From Other Suns has been one of the more anticipated Oculus titles since its announcement earlier this year. Today the co-op space survival game launched on the Oculus store priced at $40, and a new launch trailer shows you what to expect.
From Other Suns is a co-op survival FPS set in space, and clearly draws inspiration from 2012 indie hit FTL: Faster Than Light. While the latter is a top-down strategy game tasking you with keeping your ship in tact and your crew alive as you make FTL jumps across the universe, From Other Suns in VR takes things into a first-person perspective, adding an elements of first-person shooting, navigation, and physical inventory management. And while Faster Than Light is single-player only, From Other Suns offers co-op with up to three players.
A new launch trailer for the game has cropped up which highlights the game’s action, but also the potential for comedy when players make their own improvised fun, either by roll-playing or trolling each other for laughs.
‘From Other Suns’ might be too brutal for the casual weekender going solo, but its ability to provide online multiplayer significantly changes the amount of fun you’ll have. While not as immersive and detailed as we’d hoped, the game presents a fairly solid shooting experience and hectic ship resource management to pump up the adrenaline. However you play, you’ll need to be determined to bang your head against the wall until you beat it though, because you can sink hours into it with only a few measly achievements to your name.
HTC revealed their new standalone Vive Focus headset today, poised to launch into the Asian market. Earlier this year the device was teased to be heading to Western markets as part of Google’s Daydream platform in 2017, but now HTC confirms they’ve canceled those plans.
The Vive Focus headset was actually first announced for the Western market back at Google I/O 2017 in Q2. Though it was unnamed at the time, it was said that the headset would make its debut as part of Google’s Daydream platform. Later in 2017, HTC announced that the same standalone headset would also launch in Asian markets except it would draw content from the company’s own Viveport platform.
Today, following the announcement of the Vive Focus for Asian markets, HTC has confirmed to Road to VR that it has canceled plans to bring the Daydream version of the headset to the US and other Western markets.
“We still have a great relationship with Google, but will not be bringing a standalone device to Western markets on Daydream,” a spokesperson for the company tells us. “We’re looking closely at our hardware roadmap, and will share when there is more to come for Western users next year.”
Google’s VP of VR and AR, Clay Bavor, mirrored the message on Twitter. However, Bavor confirmed that the Lenovo Daydream headset, which was announced earlier this year alongside the Daydream version of the Vive Focus headset, is still in the works and seemingly on track for a launch in 2017.
Have been using and loving my pre-release @Lenovo standalone headset, running Daydream. More soon. Can’t wait for you to try it. pic.twitter.com/lwb6PCG4tD
The cancellation of the Western variant of the Vive Focus comes off as a rather sudden reversal, and seemingly strange timing as the headset was due to launch in the next few weeks. HTC has offered little detail on what prompted the change in strategy, but it seems that competition from its closest rival, Oculus, may be part of the equation.
Meanwhile, HTC is still battling financial difficulties spanning the last several years. Though their Vive division appears to be a bright spot in an otherwise cash-strapped company, the VR market is still small compared to the their overall business. The troubles prompted HTC to sell off some talent and IP to Google for $1.1 billion earlier this year.
Today during the Vive Developers Conference in Beijing, HTC revealed the Vive Focus, a standalone VR headset with inside-out positional tracking. The headset is positioned for the Chinese market.
Update (11/14/17): HTC has confirmed to Road to VR that the company is cancelling plans to bring a Daydream-based version of the Vive Focus headset to Western markets, including the US and Europe. More details here. This article has been updated to reflect the new information.
Original Article, Updated (11/13/17): Vive Focus is the name of the standalone mobile VR headset which was initially teased way back at Google I/O 2017 in May. The device, which is based on a Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 835 VR reference design, is a standalone headset, which means it has everything on board (compute, display, battery, etc) and doesn’t rely on a host PC or a snap-in smartphone.
In addition to being standalone, the Vive Focus headset features on-board cameras which are capable of inside-out positional tracking which means users’ heads are tracked through space without the need for external sensors or beacons. Though the US version of the headset is due to debut with Google’s impressive ‘WorldSense’ tracking (our preview here), so far we see no mention of WorldSense for the Vive Focus, so it may be relying instead on tracking software from Qualcomm or in-house from HTC.
Vive China President Alvin Wang Graylin reveals the Vive Focus on stage at VDC 2017 | Image courtesy HTC
While other inside-out VR headsets—like Oculus’ Santa Cruz prototype and the Windows VR headsets—also use their inside-out tracking tech for positionally tracked motion controllers, the Vive Focus appears to use a simple controller with trigger and trackpad that will only track rotation (similar to Gear VR and Daydream View).
