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Why are dinosaurs everywhere in VR?
There's a key scene early in Jurassic Park when the visiting scientists see their first dinosaur in person. Paleontologist Alan Grant (Sam Neill) and paleobotanist Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern) clamber out of their Jeep as they stare at the majestic brachiosaur looming above them. "It's a dinosaur," Grant stammers in disbelief. His reaction matches the audience's: After a lifetime of looking at fossils and picture books, here, in the flesh, is a real, live dinosaur. We'll never experience this ourselves, but virtual reality can convincingly take us face to face with these extinct creatures.
Sony is hosting a PlayStation VR event next month
Despite what GameStop has in mind, Sony might actually still make its promised "first half of 2016" release date for PlayStation VR. That the company has sent out invites for a special media event just ahead of the annual Game Developers Conference only adds to that suspicion. When you consider PlayStation has used the trade show for the setup's debut in 2014, announcing a release window and upgraded innards last year, it only seems more likely we'll get a hard release date and price on the helmet.
Virtual reality support for 'The Witness' sounds shaky
Your brain might be sore from The Witness' puzzles but you won't have to worry about motion sickness from playing it in another format on your PlayStation 4. We've confirmed with developer Jonathan Blow that the gorgeous brain-bender won't be making its way to PlayStation VR; there are no plans for it "at this time." The game was simply in development for far too long (possibly even before Sony had a working Project Morpheus prototype) and Blow has said that to support Sony's VR headset, the game would had to have been designed for it from the outset.
NASA's using PlayStation VR to train its space robots
Virtual Reality tricks the human brain. With a headset strapped on your face, you can pet a dino, visit restricted sites or even experience the horror of being devoured by a shark. But outside the realms of entertainment and news, the immersive visual medium is proving to be a significant tool for science and learning. According to a Road to VR report, NASA and Sony have been working together on Mighty Morphenaut, a PlayStation VR demo that allows operators to practice control over a humanoid in space. The experience recreates the robot's environment, essentially a simulated space shuttle, so that a user can learn how to get the humanoid to complete a task or move around obstacles from a safe distance.
Sony's Project Morpheus is now 'PlayStation VR'
Sony's Project Morpheus VR system has a new, more obvious name: PlayStation VR. The announcement came today at the company's Tokyo Game Show press conference, but that's about the only new information Sony was willing to part with. Explaining the change, PlayStation product business president Masayasu Ito says "The name 'PlayStation VR' not only directly expresses an entirely new experience from PlayStation that allows players to feel as if they are physically inside the virtual world of a game, but it also reflects our hopes that we want our users to feel a sense of familiarity as they enjoy this amazing experience." He adds that the hardware itself will continue to be refined in the coming months, and that Sony is working closely with 3rd parties and in-house studios to ensure there are actually some games for the thing when it launches. There's still no official release date for the headset, which is due for release at some point in early 2016.
Watch PlayStation's Tokyo Game Show keynote right here!
Sony was entirely absent from Europe's annual Gamescom tradeshow last month, but the electronics juggernaut isn't going to sit out the premiere event on its home soil, the Tokyo Game Show. In fact, the outfit wants everyone to watch it tonight during a livestream. The keynote's scheduled for an English broadcast and we've embedded the live player right below. What can we expect come 3AM ET? Probably an update on how many PlayStation 4 consoles the company's moved since it last announced that 20 million number, and maybe even a hard release date for the console's big 3.0 system software patch.
'Goat Simulator' headbutting its way to PS4 and PS3 August 11th
Your wildest caprine fantasies are about to come true, PlayStation owners. How's that? On August 11th, Goat Simulator hits PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4. From the sounds of it all the irreverence from the PC and Xbox One versions will be present (wild glitches, taking to the skies, head-butting all the things) as well as something developer Coffee Stain Studios calls GoatVR. It's dubbed "the most authentic simulated GoatVR experience" and it apparently doesn't require Project Morpheus. A post on the PlayStation Blog notes that the team "still needs to do that part where it connects to an actual headset" but it isn't actually required for the version present in the game. We've reached out to Coffee Stain for some clarification and to see if it's just another example of their absurdist humor; we'll update this post should we hear back.
