scheme is.

VR Skate is available to buy on Early Access today. Deficit Games hopes to launch in full at the end of the year.



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April 30, 2021 ,
VR Game Roundup

Spring 2021 is in full swing and VRFocus has got another crop of VR titles to look forward to in the coming week. There are so exciting VR videogames on their way including Resolution Games’ latest multiplayer and Carbon Studio’s magical adventure expanding its hardware support.

Flow Weaver

Flow Weaver – Stitch Media, Silverstring Media Inc.

Described as a ‘multidimensional escape room’, in Flow Weaver you’re trapped in a single room but are able to control ‘Flows’, a way of moving between dimensions which overlap the material world. You therefore have to navigate between them, solving puzzles which can link across dimensions and hopefully make your escape.

  • Supported platforms: Oculus Rift
  • Launch date: 3rd May

Demeo – Resolution Games

Revealed for the first time only a few months ago, Demeo is a turn-based strategy title allowing up to four players to engage in a dungeon quest, exploring the dangerous hallways and rooms whilst working together to defeat any foes they encounter. Players can assume one of four roles, an eagle-eyed hunter, a mystical sorcerer, a deadly assassin or a protective guardian each bringing their own unique skillset to the team. The end goal is to defeat the Mad Elven King.

Demeo

The Wizards – Dark Times – Carbon Studio

Released last year for PC VR headsets, Carbon Studio is now bringing The Wizards – Dark Times’ gesture -based magic to Oculus Quest. Players have to learn and master 11 individually designed spells which can only be cast with their hands, freezing foes where they stand or setting them on fire for example. All the while trying to rid the land of Meliora from a mysterious dark plague sweeping the land.

Imercyve: Living with Intellectual Disability – Valley General

Appearing in last week’s roundup, the launch of Imercyve: Living with Intellectual Disability has been pushed back to this week. “Developed in partnership with support services not-for-profit Mercy Connect, this experience explores the efficacy of an immersive approach to strengthening communication and understanding between advocates and people with a disability by simulating a variety of effects that may be familiar to those with diverse and high care needs.”

The Wizards - Dark Times

Experience the Energy: Take the Challenge – Mammoth

A free app designed to see if you’d like a career in the Canadian energy industry. “Take the challenge to see how your skills align with 10 exciting careers in oil and gas. Try your hand at drilling, adjust valves to maintain pressure, and send one-of-a-kind robot assistant, Appo into the field to look for hazards.”



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April 30, 2021 ,

Real VR Fishing gave a sneak peek at what’s to come in future updates, including reworking of some core mechanics and a glimpse of a new DLC pack.

The next update will rework the fishing mechanics using 3 new features that will make fishing more realistic, including “depth of water, float fishing, and more realistic lure fishing with twitching movements.”

There’s also plans for DLC release as well – the US West DLC. Originally the plan was to release one big US DLC pack with new environments set across the United States, but instead, the DLC has been split up with the US West component launching first. It won’t be lacking content though – the US West pack will feature 20 new environments and new species of fish to go with them.

You can view a sneak peek of some of those new US environments in the tweet above. The free update and the US West DLC are both planned for release sometime before the end of the year.

Developed by MirageSoft, Real VR Fishing is a fishing simulator that features some stunning environments and fantastic water effects. It launched on the Quest in September 2019, shortly after the headset’s launch, and from there, it has consistently received new content and updates to enhance the experience for players.

In August 2020, a major update brought multiplayer to Real VR Fishing with support for up to 4 players, avatar customization and multiplayer servers. The Spring Update earlier this month expanded avatars to include more clothing customization, new leaderboards and more.

Are you looking forward to the next update and US West DLC for Real VR Fishing? Let us know in the comments.



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April 30, 2021 ,

There’s a new VR bowling game on the way to Quest – ForeVR Bowl.

This new title from ForeVR Games popped up in the coming soon section of the Quest store this week. We don’t have a solid release date just yet but Quest games usually pop up in the store when they’re a few weeks out from release. Judging by the trailer seen on the store page, the game features multiplayer support for four players, who can hit the lanes together.

This seems to be a playful take on the sport – there are six environments that can range from traditional bowling alleys to outer space, but we’re particularly fond of the designs of the balls. Some hold galaxies inside of them whilst others resemble bombs. The game’s description confirms there are over 75 to unlock.

There’s also a single-player mode that pits you against NPCs and the developer has coined the term ‘Real Feel Throw’ for its throwing mechanic. We’ll be interested to see how that works out, seeing as current VR technology can’t capture the real weight of a ball. That creates a disconnect in just how real the experience can feel.

ForeVR itself hasn’t said much about the game yet but, late last year, announced that it had raised $1.5 million for its first VR title. The studio was founded by Marcus Segal and Mike Pagano Doom, both of whom previously worked at Zynga.