The headset will run HTC’s newly announced Vive Wave platform. Described as an “open” platform, Vive Wave seeks to consolidate content from China’s mobile VR market which HTC calls “fragmented.” Details are still emerging, but it sounds like Vive Wave is aiming to function for the Chinese mobile VR market like Valve’s SteamVR functions for the US desktop VR market—a device agnostic content platform with an open door for third-party headset makers to access content.
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Vive China President Alvin Wang Graylin reveals the Vive Focus on stage at VDC 2017 | Image courtesy HTC
Image courtesy HTC
Image courtesy HTC
Image courtesy HTC
Image courtesy HTC
Image courtesy HTC
Details on the Vive Focus price and release date have yet to be announced. Detailed specs like resolution, field of view, and battery life have not been revealed either, though HTC has noted that the display is AMOLED. However, since the headset is based on a Qualcomm reference design, it’s likely that the Vive Focus will closely match the specs we dug up on the reference design earlier this year.
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The Vive Focus is specifically aimed at Asian VR markets. Though a variant of the headset was due to launch in Western markets by the end of 2017, HTC confirms they’ve scrapped those plans. Announced earlier this year at Google I/O 2017, the US version of the headset was to be based on Google’s Daydream platform, from which it would draw VR content, and feature Google’s WorldSense positional tracking (which we previewed earlier this year). The Western version of the Vive Focus headset was expected to be based on nearly identical hardware (with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 835 SoC at its core).
Titanfall developer Respawn Entertainment has announced plans to join EA, one of the world’s largest and most influential videogame publishers. The acquisition of Respawn, which will cost EA up to $455 million, won’t impact the studio’s recently announced VR title, says Oculus.
It was announced last month at Oculus Connect that Respawn Entertainment is developing an unnamed Rift exclusive VR title set for 2019. At the time, Oculus’ Head of Content, Jason Rubin, said that he constantly gets asked when the world’s leading developers will begin creating VR games. He remains steadfast that they will come, and asked for patience, but also said that he was ready to “made a down payment on that promise today.” That was the lead up to the reveal that Oculus Studios would be publishing a Rift exclusive title developed by Respawn. Little has been revealed about the game, including a name, however, the 2019 release date suggests a full VR title with a lengthy, AAA development period. The studio has confirmed that the forthcoming Rift title is not a Titanfall or Star Wars game.
This week EA announced that it will acquire Respawn, paying $151 million in cash, up to $164 million in stock for employees, and up to $140 million in bonuses based on the success of forthcoming titles. Respawn claims the move was to ensure the studio could achieve its long-term goals, not because it was in financial trouble.
For those looking forward to Respawn’s first major step into VR, the studio notes that there will be no layoffs or major organizational changes, and that “titles currently in development will continue uninterrupted.” Oculus concurs, telling Road to VR that the acquisition isn’t expect to have any impact on the project.
“[…] we are extremely excited to be working with not only one of the greatest devs in the industry, but also to be working with one of the greatest publishers on the planet,” Rubin said. “Good times, and good for VR.”
Depending upon the success of Respawn’s VR project, the acquisition could potentially act as a trojan horse for getting EA more involved with VR. The massive publisher hasn’t delved deeply into the young tech—there’s not VR game to date that’s reeled in enough revenue to be more than a drop in the bucket for EA’s bottom line—but they aren’t ignoring it entirely.
EA’s Star Wars Battlefront (2015) launched with a special VR mission exclusively for PlayStation VR. Though it was a single level, it was well received and, tellingly, built on the company’s own Frostbite engine—meaning the publisher has invested time into adapting their core engine for VR rendering. Unfortunately Battlefront II won’t have any VR content.
EA will likely have a major say in what the studio does next, but with the Rift-exclusive VR project already signed between Oculus and Respawn, the outcome could be a major factor in whether the publisher decides to take on more VR projects or scrap such initiatives until VR has further matured.
Early adopters of “Windows Mixed Reality” VR headsets can now access a wealth of new content thanks to an official integration with Steam, now available as a public preview, allowing the headsets to play SteamVR content from the platform.
Update (11/15/17): The SteamVR integration for Windows Mixed Reality VR headsets is now available for free on Steam as a public preview. On the Steam page, Microsoft addresses why they’re launching it as a preview:
Windows Mixed Reality for SteamVR is currently targeted at consumers who want to be first to try out their Steam titles on Windows Mixed Reality. There are some known performance and experience issues that we are actively addressing. Early feedback will help spot new issues with a breadth of content.
