Category: 2017 D.I.C.E Awards

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Eagle Flight, SUPERHOT VR & Pokémon GO Win Big at 2017 D.I.C.E. Awards

The 20th D.I.C.E. Awards have now taken place in Las Vegas honouring the industry’s top videogames, with several of the best known virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) titles receiving accolades.

There were two dedicated awards for VR experiences, with Immersive Reality Game of the Year being scooped by SUPERHOT VR from SUPERHOT Sp. z o.o. While the Immersive Reality Technical Achievement award went to Eagle Flight, developed by FunHouse and published by Ubisoft. In the Mobile Game of the Year category Niantic Labs’ massively popular AR videogame Pokémon GO came out top, adding to its growing list of awards having previously won Handheld/Mobile Game of the Year and Innovation Of The Year at the Golden Joystick Awards.

Pokemon GO update

“For the past 20 years, the D.I.C.E. Awards have been bringing together the most talented, innovative and inspiring minds in interactive entertainment to recognize and celebrate the industry’s most outstanding achievements,” said Mike Fischer, president, Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. “We’re thrilled to congratulate all of this year’s award winners whose incredible games have amazed and entertained fans worldwide, and are truly an inspiration to us all.”

Eagle Flight first launched for Oculus Rift in October before making its way to PlayStation VR and HTC Vive by the end of 2016. SUPERHOT VR on the other hand is currently exclusive to Oculus Rift with support for Oculus Touch.

Pokémon GO players were treated to a big update this month adding 80 more Pokémon from the Pokémon Gold and Pokémon Silver video games, including Chikorita, Cyndaquil, and Totodile. Additionally, two new Berries, expanded outfit and accessory options, new gameplay mechanics and new Evolution items were included.

VRFocus will continue its coverage of the latest VR accolades, reporting back with more award winners.

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VR Plays Big at 2017 D.I.C.E Summit

The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS) has announced a selection of new speakers for the 2017 D.I.C.E. Summit, taking place 21st-23rd February 2017, at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center. Speakers will examine various aspects that drive World Building; from building prosperous creative communities that welcome and nurture player communities to the many ways in which new technologies can offer a glimpse of the future of videogame development.

2017 D.I.C.E. Summit Logo

Justin Roiland, co-creator, writer and voice actor on Adult Swim’s Rick & Morty, and Tanya Watson, former Epic Games executive producer, are taking the D.I.C.E. stage to chat about their approach to making memorable and humorous videogames for the VR world through their company Squanchtendo. What would that look like? What types of things would happen? What would be different about the development process to support it? How is it more engaging in VR? What experiences do they have to lend to its creation? Roiland and Watson will paint that theoretical world along with the potential opportunity for VR, alongside its advantages and disadvantages.

These industry experts will join previously announced speakers that include Graeme Devine, Chief Game Wizard, Magic Leap, Jason Rubin, Head of Content at Oculus VR, and Ted Price, CEO and Founder, Insomniac Games.
The 2017 D.I.C.E. Summit will be held 21st-23rd February 2017, at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center, Las Vegas.

VRFocus will keep you updated with future VR projects from Squanchtendo, as well as Insomniac Games, Oculus VR and the still closely guarded augmented reality (AR) projects at Magic Leap.

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Eagle Flight, Job Simulator, SUPERHOT VR and More Nominated for 20th D.I.C.E. Awards

Today the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS) has announced the nominees for its two new virtual reality (VR) focused categories: Immersive Reality Game of the Year and Immersive Reality Technical Achievement. The nominees feature some of the best known VR video games on the market, across a range of genres.

The Immersive Reality Game of the Year category focuses on the title that best utilizes the attributes of the platform. Elements such as design, direction and narrative are all factored into the title selection, states AIAS.

The nominees for Immersive Reality Game of the Year are:

  • Eagle Flight – Developer: FunHouse/Publisher: Ubisoft
  • I Expect You To Die – Developer: Schell Games/Publisher: Schell Games
  • Job Simulator –  Developer: Owlchemy Labs/Publisher: Owlchemy Labs
  • The Lab – Developer: Valve/Publisher: Valve
  • SUPERHOT VR – Developer: SUPERHOT Sp. z o.o./Publisher: SUPERHOT Sp. z o.o.

TheLab_with_logo

While the Immersive Reality Technical Achievement celebrates the highest level of technical achievement within an immersive experience. Elements like artificial intelligence, physics, engine mechanics, and visual rendering are all taking into consideration.

The nominees for Immersive Reality Technical Achievement are:

  • Eagle Flight – Developer: FunHouse/Publisher: Ubisoft
  • I Expect You To Die – Developer: Schell Games/Publisher: Schell Games
  • Job Simulator –  Developer: Owlchemy Labs/Publisher: Owlchemy Labs
  • SUPERHOT VR – Developer: SUPERHOT Sp. z o.o./Publisher: SUPERHOT Sp. z o.o.
  • Tilt Brush – Developer: Google/Publisher: Google

While these two categories are purely for VR video games, immersive titles do crop up in several other categories. These include Driveclub VR for Racing Game of the Year, Pokémon Go in Mobile Game of the Year and Game of the Year, and I Expect You To Die in Outstanding Achievement in Game Design.

The awards ceremony will take place on 23rd February 2017 in Las Vegas after the 2017 D.I.C.E. Summit, live-streamed from 7:30pm PT/10:30pm ET via live.interactive.org.

VRFocus will continue its coverage of the 2017 D.I.C.E. Summit, reporting back with any further updates.