Shuhei Yoshida on China and why PlayStation can never go Home again
One does not simply get enough of Shuhei Yoshida, the head of Sony PlayStation's Worldwide Studios. So following our nice, long chat with him at E3 (seriously, go read it), we managed to get hold of him again in Hong Kong and picked his brain with more questions about Project Morpheus. These include the VR headset's final form (you're looking at it), its compatibility with other devices and whether it'll revive the now-defunct PlayStation Home. We also took the opportunity to ask about the challenges of bringing PlayStation games into China.
Morpheus mech game 'Rigs' uses color to make VR less overwhelming
My most vivid takeaway from PlayStation 4's new Project Morpheus game Rigs wasn't what I expected. Sure, the first-person mech shooter handled like a dream at 60 frames per-second, and targeting my enemies simply by gazing at them was impressive. But how fluid the locomotion was and how aiming system performed were nothing compared to the game's use of fun, vibrant blocks of color to keep the mood light and subtly nudge me in the right direction. I spent a ton of time in virtual (and augmented) reality at E3 this year and it was Rigs that was perhaps the easiest game for me to pick up, play and not feel like I was floundering about. Sorry, EVE: Valkyrie. With smart color palette choices developer Guerrilla Cambridge, responsible for PS Vita's Killzone: Mercenary, was able to tell me exactly what to do and where to go without saying a word.
Harmonix demos a music visualizer for Project Morpheus VR
Harmonix, the creators of the Guitar Hero, Rock Band and Dance Central franchises, is working on a new title for Sony's Project Morpheus VR headset and... it's odd. The company has basically created the VR equivalent of those gnarly music visualizers that people used to love in Winamp and Windows Media Player. Harmonix Music VR can take any song and generate a unique visualization. By choosing between a number of different "worlds," you will have some control over what type of visualisation you see, but the idea is still for each track to look as different as they sound. "Sometimes fireflies show up to compliment a relaxing melody, and sometimes stars descend to engulf you in synthetic spirals of color," explains creative lead Jon Carter. There's no release date for Music VR just yet, but the Morpheus headset itself is set to launch in the first quarter of 2016.
An intimate chat with Sony PlayStation's Shuhei Yoshida
Sony PlayStation's Shuhei Yoshida is the best kind of corporate executive. The Worldwide Studios head is affable, open-minded and, best of all, he embraces competition from rivals. I'm speaking, of course, about Microsoft's recent move to partner up with every other company working on virtual reality that's not Sony, of which Shu (as he's commonly referred to) says is no concern. At E3 this week, I had a chance to sit down with the friendly face of PlayStation to pick his brain about making Morpheus more social, embracing crowdfunding to revive cult classics and just what is going on with The Last Guardian.
Check out Sony's 2015 E3 conference live
Sony's setting itself up for a pretty big 2016 -- with the release of the Project Morpheus virtual reality headset, a remastered Ratchet & Clank title and Uncharted 4: A Thief's End all expected next year. But does that mean there's nothing to look forward to in the second half of 2015? Watch as Sony outlines its plan for this year and beyond at 6PM PT (9PM ET) on June 15th. You can expect the company to discuss first-party franchises (possibly including some that have yet to make their PS4 debut) as well as the upcoming roster of third-party and indie titles. Heck, there might even be a few last-gen titles that have earned the right to a "remastered" makeover. Check out the livestream below and rest assured we'll have all the news from the event in our liveblog right here. Check here for everything happening at E3 2015!
Sony already has over 30 Project Morpheus VR games in the works
We're ready and waiting for Sony's E3 press conference later today, but for now you can get yourself amped up for its PlayStation 4 virtual reality initiative, Project Morpheus, with an early look by Wired. The big news? There are already more than 30 VR games in the works, according to Sony Worldwide Studio's Shuhei Yoshida. And while all of them won't be ready for launch, it sounds like Sony and its developer partners are making a concerted effort to push the VR experience forward. "You think everything's going to fall into one of four categories—sports, shooters, action, etc.—and that's not the case," said Adam Boyes, Sony's VP of developer relations. "Because developers have such great access to VR tools in general, they're just throwing everything at the wall." Project Morpheus is still expected to land early next year, and Sony reps say that the Morpheus headset will likely go for "several hundred dollars."
