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'Gunjack,' a VR space shooter that puts you in the cockpit
You're sitting in the pilot seat of a cutting-edge spacecraft outfitted with two heavy-duty turrets. The inky universe expands around you and begins to populate with enemy ships: You pull the triggers and shoot them down, gathering new ammunition for more coordinated, deadly attacks and powering up your craft. This is Gunjack, a new virtual reality game from Eve Online and Eve Valkyrie developer CCP, created specifically for the Samsung Gear VR. It's an arcade shooter (think more Star Wars Battle Pod than Space Invaders) set in the Eve universe, and it's due out in the fall.
Gear VR just got the best game about disarming bombs you'll ever play
Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes. It sounds like a threat, but it's really the title of (and the instructions for) one of the best dang cooperative video games I've ever played. It's a virtual reality thriller: two players must work together to defuse a bomb--one wears a VR headset and handles the explosive, the other rifles through a convoluted manual in search of defusal instructions. Neither player can see what the other sees. It's intense, hilarious and completely unique in every way--and now it's available for Gear VR.
David Attenborough dives into VR with special museum exhibit
Wildlife documentarian and hypnotizing narrator Sir David Attenborough will finally lend his storytelling expertise to the fledgling medium of virtual reality later this month, in a special exhibit opening at London's Natural History Museum. As stunning as the HD footage that typically accompanies Attenborough's shows may be, for the past year the presenter has been working with Alchemy VR, a partnership of Atlantic Productions and Zoo VFX, to create even more engaging experiences using VR. A 15-minute adaptation of 2010 miniseries First Life, which uses CGI to reconstruct our prehistoric oceans and the beasts lurking within, is the first Attenborough VR project ready for general release, and it'll be debuting at the museum on June 19th.
Oculus names VR Jam finalists, and here are some of them
Oculus VR's apps and games contest for the Samsung Gear VR Innovator Edition is in full swing. The 2015 Mobile VR Jam contest received quite a number of interesting submissions, including a game that puts you in the POV of a bullet, one that wants you to fight blind, and another that lets you text and drive without putting real people in danger. Alas, the company has no choice but to narrow the entries down to 61 finalists for the competition, 37 of which are games and 24 are apps or experiences for the virtual reality headset. Before any of them wins part of the $1 million prize pool, though, a panel of ten judges will examine them further in the next few days until they come up with a list of winners for June 3rd. You can browse through a select few of the finalists below (in addition to the ones we listed above, all of which made the cut), but you can also look at the full list on the contest website.
Browsing Twitter and Instagram in VR? Yup, it's a thing
I know, you bought yourself a VR rig and never want to take it off. It's the future, that's natural! And with something like the Gear VR's passthrough camera you don't even need to remove the headset to do menial "real-world" chores like going to the bathroom, grabbing another Mountain Dew out of the fridge or some Doritos out of the cupboard. But what if you wanted to check your Twitter feed or see how many new likes that Instagram photo of hitting your activity goal on your Apple Watch got while avoiding meatspace? Have no fear folks, because with a new app called Swerve you'll be able to do that without removing your Android VR system. The app puts Twitter into a 3D space and as VR Focus notes, you can peruse searches, mentions and hashtags too -- apparently all in a cloud-filled skybox. Perfect.
Virtual reality game asks you to fight blind
Virtual reality gaming isn't just about immersing yourself in visuals... it can be about sound, too. If you need proof, you only need to look at (or rather, hear) Scott Leaman's experimental Gear VR game Blind Swordsman. The title has you fending off a trio of killers using only the directional audio cues in your headphones. You have to listen carefully, face your enemy and swing before it's too late. The concept is simple on the surface, but it's reportedly very involving -- and it takes advantage of technology that wasn't viable until recently, such as cordless VR and positional sound software. Blind Swordsman isn't as superficially impressive as other virtual experiences, but it does serve as a friendly reminder that VR opens up creative possibilities beyond graphics.
