Magic has long enthralled mankind for generations, offering a fascinating twist on reality that’s both entertaining and perplexing in equal measure. There have been many a famous magician, from Houdini all the way up to current street magicians like Dynamo. When it comes to stage magic, duo Penn & Teller are up there with the best, mixing magic with comedy and a little danger (as well as debunking). Collaborating with Gearbox Software, the pair have created a rather intriguing virtual reality (VR) experience called Penn and Teller VR: Frankly Unfair, Unkind, Unnecessary & Underhanded which could well be a highlight for any local VR gathering.
Gearbox Software shared a brief demo of Penn & Teller VR during the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) this month, allowing VRFocus to gain a sneak peek behind the curtain. It’s one of those sort of videogames where discussing it can reveal too much, as once the twist is spoilt there’s no going back. You have been warned.
The title is made up of 14 tricks (or ‘Bits’ as they’re referred to). Each Bit is essentially one magic trick which can either be performed with a friend or solo. For the demo, VRFocus got to see several of these, as well as some other parts of the experience. These were Bits involving the game paper, scissors, stone; a sawing in half trick and a water tank escape.
In Penn & Teller VR you are the magician which means you tend not to put the headset on as often, controlling the sequence via a monitor. This is because of the videogame’s other fiendish feature pranking. So the Paper, Scissors, Stone game is a prime example. Here both VR player and non-VR player enter into the classic game, trying to beat each other as usual. The twist is that you can then automate the hand movements without the VR player knowing. So while they’re happily trying to win, blissfully unaware they’re no longer playing you that frees you up to prank your mate. In VRFocus’ case, the Gearbox Software team member playing then snuck up and tapped me on the shoulder for a surprise scare.
Highly amusing, it’s easy to see how with a few friends Penn & Teller VR could be the party title to beat Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes. The water tank escape, on the other hand, called ‘YOU be Houdini’ was a solo experience. Chained into a tank – for added effect both hands were put through the Oculus Touch strap – there were loads of padlocks each with different key shapes (circles, triangles, squares etc.) which needed to be unlocked by random keys being dropped in. The aim is not to drown – probably best not played if you have a fear of water or tight spaces – and needless to say, VRFocus failed but managed to survive thanks to the duo.
They’ve certainly tried to make Penn and Teller VR: Frankly Unfair, Unkind, Unnecessary & Underhanded more than just the Bits by themselves. You can go into the famous ‘Monkey Room’ which guests for Penn & Teller’s live shows in Las Vegas wait in before going on stage, and the pair have recorded videos going into greater details regarding their tricks.
What’s impressive about Penn and Teller VR: Frankly Unfair, Unkind, Unnecessary & Underhanded is that it really plays to VR’s strengths, offering an experience that’s distinctive and a refreshing change for some of the other releases on the horizon. VRFocus does have one quibble at this point, and that’s longevity and repetition. Will 14 Bits be enough? Because once you and your friends are in on the gag it no longer becomes entertaining or funny, killing any pranks in the process. Hence why most magicians keep their tricks a secret.
Sports Scramble features three sports, tennis, baseball and bowling with a selection of single-player training, challenge and free play modes. The title does include a multiplayer aspect but that was locked for this preview version, plus with the Oculus Quest not due for release until 21st May finding an actual match might have been a little tricky.
The experience begins with a short tutorial wherein the player grabs a racket and is taught to hit the ball. Simple enough; but in doing so you are also taught about the limits of the play space. Project Tennis Scramble was in fact the only experience at Oculus Connect 5 which offered two different sized play spaces; one for each player. Once the tutorial has ended the player is transported into a brightly coloured arena that sits somewhere between a Super Mario videogame and #Selfie Tennis, and then the man himself pays us a visit.
The match set-up at Oculus Connect 5 was a simple first-to-five points arrangement, but that certainly helps with the flow-through of players on a busy show floor. How Oculus and Armature plan on expanding the formula into a fuller experience – or even if they will attempt to create a product from this tech demo – remains to be seen. It wouldn’t be unlike Oculus to offer Project Tennis Scramble as a free download with Oculus Quest in a similar fashion to Farlands with the Oculus Rift.
During the Oculus Connect 5 keynote, wherein the 
The sequel to 2017’s ‘fear and phobia’ experience retreads familiar ground. The sequence available at Oculus Connect 5 begins with the player standing in a clearing by a wood, tasked with finding your missing younger sister. As you walk along a pathway and approach a house, a few simple clues tell you you’re heading in the right direction, while some boundaries trigger events that inform you it’s not going to be a simple case of hide-and-seek.
Essentially, Face Your Fears 2 is hamstrung by the last two years of VR design. It’s built for a VR device that’s more limited than Oculus Quest, and uses the benefits that the new hardware adds in a purely superficial way: you can move freely, but the design if the videogame completely ignores that possibility. The additional comfort Oculus Quests offers is still welcome of course, but whether that alone is worth a $399 (USD) upgrade is definitely a matter for debate.
Santa Cruz, or 
Technical specifications of the Oculus Quest, such as processing power, GPU clock rate, battery life and storage capacity, have not yet been revealed. It’s not likely that such information will come to light any time soon, but the fact that it uses USB-C for charge and houses a much more efficient focal adjustment is good news right from the start.