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Oculus' plan to rule VR is to throw more money at it
Oculus is the first company to help ship more than one virtual-reality headset. In the past year alone, it's collaborated on two smartphone-powered versions of the Samsung Gear VR as well as the Rift, a higher-end model that requires a PC. But the company is also facing a growing field of rivals, including the HTC Vive, Sony PlayStation VR and, most recently, Google Daydream, which aims to unseat Samsung in the smartphone category. So how does Oculus draw consumers to its side? By betting on exclusives, eschewing standards, funding a vast ecosystem of games and relying on Facebook's pocketbook.
'Luna' is a whimsical puzzle game that takes place in the stars
Not every VR game involves battle or fighting. Some titles, like I Expect You to Die or Fantastic Contraption, are more fun puzzles than violent shoot-em-ups. At the Oculus Connect event last week, I played around with Luna, a game that's more reminiscent of the former. It's a title by Funomena, a San Francisco-based independent studio, and even though it was on display at PAX a couple of months ago, this was the first time I've seen it in person.
The VR reading library Oculus hid at its developer conference
Oculus' annual developer conference serves as a touchstone for its community; a time to see how far virtual reality has come in the last year and to inspire, motivate and help developers build the VR experiences of tomorrow. Most of that comes in the form of announcements, panels and software showcases, but in the media demo rooms, the VR company hid dense sources for inspiration in plain sight. Stacked just above the TV in at each demo station was a small collection of books -- all of them about either games, game development or the effect of virtual reality on our culture.
Oculus Avatars turned me into a creepy VR mannequin
While yesterday's Oculus announcement centered mostly around VR hardware and games, the company also rolled out a few new features that'll let you socialize with the rest of your Rift-owning pals. Central to this concept is the Oculus Avatar, which is essentially a representations of your virtual self. Think of it as a VR version of Xbox Avatars or the Nintendo Mii. I had a chance to create my very own Oculus Avatar at the event and it's unlike any other video game character I've created before.
Why 'teleportation' makes sense in virtual reality
Getting around in virtual reality is a bit tricky right now. Even in room-scale VR, players are restricted by the physical size of their play space. Trying to walk to a point on a digital horizon might cause you to crash into a very real wall -- which is why VR games like Robo Recall and Budget Cuts allows players to teleport through the experience, rather than walk. This works surprisingly well, but I could never put my finger on why it worked. At Oculus Connect 3 this week, VR filmmaker Eric Darnell gave me an answer: teleportation in VR works because I grew up watching television.
'Robo Recall' for Oculus Touch is fun, frantic and completely free
At Oculus Connect 2 last year, Epic Games' Bullet Train demo stole the show -- leaning heavily on the "bullet time" effect popularized by the Matrix films to create a smooth, action-packed shooter that let players take down multiple enemies in slow motion. It had a neat gimmick: it used virtual reality to bend reality in a way we've only seen in the movies. The team brought the concept back to Oculus developer conference again this year as the heavily refined Robo Recall: a frantic, physics-based shooter with a sense of humor. Hands-down, it's one of the best Oculus Touch experiences I saw at the show. Even better? When it launches early next year, it will be absolutely free.
'Superhot VR' feels like a time bending, action-packed puzzle
Earlier this year, Superhot launched on PC and consoles with a fresh gameplay gimmick: Time only moves when you move. This simple idea turned the fast-paced action of an FPS shooter into an odd, methodical, and tense puzzle game where players could stop in their tracks to think their way around a barrage of incoming bullets. It's incredibly fun on traditional gaming platforms -- but it's even better in virtual reality.
Oculus' prototype headset points to VR's wireless future
Tucked away inside the dark hallways of the San Jose Convention Center is a meeting room with signs that read "No photos" and "No food or drink." I shook the hands of the Oculus spokespeople who were there to greet me and proceeded to try to get in the door. But before I could do that, I was instructed to leave my backpack, my purse and my phone behind. When I was finally allowed in, I was surprised to see that the room was decorated to look like a giant living space, with a large sofa and chaise in one corner and pillows, books and paintings placed throughout. But I wasn't there to judge the interior design. No, I was there to try the prototype of Oculus' newly announced standalone VR headset. Its name is Santa Cruz.
'Rock Band VR' is a completely different kind of guitar game
When Oculus first teased Rock Band for virtual reality, it sounded like kind of a stupid idea. A guitar game? In 2016? In virtual reality? How passe. It was hard to imagine how the series' iconic stream of colored notes would translate to VR, and I immediately dismissed the idea. It turns out I was right -- Rock Band's classic game mode didn't make a smooth transition to VR, so the team at Harmonix had to come up with something completely different -- and it's so much better than awkward rhythm game I was expecting.
The Oculus Rift earbuds are surprisingly comfy
Headtracking, motion controls and visual fidelity usually dominate the conversation about what makes for an "immersive" virtual reality experience, but great sounding audio is every bit as important -- that's why the Oculus Rift ships with built-in headphones. The on-ear speakers are more than adequate for a good VR experience but at Oculus Connect 3, the company announced an alternative that might be just a little bit better: the Oculus Rift Earphones. I got my hands on a pair before leaving the developer conference, and I can say that Oculus' confidence in the earbuds is justified: these things sound pretty great.
