Something for the New Year

Christmas is past, and many people no doubt peeked under the Christmas tree to find a shiny new PlayStation VR waiting for them, some of which may well have been obtained during Black Friday, judging by the listed sales figures.

For those looking to spend their gift money on some titles for their new PlayStation VR, or veteran owners looking for a good deal, all could do worse than to cast an eye over these end-of-year deals on the PlayStation Store.

Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes

A riotous VR party game. One person is ensconced in VR, looking at a bomb about to go off. Another person, out of VR, has the instructions. Players have to learn to quickly and effectively communicate, or… well… kaboom.

Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes is available for £5.79, a 51% discount.

Tethered

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Players of Tethered are placed in the role of a spirit guardian who is trying to release other guadians who have been trapped by evil energy. To do this, players must solve puzzles and gather resources from across the beautiful hand-painted islands with the help of loyal servants, the ‘peeps’ who can be sent to do certain tasks to help you in your goal.

Tethered is available for £7.39, a 61% discount.

Thumper

Fast-paced rhythm game Thumper was a launch title for the PlayStation VR. Gameplay involves steering a small ship through a course filled with psychedelic colour, moving always with the beat of the music, which gradually becomes increasingly complex.

Thumper is available for £6.49, a 59% discount.

RIGS: Mechanised Combat League

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One of the PlayStation VR’s earliest contenders for an eSports title, RIGS: Mechanised Combat League is a first-person arena shooter where players take control of powerful robotic battlers to take part in a futuristic sport that mixes elements of combat, motorsport, basketball and football.

RIGS: Mechanised Combat League is available for £11.99, a 52% discount.

Windlands

Windlands screenshot

This puzzle-platform title from Psytec Games is expecting a sequel at some point in 2018, so now is a good chance to experience the original. Players need to plot a route through a stylised, hard-angled landscape by running, jumping or swinging using a grappling hook. The result is a system that is easy to learn, but tricky to master.

Windlands is available for £7.39, a 61% discount.

Battlezone

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Scarcely needing an introduction is Rebellion’s VR remake of the classic 1980s Atari title where you take control of a Tron-inspired tank and go around shooting other tanks and enemy towers to bits. The developers regularly introduce updates, so there’s often a new challenge to take on.

Battlezone is available for £9.99, a 71% discount.

Weeping Doll

Weeping Doll screenshot

Dark winter nights are perfect for some horror in VR. Weeping Doll is a dark, story-based experience that challenges players to explore various creepy environments and solve tricky puzzles as a sinister doll, fueled by all the negative thoughts of an abused child seeks to take revenge on the parents responsible.

Weeping Doll is available for £3.29, a 58% discount.

Headmaster

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Want to improve your football skills? (Or soccer skills, for our American readers), then Headmaster is here to help. With a framing device of an unexpectedly prison-like ‘Football Improvement Centre’, the player is subjected to several lessons aimed at improving various football skills, including an option to engage in 6-player local multiplayer in a ‘pass-and-play’ high score challenge.

Headmaster is available for £7.39, a 53% discount.

The Assembly

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British development studio nDreams had its first big-budget VR title with the release of puzzle-based adventure The Assembly, which combines a relatively simple gameplay with a series of moral dilemmas as players explore a mysterious underground bunker.

The Assembly is available for £9.79, a 51% discount.

PlayStation VR Worlds

For those who have purchased, or been given, a new PlayStation VR and are unsure what genre of type of videogame to try first, there is the option of getting a compilation title such as PlayStation VR Worlds, which offers a variety of VR experiences to try, including the highly praised ‘The London Heist‘.

PlayStation VR Worlds is available for £11.99, a 52% discount.

PlayStation VR (PSVR): Verschiedene Händler senken Preis auf 299 Euro

Noch eine Woche dauert es, bis man Gaben unter der Tanne auspacken darf. Wer sich lieber beispielsweise selbst beschenken will und noch keine PlayStation VR (PSVR) hat, kann sich jetzt etwas günstiger den VR-Wunsch erfüllen. Verschiedene Online-Händler wie Alternate und Amazon haben den Preis der PlayStation VR auf knapp 300 Euro gesenkt. Im Paket befindet sich noch das Spiel VR Worlds sowie die Kamera. Die Move Motion Controller muss man separat erwerben.

Preissenkung für PlayStation VR kurz vor Weihnacten

Offiziell kostete die PlayStation VR zum Launch vor etwas über einem Jahr 400 Euro – kurz vor Weihnachten 2017 haben diverse Online-Händler die Preise aktuell auf 300 Euro gesenkt. Man erhält dafür das VR-Headset, die Kamera sowie einen Gutschein-Code für die Spielesammlung PlayStation VR Worlds. Highlight der Sammlung ist für viele Spieler The London Heist – auf der Grundlage entwickelt Sony London gerade den First Person Shooter Blood & Truth, der als möglicher Systemseller gehandelt wird und nächstes Jahr erscheinen soll. PlayStation VR Worlds kostet im Sony Store einzeln knapp 30 Euro.

