At Microsoft’s E3 2017 briefing, the company’s event this year was all about the mid-generation Xbox hardware powerhouse formerly known as Project Scorpio. Xbox One X is the name and it’s coming on Nov 7th this year.
Microsoft’s most powerful console ever, the officially named Xbox X (formerly known as Project Scorpio) will, according to MS, also be the most powerful console in the world.
At Microsoft’s Xbox briefing at E3 2017, the company announced that the new console will arrive on November 7th around the world. The new console will ship with 6 teraflops of power, more than its main competitor, the PS4 Pro, with 4.2 teraflops. Microsoft is using a custom GPU engine on Xbox One X that runs at 1172MHz, a big increase over the Xbox One’s 853MHz and even Sony’s 911MHz found on the PS4 Pro.
The company is hoping this focus on raw grunt and native 4k UHD HDR rendering will give them the Edge against the current leaders in the console race, Sony’s PlayStation 4. And, of course, the console should be powerful enough for impressive VR experiences too. Some hints of this have already been shown with realtime gameplay of Forza 7 running at a claimed native 4k, 60Hz.
Xbox One X will find it’s way to retail on November 7th priced $499.
This story is breaking, more details will appear once we have them.
E3 2017 is underway and one of the key events this year is Microsoft’s Xbox briefing, at which we’re expected to learn much more about Project Scorpio, the PS4 Pro rival which the company have stated will host “high fidelity” VR. Watch the livestream right here
Despite Microsoft already dampening VR enthusiasts’ expectations for this year’s Xbox E3 event (no VR specifics I’m afraid folks), this event will focus on Microsoft’s great hope for drawing level or overtaking Sony’s technical superiority in the console space.
This means we’ll finally get to see what the mid-generation refresh Xbox powerhouse known as Project Scorpio is capable of, even if virtual reality demos may be absent. Catch the livestream for the show below. The event is due to kick off at 2PM PST, 10PM GMT. Feel free to comment below, it should be an interesting show.
UK gamers looking to add a little VR spice to their PS4 games should check out this new PlayStation VR bundle which will get you up and running in VR and offers a healthy £74 saving.
Assuming you’re one of the more than 54 million people who own a PlayStation 4 console, that you’re looking to buy into the console’s PlayStation VR platform and that you live in the UK, here’s a new Amazon bundle which you might be interested in.
The offer, currently available via Amazon’s UK store, packs in the PlayStation VR headset itself, a PlayStation Camera, a copy of the recently released and well received FPS Farpoint and the PSVR launch racing game DriveClub VR for just £349.99 – that’s the same price that the standalone PSVR core bundle launched for in October last year. You can grab the bundle here. Note: There’s no Aim Controller or Move controllers included here
The PlayStation VR, launched in October of last year, has surprised Sony in terms of sales. Earlier this year we reported that the company had revealed the PSVR selling through nearly 1 Million units as of February 2017.
A new report from Nielsen suggests that not only is public awareness of virtual reality at record levels, it’s nearly doubled year on year.
Away from business analysts’ wildly varying estimations on how much virtual reality as a business segment is and/or will be worth, it’s very difficult to gauge just how well VR is doing as a technology outside of enthusiast communities. We know that Samsung has confirmed more than 5 million Gear VR units are now in the wild for example, and of course the headlines of Sony surprising themselves with PlayStation VR’s early sales figures – approaching 1 Million going in to 2017. But just how much is VR on people’s radar?
A new report just published from gaming statistics stalwarts Nielsen, suggests that visibility of immersive entertainment and the desire to own hardware that can deliver it is looking pretty healthy heading into the 2nd half of 2017, amongst millennials at least.
Nielsen’s ‘U.S Games 360 2017‘ report states that from over 2000 people (50% male/female split) interviewed, 27% of people aged between 25-34 said that they intended to buy a VR headset, with 17% of 18-24 year olds saying the same. Of that group, 69% were men, 31% were women.