This won’t be the first VR bowling game for Quest, though. About a year ago we also saw the launch of Premium Bowling on the platform.

Will you be checking out ForeVR Bowl? Let us know in the comments below!



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April 30, 2021 ,

Several Star Wars VR titles are discounted across a variety of VR platforms to celebrate Star Wars Day, May the 4th.

For those living under a rock, Star Wars Day falls on May the 4th (a play on the classic Star Wars line – may the force be with you) and Star Wars games are discounted across several platforms to celebrate.

You can see a full list of discounts over on the Star Wars blog, but we’ll highlight the VR discounts below.

star wars day bundle

The largest item on the list by far is the Star Wars Day bundle for Oculus Quest. Available on the Oculus Store, the bundle includes all five Star Wars experiences available on Quest – Vader Immortal: Episodes 1-3, Star Wars Pinball VR and Star Wars: Tales from the Galaxy’s Edge.

The bundle goes on sale from May 1 and will be available until May 5. However at the time of writing, the price of the bundle and the associated discount is not visible on the Oculus Store. It does note that the bundle will adopt a dynamic pricing model, adjusting to account for games in the bundle that the user might already own.

Meanwhile PC VR players will be able to get Star Wars Squadrons at a discount of 50% on their platform of choice, with sales across Steam, Epic Games Store and Origin.

Squadrons is also discounted 50% on the PlayStation Store for PS4, so PSVR players will have until May 12th to take advantage of that offer. If space dogfighting isn’t your style, then PSVR players will also be able to grab a bundle of all three episodes of Vader Immortal for 50% off until May 12 as well, as part of PlayStation’s Games Under 20 sale.

What will you be picking up in the sales? Let us know in the comments.



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April 29, 2021 ,

The Oculus Quest port of The Wizards: Dark Times will launch next week, developer Carbon Studio confirmed.

The fantasy adventure touches down on the standalone platform on May 6th. Dark Times is a full sequel to the original Wizards that packs a linear single-player campaign. In it, players use gestures to summon spells and weapons like fireballs and ice arrows they can then use against different monsters. Check out the trailer for next week’s launch right here. The game’s already listed in the Quest store’s coming soon section.

The Quest port of the game has been a long time coming – we first announced Dark Times as part of the Upload VR Showcase in 2019 and the game released on PC the following year. We debuted the first Quest footage for the title late last year.

We gave the game 4/5 on PC last year, saying: “The Wizards never lets you forget you’re playing a VR game. Rarely do more than 10 seconds pass without the need for grand hand gestures to summon magic or for you to reach out and interact with things around you. They’ve got a great magic system that’s intuitive and fun to master in a fantastical world that provides a unique type of adventure you won’t quite find anywhere else.”

Naturally, we’re excited to see how the Quest version holds up. A co-op mode is also planned for the experience post-launch. Carbon, meanwhile, is also working on a new Warhammer VR game due out later this year.

May 6th also sees the launch of Demeo, the new tabletop VR RPG from Resolution Games. Will you be picking up either game? Let us know in the comments below!



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April 29, 2021 ,

Is this latest addition to the Star Wars VR library worth your time? Find out in our Star Wars Pinball VR review!

Zen Studios designed one of VR’s best pinball games with Star Wars Pinball VR, taking the best of Star Wars and pinball and fusing them together in a surprisingly robust package. There’s a mode to suit all tastes, a detailed collector’s mode where you create your dream fan room, plus some incredible attention to detail in the tables. Best of all, it’s perfect for those with motion sensitivity. Even if you aren’t a Star Wars fan, it’s still worth checking out Star Wars Pinball VR if only for the immersion and heaps of pinball on offer.

Star Wars Pinball VR is divided into three main modes. Arcade is your straight-up classic pinball experience, while Classic mode adds a Star Wars twist with Force Powers and other elements that elevate it from being just a pinball game. Force Powers let you control the table in different ways, triggering multipliers, for example, or slowing time to aim for better shots. Classic mode is where you’ll get to delve into all the cutscenes, minigames, and events Zen Studios loaded each table with. 

Then there’s Career mode, which packages together a surprisingly hefty set of missions. These span the game’s eight tables and task you with completing them in a set — usually short — period of time. Most of the early ones revolve around getting a certain high score, and aside from a sense of accomplishment, you’re also rewarded with fragments used to unlock and upgrade Force Power.