Im Paket nicht enthalten sind die Move Motion Controller, die für manche VR-Spiele Voraussetzung sind und die Kontrolle im Spiel um einiges immersiver ausfallen lässt als mit dem normalen DualShock Gamepad. Das Doppelpack für die „Leuchtstäbe“ kostet bei den üblichen Verdächtigen wie Saturn und MediaMarkt rund 75 Euro. Ob die Preissenkung für das PlayStation-VR-Paket dauerhaft sein wird, ist derzeit nicht bekannt – nicht alle Händler haben aktuell den Preis auf 300 Euro gesenkt.

Der Beitrag PlayStation VR (PSVR): Verschiedene Händler senken Preis auf 299 Euro zuerst gesehen auf VR∙Nerds. VR·Nerds am Werk!

10 Minutes of ‘Blood and Truth’ Gameplay Footage Revealed at PSX 2017

SIE London Studio’s upcoming PSVR title Blood and Truth was playable on the showfloor at PSX 2017. The footage captured during an interview with PlayStation Blog’s Sid Shuman at the show is the clearest look at the gameplay sequence we enjoyed during our hands-on in October.

Expanding on the tone and concepts introduced in the acclaimed ‘London Heist’ experience from their first PSVR title PlayStation VR Worlds (2016), London Studio is aiming to deliver a triple-A, first person action game in Blood and Truth. The team haven’t committed to a release window, but the game is likely to appear in 2018.

In the footage, you see their new node-based locomotion mechanic in full flow, along with situational moments of manual movement using motion controls, such as climbing a ladder, or shuffling along an air duct. With no teleportation system in place, players are able to stay engaged in the firefight as they slide to the next node.

“We’re doing a lot of movement. A lot of VR games are doing teleportation and that is not right for us,” said developer Mike Hampden. “We wanted a grounded experience; you move like a soldier, tactically from point to point. You can strafe between points as well – it gives you a lot of control.”

The post 10 Minutes of ‘Blood and Truth’ Gameplay Footage Revealed at PSX 2017 appeared first on Road to VR.

UK PlayStation VR Sales Do Well Over Black Friday

Black Friday is a period that publishers, developers and hardware manufacturers pay very close attention to. The week-long period around Black Friday has been a positive one for the PlayStation VR this year.

Though Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) has been cagey about its official sales figures for the PlayStation VR, but many outlets and retailers have been reporting that, overall, PlayStation VR has been doing very well in terms of sales, even beating out the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift and hitting the top spot on Amazon’s Black Friday Top Seller lists.

PlayStation VR GT Sport Bundle

SIE decided to capitalise on this success for the Black Friday period by offering a number of Black Friday bundles, dropping the price to £249.99 (GBP). There are three bundle variants, all of which contain the headset and PlayStation Camera, along with either a digital code for PlayStation VR Worlds, or The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR, or Gran Turismo Sport. These bundle offers offered a tempting prospect for those shopping for Christmas presents.

Many retailers, including Smyths Toy Store, sold out of the Black Friday deals, leaving customers searching for retailers who still had the bundles in stock. The inclusion of PlayStation VR Worlds in one of the bundles meant that that title’s position in the UK Gaming Charts took a huge nine-place jump up to No 11 in the charts.

GFK Chart-Track also confirms that sales of the PlayStation VR overall were impressive, almost matching the figures achieved during the PlayStation VR launch week in 2016. With a number of hotly anticipated PlayStation VR titles still awaiting release in 2018, such as Golem and Xing: The Land Beyond, with others expected to be announced at the upcoming PlayStation Experience event, leading many experts and analysts to forecast that the PlayStation VR sales success will continue into next year, at least.

VRFocus will bring you further news on the PlayStation VR as it becomes available.

New PlayStation VR Model Arrives in North America and Europe

The PlayStation VR is preparing for a busy holiday season, with numerous big name titles heading to the format in the coming months. Along with those new videogames and experiences however, will be the newly revised edition of the PlayStation VR head-mounted display (HMD) itself.

PlayStation VR 2 headsetLaunched in Japan last month – and leading to something of a boost in sales for the PlayStation VR – the new model, known as CUH-ZVR2, adds a number of new features to the HMD: specifically a high-dynamic range (HDR) passthrough for those playing with a PlayStation 4 Pro console on a compatible 4K TV, and a new embedded headphone option.

The PlayStation VR CUH-ZVR2 is not a significant overhaul of the original model. Instead, Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) is positioning the new edition as a revision. The HMD will replace all existing editions – which have now been discontinued – and will retail for the same price (with the exception of new bundle deals, of course). Consumers will be able to recognise the new edition of the PlayStation VR by way of having ‘CUH-ZVR2’ noted on the packaging and, in the case here, the headphone cabling being embedded within the HMD on the image leading the box front.

As can be seen in the image below, the PlayStation VR CUH-ZVR2 model will arrive by way of the new Gran Turismo Sport bundle previously reported by VRFocus. After a slight delay, SIE has begun international rollout of this package which in North America will include the PlayStation VR, a PlayStation Camera, a physical copy of Gran Turismo Sport, and an updated version of the PlayStation VR Demo Disc featuring 13 PlayStation VR demo experiences. This edition bundle will be priced at for $399.99 USD in the US and for $499.99 in Canada.

