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Oculus VR co-publishing EVE: Valkyrie, exclusive to Oculus Rift
EVE: Valkyrie, CCP Games' space dogfighting game, will be co-published by Oculus VR as an Oculus Rift headset exclusive. EVE: Valkyrie started life as EVE VR, an Oculus Rift tech demo built by a small team at CCP. The experience snowballed from there and snatched up several awards at last year's E3 and this year's CES. EVE: Valkyrie is being developed by CCP's Newcastle, UK studio. "The core purpose of CCP is to make virtual worlds more meaningful than real life," CCP CEO Hilmar Veigar Pétursson said during his DICE 2014 talk. Pétursson's talk mostly revolved around EVE Online, but near the end he talked about how "super excited" CCP is by Oculus Rift. "It is much easier for people to accept as reality," he added about the implementation of Oculus Rift. "It's a much shorter leap of faith to really accept that we really have the ability to create virtual worlds more meaningful than real life." Oculus VR still hasn't announced when it plans to launch the Oculus Rift at retail, but EVE: Valkyrie will be there on day one. [Image: CCP]
Carmack on id departure: 'VR has the possibility to be something really huge'
In an interview with USA Today, John Carmack characterizes his recent decision to leave id Software for Oculus VR as motivated by the potential of the Oculus Rift and VR technology in general. "I really do think VR is now one of the most exciting things that can be done in this whole sector of consumer electronic entertainment stuff," said Carmack. "I've seen this when we transitioned from 2D games to 3D games and everybody has seen the mobile transition, right now in the last five years. After you have been around for a while, you can notice some of the trends. It really feels like VR has the possibility to be something really huge." That John Carmack, a man responsible for some the most influential 3D game engines in history, would be drawn to new rendering technology should come as no shock. What is surprising, however, is that Carmack offered id Software parent company ZeniMax Media a deal whereby id could work alongside Oculus VR, allowing Carmack to retain his old position while also feeding his drive to explore the potential of VR. Carmack's proposal was rejected. "It would have been a huge win," said Carmack. "It seemed like a sensible plan for me. "But they couldn't come together on that which made me really sad. It was just unfortunate. When it became clear that I wasn't going to have the opportunity to do any work on VR while at id Software, I decided to not renew my contract." [Image: Oculus VR]
Valve: Consumer-priced virtual reality headsets feasible for 2015
During a Steam Dev Days talk last week, Valve Research and Development leader Michael Abrash said he expects virtual reality to hit big in the coming years, and that it "could transform the entire entertainment industry," USA Today reported. "Compelling consumer-priced VR hardware is coming, probably within two years," Abrash said. With Oculus VR leading the way, virtual reality headsets aren't anything new to those that have been watching their growth in recent years. The key words here are "compelling consumer-priced VR hardware" then, which Abrash thinks can be built to the following specs in 2015, per a slide (PDF) in his presentation: 110-degree field of vision, 95 Hz refresh rate, 1K x 1K resolution per eye, three millisecond pixel persistence and 20 millisecond latency. Abrash said a VR headset with those specs is "doable with relatively minor tweaks of existing technology; no breakthroughs or miracles are needed, just solid engineering." In fact, Valve has built prototypes of head-mounted displays with those specifications already, and will "share what we've found with PC companies that want to develop VR hardware." Valve has already built a working relationship with VR hardware manufacturers, working directly with Oculus VR on consumer-level virtual reality options and launched its SteamVR beta just ahead of its Steam Dev Days conference. We went hands-on with Oculus VR's latest internal prototype hardware "Crystal Cove" at CES 2014.
Designer says Valve is 'days away' from launching VR software dev kit
Valve is reportedly "days away" from launching a virtual reality software development kit. The news comes from Valve designer Brian Coomer, who told BBC that the dev kit would give software developers a standard means of providing an interface for virtual reality headsets, like the Oculus Rift. The report says the kit will launch during Valve's Steam Developer Days conference, which begins on January 15 in Seattle. Coomer added that "there's also technology in development at Valve based around head-tracking and headset manufacture and design," and that Valve is "working with other companies right now but we have not made any specific announcements." Valve has some internal experience with virtual and augmented reality headsets in the past, as former Valve engineers Jeri Ellsworth and Rick Johnson were granted permission to take the Cast AR glasses project with them when they left the company in February 2013. The now-independent Cast AR augmented reality headset went to Kickstarter in October, and earned $1,052,110 from backers in a month. Additionally, Valve added a virtual reality support category to Steam for the Oculus Rift in December. Oculus VR has received more support from Valve these days, as seen in the headset manufacturer's latest model, which we took for a test drive at CES 2014 this week.