Star Wars Pinball VR Review – The Facts

What is it?: Star Wars-themed pinball tables… in VR!
Platforms: Quest, PC VR, PSVR
Release Date: Out Now
Price: $24.99

Career mode is a fantastic inclusion that understands different types of people will be playing and wants to make sure they can still enjoy it. Much as I’d love to spend hours playing VR pinball and seeing every scene on each table, time just doesn’t always permit.  Five-minute sessions here and there are just enough to sample a table’s delights without feeling like you’re missing out on too much, and if you have more time to spend, that’s great too. Classic mode awaits.

And there are plenty of delights to sample. Star Wars Pinball VR has a whopping eight tables to play on: three from the original trilogy, a Mandalorian table, Rebels, Masters of the Force, a Classics table, and then a Rogue One table. The prequel trilogy and Disney trilogy are nowhere in sight. Maybe Zen Studios wanted to keep this a fan-focused experience or perhaps they’re planned as DLC, but either way, the variety makes it hard to focus on what’s missing.

Your mileage might vary, but there’s really not a dud table among the bunch. Each sports a unique layout built around several references from the associated Star Wars film or show. The Return of the Jedi table, for example, has Jabba’s palace, the bunkers of Endor, hangers for Rebel and Imperial ships, and that’s just scratching the surface. 

star wars pinball vr mandalorian

You can play each table from a top-down perspective, as if you’re standing at a normal pinball machine, or in immersion mode, which is, frankly, amazing. Immersion mode gives you three angles to view the table, and they’re all positioned behind and slightly above the main flippers. You might miss out on a few visual elements from the models at higher elevations, but immersion mode is the best way to see just how much care and attention Zen Studios lavished on each table.

Admittedly, it’s a bit more difficult than expected to identify which areas relate to what. Some of the lanes aren’t marked clearly, or if they are, the writing is rather small. The board at the table’s far end is supposed to have a grainy retro look. However, that sometimes works against you when you’re straining to make out what the event requirement is while your ball drops down into the Sarlacc Pit in the process. 

Another issue is the sound bytes, which wear thin quickly on certain tables. Hearing Han say “jackpot” once is cool. Hearing him say it 35 times in a row when the ball is trapped in a bumper field is decidedly less entertaining.

Still, the extra interactive elements more than make up for slight annoyances. Some events have new figures walk onto the table while scenes unfold or ships fly above the playing field. Others are more involved minigames where you control a character, such as The Mandalorian’s bounty hunter, and the pinball field simultaneously. There’s just a staggering amount to do and see on each table.

The table design makes Star Wars Pinball VR an excellent pinball game. The Fan Cave makes it an excellent Star Wars experience. 

Menu hubs in most games are functional, there only to get you where you actually want to go. Not so with the Fan Cave. I often don’t bother with collectibles in games, especially when they exist just to look at in a menu, but the Fan Cave adds some light decorating that makes engaging with your ever-expanding collection worthwhile.  

The Cave has several shelves, including a rotating one in the middle of the room, some pedestals for larger figures, and a handful of poster frames. In a very true-to-life twist, there are far more collectibles you’ll obtain than you have room to display. 

star wars pinball vr table

I may or may not have spent an equal amount of time organizing my collection as I did playing pinball, but that aside, it’s a refreshing break from pinball marathons and a surprisingly rewarding one. Waltzing past a Darth Vader statue to gaze at the AT-ST in the backyard, then sauntering by a collection of Rebel and Stormtrooper helmets to get to the pinball table is much more satisfying than it has any right to be.

Star Wars Pinball VR Review – Comfort

The waltzing and sauntering are just metaphors, though. Star Wars VR has almost no movement, even in immersion mode, and it’s ideal for VR newcomers or those with motion sensitivity. The same applies to immersion mode, which makes the most out of VR’s sense of, well… immersion, without any of the less pleasant side effects. Naturally, that means there aren’t any comfort settings to fiddle with, which is a shame in one respect: menus.

The Force Powers and information menus are essentially ultra-wide, which makes reading the text rather more awkward than expected. It’s most noticeable with the information menus since you need to read them for each table to get a better idea of how they work and what the scenes require.

Star Wars Pinball VR Review: Final Impressions

Star Wars Pinball VR is easily the best VR pinball game around and probably one of the best Star Wars VR games as well. It’s evidently designed with fans in mind, but unless you just can’t stand Star Wars, the pinball itself and the sheer amount of ways to enjoy it makes the game more than worth your while.

4 STARS

star wars pinball vr review points

For more on how we arrived at this score, read our review guidelines. What did you make of our Star Wars Pinball VR review? Let us know in the comments below!

 



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April 29, 2021 ,

The majority of game developers working in VR are making content for the Oculus Quest and Quest 2, a report from the Game Developers Conference (GDC) suggests.

GDC posted its annual State of the Game Industry Report today, sourced from over 3,000 developers.

Much of the report is concerned with the knock-on effects of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which has forced GDC itself to cancel and delay its physical event for two years running now.

