Way back in August 2015 Starbreeze Studios and Lionsgate announced a virtual reality (VR) version of Keanu Reeves film John Wick. Called John Wick Chronicles: An Eye for an Eye, the experience has made an appearance at several events over the past year, and today the developers have announced a launch date for the first-person shooter.
Supporting HTC Vive, John Wick Chronicles: An Eye for an Eye has now been scheduled for 9th February, for release via Steam. Created in collaboration with Grab Games, Big Red Button and GameCo, the experience puts players into the shoes of titular character John Wick, tasking them with assassinating targets in the Continental Hotel with an arsenal of weapons, from handguns and grenades to sniper rifles and SMGs.
The VR release is set to coincide with the film launch of John Wick: Chapter 2, which has also been scheduled for February, although the two will offer separate storylines.
VRFocus got to preview the video game a while back, stating that: “The visual quality of John Wick: The VR Experience is remarkable. A significant step above that which VR enthusiasts have become used to, John Wick: The VR Experience is easily on par with the high end output of traditional 2D monitor videogames.”
John Wick Chronicles: An Eye for an Eye is available forpre-order on Steam for $19.99 USD/ £14.99 GBP. Pre-ordering the videogame will also net users a free copy of PAYDAY 2 as well as a John Wick weapon pack in Payday. US residents also have the option to pre-order a deluxe edition that includes the original John Wick movie at $9.99.
VRFocus will continue its coverage of John Wick Chronicles: An Eye for an Eye, reporting back with any further announcements.
Lots of diversity this week for the HTC Vive on Steam and Viveport. Awaken, a VR puzzle game about getting balls of light into their goals while you shape the level and its music over time just hit Early Access with a level editor and Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, the latest cyberpunk action RPG from Square Enix and Eidos has a free tour-style VR Experience that’s totally free.
We also have a top list of the absolute best HTC Vive games — which is updated every few months with the latest and greatest options.
MultiVR.se, from
Price: Free
MultiVR is your personal VR space that you can customize with a basic drawing tool, VR wallpaper, different themed environments, in-app browsers, streaming, multiple screens, and more.
Recommendation: Free so check it out and see if you like it more than other similar options.
Awaken, from
Price: $25.49 (Currently Discounted)
Awaken combines creative puzzles and rhythm gameplay as you attempt to bring stars back to your world as the architect of light. The game also includes a level creation tool where you build your own puzzles and share with other players.
Recommendation:The price is a bit high, but level creation should lead to tons of new content over time.
If you’ve been craving a Mario Kart-like racer for your VR device, Kart Chaser: The Boost is here for you. With 37 types of cars and two game modes across 13 tracks, this game brings a lot to the table.
Recommendation: This one is a blast for the price if you like racing games.
Daydream Blue, from
Price: $4.49 (Currently Discounted)
Daydream Blue drops you into a serene environment with a lake, campsite, and your robot pal to keep you company. There are a few treats to find and a multiplayer option as well.
Recommendation: This is ultimately a chill sandbox experience. Casual fun for a good price.
Super Pixel Smash, from
Price: $4.79 (Currently Discounted)
This exciting title revives retro visuals and gameplay as you use your virtual paddle and gauntlet to break bricks and gain powerups. Keep swinging and climb the leaderboards to prove your skill.
Recommendation: A lot of fun. Grab it.
THOSE DAMN ALIENS! VR, from
Price: $6.39
In this Early Access title you take up your weapons and defend yourself against, you guessed it, Those Damn Aliens. This wave shooter includes a campaign and survival mode pitting you against aliens of many different shapes and sizes.
Recommendation: Another wave shooter. Keep an eye on it in Early Access but don’t pull the trigger just yet.
Vector 36, from Red River Studio LLC
Price: $24.99
In Vector 36, players race across Mars’ terraformed surface in customizable hover vehicles. Racing is built on realistic physics and takes a good deal of skill to manage as you fit your ride with parts, accessories, and weapons to take on different race styles.
Recommendation: Certainly one of the best VR racers that really makes you feel like a pilot once you get the hang of the controls. A must have for fans of the genre.
Child of Ault, from Hangzhou NezhaGames
Price: $5.99 (Currently Discounted)
This tower defense/shooter hybrid places you in the role of a kid using his toy weapons to take on an army of dark forces. Strategize as you choose between the various toys depending on the enemies headed your way. Then, choose the best vantage point you can and shoot them down.
Recommendation: Lots a fun and a steal at this price.
Happy Drummer VR, from Lusionsoft
Price: $9.99
Using your two VR controllers, hit your three virtual drums and other instruments as you take on this dreamy rhythm game. The game currently has 8 pieces of original music, created by composers around the world, and 4 bonus music pieces.