You don't need a ridiculous PC to run Oculus Rift anymore
Back when we reviewed the consumer-ready Oculus Rift in March, we found its minimum specs requiring an Intel Core i5 4590 (or equivalent) processor and an NVIDIA GTX 970 graphics card to be in line with a typical midrange gaming PC. Below that, a computer won't just fail to run VR smoothly: It'll drop frames and make you sick. But without changing any of the headset's hardware, Oculus has lowered the Rift's minimum spec to a Nvidia 960 graphics card and an intel i3-6100 or AMD FX4350 processor. That's all thanks to its new framerate-fixing tech, "asynchronous spacewarp," which they announced at today's Connect keynote.
Palmer Luckey skipped the Oculus event to avoid being a 'distraction'
Palmer Luckey may have founded Oculus, but he stayed away from today's big Oculus Connect event after stirring up some trouble recently. Late last month, it was discovered that Luckey donated $10,000 to an anti-Hillary Clinton group that wanted to take some garbage Reddit-style harassment memes and get them into the mainstream via billboards and other prominent messages (something it has failed to do thus far). He apologized, but plenty of developers and Oculus supporters took exception to his actions. Oculus confirmed today that he "chose note to attend" the event to avoid being a "distraction."
'Blade Runner 2049' and Disney will come to VR via Oculus
Oculus is working on a handful of new VR content projects, but the biggest names dropped at its Oculus Connect 3 conference this afternoon were Blade Runner and Disney. The coming film Blade Runner 2049 and a series of experiences about classic Disney characters are heading to Oculus platforms. Blade Runner 2049 is the sequel to 1982's cult sci-fi hit and it was just announced today; it's due in theaters on October 6th, 2017. Oculus didn't delve into details about either project.
Oculus brings VR gameplay streams to your Facebook news feed
Facebook has been experimenting with livestreaming gaming for a bit, and now Oculus is coming into the fold. You'll be able to broadcast your Gear VR gameplay to the world's largest social network. From the stage presentation, perhaps unsurprisingly it resembles how the current streams work. Basically, it looks like a status update, and you can tag friends, comment and talk smack. Or, ill-timed words of encouragement from your family members as you blast away enemies. Because that's how Facebook works.
Fight off post-apocalyptic bandits in 'Arktika.1'
It's a hundred years in a post-apocalyptic future and a second ice age has arrived. You're a mercenary, hired by a Russian colony to protect the facilities from bandits, criminals and other... creatures. That's the basic premise behind Arktika.1, a brand new VR title developed by 4A Games with the help of Oculus Studios. This first-person shooter is an Oculus exclusive, and importantly, it's also a Touch exclusive, which means it's designed from the ground up to utilize the VR firm's motion hand controllers.
Walking in virtual reality is hard, so 'Lone Echo' got rid of it
First generation virtual reality may have nailed sense of presence, but one major limitation keeps it from feeling truly immersive: Walking. The endless landscapes of the digital world are hampered by the confines of reality -- your playspace is only so big, and if you walk too far in any given direction, you're going to hit a wall. Most games get around this with teleportation mechanics, allowing the player's avatar to jump to far-off locations. Ready at Dawn Studios' Lone Echo took another approach: turn off the gravity, and eliminate the need to walk altogether.
The next batch of Oculus games highlights the Touch controller
2016 has been a banner year for Oculus for one main reason: After four long years, it finally shipped the consumer edition of its VR headset. Sure, it's pricey at $600 and sure, it requires a pretty powerful computer, but for a first-generation product in an extremely young field, the Rift delivers the goods. One of the reasons for that is that Oculus has been busy cultivating a vast ecosystem of games and apps for years now, thanks to the company's fervent developer community. On the eve of Oculus' third annual developer's conference, we got to get a sneak peek at the very latest that community has to offer. The big theme this year? Getting to use those soon-to-be-available Touch controllers.
An extra $79 turns the Oculus into a room-scale VR system
At Oculus Connect 3, the VR company announced room-scale support for its upcoming Touch controllers. To enable the feature users will need a third sensor in the room for an additional $79.
Oculus to offer earbuds for the Rift headset
The Oculus Rift already comes with a set of built-in headphones, but what if you're more of a earbuds person? Well, Oculus just announced a pair of in-ear buds designed specifically for the Rift. Simply detach the bundled headphones and attach the appropriately called Oculus Earphones. According to Oculus, they have advanced noise isolation and have drivers optimized for VR. Oculus CEO Brendan Iribe even went on to say that they're one of the most higher-end earphones in the world. The Earphones will be available for $49. You can pre-order them on October 10th, and they'll ship on December 6th.
Virtually hang out with up to 7 friends in Oculus' 'VR Rooms'
Oculus announced a host of new social features for platform during its OC/3 press event on Thursday. In addition to Avatars, which allow users to customize outlines of their faces with various accessories and skins, the company also rolled out Parties and Room. Parties are just what they sound like -- groups of up to eight users can band together and chat. And if you want a dedicated area to do that in, Oculus also announced Rooms. This collaborative space differs from the Facebook-centric chat app that we saw back at F8 earlier this year. Rooms is designed to behave more like a virtual living room where groups can congregate to play games or watch a movie, rather than a simple gathering of avatars.