The report does turn its attention to VR, though, and suggests that Facebook’s Oculus Quest is the primary source of interest in the industry right now. 52% of responses said that Quest was the VR platform that interested them the most, followed by PSVR and Index at 28% each. The graph doesn’t group SteamVR headsets together, instead listing Index, Vive and others as separate entities.

GDC 2021 1

Of developers that have actually released VR content, 45% said their last release was on Oculus Rift, 39% said HTC Vive and 28% said Quest. But fortunes quickly reverse – while 41% of developers said they currently weren’t working on any content for VR or AR headsets, 27% said they were for Quest compared to 17% for Rift and Vive and 8% for PSVR, which is nearing the end of its life. PSVR 2 hadn’t been announced at the time the survey was conducted.

The gap grew when developers were asked where they anticipate their next VR or AR title releasing – 31% said Oculus Quest, 19% said Rift, 18% said Vive and 12% said either Index or PSVR.

During an investor call yesterday Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Quest 2 continues to perform ahead of expectations. Standalone VR in general, which doesn’t rely on any external hardware represents something of a turning point for the industry.

What do you make of the GDC survey results? Let us know in the comments below!



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April 29, 2021 ,
Talespin

Training solution specialist Talespin has been building up its library of content aimed specifically at helping companies who are keen on improving their employees skills. Further improving its services, today Talespin has announced an expansion of its off-the-shelf learning content library whilst making its services easier to access.

Talespin

Today sees the addition of Recognizing Bias and Practicing Self-Awareness to its library, both powered by Talespin’s CoPilot virtual human training technology. Both feature real-time scoring and feedback to aid a user’s development.

  • Recognizing Bias Module: Learners take on the role of a producer at a fictional large tech company. They are tasked with filling a programmer position with an experienced candidate who can hit the ground running. The learner must interview three candidates and find the right one for the role, while navigating their own biases. They will learn how to identify and mitigate the common biases found in the workplace.
  • Practicing Self-Awareness Module: Learners take on the role of an account manager who recently had to let an important client know that the team will not be able to meet an agreed-upon deadline. After a stressful exchange with their boss about the missed deadline, the learner must effectively identify and manage their emotions in a follow-up meeting with the internal project manager to establish what went wrong. 

“The past year has proven the impact that better learning and deeper skills data can have on solving workforce development challenges,” said Kyle Jackson, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Talespin in a statement. “Our new desktop streaming capability and content will bring the benefits of immersive learning to our customers and learners at scale.” 

Talespin

“The workforce of the future needs prepared leaders with strong communication skills, who can learn and lead, creating a model for work that’s collaborative, inclusive, and productive. Talespin’s new immersive learning content and desktop streaming platform capabilities align with our mission to lower the barrier to entry for professional development, and to accelerate skill attainment and greater accessibility to advanced technology,” said Stephen Yadzinski, senior innovation officer, JFF. “We are excited to expand our partnership with Talespin to continue driving social impact in learning and education.” 

While Talespin has been focused on providing its content via VR headsets its now added desktop content streaming support so that users can access modules through a website link, improving accessibility in the process. VRFocus will continue its coverage of Talespin and soft skills training in VR, reporting back with further updates.



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April 29, 2021 ,

Hand Physics Lab pushed out an update that adds support for the new High Frequency Hand Tracking mode that became available to developers yesterday.

The update integrates a doubling of the hand tracking rate, but comes at a performance cost that means it’s only available for Quest 2 users.

Previously, the rate of hand tracking using the Quest 2’s cameras was limited to just 30Hz. Yesterday, Oculus gave developers the option to enable a ‘High Frequency Hand Tracking’ mode that ups the rate to 60Hz and reduces end-to-end latency by 10%.

Overall, the new mode is meant to be more effective for tracking fast hand movements. It does possess a slight increase in jitter in low light situations, but Facebook says this will be fixed in a future update.

You can read more about the High Frequency Hand Tracking mode and how developers can enable it here.

Hand Physics Lab started as a series of experimental demonstration interactions to show off the capabilities (and limitations) of the Quest’s then-new hand tracking support. It was available on SideQuest and received a few updates adding new interactions and situations.

However, earlier this month, a new and improved revamped version of the experience launched on the Oculus Store, with support for controllers and hand tracking. It presents the interactions as puzzles that form a larger campaign, along with a sandbox mode for the puzzles that you’ve completed. For more info, check out our review.

The addition of High Frequency Hand Tracking should improve the experience dramatically for most users. After testing the update earlier today, I can say that I found the hand tracking felt noticeably better and smoother overall.

Have you tried high frequency hand tracking on Quest 2? Let us know what you think in the comments below.