Original Article (11/9/17): Valve built SteamVR in an open way with the hopes that third-party headset makers would connect to the platform to offer users access to Steam’s library of VR content. With Vive and Rift support already nailed down, Microsoft’s own Windows “Mixed Reality” VR headsets are next in line to join the fray with an officially sanctioned integration which allows the headsets to tap into a trove of new content via Steam.
And it can’t come soon enough for early adopters of the Windows VR headsets. At the time of writing, Microsoft’s own Windows Store offers a paltry 61 VR apps, with only a handful of highlights and no meaningful exclusives.
Thankfully, a public preview of the SteamVR integration for Windows “Mixed Reality” VR headsets is due to launch on Wednesday, November 15th. The preview is currently available to select developers who have applied via this form. Microsoft is positioning this initial launch of the Steam integration for Windows VR headsets as preview / beta, saying that the official launch will come at some unspecified later date.
Sony’s London Studio is behind PlayStation VR Worlds (2016), a collection of VR vignettes for PSVR—including the lauded ‘London Heist’—which was included in some of the headset’s launch bundles. With the success of VR Worlds, Sony’s London Studio is doubling down; now in development of Blood & Truth, the spiritual successor to ‘London Heist’, the studio says VR is its top priority.
Since its formation in 2001, London Studio is responsible for a long string of PlayStation titles, including the SingStar franchise, several titles for 2003’s PlayStation EyeToy camera, the ahead-of-its-time PlayStation Home (2008), the augmented reality Wonderbook peripheral, and plenty more.
The studio’s experience in natural input game design culminated in VR Worlds, which the title’s Senior Producer, James Oates, told me is the best selling PSVR title to date (likely including bundled sales). VR Worlds contains a series of five disparate but very well produced VR mini-games. It’s effectively a collection of VR experiences which paint a detailed picture of what kinds of games are possible with VR, and still stands as one of the top rated PSVR titles on the PlayStation store.
The VR Worlds team celebrates the launch of the game along with the President of Sony’s Worldwide Studios, Shuhei Yoshida. | Image courtesy Sony London Studio
Among the five experiences on VR Worlds—’London Heist’, ‘Ocean Descent’, ‘Scavengers Odyssey’, ‘VR Luge,’ and ‘Dangerball’—its ‘London Heist’ which has turned out to be the single most played experience of the bunch, with around twice as many plays as all of the others combined, Oates told me.
Clearly proud of their work, London Studio celebrates the launch anniversary of VR Worlds | Image courtesy Sony London Studio
It’s no wonder then that London Studio’s next project is Blood & Truth, a new PSVR game bearing many of the hallmarks of ‘London Heist’, but which Oates says will be a “full game” with a much larger scope. “AAA game, AAA production, high quality mocap, proper script, full length,” Oates, who is also Senior Producer on Blood & Truth, rattled off to convey the scope of what the studio is aiming for.
Through smart design in both locomotion and agency, Sony’s London Studio is clearly onto something with big potential. From shooting to exploring, I felt engaged with the world of Blood & Truth, which deeply solidified it in my head as a physical place around me. I began to forget about the Move controllers in my hands and instead thought about lock picking, C4 placement, and how many bullets were left in my magazine. Throughout it all, the Move’s limited tracking performance didn’t once rear its head (an issue I’ve had with other PSVR titles). The real world begins to fade away; immersion takes over. This is what VR is for.
Although Blood & Truth—as an action game set in London—most resembles ‘London Heist’ from VR Worlds, Oates told me that the studio is taking lessons learned about VR game design from across the entire spectrum of the VR Worlds experiences, and is bringing it all to Blood & Truth. The studio’s in-house engine—which is clearly capable of delivering some of the best looking PSVR content to date—is also getting tweaked, tuned, and upgraded for Blood & Truth, and other future VR content from the studio.
‘Blood & Truth’ promises to turn the action up to 11. | Image courtesy Sony
To deliver on that scope and ambition, Oates says London Studio is ramping up in size, and although there’s some other projects in the works, “the bulk of the studio is purely about VR,” he said.
The [London Studio] team’s mission is to lead the way in virtual reality gaming and to continue to grow the PlayStation audience across the platform.
So too do the studio’s latest job listings, currently seeking a broad spectrum of game developers from art, to programming, to Q&A and more.