'Angry Birds VR' puts the infamous fowl on your face
In case you felt T-shirts, the silver screen, lunch buckets, go-karts or your smart device weren't enough places to ogle Angry Birds, now there's one more: virtual reality. A demo for the ubiquitous game about an avian-fueled, porcine genocide made its way to Samsung's Gear VR recently, but from the sounds of it the formula's changed quite a bit. Because the series-typical 2D side-scrolling affair likely wouldn't translate well to a head-mounted display, the perspective's shifted to behind the birds. What's more, based on the screenshot above it looks like you're coasting through rings rather than destroying fortresses. As Road to VR suggests, one might guide the crestfallen fowl through these loops by moving your head. Seems plausible. There are still a number of questions remaining, but perhaps the biggest is how do the pigs feel about possibly getting spared this time out?
Looking at the future of mobile gaming with Samsung's new Gear VR
If you just got yourself a Samsung Galaxy S6 (or its curvier sibling, the S6 Edge) and you happen to be a fan of VR, well good news: the latest Gear VR for the Galaxy S6 is now officially on sale. It's still in limited rollout but it should be in your local Best Buy starting today for around $199, with availability expanding quickly to even more places. Introduced at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the new headset is not only designed for Samsung's new phones, but also features a number of improvements over the original Gear VR for the Note 4. We had a chance to take a brief spin with the new hardware a few days ago, tried out a few new made-for-VR games and also talked to Max Cohen, VP of mobile at Oculus, for more on Gear VR's future.
Explore Vincent van Gogh's painterly world in this VR project
We've seen modern ASCII art in virtual reality before, but until now nothing approaching the works of the masters. With "The Night Cafe" that changes. Strap a mobile VR headset on and you can take a gander through Vincent Van Gogh's Le Café nuit as he might've seen it while at the easel. Waves of light circle out from hanging fixtures and unsurprisingly everything very much has a painterly vibe to it, from the way shading alters the color of the walls to the eerie look in Van Gogh's cold, dead eyes. Wait, what? Well, as Killscreen notes, the project features a number of Easter eggs strewn about from various other Van Gogh works and that includes his self portrait. The brief video below doesn't show if Starry Night made the cut, but artist Mac Cauley says he's still adding to the experience that originated as an entry in this year's Mobile VR Jam.
Samsung's Gear VR makes its retail debut on Friday
Starting on Friday (or March 27, if you prefer) you'll be able to stroll into one of about a hundred Best Buys and walk out with a Gear VR Innovator Edition to combine with your Galaxy Note 4. This isn't the first time Samsung and Best Buy have tied up to promote one particular vision of VR; after all, you've been able to demo a Gear VR headset for about a month now. This is, on the other hand, the latest in a series of inexorable steps meant to push Oculus and Samsung to the very front of the virtual reality wave that's set to come crashing down on us.
What makes Samsung's mobile VR consumer-ready? Marketing
A consumer release is en route for Gear VR. Hey, alright! If you've been paying attention, you might realize the problem with that first sentence, though. Think for a few minutes, I'll be here. Give up? Well, here's the answer: Unlike Oculus' still-in-prototype Rift headset, you can go to Best Buy's website today, throw down $200 and, boom, you'll have a head-mounted virtual reality display. Just like that. Okay, you'll need a Galaxy Note 4 too. But still, it already exists.
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.
Samsung's new Gear VR is smaller, sharper, but still not for everyone
The HTC Vive might've stolen some of Samsung's thunder, but it bears reminding that the latter did announce a new VR headset earlier this week. Sure, the Gear VR for the Galaxy S6 is only slightly different from the original Note 4 edition, but even minor tweaks can spell big improvement. It's smaller, lighter, has a wider focus margin and there's a new strap design that promises to make the headset much more comfortable than before. I had a chance to give it a spin earlier this week and I also talked to Max Cohen, VP of mobile at Oculus, to get his take on the new hardware, possible future updates and, of course, his opinion on the HTC Vive.