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April 29, 2021 ,
Loco Dojo Unleashed

British immersive studio Make Real might be better known for its training and simulation solutions for virtual reality (VR) but it also knows a thing or two about gaming. Back in 2017 the team created four-player party title Loco Dojo for Oculus Rift, where players had to quickly complete crazy mini-games. Today, Make Real has announced Loco Dojo Unleashed, an Oculus Quest edition due to arrive later this year.

Loco Dojo Unleashed

Just like before, Loco Dojo Unleashed will feature the same 16 comedic mini-games such as swatting bats with nunchuck hotdogs, milking pigs with baby pigs, and flinging cats around. Plus the charismatic Grand Sensei host, voiced by cult hero Brian Blessed has been left in of course. Make Real hasn’t simply ported the original Loco Dojo over, however, refining the experience to reduce gameplay friction whilst adding new features.

These additions include a new quick play mode to easily find games in multiplayer, whilst a Tournament Mode for 2-4 players will provide a greater challenge. For those times where nobody is about or you just want a practice, a single-player mode will be available with the added bonus of trophies to unlock.

“Following on from the success of the game on PC VR and in LBE VR Arcades, we have listened to feedback to include a number of enhancements for Oculus Quest players,” says Sam Watts, Immersive Partnerships Director at Make Real in a statement. “For launch we wanted to make sure it is as easy as possible to pick up and play and get into games. We’ve removed elements that slowed gameplay down and added those that improve players’ understanding of how to become the master within the dojo. We’ve spent considerable effort buffing the wood to provide the same polished world and hectic gameplay the title is known for.”

Loco Dojo Unleashed

When VRFocus originally reviewed Loco Dojo the worry was always player numbers as multiplayer titles back then struggled to find a foothold. Loco Dojo Unleashed, on the other hand, should be an ideal experience for Oculus Quest as there are more players and it has easy-to-understand gameplay mechanics for players of all VR skill levels.

Loco Dojo Unleashed will arrive at some point later in 2021. For further updates on the project keep reading VRFocus.



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April 29, 2021 ,

Remember Loco Dojo? It was a four-player VR party game that released on PC VR headsets and for VR arcades in 2017.

Four years later, it’s finally coming to Oculus Quest too.

Developer Make Real is bringing Loco Dojo Unleashed to the standalone platform later this year. This version of the game features everything from the original, including 16 minigames that you can tackle in online tournaments for between two to four players. Check it out in the trailer below.

Loco Dojo Unleashed enters players into the Table of Trials where they’ll spin the dice to move across the board and face different challenges as they go. If you played the game before you’ll be familiar with the tasks, which including racing wooden pigs, firing cannons and grabbing fish out of mid-air with giant claws. Each game is designed with VR specifically in-mind, making this about as close to a Mario Party VR game you’ll currently find.

New to this version of the game is a quick play mode to get into matches faster as well as a single-player offering so you can train between multiplayer games. Acting legend Brian Blessed also still lends his trademark bellowing to the game’s narration, if you somehow hadn’t noticed in the trailer. Make Real also provided the screenshot below to show how the game holds up graphically on Quest compared to the old Rift version. There’s definitely a noticeable difference but, overall, the Quest version’s looking petty close to the original.

Loco Dojo Unleashed Graphics Comparison

Will you be picking up Loco Dojo Unleashed later this year? Let us know in the comments below!



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April 28, 2021 ,

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg suggested in a earnings call with investors that consumers aren’t interested in VR headsets with wires.

“Some other folks might try to ship something that they claim is higher quality but has a wire, and I just don’t think that consumers are going to want to go for that,” Zuckerberg said during the call.

The call recapped Facebook’s earnings performance during the first quarter of 2021 which saw the non-ad revenue at Facebook hit $732 million. During a question and answer portion of the call Zuckerberg offered some of his thoughts about the VR market.

“Having wires wrapped around you just really breaks the sense of presence and immersion,” Zuckerberg said.

Facebook’s sustained performance in non-ad revenue suggests the price and feature set of the wireless Oculus Quest 2 is seeing continued interest and sales beyond the holidays. Recently, Facebook’s VP in charge of AR/VR suggested the headset would be on sale “for a long while” as Facebook plans monthly software updates for the headset to improve the overall experience.

Facebook’s wired Rift S is at the end of its life and that leaves Facebook entirely focused on the Quest 2, which Zuckerberg suggested has “attributes” like price and the quality of its wireless experience that most other companies aren’t going to be able to deliver.

“I also just look at how the team is executing and the products that we have in the pipeline, and I want to make sure that we can really go all in and deliver this,” Zuckerberg said.

HP ships the wired Reverb G2 while Valve offers the wired Index, HTC is announcing new VR products in a couple weeks, and Sony’s next generation PSVR headset is confirmed to offer a wired experience.