Recommendation: Grab it and try to climb the global leaderboards.
Knockout League, from Grab Games
Price: $17.99 (Currently Discounted)
Featured in our list of games we couldn’t wait to play in 2017, Knockout League pits you against a handful of curious characters in an arcade style boxing game. Despite it’s quirky style, it features 1:1 movement and dodging to provide a realistic boxing experience.
Recommendation: Even in Early Access this is a must have. Grab it and get to swinging.
Deus Ex: Mankind Divided – VR Experience, from Eidos Montreal
Recommendation: Essentially a tech demo, try it for free.
EnterVR, from Charming Game Studio
Price: $8.99 (Currently Discounted)
Grab your crossbow and get engaged in this stylish tower defense game. In EnterVR, you’re to repel the invasion of alien creatures as they attack from land and sky.
Recommendation: Very visually appealing so far. Keep an eye on it as it evolves throughout Early Access.
Siege and Destroy, from Makketron LLC
Price: $3.49 (Currently Discounted)
On Planet X Alpha 52, you’re the sole controller of a massive canon that you’ll use to take out the enemy placements on the other side of a mountain. You’ll have to analyze wind data as you calculate your shots.
Recommendation: Not the most visually impressive, but the gameplay is very interesting. Keep an eye on it at least.
Vive Video, from HTC Creation Labs
Price: Free
We’ve decided to start including Viveport applications in the weekly release list! The only new one we found this week was Vive Video, which is exactly what the name suggests: a VR video player for your HTC Vive. It support standard, 3D, 180, and 360 experiences.
Recommendation: If you don’t mind using Viveport, it’s free. But there are tons of other video players out there already.
Outrageous Grounds: The Maze, from Virtual Dawn
Price: $14.99 (Currently Discounted)
You’re stranded in the depths of a deep, dark, terrifying maze and have to fight your way out. You’ll use guns and explore the environment in your quest for survival.
Recommendation: Good amount of content for the price, even in Early Access. However, it’s nothing new really.
VRQB, from After Sunset Games
Price: $4.99 (Currently Discounted)
Arcade-style football meets virtual reality with VRQB. You won’t be passing to receivers in a shotgun formation with defenders breathing down your neck in this one, but will instead throw various balls through hoops. It’s simple fun with a nice visual style.
Recommendation: Solid party game and good physics. Get it if you like pretending to throw footballs.
Outlands Safehouse, from Alexis Larrodé Álvaro
Price: $2.99 (Currently Discounted)
Outlands Safehouse isn’t really an escape the room experience, or a puzzle game, or anything like that. You just walk around a futuristic-style room that’s reminiscent of Magneto’s prison cell in terms of design.
Recommendation: It’s cheap, but there isn’t much to it. Certainly pretty though.
Project Shield, from Cool Beans Studio
Price: $0.99 (Currently Discounted)
No, not that shield — this actually has nothing to do with Marvel or The Avengers. Instead, in this Project Shield you’ll have to dodge sharp, deadly, and persistent…pencils. In a classroom. It doesn’t get much scarier than that! More environments are planned to be added over time in Earl Access.
Recommendation: It’s less than a dollar, but it’s pretty basic. Hard to recommend right now.
Ever since virtual reality (VR) came back into the consumer sphere the industry has been pushing to allay fears that its anti social. An early example of this came from Steel Crate Games in the form of Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes, launched initially on Samsung Gear VR. The studio then expanded support to Oculus Rift and HTC Vive, but for Vive owners especially the title offered no motion controller support. Today that’s now been rectified.
For Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes first update of 2017, players can now use the Oculus Touch controllers or HTC Vive’s standard controllers when playing the bomb diffusing video game. This will be a welcome addition for owners of both devices, giving a far more immersive experience.
If you’ve happened to miss out on the team game Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes, it revolves around one player in VR who’s got a bomb to diffuse, there’s just one problem how to actually do it. Each bomb is made up of several panels, with wires, dials, timers, codes, symbols and more to figure out. To do this players in the real world have a manual explaining how each particular puzzle works, and it’s only through cooperation and teamwork that avoids everything going boom!
The full changlog can be seen below, and for any further updates from Steel Crate Games, keep reading VRFocus.
Version 1.3.0 Update Notes:
Motion control support added (HTC Vive and Oculus Touch).
Fixed issue where presence of Oculus Remote would prevent gamepads from working.
Fixed v-sync not working in OS X (in previous update, but forgot to include in notes).
Fixed issue where the last digit of the serial number could never be ‘9’.
Virtual reality (VR) is a powerful medium capable of educating and entertaining in ways that videogames and film simply cannot. Brush Up VR, set to launch on Steam Early Access next week, aims to do exactly that with a humorous take on teaching children how to better brush their teeth.