Image courtesy Nielsen
In terms of which VR platform those people were looking to invest in, 10% of people who identifying themselves as gamers (over the age of 13) stated that they were looking to buy a PlayStation VR, with 9% looking to opt for Samsung’s Gear VR. The Oculus Rift follows close behind with 8% with the HTC Vive trailing surprisingly far behind at 5%. Groups identified by Nielsen as ‘General Population’ responded similarly, although overall intent was lower and Samsung’s Gear VR topped the poll at 7%.
Image courtesy Nielsen
And in terms of gauging overall awareness of virtual reality platforms, Nielsen found that 34% of the general population over 13 years knew about the Gear VR, with the PlayStation VR recognised by 26% and the Oculus Rift 25%. Again, somewhat surprisingly, the HTC Vive trails at 10% recognition among those polled.
Image courtesy Nielsen
A similar trend, albeit with higher overall recognition, was present among gamers over 13 too.
Image courtesy Nielsen
Generally, when compared with other gaming technology, VR adoption still ranks quite low but according to Nielsen, overall awareness of VR is up from 28% of the general US population in 2016 to 51%, that’s an impressive bump in stats.
Overall then, it’s no surprise that something like the Gear VR, which has been marketed intensively by Samsung alongside its best selling Galaxy smartphones and is sold at a low relative price (assuming you’re already buying a phone of course) tops the charts. PSVR’s high ranking here is expected too, given the market penetration of the PlayStation 4 and its appeal as a mass market option. What is surprising, and I suspect difficult to recognise among VR enthusiasts, is the HTC Vive’s poor ranking against its direct competitor the Oculus Rift. Given the dearth of real-world sales figures for either device though, it’s almost impossible to gauge just how accurate this is.
You can download the full U.S Games 360 report for 2017 right here.
Another entrant in the rapidly burgeoning wireless VR segment appears as DisplayLink prepares to present their new WiGig 60Ghz wireless VR technology at next week’s E3 convention and, according to a recent hands-on, it’s looking pretty impressive.
Given recent opinions shared by the founder of Oculus, that current generation virtual reality headsets would not see a successor until 2018 at least, it’s fallen to other technology leaders to push the state of VR hardware forward. The next most enticing prospect to enhance the PC VR experience are wireless VR add-ons that let VR enthusiasts cut the cord on their high-end VR headsets.
The market is already starting to look pretty busy, with Road to VR taking a look at several solutions both ready for retail and in the works. Now, veteran video protocol specialist DisplayLink is due to debut their own solution to the world at next week’s E3 gaming convention in LA.
HTC Vive with DisplayLink XR prototype receiver and transmitter [Image courtesy: Tom’s Guide]DisplayLink XR is a system which utilises the WiGig (short for ‘Wireless Gigagbit Alliance’) garnered 60Ghz wireless video standard and, according to DisplayLink is capable of delivering dual 4k (3840×2160) video signals at a whopping 120Hz. Tom’s Guide got an exclusive sneak peek at a prototype iteration of the technology recently and according to them, when coupled with an HTC Vive, which sports dual 1080×1200 resolution OLED panels running at 90Hz, the new system delivers “razor-sharp”, low latency wireless image quality. Such was the proficiency of DisplayLink XR demo, which was powered by the company’s latest DL-8000 chipset, that Tom’s Guide said “We couldn’t even tell that the difference between corded and uncorded use.” Sounds impressive.
TP-Link 7200ad router, the world’s first WiGig router, unveiled at CES last week
WiGig (Intel’s chosen solution) is, as the name suggests, a wireless multi-gigabit networking standard which dramatically increases over-the-air bandwidth over standard WiFi over short distances (the same room). In actual fact, the name ‘WiGig’ is a shortening of the organisation (Wireless Gigabit Alliance) which helped define the IEEE 802.11ad 60GHz standard. WiGig is aimed at very high bandwidth data uses, such as the broadcast of multi-gigabit uncompressed video and audio streams. Although its uses are more limited (short range, doesn’t work well through walls) it is ultimately a very high speed general purpose network standard in the same way as other WiFi standards. Bottom line, if you buy an 802.11ad compatible router, it’ll not only be backwards compatible with your older devices, you’ll be able to use that extra bandwidth for any sort of data transfer, not just video and audio. WiGig data rates max out at 7 gigabits per second per channel.