Though Oates wasn’t ready to talk about what comes next, with VR Worlds under its belt and Blood & Truth on the horizon, he was bullish about the studio’s commitment to VR, calling it London Studio’s “primary focus.”
There are those who said the era of the demo disc had come to an end. Alas, Sony is set to release a second VR demo disc to give players a fresh taste of some of the top and upcoming PlayStation VR content. While the PlayStation VR Demo Disc 2 will come included with the new GT Sport and Skyrim PSVR bundles, it’ll also be available to download for free starting today.
Good news for new and existing PSVR owners, the new PlayStation VR Demo Disc 2 is due to launch on the PlayStation Store today as a free download. The demo collection will feature 13 demos, most of which are new, though there’s two repeats from the prior demo disc. Sony confirmed to UploadVR the listing of demos on the new disc:
The Samsung Odyssey, the company’s first PC VR headset, is available starting today in several countries, sold via Samsung and Microsoft stores. The $500 VR headset and controllers, part of the ‘Windows Mixed Reality’ platform, is described as the “most immersive,” and leads on specs (and top price) compared to the other Windows VR headsets.
The device lays claim to the highest resolution among the Windows VR headsets, with a pair of 1,440 × 1,600 displays (capable of up to 90Hz) which are OLED (compared to the LCD screen of the others), which typically means richer colors, greater contrast, and potentially less ghosting. The Odyssey is also the only one of the Windows VR headsets (so far) with integrated headphones and a microphone, which gives the headset a leg up in usability. Unfortunately it lacks the flip-up visor hinge that the other Windows VR headsets share.
Equipped with Fresnel lenses, Samsung claims the quoted 110 degree field of view is “one of the widest available on the market.” The Odyssey is also the only Windows VR headset to offer an IPD adjustment to let you dial in the sweet-spot by changing the distance between the lenses, from 60 to 72 mm.
Image courtesy Samsung
Like all the Windows VR headsets to date, the Odyssey includes two front-facing cameras for inside-out tracking, which means you don’t need any external sensors or beacons for head and controller tracking. Despite Microsoft calling the Odyssey (and other Windows VR headsets) “Mixed Reality,” there is no pass-through video or augmented reality functionality from the cameras.
The headset itself weighs a hefty 1.42 pounds (644 grams), which makes it one of the heaviest consumer headsets out there. The cable is 13.1 feet (4 meters) long, and terminates in USB 3.0 and HDMI 2.0 plugs.
Need to know if you computer specs can handle the Odyssey? Download the Windows Mixed Reality PC Check app from Microsoft to make sure your system is up to par.
Our Thoughts on the Samsung Odyssey VR Headset
Image courtesy Samsung
We haven’t had a chance to do a full review of the Samsung Odyssey headset yet, but I did get to spent a fair bit of time with the near-final headset at its unveiling last month. You can find my detailed hands-on impressions here, though here’s the short of it:
The ergonomics didn’t quite agree with my head; I found it hard to find a spot where the headset was comfortable, in the sweet spot of the lenses, and the headphones were placed optimally on my ears.
The lack of a hinge to flip up the visor (like the other Windows VR headsets) is a shame, and seems to also contribute to the ergonomic issue (since the visor can’t rotate from its fixed position).
The Odyssey appears to have a wider field of view than the other Windows VR headsets, falling into the same class as the Rift and Vive.
The hardware IPD adjustment is a nice benefit, allowing you to dial in the sweet spot of the lenses more precisely (especially useful for those with IPDs outside of the average)
There’s a marked increase in screen sharpness over the Rift and Vive; individual pixels and the screen door effect are reduced but still visible.
The Odyssey controllers are almost identical to the basic Windows Mixed Reality controllers, but they have a slightly more ergonomic handle shape. Otherwise they work identically well, though that does mean some jumpiness from time to time.
Additionally, our review of the Acer Windows VR headset informs some of the common elements of the underlying Windows Mixed Reality platform, like how the headset interacts with Windows, as well as the inside-out tracking tech which handles head and controller tracking.
It’s also worth noting that at present, the Windows VR headsets can only access VR content from the Windows store, which offers only a handful of apps. All of the Windows VR headsets, including the Odyssey, will eventually be able to play SteamVR content, but that functionality isn’t expected to be released until December.
Samsung Odyssey Deals and Where to Buy
Image courtesy Microsoft
Interested in picking up the Odyssey? Samsung has confirmed to Road to VR that the headset is initially available in the US, China, Korea, Brazil, and Hong Kong, via the Samsung and Microsoft stores.
