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Facebook reveals launch dates for latest Oculus games
Facebook's Game Developer Showcase is now in full swing, and we've been given a little more info on exactly what we can expect from games arriving on the Oculus Quest and Rift platform. Following yesterday's announcement that rapper Timbaland has created a music pack for Beat Saber, Facebook has revealed launch dates for a number of hotly-anticipated titles, including B-Team, Lies Beneath and Phantom: Covert Ops, as well as what's in store for Pistol Whip's "Full Throttle" update.
'Medal of Honor' returns as an Oculus Rift exclusive next year
When Steven Spielberg approached DreamWorks Interactive with his idea for a WWII video game (after wrapping Saving Private Ryan), even he couldn't have predicted the franchise's success. More than a dozen Medal of Honor games were released on 11 platforms between 1999 and 2012. After an eight year hiatus, Medal of Honor returns in 2020 on the Oculus Rift with an extreme take on first-person shooters.
Facebook wants Quill to be a one-stop shop for VR animators
Facebook's Quill is a tool that helps artists create virtual reality illustrations and animations, and the latest version will offer them more ways to realize their visions. Quill 2.0 has additional features allowing animators to make their creations entirely within VR, from their initial concept sketches through to a completed project.
'Moss' free VR missions come to PlayStation, Oculus Rift, Vive and Windows
Oculus Quest owners were treated to a free new chapter of Polyarc's adorable puzzle game Moss back in May -- now it's rolling out to other platforms. On June 25th, the "Twilight Garden" update will roll out across PlayStation VR, Oculus Rift/S, HTC Vive and Windows MR, giving all VR gamers the chance to guide young hero mouse Quill through an enchanting new world of puzzle adventures. The Twilight Garden will update automatically and for free, while the game itself is available for download through Steam, Oculus Rift and HTC Viveport stores for $30.
'Rift S' hints revealed in Oculus PC software
After Oculus co-founder Brendan Iribe left the company late last year, TechCrunch reported a shift in strategy from developing a "Rift 2" to a more lightly-refreshed "Rift S" VR headset. Now UploadVR cites code found in the Oculus PC software referencing the new device and giving some hints of its capabilities. A "lighting frequency for Rift S cameras to adjust to room lighting" toggle suggests built-in tracking cameras, while a software setting to adjust "IPD (Interpupillary Distance)" shows it will drop the original Rift's hardware IPD adjustment. Not surprisingly, it seems to have some things in common with the standalone Oculus Quest. Even if it doesn't follow the original Rift's path in pushing the envelope and showing people the cutting edge of what VR experiences can be, a simpler setup that's slightly more accessible is closer to what the company's owners at Facebook have in mind.
'Star Wars' VR experience 'Vader Immortal' will debut on Oculus Quest
Oculus Quest owners will have an exclusive Star Wars VR series to look forward to this spring: Vader Immortal. We only got a brief glimpse of it during the Oculus Connect 5 keynote today, but it looks like it'll place you on Mustafar, the volcanic planet that houses Vader's lair. The three episode series will be written by David S. Goyer, the prolific genre writer who's also working on the Secrets of the Empire, another Star Wars VR experience developed by the ILMxLAB and The Void. Vader Immortal will also tie into that series, and it's going to take place between Revenge of the Sith and Rogue One in the Star Wars universe.
Adorable VR game 'Moss' now supports Windows Mixed Reality
Launched earlier this year as a PSVR exclusive and eventually released for Oculus Rift and HTC Vive last month, adorable adventure game Moss is getting an update to support Windows Mixed Reality headsets.
Oculus' Marvel Rift bundle lets you play as Hulk and Wolverine
When it comes to releasing VR game bundles, Sony is miles ahead of Oculus. But if you're not a console gamer and have only been waiting for Oculus to come up with a bundle of its own, then we hope you have a few hundred to spare. The studio has launched a special edition Rift + Touch package with Marvel Powers United VR for $399, the same price you'd pay for one with an Oculus headset, a pair of sensors and a pair of controllers without the game.
Oculus Rift requires Windows 10 for new features
When Oculus upgraded its system software to Rift Core 2.0, currently in beta, it added a redesigned Home experience, multitasking for apps and windows in Dash and mirrored Oculus Desktop monitors. These are heavy-resource features, according to Oculus, and need Windows 10 to support them. That's why the company is recommending Windows 10 across the Oculus platform (Rift, Touch and core software). You can still use Windows 7 and 8.1, but you won't get the new features as they appear.
'Defector' on the Oculus is basically VR spy training
While I may be a rather incompetent assassin, it turns out that I'm not a half-bad secret agent man. At E3 on Thursday, I was afforded the opportunity to don an Oculus headset and play through a level of Twisted Pixel's upcoming espionage simulator, Defector. I only blew my own cover twice!
'Alex's Sci-Fi World' is a beautiful piece of VR animation
Hand-painted VR animation isn't new. Oculus developed Quill, a 3D painting package for the Rift, back in 2015 for its now defunct Story Studio. It was released to the public in December 2016 and updated with a slew of filmmaking features three months ago. Since then, a small community has blossomed with VR artist Goro Fujita -- the man behind the incredible A Moment in Time -- at the helm. There are many impressive shorts online, but my favorite is Alex's Sci-Fi World by Matt Schaefer. It's a neon-soaked delight that you should absolutely watch on YouTube or using a Rift and the original Quill file.