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April 28, 2021 ,

Facebook’s Q1 2021 non-ads revenue was 2.5x that of Q1 2020 while continuing a trend that suggests Oculus Quest 2 is driving significant growth after its holiday 2020 debut.

The company’s non-advertising revenue in quarter 1 of 2021 was $732 million, up from $297 million in Q1 2020.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg told investors:

“We’re going to keep investing heavily in building out the best [VR] experience this year, and this accounts for a major part of our overall R&D budget growth.

Quest 2 is doing better than we expected, even after the holiday season. We continue to see good engagement and we keep shipping updates that make it better & better.“

At $299 Quest 2 is priced lower than previous Oculus headsets, with the exception of 2018’s Oculus Go – that headset started at $199 but lacked positional tracking so couldn’t play most VR content.

Compared to the original model, Quest 2 features a significantly upgraded processor, higher resolution screen, and 15% smaller/lighter design. It’s priced $100 less; using cheaper materials, LCD instead of OLED, and a less precise lens adjustment mechanism.

Last month, Facebook’s VP of AR/VR claimed it had already “outsold not just its predecessor, but all of its predecessors combined“.

The non-ads revenue category also includes Portal hardware sales and miscellaneous payments. That means it’s not possible to derive unit sales from these figures, but looking at the revenue figures over time suggests Quest 2 is selling much faster than previous headsets.

Non-advertising sources make up 3% of Facebook’s Q1 revenue, with 97% coming from targeted digital advertising.



via Mint VR
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April 28, 2021 ,

Oculus Quest 2 developers can now enable a new ‘High Frequency Hand Tracking’ mode in their apps, increasing the tracking rate from 30 Hz to 60 Hz.

Facebook claims the mode increases hand tracking quality, as well as reducing its end-to-end latency by 10%. Its internal ‘Strike Team’ enabled the new mode in the Tiny Castles demo and reported the following results:

“In Tiny Castles, we observed that high frequency hand tracking results in a slight reduction in perceived latency but also significantly improved tracking quality during fast hand movements. There were no perceived changes regarding jitter and occlusion.“

However, Facebook says there is a “slight increase in jitter” for low light conditions, which it plans to fix in a future software update.

Developers can enable High Frequency Hand Tracking by adding this line to the Android manifest:

Oculus apps can set the CPU & GPU clock rate – not to a specific value but to 5 predefined levels (0-4). This lets developers balance performance and battery life.

High Frequency Hand Tracking requires more background computing power to process the cameras at double the normal rate. Facebook says this can cause headset overheating (leading to a sudden shutdown), so to avoid this, apps using the feature will be capped to CPU & GPU Level 2.

That means while enabling this feature is technically a one-line change, actually making it work in real apps could require significant optimization work.

Facebook says that going forward, even apps using low frequency Hand Tracking will be limited to CPU & GPU Level 3, to avoid overheating.



via Mint VR
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April 28, 2021 ,

The website for HTC’s upcoming ViveCon event claims the company will reveal “game-changing VR headsets” during next month’s show.

Announced earlier in April, ViveCon is a free two-day event running on May 11th and 12th. The company already promised news for the show, and a recent tease suggested we’ll see a new headset revealed too. Over on the event’s official website (thanks to Nikolai Dragnes for the tip), the company asks viewers to “Take a front-row seat at the VR event of the year as HTC VIVE unveils game-changing VR headsets, software, and platforms to take your experience to another level.”

New VR Headsets Coming At ViveCon

htc tease headset

That confirms we’ll be seeing a new VR headset during next month’s show, but it also leaves it open for more than one reveal too. Earlier this year we reported that HTC is planning to release another standalone VR headset in 2021. That’s something that’s likely to be aimed at enterprise customers if it releases in western markets.

If HTC is planning to talk about another device, could it be the Project Proton concept headset it first spoke about last year? The ultra-light device was introduced with several possible form factors, such as connecting to external devices via 5G or plugging into a smartphone. The company did predict to UploadVR that 2021 would see the rise of the all-in-two headset.

What do you think HTC will reveal at ViveCon? Are you going to be watching the show? Let us know in the comments below!



via Mint VR
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April 28, 2021 ,

Co-op and VR go together like the Oculus Quest 2 and wireless room scale. Check out our list here of the best co-op VR games available on the Quest platform.

Oculus Quest 2’s arrival means a large number of original Quest owners will be looking to give, sell, or lend their original headsets with the upgrade’s arrival.