At the time of writing, the Samsung.com option estimates the headset will ship in 7–10 business days, suggesting that stock there is a bit tight. The Samsung page also indicates that Rock and Rails, previously developed as a Gear VR title, will be included with the purchase.
Over at Microsoft, the current estimate is 3–7 business days, though you may also be able to find the headset in Microsoft’s brick and mortar stores (you can check inventory through the website). There’s no mention of Rock and Rails being included as a freebie when purchase from Microsoft, but the company is offering a $100 discount on a bundle including the Odyssey headset and a Samsung laptop for a hefty $2,000.
The undeniably stylish SUPERHYPERCUBE (2016)—which feels a bit like Tetris reimagined for virtual reality—initially launched as a PlayStation VR exclusive. Now, just over a year later, the game is coming to Steam for the HTC Vive this week. As with most SteamVR games, the title should technically support the Oculus Rift too, but, apparently related to developer KOKOROMI’s 2016 boycott of Oculus, the studio isn’t guaranteeing the game will work with headsets other than the Vive.
SuperHyperCube will launch on Steam this Tuesday, November 7th. It’s also getting a permanent price cut to $15, down from the $30 launch price (the price cut will also come to the PlayStation Store.
The game challenges players’ spatial reasoning by offering up an object made of cubes arranged into arbitrary shapes and a wall with a cut-out that the object must pass through. The object can fit through the cut-out but only in the correct orientation, which players can change by rotating among two axes using a controller. Each time you succeed in fitting the object through the wall, more cubes are added, creating an ever increasing level of difficulty as the shape becomes mo complex.
The PSVR version, which is played with a gamepad, holds a respectable 4 out of 5 star rating on the PlayStation store. It isn’t clear if the Steam version will work with the Vive’s controllers or if players will need to use a traditional gamepad (we’ve reached out for clarification). Even if it does work with the Vive controllers, the game’s gameplay doesn’t appear to be adapted for motion input.
SuperHyperCube isn’t built designed for motion input or room-scale play, and is in fact probably best played as a seated game. Since the Vive is a room-scale system out of the box, it isn’t clear how the title will fare on Steam where VR players are usually seeking experiences that make effective use of the Vive’s controllers and the available tracking space.
Image courtesy KOKOROMI
And what of Rift support? SteamVR and OpenVR effectively support the Rift by default, but KOKORMI says that “support is not guaranteed or provided for [non-Vive] PC headsets.” It isn’t clear if the studio has done anything to specifically block the Rift from working with the title but it seems unlikely that they’ve spent any time making sure controls work properly on the Rift (though if it’s playable with a gamepad there’s really not much that would need to be done).
In a political climate as fragile and horrifying as this one, we cannot tacitly endorse these actions by supporting Luckey or his platform.
In light of this, we will not be pursuing Oculus support for our upcoming VR release, SUPERHYPERCUBE.
And though Luckey was eventually ousted from Oculus, it would seem that KOKOROMI is sticking by their decision to boycott the company over his actions. We’ve reached out to the studio to confirm whether or not the boycott is the reason for the stated lack of support for headsets other than the Vive. We’ll have to wait for the game’s launch to see whether or not the Rift will work properly with SuperHyperCube.
A 36 hour VR session by Australian Jack McNee, of the YouTube Channel LPVR, has been confirmed by the Guinness World Records organization as the new record to beat for the “longest videogame marathon on a virtual reality game system.”
The marathon—which had McNee living for a day and a half in VR using an HTC Vive headset with the VR paint app Tilt Brush and his creativity to entertain him—took place back in April, and has now been confirmed on the Guinness World Records website. McNee’s time of 36 hours, 2 minutes, and 16 seconds blasted past the prior Guinness record, which, at the time, was 25 hours, 24 minutes, and 18 seconds, set by technology journalist Georgie Barrat.
During his record setting marathon, McNee had to stay in a single VR app, Tilt Brush. A smart choice considering the app allowed him to fend off boredom by drawing characters from The Simpsons, Adventure Time, Pokemon, and, thanks to his session being livestreamed, playing rounds of Hangman and Pictionary with viewers.
McNee was hand-fed and doesn’t appear to have slept throughout the marathon. Throughout the session, he also collected donations for The Reach Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to “[helping] children in need – physically, socially, and financially.”
For now, McNee must feel pretty good to be the only one in the world to be able to make the claim of holding the Guinness record for this feat, but I have a feeling that it won’t go unchallenged for long.
, Oculus Is Fending off Old Enemies, Former Friends, and New Foes