Facebook brings its social VR 'Spaces' to the HTC Vive
Earlier this year, Facebook unveiled Spaces, its inaugural attempt at bringing the social network to VR. And, seeing as Facebook also owns Oculus, it's no surprise that Spaces was a Rift-exclusive at launch. But, just as Facebook is on every platform and device imaginable, the plan for Spaces was always to have it spread far and wide as well. That's why starting today, Facebook is making Spaces available for the HTC Vive, marking the first time the app is going cross-platform.
'Bait!' brings an ice fishing expedition to Facebook's social VR
Facebook launched its social VR Spaces beta last April, finally showing us a compelling experience that helped put the social media company's acquisition of Oculus in the first place. Recently, Oculus showed off a little ice fishing game from casual game studio Resolution Games at the Oculus Connect 4 conference. Now, the game -- dubbed Bait! Arctic Open -- is ready to take you and a friend into Spaces VR together.
Hulu’s VR content is now available on Windows Mixed Reality headsets
With its latest OS update, Microsoft has officially begun to support VR headsets from companies like Lenovo, Acer and Dell and today, Hulu announced its VR content will now be available across the lineup of Windows Mixed Reality headsets. The company has also added its VR app to the Microsoft Store.
You can get a refund on Oculus Rift and Gear VR games and apps
Buying games and apps digitally is less risky when there's a solid refund policy in place. Apple offers refunds for purchases through its iTunes app store and Microsoft has a self-service system. PC distribution portal Steam allows for refunds within 14 days of purchase if you've played a game for two hours or less. Now virtual reality company Oculus has made it clear that you can get a refund for an app or game purchased digitally for the Rift or Gear VR.
Show off demo-ready apps with the latest Oculus update
Oculus recently slashed the price of its Rift and Touch bundle by almost $100. The Facebook-owned virtual reality firm was hoping it would seal the deal for buyers considering a leap into the world of VR. But, HTC quickly followed suit with a Vive discount of its own. Still, there's plenty of fun to be had with Oculus's headset -- which has made ground on its competitors since the launch of its Touch motion controllers last year. The wealth of updates, including support for more tracking sensors and modifications to its launcher, have also helped. The same goes for Rift's latest PC release, version 1.18. The update gives you even more control over your Oculus library and offers more mixed reality capture options.
The next version of Firefox will include support for VR
Mozilla has been working on VR for a while now, with support for Oculus Rift in the Firefox nightly builds as far back as 2015. Currently announced at the end of July and set to start rolling out live on August 8th, the latest version of Firefox (55) is set to include WebVR, the technology that puts virtual reality into a web browser. This addition will bring Firefox up to par with both Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge, which added web-based VR support in February and April of this year, respectively.
HTC's Vive Prime Day deal makes the Oculus Rift even better value
As tech brands go to war on Amazon Prime Day, Oculus has emerged triumphant over HTC in terms of value. The Vive, usually on sale for $800 has been reduced by a meager $100 to $700. Meanwhile, the Rift and Touch bundle -- already on a limited-time offer for $400/£400 -- now comes with a Prime Day perk of a $100 Amazon gift card (which makes it such a good deal it's currently out of stock). If you regularly drop a lot of dollar at Amazon, this essentially brings the price of the bundle down to $300, which is less than half the price of HTC's offering.
Oculus Rift and Touch bundle temporarily on sale for $399
A few months ago, Oculus dropped the price of a Rift and Touch bundle to just $598, which is a good $200 drop from what it was before. If even that was too rich for your blood however, well, get ready for some good news. For a limited time only, you can get both the Oculus Rift headset and the Touch controller for just $399/£399. That puts it on par price-wise with the PSVR, which has been the cheapest pro-level VR headset to date. In short, it's a really great deal. It's all part of Oculus' "Summer of Rift" event, where it plans to announce new titles and offer discount deals on games (there was a 60 percent off sale during the July 4th weekend). And, according to Oculus, get ready for even more news from now until Oculus Connect 4, its annual developer conference, later this October. As for this Rift and Touch deal, however, you had better get on it if you want to take advantage of it. That's because the discount price is only valid for the next six weeks. So if you have your heart set on trying out titles like Wilson's Heart or Lone Echo, this $200 price drop on Oculus hardware is a great excuse to finally do so.
Oculus Rift officially supports the HTC Vive’s best feature
The Oculus Rift has technically supported room-scale VR since the system's Touch motion controllers first went on sale last December. But purchasing an additional sensor didn't guarantee foolproof 3D tracking for greater immersion right off the bat. Oculus labelled the feature "experimental," alerting early adopters to the likelihood of bugs and other gremlins you might expect from in-development functionality. Six months and several updates later, however, Oculus has decided room-scale support is robust enough in its latest software release that it can ditch the beta tag and be called a bona fide Rift feature.