The system, as with the likes of TPCAST’s WirelessHD based system, requires the user to strap a receiver to the top of their VR headset, with a transmitter and encoder (powered by a proprietary compression system) relaying the digital video signal from the PC. In the case of DisplayLink XR (still at the prototype stage), that head mounted box is formidable in size at present with no details of how much it weighs. I’d hope and expect to see this form factor improved as the system edges closer to a final release. Speaking of which, although DisplayLink have not yet settled on a date for making the unit available to the public, they are tossing around a possible price of $249, which is close to the aforementioned $220 TPCAST wireless VR system, which went up for sale last month.
Display specialists Kopin in partnership with Chinese company GoerTek have announced a new reference VR headset design that it claims is the smallest of its kind integrating the firm’s ‘Lightning’ OLED micro display panels sporting a substantial 2k x 2k resolution.
One of the key ‘most wanted’ advances desired in today’s retail virtual reality headsets is higher resolution displays. Recently we reported on Samsung’s prototype OLED panels sporting a PPI (pixels per inch) figure of 858, nearly twice that of the current generation HTC Vive and Oculus Rift headsets. Now, micro display specialist Kopin have unveiled a new reference design headset with displays that top even that.
The adorably named ‘Elf VR’ headset is equipped with two of Kopin’s “Lightning” OLED micro display panels, which each feature a 2048 x 2048 resolution, providing “binocular 4K image resolution at a 120Hz refresh rate” – a figure which is misleading as the horizontal resolution is ‘per eye’ and there cannot resolve the 3840 horizontal pixels required for an equivalent ‘UHD’ image (even ignoring the shortfall in vertical resolution). In case you’re wondering, each diminutive display represents an impressive 2940 pixels per inch – that’s five times the number on existing Samsung panels in the Vive and Rift.
A Kopin Micro Display [Image courtesy Kopin]Going by images included in our recent report on those prototype Samsung panels, this would substantially reduce screendoor effect, artifacts cause by the visible gap between display elements. What’s more, Elf VR should represent not only a great visual experience for traditional VR experiences, but also provide an impressive bump for 360 and standard movie watching too.
“It is now time for us to move beyond our conventional expectation of what virtual reality can be and strive for more,” explained Kopin founder and CEO John Fan as part of a recent press release. “Great progress has been made this year, although challenges remain. This reference design, created with our partner Goertek, is a significant achievement. It is much lighter and fully 40% smaller than standard solutions, so that it can be worn for long periods without discomfort. At the same time, our OLED microdisplay panel achieves such high resolution and frame rate that it deliver a VR experience that truly approaches reality for markets including gaming, pro applications or film.”
Of course, the other major statistic of interest for VR headsets is the expansiveness of the field of view (FOV) or, how much of your peripheral vision is encompassed by the image. With smaller displays come optical challenges in achieving immersive FOVs. Kopin claim are tackling this with a two-pronged approach. Their reference design includes two “Multi-lens” optical design branches. The first is a unit targeting the aforementioned media / movie watching category which offers a 70 degree FOV (it’s not stated if this is horizontal, vertical or diagonal) – which will present a sharper image with higher pixel density. The second offers a much greater 100 degree FOV, presumably at the sacrifice of optical sharpness.
Of course with smaller integrated panel hardware and these optical systems, the other benefit to Kopin’s approach could be weight advantages. Kopin claim it’s managed to reduce its optical module by 60% to leverage a 50% weight reduction – although as no numbers were provided we’re not sure what this comparison refers to.