Testing the 'huge breakthrough' in new Oculus Rift VR prototype
The newest internal prototype of the Oculus Rift, codenamed Crystal Cove, adds positional tracking, low persistence and an OLED screen, iterating on the 1080p HD developer model out in the wild. Positional tracking is a straightforward addition that players have been looking out for, and the Oculus achieves this with an external camera that faces the player and watches a series of LEDs on the front of the headset. With positional tracking, players are able to lean down and read text or get a closer look at objects in front of them. Low persistence is a trickier beast to tackle, but it basically means the Oculus Rift has erased motion blur, allowing the player to move his head and keep his eyes fixed on one point, as humans do in reality. The Crystal Cove prototype reduces latency to 30 milliseconds from 60 milliseconds in the HD dev kit, though Oculus VR's goal for a consumer product is 16 to 20 milliseconds. "You want to be able to stay focused on something," Oculus VR CEO Brendan Iribe said during a hands-on demo at CES. "If there's text in the world and you're looking at it, you want to be able to move while you stare at that text. Your head is always moving. So it actually ends up being really key – it's a breakthrough. This is a huge breakthrough." The Oculus Rift team works with Valve to solve some of the headset's technical issues, and the low persistence solution spawned in part from Valve R&D man Michael Abrash. Abrash previously co-created Quake at id Software with John Carmack, who is Chief Technology Officer at Oculus VR.
EA Partners veteran David DeMartini now head of Oculus VR publishing arm
Former EA Senior Vice President David DeMartini has joined Oculus VR as head of worldwide publishing, the newly-formed branch of the Oculus Rift manufacturer that aims to help developers create games that are compatible with the company's headset. In a statement to Gamasutra, DeMartini described the position as "not particularly different from what I did for seven years" as part of the EA Partners program. "I'm figuring out how to partner effectively with big developers, small developers, all the way down to the individual who just wants to make something great for the Rift," he said. Whether the publishing division will provide financial backing to projects in order to make them Rift-compatible is unknown, though the company did just receive $75 million in funding from Netscape founder Marc Andreessen's venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz.
Oculus Rift gets $75 million in funding from Netscape founder's firm
Oculus VR received $75 million in funding from venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, led by Netscape founder Marc Andreessen. Oculus VR previously secured $16 million in its first round of funding in June. The company's Oculus Rift augmented reality hardware also earned $2.4 million on Kickstarter in September 2012 after reaching its $250,000 goal in 24 hours, which in itself was a testament to the appeal of the headset. "Over the past 16 months, we've grown from a start-up to a company whose virtual reality headset is poised to change the way we play, work and communicate," Oculus VR CEO Brendan Iribe said in a statement to VentureBeat. The company's growing support isn't just measured in dollars, as Iribe said the company sold over 40,000 Oculus Rift kits to developers that are working to create games and apps for the headset. Additionally, id Software Co-Founder John Carmack joined Oculus VR in August as the company's CTO before officially leaving the Doom developer in November.
Oculus Rift probably isn't going to happen on Xbox One, PS4
The Oculus Rift has captured a fair amount of attention for its ability to help immerse its users in fictional worlds, but it seems that Xbox One and PlayStation 4 owners won't be part of its audience. "Consoles are too limited for what we want to do," Oculus Rift inventor Palmer Luckey told TechRadar. "We're trying to make the best virtual reality device in the world and we want to continue to innovate and upgrade every year - continue making progress internally - and whenever we make big jumps we want to push that to the public." There is currently a single model of the device planned for consumers that will be compatible with Android devices and PCs. The device's parent company, Oculus VR, recently recruited Doom programmer John Carmack as its Chief Technology Officer and is planning to release the Oculus Rift sometime next year.
The Forest shows us how to survive and thrive in the wild
In The Forest, players are stranded in a woodland full of cannibals. This trailer showcases scavenging for wood to build structures and weapons to fight cannibals with. You can also befriend the local bird population, it seems, which should come in handy when the chores need doing.