Poke monster heads and solve puzzles in VR with 'GNOG' on PS4
GNOG is a weird game from a strange studio, which is probably why it's attracted the attention of both Sony and Double Fine, the company behind Broken Age and other big-name indie games. GNOG is a colorful, quirky game that turns giant monster heads into puzzle boxes, and it's coming to PlayStation 4 and the accompanying Morpheus virtual reality headset in 2016, Director Saleem Dabbous announced today. The game is part of Double Fine Presents, an indie support program that includes Gang Beasts, Escape Goat 2 and Last Life, and it's getting help from Sony's Pub Fund program, which helps finance games for Sony platforms.
PlayStation is recruiting for a VR-exclusive studio in the UK
It's getting real for Sony's Project Morpheus. The electronics giant has posted job listings (eight, all told) for veteran animators, level designers and a few others to fill out a studio dedicated entirely to making virtual reality games. "Based in the North West of England, we aim to build a small but highly experienced team who want to build great games to showcase this exciting new immersive technology," the postings say. As Eurogamer reports, the Morpheus-exclusive studio should wind up in Manchester, and staff that formerly worked at Driveclub's Evolution Studios are involved here. Perhaps that's why the available positions are somewhat limited in number. Regardless, if you were questioning how serious Sony's push into VR was, this might sate your curiosity a bit.
Unreal game engine will support HTC's virtual reality headset
The crew at Epic Games has made a point of welcoming virtual reality with open arms, and it's not about to shy away any time soon. The studio recently updated its roadmap with indications that Unreal Engine 4 will support Steam VR (and by extension, the HTC Vive headset) no later than May. Also, Epic isn't wasting much time getting up to speed with Sony's newer Project Morpheus gear -- there's promises of silky-smooth 120Hz visuals, among other things. This wider support won't matter until you can buy both the VR hardware and titles based on UE4, but it suggests that there won't be a shortage of immersive gaming when everything lines up.
There's no longer a place like PlayStation Home
PlayStation Home, Sony's answer to the Second Life question no one asked, was never where the company's heart lived. Maybe its greasy, suppurating id lived in those gleaming neon halls, somewhere between the bowling alley full of dead-eyed polygon people and the virtual shopping mall. You know the PlayStation Home shopping mall I'm talking about. It's the one where you could spend very real money on an entirely fake golden statue of a robot lady with impossibly proportioned breasts.After seven years, the majority of which were spent in beta testing, Sony closed Home's doors this week. The PlayStation heart is secure elsewhere, for sure, but the shuttering of Home does mark the conclusion of an experiment true to the PlayStation soul, as well as the end of the brand's darkest era.
How serious are you about virtual reality?
The absolute best/worst virtual reality stock photo we could find Are you prepared to dedicate a room in your house to virtual reality? Perhaps you're a little less crazy than me, but you're okay with a wire running across your living room to a headset? Or maybe both of those sound crazy to you, but a headset that can plug into your phone is okay? These are the emerging options for virtual reality: a medium finally coming into its own, that's poised to disrupt industries and hairdos the world over.
State of VR: Sony's Project Morpheus in 2015
I did not get motion sickness when I demoed Sony's new and improved Project Morpheus VR headset at GDC this week in San Francisco. And that's saying a lot considering my sweaty outcome at a private E3 demo last year. But I did get somewhat hurt while using it. Blame it on the shark. I banged my head into a wall while whimpering and trying to avoid the jaws of a menacing virtual version of, well, Jaws. It's proof that compelling VR is powerful; powerful enough to send you slamming into nearby walls with a smile plastered on your face.
Using the PlayStation 4's new version of Project Morpheus
I just used Sony's newest version of the PlayStation 4 virtual reality headset, Project Morpheus. Rather, I should say that I just faced down a burly, British would-be-torturer before being whisked away to a first-person gunfight in a well-appointed London manor. That's "The London Heist," one of the new demos from Sony's London Studio being shown off this week at GDC 2015. It's intense, and demonstrative of the new prototype's upped specs.