As we’ve seen time and again since the start of the most recent VR renaissance, it continues to provide an impressive catalyst to accelerating technological innovation in multiple fields. And with both Samsung and Kopin already at a stage where they can produce next generation VR displays, it hopefully won’t be too long before we begin to see tangible upgrades over existing ‘first gen’ hardware. That ‘soon’ may mean mid 2018, at least according to Oculus founder Palmer Luckey, speaking in an interview recently.
After a lull in PSVR quality titles, PlayStation VR owners can now look forward to a handful of genuinely promising titles appearing for the platform in over the next few months. We pick 3 of the most promising PSVR games to either recently surface or on their way imminently.
Tiny Trax [Futurlab]
A somewhat anachronistic concept, slot car racing seemed old hat when I was a kid 30 years ago, but the fact that the likes of Scalextric are still making racing sets today says something about the format’s evergreen appeal. That said, Futurlab‘s virtual reality slot racing title Tiny Trax is still an unexpected title to find in the upcoming release roster for Sony’s PlayStation VR headset.
Tiny Trax is a multiplayer racer which, aside from slot racing, takes some cues from the ‘diddy’ racing franchise Micro Machines with a sprinkle of Hot Wheels too. Up to 4 friends or AI opponents take on a series of invitingly wacky and torturous tracks replete with loop the loops and upside down stretches all set against some extremely polished looking backdrops. As the title is made for VR, as a player you can stoop in and peer at the track as close as you’d like and it’s a viewpoint that was supremely (if somewhat surprisingly) demonstrated with the excellent Blaze Rush. Players can take advantage of the game’s “super-smooth drifting mechanic to recharge your boost gauge” – with reckless use of this seeing your car careering off the track.
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Although the source of Futurlab’s inspiration for Tiny Trax may seem bizarre, it looks as if the title’s strong art design and general infusion of fun could make the title one to watch. No precise release date has been announced, but we’re expected to learn more about the title at E3 next week.
Theseus [Forge Reply]
Theseus, from developers Forge Reply, is a 3rd person action-adventure which revisits the ancient Greek myth of the Minotaur and the Labyrinth. You play the titular character, on a quest to slay the Minotaur and save his love Ariadne, whose voice helps guide Theseus through the labyrinth.
Think Chronos meets God of War here as developers Forge Reply promise a dark narrative-driven experience and slicey-dicey combat befitting the mythical, ancient setting. Notably though, it’s Theseus’ level of production design which makes it instantly stand apart. Although the VR games market is maturing rapidly, finding games which rival the looks of traditional triple A titles is still uncommon and the lighting, character design and setting all look darkly beautiful.
The title is due for release this summer and we’ll likely learn more at E3 next week.
The Persistence [Firesprite]
Next up is Liverpudlian developer Firesprite‘s The Persistence, a new procedurally generated survival horror title, made from the ground up for virtual reality. Awoken from cryosleep in the year 2521 aboard the titular ship, you face the aftermath of a an experiment which has gone horribly wrong leaving the crew of this ship looking a tad worse for wear and with a lust for your human flesh. Zombies in space it is then, but the twist here is that The Persistence adds rogue-like loot and a procedurally generated environment every time you die and awake once again. You need to fight your way through enemies to save the ship with power ups persisting across resurrections.
“Stealth Horror is a perfect match for VR. Not only for the sense of presence that virtual reality brings, but also for the natural control head tracking offers. Sneaking around and hiding behind cover; it’s second nature in VR to just lean round or peek over cover to gain the advantage,” Commented Lead Designer, Alex Moore.
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Once again, the title looks very pretty indeed, with solid looking production design and animation. Additionally, the title promises to let friends join your virtual world by using mobile devices using a companion app to “hack” terminals in the gameworld to help you out (or not, depending on how the game decides to reward the player in question).
Firesprite’s development team holds DNA from some historical companies like Psygnosis which became SCE Studio Liverpool – studios responsible for classic Sony franchise Wipeout.
No release date is forthcoming for The Persistence as yet, but we’ll let you know as soon as we do.