One Oculus Rift for consumers, will tether to PC and Android
Oculus VR CEO Brendan Iribe clarified to Engadget that there will be one Oculus Rift model for consumers, despite previous reports to the contrary. "We will be delivering a single Oculus Rift which is a tether to multiple different devices," Iribe told Engadget, "and now we're looking to also support tethering to a mobile device." The report that a lighter version of the Oculus Rift would be made available specifically for Android devices came from a Gamesbeat piece where Iribe was misquoted. In his interview with Engadget, Iribe went on to say he is hopeful that Oculus Rift will not require the more modern Kepler GPU chip set on Android. "I don't think it's going to require that full Kepler capability. I think we'll be able to deliver on an even earlier chip set than that. I think people will be pretty surprised with what set of devices we're able to make this work on. We are focused on just a few right now, basically just to stay focused so that we can deliver a great experience on a couple devices first. Then over time we'll have that span out." Developers have yet to receive Android development kits, Iribe added. "It's coming soon," he said, but Oculus VR is "not ready to release a date." The retail version of Oculus Rift is tentatively slated to launch sometime next year.
Oculus Rift retail headset will tether to Android [update]
Update: Oculus VR CEO Brendan Iribe has clarified that there will be one Oculus Rift headset available at retail, despite the Gamesbeat report calling out a different lighter headset for Android. Oculus VR, the technology company behind the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset, is preparing a special variant of its product for Android mobile. Chief executive officer Brendan Iribe revealed at the Gamesbeat 2013 video game conference the mobile headset will be a lighter version of the current headset, hoping to launch at the same time or close to the retail launch of the PC version. "We have some exciting plans on the mobile VR side as the PC VR side," Iribe said, as transcribed by Gamesbeat. "We're really looking at hitting the consumer market. We're very excited about what we're seeing. Skeptical about how good mobile VR could be on such a small platform. It's pretty incredible what [John Carmack has] been able to do." John Carmack, who signed on as Chief Technology Officer for Oculus in August, said the retail headset will likely run on an Android processor. In an interview with Engadget earlier this month, Carmack envisioned "a head-mounted display that probably runs Android, as a standalone system, that has a system-on-a-chip that's basically like what you have in mobile phones." Oculus has yet to announce when the Rift will officially launch, though some developers have had the development kit headset since March. Oculus began as a Kickstarter campaign late last year and managed to earn over $2 million through crowdfunding. The company completed its first round of investor funding in June, securing $16 million.
Four virtual reality game ideas from the creator of Oculus Rift
According to Oculus VR founder Palmer Luckey (pictured left), there are about 20,000 Oculus Rift developer kits out in the wild. That means there are an awful lot of developers who are certainly hungry for fascinating virtual reality game design concepts. Luckey knows a thing or two about VR, and he was happy to share a few game ideas he's had. "You talk to developers, right?" I told him that I do. "Some ideas. I'm going to give you some ideas. You can give them to whoever you want." So here we go: Four ideas for VR games straight from the man who created the Oculus Rift. If you happen to be a developer, feel free to take one. Oh, and with the exception of Crazy Cops 2, all the title suggestions are mine. Just remember, credit where credit is due.
Carmack joins Oculus VR as Chief Technology Officer [Update]
John Carmack, co-founder of id Software, has joined Oculus VR as Chief Technology Officer. Carmack will begin work on the Oculus Rift augmented reality headset on a full-time basis out of Dallas, Texas. Carmack has experience in working with the headset in the past, showing it in conjunction with Doom 3 BFG at QuakeCon 2012. Whether Carmack has officially left id Software is undetermined at this time. Update: Carmack will not be leaving id Software, according to a tweet issued by the company, which states that Carmack "will continue to provide leadership for our games in development."
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.
Oculus Rift planned for PC and mobile, consoles 'not a focus'
Oculus VR CEO Brendan Iribe recently told EDGE that the Oculus Rift headset will focus on PC and mobile devices. "I love consoles but internally we're a lot more excited about where mobile's going to go, and being able to plug it right into a next gen cellphone," Iribe said. "Those things are almost doubling every year, compared to a console that's just stuck it out for eight years." Iribe hopes to have the Oculus Rift on the market by next year, but he's unwilling to make any promises. "We don't want to announce any dates because frankly we just don't know when it's going to be really ready," Iribe said. "You have the form factor, HD, motion blur...we don't know how long that will take."