Relive Samsung's Galaxy S6 event right here
Did you sleep in on Sunday, only to realize that you'd missed Samsung's big Galaxy Unpacked event? Relax -- you can still watch the show as if it were fresh. As is its custom, the Korean tech giant has helpfully posted both a replay of the full event and a quick recap. The focus of the presentation is no longer all that surprising (spoiler: It was about the Galaxy S6 and S6 edge), but it's worth checking out if you want to see Samsung explore every nook and cranny of its latest smartphones.
Samsung's VR headset gets the first Oculus-powered paid app store
It's the day many, many virtual reality developers have been waiting for: Finally, a way to sell VR games to people with VR headsets. Namely, Oculus and Samsung's collaboration on the Gear VR headset is bearing digital fruit in the form of a digital store. In short: You can finally buy and sell games on Samsung's VR headset. That's a bigger deal than it sounds, as Gear VR's store has been riddled with little more than tech and game demos since its launch late last year. We've been anxious for deeper experiences, and many developers have been withholding those experiences for a time when they could actually make money on their work. Let the floodgates open!
'Bejeweled' co-creator has a new studio devoted to 'social' VR
What do you do after co-founding a studio responsible for myriad massive successes? From Bejeweled, to Peggle, to the massively popular Plants vs. Zombies, former PopCap Games co-founder John Vechey left a wake of breakthrough gaming franchises. After 15 years, he took a brief break. And now, five months after his amicable departure from the studio, Vechey's taking his hit-making talent to a new medium: virtual reality. Today he announced Pluto VR, an augmented-and-virtual reality studio named after our solar system's most (loved) distant planet-like mass.
Oculus offers $1 million prize pool for Gear VR developers
Oculus VR has a challenge for aspiring game and app developers: Create something new and exciting for the Gear VR Innovator Edition, Samsung's Oculus-powered headset, and get a shot at a cash prize from a $1 million pool. The Oculus Mobile VR Jam 2015 kicks off on April 13 and ends on May 11, with sign-ups open now at ChallengePost. The Jam -- and the cash -- is split between two tracks, "Games" and "Apps or Experiences," with Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze winners in each segment. The top Platinum Game gets $200,000, while the Platinum App or Experience snags $100,000. There are multiple winners for each of the remaining ranks, and prizes bottom out at $10,000 for each Bronze victor.
Apple explores headsets that turn your iPhone into a VR display
Apple may not be nearly as enamored with virtual reality as Facebook, Google or Samsung, but that doesn't mean it's uninterested -- it's clearer than ever that Cupertino has been intrigued for years. The USPTO has granted Apple a patent (originally filed way back in 2008) for a headset design that uses your iPhone as a virtual reality display. The basic concept bears more than a small resemblance to Samsung's Gear VR. You slot your phone into a cradle that sits in front of your eyes, and an external controller (in this case, a remote) helps you navigate when motion tracking isn't enough.
Best Buy will let you try Samsung's Gear VR in stores on February 8th
One of the biggest obstacles to buying Samsung's Gear VR is... well, trying the darn thing. How do you know whether or not you'll like this phone-powered virtual reality headset without strapping it on your head first? That won't be too much of a problem in the near future, so long as you live in the right areas. Best Buy is rolling out Gear VR demos to 100 retail stores across the US, starting on February 8th. If you can pay a visit, a staffer will give you a whirlwind tour of the wearable that should help you make an informed decision. Just don't expect to buy the device then and there, no matter how much you're enamored by it -- despite the in-store showcase, you'll still have to visit an online store to bring a Gear VR home.
Samsung's Gear VR headset arrives at Best Buy (but not at retail)
If you've been curious enough about virtual reality to buy Samsung's Gear VR headset, you've had to visit either AT&T's website or Samsung's to pick one up. Not very convenient, is it? Your VR shopping just got a little bit easier, though, as Best Buy has started carrying the $200 wearable in its online store. Yes, you can order Samsung's immersive display (provided you have a Galaxy Note 4, of course) at the same time as you're looking for a discounted TV. Unfortunately, this availability doesn't extend to Best Buy's retail shops -- you'll still have to buy this experimental headgear sight unseen.