Road to VR, the internationally respected resource and leading independent publication for virtual reality coverage, today announces a new partnership with international games media specialist Gamer Network.
The partnership will see Gamer Network leveraging its expertise in digital media monetisation, allowing Road to VR to further embrace its mission of bringing quality, independent journalism to the VR sector as both the industry and the publication continue to expand. Gamer Network will also work with Road to VR for the deployment of its innovative 360-degree mobile ad unit, and offer marketing, promotion, and audience development for the publication’s ongoing growth.
Launched in 2011 by Ben Lang and Paul James, Road to VR has established itself as the most senior and leading independent source of news about the rapidly growing VR industry. In April the publication released the 2017 Virtual Reality Industry Report in collaboration with market intelligence firm Greenlight Insights, its second such report providing a detailed analysis of the state of the industry.
Road to VR joins Gamer Network’s roster of partner sites including Moddb.com and IndieDB.com, alongside owned properties Eurogamer.net, Rockpapershotgun.com, GamesIndustry.biz and YouTube channel Outside Xbox.
“Our partnership with Gamer Network is a huge win not just for us as a growing publication, but also for our readers,” said Road to VR co-founder Ben Lang. “While media at large is trending in the opposite direction, this move enhances our structural isolation of the advertising and editorial portions of our business, allowing us to continue to put readers first by providing crucial independent journalism that offers an honest reflection of the industry at large.”
Rupert Loman, CEO of Gamer Network added, “We’re intrigued as to what the future of virtual reality might be and cementing this long-term partnership with the leading website in the sector means we can be involved in this exciting journey. We’re delighted to be able to help with Road to VR’s commercial development and to connect their enthusiast audience with our industry partners and advertisers.”
Contact
For more information on commercial opportunities, and details on Gamer Network’s custom 360 degree mobile advertising format, contact dan.robinson@gamer-network.net.
Founded in 1999, Gamer Network publishes a range of video games websites including Eurogamer.net, the world’s leading independent video games website with local editions in seven European languages. The company also publishes market-leading trade resource GamesIndustry.biz, PC gaming site RockPaperShotgun.com and Outside Xbox, a video channel dedicated to the Xbox community. It also represents several partner channels and websites including VG247.com, RoadtoVR.com and NintendoLife.com. In addition to its online publications, Gamer Network produces live public events and trade shows including EGX, the UK’s largest gaming event and EGX Rezzed, the PC and indie games show. Find out more at www.gamer.network.
About Road to VR
Founded in 2011, Road to VR is the world’s leading independent news publication dedicated to the consumer virtual reality industry. The publication explores the bleeding edge of virtual reality, augmented reality, and human-computer interaction, and is charting the course between today’s immersive technology and that of the distant future, capable of perfect simulations of reality. Road to VR believes it creates the most value as a resource that can be relied on to provide an honest view of the state of the VR industry.
Rockfish’s take on the still barren genre of epic space shooters is not only a wonderfully addictive arcade blast, it’s also one of the prettiest games available with VR support there is.
I’ve waffled on about my hopes for Rockfish Games‘ Everspace, a rogue-like arcade space shooter, before. My nostalgic yearning for a spiritual successor to Freespace (1999), which took the majesty, scale and apologetic spurning of realism of a true space opera’s battles and made it easy to play but difficult to master. That title was developed by Volition way back in 1999 and, if I’m completely honest, there’s not been an awful lot to rival it in all this intervening time.
Now, in Everspace, not only do we have a spiritual successor to Freespace of sorts, but the title has also been developed with VR support pretty much from the get go. After languishing in early access for some time now, Rockfish has finally announced that the first ‘full fat’ version of the title is now on release, with support for the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift headsets.
First off, this is not a full review of Everspace by any means, merely a very brief preview of the title after spending a little time with it on the Oculus Rift since its full release last week. But even after such a short spell, Everspace seems to have the accessible combat and ludicrously OTT space pyrotechnics I crave from a space shooter.