Oculus dreams of offering a free, subsidized Rift
The Oculus Rift being offered as a free product is just one "fantasy idea" posited by Oculus CEO Brendan Iribe. "We have all kinds of fantasy ideas," Iribe told Edge at last week's Develop conference in Brighton. Though the company is set on a $300 price for the virtual-reality headset at the moment, there is "potential that it could get much less expensive with a few different relationships and strategies." Iribe also said, "You can imagine if Microsoft and Sony can go out and subsidize consoles because there's enough money to be made on software and other areas, then there's the potential that this, in partnership, could get subsidized." He stressed caution, however, since Oculus isn't "there yet," and the company is constantly thinking about how it can offer the Oculus Rift free of charge. "You want everybody to play it and the cheaper it is, the more people are going to go out and buy it. Today it's a $300 dev kit but we're thinking about how to get it out to as many people as possible." The Oculus Rift is currently only available as a $300 developer's kit. Oculus has yet to announce when the consumer version will hit retail.
Oculus Rift support added to Unreal Engine 4
Unreal Engine 4 will support the Oculus Rift thanks to Epic's Integrated Partners Program, the developer announced today. The company also listed Intel, Nvidia, RealD and others as "inaugural" members of the new UE4 version of the program; member companies will contribute "tools and features that are trusted for high-quality game development" to the new engine. The Integrated Partners Program (or "IPP") aims to reduce development time by building commonly used middleware and hardware support directly into Unreal Engine's toolkit – Unreal Engine 3's IPP currently has 25 member companies, including Oculus VR. Only a small handful of games are known to run on Unreal Engine 4 at this time, though we fully expect that number to grow as the next generation unfolds itself like the dewy morning petals of a flower wearing a head-mounted virtual reality display, or something. We may have had trouble pulling that simile back together.
Oculus Rift engineer killed by suspects fleeing Santa Ana police
Andrew Scott Reisse, a computer graphics engineer and a co-founder of Oculus VR, the company behind the Oculus Rift VR headset, was killed in Santa Ana, California on Thursday, reports local ABC affiliate KABC. Reisse was traversing a crosswalk when he was struck by a car, a Dodge Charger carrying suspects fleeing Santa Ana police. Police reported that the car was driven by 21-year-old Victor Sanchez, who sped from the scene of an altercation in the 1000 block of Rosewood Court, along with two other suspects. The car had struck two vehicles and ran "several red lights," including the one near the crosswalk where Reisse was killed, according to Santa Ana Police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna. The police say all the suspects were gang members on probation. In a statement issued by Oculus CEO Brendan Iribe and chief software architect Michael Antonov, the company said that the 33-year-old Reisse "was a brilliant computer graphics engineer, an avid photographer and hiker who loved nature, a true loyal friend, and a founding member of our close-knit Oculus family." It goes on to say that "Andrew's contributions span far and wide in the video game industry. His code is embedded in thousands of games played by millions of people around the world," and "Words can not express how sorely he will be missed or how deeply our sympathy runs for his family." Joystiq extends its sympathies to Reisse's family and friends. [Thanks to all who submitted this story. Image: KABC]
Oculus Rift team taps ex-Valver Tom Forsyth, scientist Steve Lavalle
The Oculus Rift team has enlisted the aid of two more individuals: Tom Forsyth, who made a name for himself while working at Valve as a software engineer and on Team Fortress 2; and Steve Lavalle, a robotics scientist from the University of Illinois who has collaborated with Oculus since last September. Forsyth joins Oculus to improve the company's Rift SDK (software development kit) and work on "a few top-secret VR R&D projects." Lasalle is the new full-time principal scientist at Oculus, charged with tackling issues surrounding sensor fusion, magnetic drift correction and kinematic modeling. The Oculus Rift is a Kickstarter-funded personal virtual reality headset. The first Oculus Rift developer units shipped back in March, and will be followed by retail units at an undetermined point in the future. Our own bespectacled Jordan Mallory recently wrote about using the Rift on top of some spectacles.
Oculus Rift could work on current and next-gen consoles
Think virtual reality is the exclusive playground of the PC gaming elite? It doesn't have to be. Oculus VR's Nate Mitchell says it's a matter of development support and interest. "Basically, the bar for a great VR experience is roughly 60 frames a second with stereoscopic 3D support in Vsync," said Mitchell in a recent interview. "The biggest challenge, actually, is working with the console platform providers, Microsoft and Sony, to make your peripheral a licensed peripheral." Oculus isn't reaching out to consoles, however -- Mitchell notes that while the current generation can reach 60fps in some cases, it often struggles to meet the demands of the Oculus Rift headset. Still, he admits there's no reason it couldn't work, and seems optimistic about the incoming console generation. "We'd definitely love to work with the console manufactures as we go down the road to get the Rift onto those platforms."
