Category: Kojima

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Netflix is Selling the ‘3 Body Problem’ Headset, But Sadly It’s Just a Prop

Netflix is selling the headset featured in its latest TV series 3 Body Problem, which heavily features characters accessing a shared virtual reality. Unfortunately, it’s just a prop—but it’s actually pretty cool as far as nonfunctional collectibles go.

Sold direct from Netflix for $110, it’s pretty clear from the price alone that the 3 Body Problem headset is just a high quality model, although it’s actually a little bit more than just a piece of plastic you can wear on your head.

The model’s polycarbonate is finished in silver chrome, letting you actually wear it and see the world around you, similar to how you might through a pair of high-polish sunglasses.

Unlike the cool chromed-out metal models used in the show, the prop has padding on the ear and rigid ‘one size fits most’ headset strap, and even includes a facial interface like a real VR headset to make it more comfortable as you wear it around.

Check out famed video game director Hideo Kojima trying on his own:

https://twitter.com/HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN/status/1776184353804234920

Kojima’s version seems to be slightly different from the one sold both through the store and given away as a promotional freebie at this year’s SXSW, with Kojima’s kit appearing to include custom lens inserts that likely account for his individual prescription.

Netflix is probably hoping Kojima wears it around for more than a few minutes, while everyone else following VR is probably hoping the the Death Stranding director and chief of Kojima Productions starts throwing resources at developing his own VR project.

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At the time of this writing, the 3 Body Problem headset is currently out of stock, however you can insert your email and sign up for updates in case the company decides to do another production run.

As it is, the prop headset’s store page says it’s a ‘FINAL SALE’, although it’s a good bet the non-functional headset will pop back up due to just how quick stock was snapped up when the page went live just a few hours ago.

The post Netflix is Selling the ‘3 Body Problem’ Headset, But Sadly It’s Just a Prop appeared first on Road to VR.

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Rumors Suggest Hideo Kojima Could Be Working On A PSVR 2 Game

Rumors and unconfirmed reports emerged over the weekend that suggest Metal Gear Solid and Death Stranding creator Hideo Kojima could be working on a new game for PSVR 2.

The source of the rumors is the Twitter account Oops Leaks (@oopsleaks), pictured above. The tweet suggests that Kojima Productions “got PSVR2 prototypes back in November 2021” and the studio’s “upcoming smaller project could be a VR game/experience with award-winning Virtual Reality expert and storyteller Céline Tricart.”

Tricart has worked on a variety of VR projects, seemingly more focused on immersive films and media than games specifically.

Now, we would encourage you to take this entire rumor with a major pinch of salt, as the tweet is incredibly vague, unsubstantiated and only cites “unconfirmed information.”

But, with that very important disclaimer out of the way, could there be any stock to this? Well, we do know that Kojima is fond of VR and said in September 2020 that he thought the next two to three years would be “major” for the technology and people working in it. He was also “really interested” in VR back in 2019, but at the time he wasn’t free enough to work on a game for it.

Kojima also spoke to Famitsu at the end of last year, which was originally published in Japanese. However, Siliconera’s Andrew Kiya gave a translated report on what he said, suggesting Kojima confirmed that his studio was working on two games – one “big” title and a second “new, challenging” title. The description of the second could be referring to a new IP, but it’s also possible that the challenge he describes related to working with a new medium, perhaps VR.

A tweet from Kojima on January 12 showed a new folder on a computer, which (when translated using Google Translate) is called something to the effect of ‘New Project’. Again, very vague, but we live in hope.

Overall, it’s all still super unsubstantiated but given some developers likely have their hands on PSVR 2 dev kits by now and we know Kojima is working on two new games, it’s not impossible. Let’s keep our ears peeled for more info in the future.

Would you like to see a Kojima game for PSVR 2? Let us know in the comments.

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Hideo Kojima ‘Really Interested’ In VR But Currently ‘Not Free Enough’

In an interview with Rocket Beans Gaming, Hideo Kojima indicated that he is interested in virtual reality but does not have enough free time to pursue development on a VR platform at the moment.

With Kojima’s upcoming PlayStation 4 game Death Stranding just around the corner, he’s been doing the press rounds in anticipation of its release. It was only a matter of time before someone asked him about VR, especially given his recent tweet featuring his own shiny new Valve Index.

Speaking through a translator around the 22 minute mark, Kojima answered the interviewer’s question on virtual reality – specifically, whether he had any experiences or ideas for PlayStation VR, or whether he encounters too much motion sickness when using VR to entertain the idea.

As soon as the interviewer utters the words ‘virtual reality’, you can hear Kojima express a cute little sound of excitement, even before the translator has even begun translating the question itself. His response (through the translator, which we have also edited grammatically for clarity) was as follows:

“Well I want to create something [where] you don’t get 3D motion sickness. But for VR, I’m really interested in it [but] I think I’m not free enough.

I said [on] the panel yesterday – in the 120 years that the [Lumiere] brothers created, we have a monitor or we have this square like [a] iPad or iPhone. We have a frame, right? VR [is] kind of freed from the limitation of this frame aspect. So I want to do it, definitely, but I don’t have really time right now to concentrate on VR.

Using the VR is probably maybe not [like a] game, more of an art or an education or simulator. I think it will be a breakthrough using VR. But in the next 5 years, I think streaming will be the biggest thing and if you’re streaming you cannot put framerates as much as you want, but in VR the framerate is really important. Right now, streaming cannot catch up to the VR aspect, so I think VR is a good time to develop.”

We’ve heard about this concept of ‘the frame’ from Kojima before, but this is the first time he’s expressed proper interest for developing on the platform, if he had available time to do so. While it’s unclear exactly what Kojima meant by “streaming”, he’s likely referring to upcoming streaming game services like Google Stadia. Nonetheless, maybe one day we’ll get a Kojima-developed VR title – we can only hope.

What kind of game or experience would you like to see Kojima develop for VR one day? Let us know below.

The post Hideo Kojima ‘Really Interested’ In VR But Currently ‘Not Free Enough’ appeared first on UploadVR.