Developed by GamesThatWork, Brush Up VR aligns the player with a friendly blue robot named Budd. Armed with a giant toothbrush, the player must brush all the green gunk from Budd’s teeth within the time limit. Failure to do so will be bad for your little blue buddy.
“Kids only brush what they see in the mirror, and many adults aren’t much better” says Dr. Bob Jacobson, the family dentist behind Brush Up. “They spend two minutes polishing the front teeth and scrubbing the easy side. That won’t work in Brush Up VR. You must clean the inner, outer and biting surface of every tooth.”
Brush Up VR is a spinoff of the well-respected brush-along mobile videogame, Brush Up. NIH-funded studies show that Brush Up dramatically improves children’s toothbrush performance, even a year after playing the videogame.
The Atlanta-based GamesThatWork is releasing Brush Up VR on 1st February 2017, via Steam Early Access, just in time for the US National Children’s Dental Health Month. This HTC Vive-exclusive title will be available for $0.99 USD as well as on Viveport, and VRFocus will bring you a hands-on preview of the videogame very soon.
Keine Kabel – keine Grenzen. Seit der Ankündigung der TPCAST für die HTC Vive in den letzten Zügen des vergangenen Jahres sorgt das unscheinbare Gerät für Aufsehen. Mit dem Receiver habt ihr bald die Möglichkeit, euch von den Ketten der Kabel zu befreien und die VR-Erfahrung ohne nerviges Anhängsel an der Brille zu genießen. HTC hat zu diesem Zwecke die offizielle Zusammenarbeit mit Lattice Semiconductor, verantwortlich für elektronische Bauelemente, enthüllt.
Always on. Always aware. Always connected
Unter diesem Motto stellt der amerikanische Hersteller von Halbleiter-Komponenten bereits seit Jahren hochwertige FPGA- und ASSP-Produkte her, die auch in der neuen TPCAST Anwendung finden werden. Dazu kommt die hauseigene SiBeam Wireless HD Technologie, die komplett auf das Ziel der Kooperation hinarbeiten soll: Die Vive zum Marktführer in Sachen kabelloses Virtual Reality Vergnügen zu machen.
Dabei steht im Vordergrund, dass Wireless VR keinen Einfluss auf die Qualität der Spielerfahrung nehmen dürfe. Mithilfe der MOD6320-T/MOD631-R WirelessHD Module von Lattice sollen Probleme bei der Übertragung zwischen Receiver und Brille wie Latenzschwankungen oder Schwierigkeiten bei der Erfassung des Sichtfeldes der Vergangenheit angehören. Was dabei herauskommen soll ist es eine Auflösung von 2160 x 1200 bei erstaunlichen 90Hz – für eine kabellose Variante beeindruckend.
Cheng Hwee Chee, Marketing-Director bei Lattice Semiconductor begrüßt die Zusammenarbeit mit Vives TPCAST und resümiert die langfristigen Ziele der Zusammenarbeit folgendermaßen:
“Our partnership with TPCAST delivers optimized wireless video solutions, further validating our commitment to improving the virtual reality experience. Our WirelessHD technology allows VR enthusiasts to eliminate cables while maintaining high-quality and robust video connectivity, without sacrificing performance.”
Der Release der TPCAST für die HTC Vive ist für das zweite Quartal 2017 angesetzt und verspricht so einiges an Freiheit für die Nutzer. Preislich wird das Gerät wohl so um die 250€ liegen. Wer mit dem Gedanken spielt, sich von den Kabeln zu befreien und die Vive ohne Grenzen zu genießen, kann sich in unserem ersten Test zur TPCAST einen Eindruck verschaffen.
Jedes Jahr präsentieren die Hersteller von Smartphones ihre neuen Flaggschiffe und die Verbesserungen sind häufig nur minimal. Konsolen haben einen deutlich längeren Lebenszyklus und die PlayStation 3 erhielt erst nach knapp 7 Jahren einen Nachfolger. Doch wie häufig sollten die Hersteller von Virtual Reality Brillen ein neues Produkt auf den Markt bringen?
Neue Virtual Reality Brillen alle 12-36 Monate
Besonders lange Lebenszyklen sind nicht mehr zeitgemäß. Auch Sony und Microsoft weichen von den alten Pfaden ab und bringen eine verbesserte Version der aktuellen Konsolen auf den Markt. Im Bereich Virtual Reality geht die Entwicklung deutlich sprunghafter voran, als in der herkömmlichen Gaming-Industrie. Aus technischer Sicht wäre es vermutlich gerechtfertigt, wenn jedes Jahr eine neue Brille von einem Hersteller auf den Markt käme. Aus der Sicht der Spieler wäre dieser Zyklus aber vielleicht zu kurz, denn die meisten Käufer wollen nicht viel Geld für ein Produkt ausgeben, welches in wenigen Monaten bereits zum alten Eisen gehört.
