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Windlands mixes Shadow of the Colossus with Oculus Rift
If Spider-Man started swinging and leaping through a magical land inspired by Shadow of the Colossus, it might look something like Windlands from Ilja Kivikangas and Simo Sainio. In this first-person action-adventure developed initially as part of the VR Jam 2013, players take on the role of an automaton built to find and destroy the source powering gigantic golems. To aid in this endeavor, players will be able to leap large distances, jump off walls and use a grappling hook to swing from the environment. While not one of the jam's finalists, Kivikangas wrote to Joystiq that he and Sainio received enough positive feedback that they decided to turn their project into a full-fledged game. To do that however, they're asking $14,000 on Indiegogo. At the time of this writing, they have raised just more than $9,000. Thankfully, while videos and screenshots are nice - and you should feel free to check out a trailer after the break - you don't have to take Kivikangas and Sainio at their word regarding gameplay, as you can download demos for both the DK1 and DK2 versions of the Oculus Rift and decide for yourself if you'd like to help fund the game's development.
Oculus Rift VR Jam finalists announced - here there be dragons
Oculus and IndieCade have announced the VR Jam 2013 finalists. If you've got an Oculus Rift and the compatible hardware, 14 of the 20 finalists are available to download and check out for yourself. Reinforcing the common knowledge that dragons are awesome and everyone wants to be a dragon, there's not one, but two dragon simulators on the list: Dragon by James Scott, and Epic Dragon by Aurelian Kerbeci. The winning team will be announced September 19, at which point they'll receive the $10,000 grand prize and a trip to Oculus HQ. The winning team will also receive a trip to the IndieCade Festival, which runs October 3 - 6, where they'll have a showcase exhibition of their game. Check out the full list of finalists after the break.
Oculus and IndieCade announce month-long 'VR Jam'
With Oculus Rift mods already infiltrating popular games, Oculus VR and IndieCade are teaming up to promote a special game jam in August. The VR Jam will pit independent developers against one another in a contest to create the best games designed explicitly for the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset. The jam will be separated into two categories. The first is the "Selected Developers" competition, which will consist of 10 "hand-picked" independent developers. The "Open Call" competition is open to all comers. "Over $50,000 in prizes" is up for grabs, with the winning developers in each category taking home $10,000 each. The winners will also have their work showcased at this year's IndieCade festival, taking place October 3-6 in Los Angeles. VR Jam begins on August 2 and ends on August 25, with milestones expected from developers on August 9 and 16. Those interested in competing can sign up on the VR Jam website.