Many used Quests will go to friends and family and that means lots of these new VR owners will be looking to play together. We’ve already got a list covering the 10 best multiplayer VR Quest games and it’s a fantastic list covering some of the most fun you can have in VR. There are some games on that, like the top pick team-based Echo VR. That game can feature some of the most rewarding cooperation you’ll find with others in VR, but at its core that’s still a competitive game. Other activities, like golf, bowling, fishing and tablet tennis, can also be competitive too, but these classic activities are also playable in a pretty laid back way if you want too.

Below is a look at our favorite co-op VR games to play on Quest and/or Quest 2. As always, we’ll plan to update this list periodically and please let everyone else know in the comments if there are any cooperative experiences native to Oculus Quest you think others should play.

 

Best Co-Op VR Games To Play On Quest

Carly and the Reaperman 

Store Page: $24.99

Carly and the Reaperman is a third person platformer where one player controls the young girl Carly and the other plays the morbid Reaperman. The latter can manipulate the environment and move items to create a path for the former — it’s all about working together to help Carly get through the level.

The best part about this game from a co-op perspective is that there’s many options for how to play. It works as a native VR game — with both players each using their own headset — and also as an asymmetrical VR game — with one player controlling the Reaperman in VR while the other uses a free game client on PC to play as Carly.

Read More:

Review: Carly and the Reaperman

Warhammer 40K: Battle Sister

Store Page: $34.99

Battle Sister initially launched as a solo game with no multiplayer component. However, a recent update adds a cooperative horde mode that lets two players team up to take on waves of enemies from the 40K franchise. 

The mode takes maps from the game and fills them with enemies to defeat. As you work your way through waves you’ll earn credits to purchase bigger and better weapons.

Star Trek: Bridge Crew

Store Page: $29.99

Star Trek: Bridge Crew has struggled with an empty player base over the years and games like Spaceteam VR, which you’ll see lower on this list, do a really good job with some similar ideas. Still, we can’t quite leave this wish fulfillment off the list for any trekkies out there.

You and your fellow crew mates must operate a starship through an assortment of missions from your seats on the the bridge of a Federation starship. It can be a real joy to complete a mission together with your friends.

Read More –
Review: The Final Frontier Of VR
The Next Generation DLC Review: To Boldly Go In VR
Watch: Full Co-Op Gameplay And Analysis

Crisis VRigade 

Store Page: Free (Or Pay What You Want)

Fans of Time Crisis should go through the steps to sideload the Crisis VRigade gem from Sumalab. You and your buddy cops are out with guns to stop some bad guys from doing crimes. The game is fast-paced and features cross-play with PC VR and PS VR, so you can play with your friends even if they have a different headset. On Oculus Quest, we’d recommend giving yourself the largest play area possible and getting ready to duck for cover. It is some of the most fun you could have in VR and if you’re a fan of this kind of arcade shooter definitely take the time to check it out.

Crisis VRigade for Quest is pay-as-you-like on Itch.io, so you could get it for free if you wanted. That said, the developers do have a sequel called Crisis VRigade 2 on PSVR and Steam Early Access, and they could likely use as much support as they can get to keep developing this idea.

Read More –
Review: Hardcore Free Wave Time Crisis-Style Shooter For Oculus Quest 
Watch: Oculus Quest Co-Op Multiplayer

Wander

Store Page: $9.99

Since Oculus Quest doesn’t have Google Earth VR, this is the next best thing. Basically, the app grabs footage from Google Maps and lets you teleport to anywhere on the planet. The neat feature though is that you can do it cooperatively. You’ll see a friend’s avatar overlaid into the world right next to you and even though you’re not really “playing” anything together, it’s a really cool thing to experience with someone during these times of lockdown and cabin fever.

A fun game to play is take turns randomly teleporting somewhere in the world and tasking each other with exploring the area to try and figure out which country you’re in. It’s a lot harder than it sounds.

OrbusVR: Reborn

Store Page: $19.99

I’ve been dreaming about VR MMOs long before I ever saw .hack//sign or Sword Art Online. My first MMO was EverQuest back in the late 90s and early 00s and ever since I’ve wanted to go inside one of those game worlds. OrbusVR: Reborn is made by a small team and has a modest vision, but the upside to that restraint is that it actually delivers on what it sets out to do.

This isn’t a WoW-killer and isn’t going to set the world on fire, but if you want to play the first-ever actual VR MMO, albeit with simplistic visuals, this is it right here. There’s plenty of content, fun combat, and a vast world to explore with friends.

Read More –
Editorial: How OrbusVR Is Setting Expectations For VR MMOs
News: Free Trial Up To Level 10 On PC
Watch: Oculus Quest Gameplay Footage

Arizona Sunshine

Store Page: $39.99, DLC 1: $2.49, DLC 2: $4.99

Arizona Sunshine is Vertigo Games’ zombie shooter that’s graced almost every VR system possible since it hit the PC VR market in 2016. Its gameplay and mechanics have aged quite a bit compared with, say, 2020’s The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners. But Arizona Sunshine also includes a full co-op campaign and the Quest 2 version is poised for a massive visual upgrade compared with its original port to the standalone headset.