Quelle: Steam
Alvin Wang Graylin, Präsident der HTC Vive Abteilung in China, sagt, dass neue Konsolen alle 5-6 Jahre auf den Markt kämen. Die Virtual Reality Brillen sollen sich aber nicht an diesem Vorbild orientieren, doch sie sollen auch nicht so häufig wie neue Smartphones auf den Markt gebracht werden. Laut Graylin sei ein Zeitraum zwischen diesen Vorbildern denkbar, wobei der Zyklus für neue VR Brillen sich näher an dem Zyklus von neuen Smartphones bewegen soll. Wenn die Aussagen von Graylin zutreffend sind, dann können wir in den nächsten 27 Monaten mit einer neuen HTC Vive rechnen und der durchschnittliche Zyklus sollte bei 12-36 Monaten liegen.
Doch auch wenn das Display, das Tracking und die Linsen während einer Generation gleich bleiben, so sollen die Systeme dennoch mit Zubehör erweitert werden. Diesen Plan wird HTC auch bereits in diesem Jahr umsetzen und im zweiten Quartal 2017 den neuen Deluxe Audio Strap und die Vive Tracker auf den Markt bringen.
Bisher halten sich Sony, Oculus und HTC bedeckt und verraten noch nicht, wann wir konkret mit neuen Virtual Reality Brillen rechnen können. Doch auch wenn die bekannten Hersteller sich etwas Zeit gönnen, so werden in diesem Jahr dennoch einige großartige Virtual Reality Brillen auf Kunden warten. Microsoft hat sich einige Partner ins Boot geholt, um gleich mehrere VR Brillen für Windows 10 in diesem Jahr zu veröffentlichen.
HTC's China Regional President of Vive, Alvin Wang Graylin, expects VR headsets to be upgraded as often as mobile phones, meaning every two to three years. This could mean that a new Vive headset will be coming in the next 12 months.
So you’re considering an HTC Vive, but don't know which games you should pick up on SteamVR? Check out these 10 titles, whether you're into rhythm-based gaming, interstellar dogfights, or something else entirely.
According to a report by The Verge, HTC’s VP of Design is leaving the company to join up with Google’s Daydream VR team.
Having joined the company in 2008, in recent year’s HTC’s VP of Design, Claude Zellweger, played a key role in the design of the Vive headset, The Verge reports. Now he’s taking that experience with both mobile and VR design over to the Google Daydream VR team, according to a tweet by Zellweger.
@vladsavov I am joining Google Daydream, so you can redirect your criticism:).
The Verge confirmed with HTC that Zellweger has left the company, following the same destiny as two colleagues who had both joined the company as part of the same acquisition:
In 2014, HTC lost its longtime design chief, Scott Croyle, who started afresh with the Nextbit cloud-centric smartphone. Less than a year later, Croyle’s successor at HTC, Jonah Becker, departed the company to head up industrial design at Fitbit. The two of them initially joined HTC when their design company, One & Co, was acquired by the Taiwanese electronics maker in 2008, and their third partner in that venture was Claude Zellweger. Eight years after joining HTC, Zellweger now completes the One & Co exodus.
If you’ve got a virtual reality (VR) headset you’ll likely have tried some of the social apps such as vTime and AltspaceVR for example. For those users looking for the latest way to communicate in VR, next month sees the launch of VRChat across a range of headsets.
Set to launch via Steam Early Access on 1st February for HTC Vive, Oculus Rift and OSVR, VRChat joins a genre that’s rapidly growing and will face some stiff competition. To that end the company has ensured the app includes a myriad of features, keeping users entertained as well as offering plenty of options to personalise the experience.
Users will be able to create their own full body avatars, with lip sync, eye tracking/blinking, and complete range of motions using its Unity SDK. This can also be utilised to build worlds or even start an event.
Or friends can just hangout for a chat in a wealth of different environments, watch YouTube videos, paint and sculpt. Or for the slightly more active there are video games like Capture the Flag, Battle Discs and Bowling as well as community built games.
Created as a passion project by founders Graham Gaylor and Jesse Joudrey, VRChat first appeared over two years ago via the Oculus VR Share Beta platform that existed at the time. Since then the team has grown to include Chief Creative Officer Ron Millar who worked at Blizzard on Warcraft and Starcraft, whilst picking up investment from HTC, GREE VR Capital and others.
The team hasn’t stated how long VRChat will be in early access, but on the Steam listing they do say that: “We’ve not set a time limit on that yet but as we move forward we’ll keep everyone updated with our progress.” Adding: “Many of our core systems are in place.”
For all the latest updates on VRChat, keep reading VRFocus.