As with many indie titles across many genres these days, Everspace adopts the fashionable rogue-like structure for its core gameplay. For those unfamiliar with the term (and it’s applied somewhat loosely in this case), this means every play session consists of a ‘run’, a play through whereby you progress a little further with each successive attempt, acquiring persistent upgrades and perks to extend the length of those runs. It’s a classic loop, and you can see why it’s popular, but after myself building the comparison, in this respect Everspace is entirely unlike Freespace‘s mission based structure. My comparison of the two relates more to the combat style, which gives you punchy gatling guns, homing missiles and lasers to toy with – all of which exude that space opera flair I spoke of earlier.
With the full release of Everspace comes a story of sorts. Instead of being thrown into the majestic void to blast things indiscriminately with no idea as to why, you’re now thrown into the majestic void to blast things indiscriminately prefixed by a brief series of hand-drawn cut scenes instead. As I said, my time with Everspace is as yet brief, but although I understand the need for such polish in a game costing £23, I suspect the story will be largely inconsequential to your enjoyment of the title in the long run. I’ve been wrong before though.
The VR support is solid, with some thoughtful graphics options (initially auto detected according to your PC’s specs) available for tweaking – including some healthy super-sampling and AA tweaks, very welcome in such a title. I did notice some glitching artefacts on some text HUD elements, but that aside things looked great.
The visuals are glorious – painterly space vistas punctuated with bright, attractive hues – with some great ship design and a general level of production aesthetic belying its indie roots. The combat feels weighty, with standard lasers and gatling weapons feeling satisfying and punchy and the obligatory homing missiles finding targets in an entirely delightful, if OTT fashion.
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You collect scrap, loot, mine ore and collect fuel and upgrades from fallen foes. If you die, you’re returned to the hangar and given the option to upgrade your current ship (those persistent perks and mods I mentioned earlier), or buy a new one should you have enough materials and / or credits to do so. You progress through the procedurally generated universe via jump gates and .. well that’s about all I know so far.
As I say, these are just some of my very early thoughts. I’ve not played the game enough to recommend Everspace as yet, but what I’ve seen so far looks great, the VR support is solid and it looks to scratch that Freespace itch I’ve had for so long too. If any of that has whet your appetite, you can grab Everspace now from Steam.
Early in development, Throttle Powah is a promising looking multiplayer racer with a VR locomotion mechanic which seems entirely unique and more than a little insane.
It’s refreshing to watch the still young virtual reality development community flourish, not least thanks to creators that are willing to throw caution to the wind and create things we’ve never seen before. Thanks to VR motion controllers, we’re seeing innovative ways to move around synthetic worlds on an almost weekly basis. But there’s been none recently that have made me smile more than Throttle Powah.
The game’s at an extremely early stage in development, but its core mechanic is in place. In short, your in-game avatar possesses two powered unicycles for arms and its with these you speed your way around the physics defying ‘tracks’. Tilt your virtual arms to steer and launch yourself into the air by lowering your arms and perhaps add a little sideways flick to freestyle some stunts while you’re at it.
The developer’s Steam and Facebook pages state an early version of the title is available for download right now, however it seems to be currently AWOL from Itch.IO as of now. However, it is stated that the game has now received a Greenlight from the Steam community and that a new version of the game will appear in the next few days.
Clearly Throttle Powah is at a pre-alpha stage right now, with little to no structured gameplay in place, but the central gameplay mechanic seems like solid, original and genuinely fun idea and, frankly, I wanted to share with Road to VR readers. The game seems to channel the essence of Geoff Crammond’s 8/16 bit classic Stunt Car Racer with perhaps a dash of the cult SNES classic Uniracers and Tony Hawks thrown in for good measure.
The company is hoping this focus on raw grunt and native 4k UHD HDR rendering will give them the Edge against the current leaders in the console race, Sony’s PlayStation 4. And, of course, the console should be powerful enough for impressive VR experiences too. Some hints of this have already been shown with realtime gameplay of Forza 7 running at a claimed native 4k, 60Hz.