Even if horror games in VR are generally too much for you, having backup in Arizona Sunshine’s co-op mode might be just the bit of confidence you need to have a bit of fun fighting off zombies.

Read More –
Review: Arizona Sunshine Is A Definitive Zombie VR Shooter
Watch: Quest vs Quest 2 Graphics Comparison
Watch: Arizona Sunshine Split-Screen Co-Op VR Livestream

SculptrVR

Store Page: $9.99

Nathan Rowe is the principal developer behind this creative experience that is about as close to Minecraft in VR as you’re likely to get on Oculus Quest, at least until Microsoft and Mojang get around to official support.

SculptrVR features fully cooperative world-building and you can resize yourself to create at different scales. It’s an incredible feeling to be able to modify your world and even alter your appearance freely. It’s not as much of a “game” as other options on this list, but for the creatives out there, collaborative creation can be a lot of fun at various scales.

Read More –
Interview: Talking In VR With The Creator Of SculptrVR
News: SculptrVR Arrives On Oculus Quest With Multiplayer Voxel Playground
News: Enormous T. Rex Made In SculptrVR Took 700 Hours To 3D Print

Spaceteam VR

Store Page: $19.99

Imagine if you were playing a game of Star Trek: Bridge Crew and everything that could go wrong went wrong — that’s basically Spaceteam VR. Communication is key here as you and your friends need to clearly provide directions to each other, quickly, in order to survive.

At your console you’ll see instructions that only one of your crew members can complete, so it begins a yelling match where everyone tries to frantically call out instructions without actually knowing who it pertains to. Things catch fire too, which is great.

Read More –
Review: Multiplayer Multitasking Mayhem Finds A Natural Home In VR
Watch: Co-Op VR Multiplayer In Frantic Party Game Spaceteam VR!
Interview: Cooperative Innovations Talks Spaceteam VR… Inside Spaceteam VR
News: Spaceteam Is Even More Frantic Inputs With Free Updates

Real VR Fishing

Store Page: $19.99

Do you like fishing? Do you like the idea of fishing, but get bored? Or maybe it’s just too much hassle for too little payoff in the end? Regardless, if any of that describes you, then this could be the perfect game for you. Real VR Fishing features some of the most breathtaking vistas you can find in VR — hands-down — with ultra-high resolution footage of real world locations.

You’ve got a quaint log cabin with an aquarium that stores all of your fish, as well as a Store to buy new bait, rods, and more. When you’re out on the water a friend can join you for some co-fishing and they’ve even got a wonderful built-in browser feature so you can listen to music or watch YouTube while fishing.

Livestream Gameplay: Checking Out Real VR Fishing Enhanced For Quest 2
News: Real VR Fishing Brings Stunning Environments To Quest  

Cook-Out

Store Page: $19.99

Finally, this recent release from Resolution Games takes our top spot. It plays out a lot like Overcooked, but it manages to slip into this VR skin effortlessly. You’ll have to frantically cook dishes, yell out at your partner, and try not to burn food as you struggle to meet demand.

It’s also got a cute fairytale aesthetic rather than a modern, realistic kitchen which is a nice change of pace. You’ll even have to fight off nasty customers the deeper into the game you go as well. Generally, it’s just a lot of fun and stands as one of the best co-op VR games out there on Oculus Quest.

Read More –
Review: Resolution’s Best Game Yet And A Tasty Overcooked Tribute
Watch: Cook-Out Is The Closest We’ll Get To Overcooked VR

Bonus Co-Op VR Games For Quest

There’s some great fun you can have as well playing some games with only one headset. Pull up Keep Talking And Nobody Explodes’ PDF or actually print out your very own bomb defusal manual. Then team up with a friend in the same room, or over voice chat, to stop an explosion in VR.

Your first or last stops in VR, depending on your budget and time constraints, should also likely be in a place like Rec Room, Bigscreen, VRChat, or AltspaceVR. All of them are free to use and offer lots of things you can do with friends. Rec Room in particular can also bridge the gap between people without headsets and those with, as your friends can play with you in VR from flat-screen mode on iPhone, iPad, PS4 and, soon, Xbox. And you could always cast your view to a phone, tablet or TV and have friends or family watch along and try help guiding you in almost any experience.

Let us know what you think are some of the other best co-op VR or maybe even competitive multiplayer VR games on Oculus Quest down in the comments below!

Managing Editor Ian Hamilton also contributed to this article.



via Mint VR
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