PlayStation VR GT Sport Bundle The European edition of the bundle will include the PlayStation VR, a PlayStation Camera, Gran Turismo Sport and PlayStation VR Worlds. This bundle is priced at £349.99 GBP in the UK.

Whether or not the PlayStation VR will benefit from the same boost in sales seen in Japan with the launch of the revised HMD remains to be seen. However, the recent parade of new titles for the PlayStation VR seen during SIE’s Paris Games Week press conference is more than likely to have convinced some new adopters to make that purchase.

The new edition of the PlayStation VR, as part of this new bundle, is now arriving at retail throughout North America and Europe. VRFocus will keep you updated with all the latest details on the PlayStation VR HMD.

Get A Ten Title Bundle of PlayStation VR Exclusives On The PlayStation Store For Under $120

It’s a good time of the year to be picking up videogames at a discount, and thankfully that includes those that are for virtual reality (VR) headsets. If you are a PlayStation 4 owner however you’d be forgiven for thinking you’re not getting as many opportunities to save cash as owners of the PC based head mountned displays (HMDs), specifically the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive.

Luckily there is indeed a very good value deal happening on the PlayStation Store at present for PlayStation VR owners. The bundle, first spied by TheNerdMag, is called the Worldwide Studios Selected PS VR Titles Mega Pack and features ten PlayStation VR titles on sale, all of which are PlayStation VR exlusives.

There is however one slight snag – it appears that it is only in Malaysia where the bundle is being sold. Of the course the setting up of an account of a different region is a familiar task for many PlayStation 4 owners and for those without the knowledge there are plenty of guides out there explaining how to make it happen.  Additionally the pack contains language support for English, Chinese and Korean.

The price works out to be 480 Malaysian Ringgits (MYR), the equivilent of approximately £88 (GBP), €100 (EUR), or $116 (USD). The ten PlayStation VR titles are below, with extracts from VRFocus‘ previous previews, reviews and stories regarding each where applicable:

BOUND: Shattered Kingdom

“Bound casts the player as an ever-moving character in an aesthetically unique world, similar in intent to the GameCube’s P.N.03 but very different in resulting gameplay. The dancer that represents the player on-screen will use a variety of leaps and twirls to overcome the pitfalls of a chaotic level design, crossing bridges, bounding across gaps and solving switch puzzles all while visually impacting the world. The latter is an impressive visual treat in VR, but it’s actually the puzzling gameplay that makes Bound worthy of the transition to the new medium.”

DRIVECLUB VR

DriveclubVR image 2“While still insisting that the PlayStation VR version of Driveclub is still a technical demonstration and nothing more, the experience feels as though a lot of work has gone into getting it just right. The handling is tight and responsive, the car feels weighty and collisions are given just enough oomph that they’ll interrupt your driving line but fall short of sending you spinning. It’s a very different way of playing Driveclub, and it arguably is what Evolution Studios’ racing experience needed to separate it from the pack all along.”

Farpoint

Farpoint screenshotFarpoint has become a key example for the success of modern VR, having surpassed all expectations for commercial value upon release.”

Here They Lie

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Here They Lie is a surreal, psychological horror that put players in a nightmarish world that doesn’t go for jump scares, rather a slower more methodical build up of fear and dread. The Tangentlemen achieve this not only through the visual art style, but also with spatial audio and lighting to increase the suspense.”

PlayStation VR Worlds

Every early adopter of the head-mounted display (HMD) should consider a purchase of PlayStation VR Worlds. A selection of mini-games both family friendly and more maturely themedPlayStation VR Worlds offers a taste of the potential of VR without daunting newcomers with the possibility of a ten hour experience; or even just an hour, for that matter. Once that initial boundary has fallen what else can PlayStation VR offer to get the party swinging?”

RIGS Mechanized Combat League

“Depicting a new form of sports entertainment that takes place 50 years in the future, RIGS: Mechanised Combat League aims to be a fast-paced FPS, the kind that might have required a few nearby sick bags on lesser VR hardware. ”

Star Strike Ultra VR

StarBlood Arena

StarBlood Arena new screenshotStarblood Arena, the unique arena shooter that sees players piloting individualised space ships all with their own unique weapons and attributes, such as soldier Elsa in her versatile ship Mandible, or fast but fragile assassin Blade and his ship Raptor. ”

Tumble VR

tumble_content“A first-person test of mental and physical dexterity as players complete a series of tasks to solve increasingly challenging puzzles. These challenges can range from building towers to creating bridges, working out mind melting puzzles, and blowing up enormous towers of blocks. Puzzle titles tend to be single-player affairs but Supermassive Games has incorporated PlayStation VR’s Social Screen feature, allowing a second player to use the connected TV, creating a much more social experience.”

Until Dawn: Rush of Blood

Until Dawn is a story driven horror videogame, with the player’s in-game decisions having a direct influence on the outcome for each of the characters involved. A convoluted journey through an unwelcoming world. Until Dawn: Rush of Blood is a far more straight forward affair. It’s a shooting gallery, pure and simple, but when played in VR it’s far more appealing than could it could ever sound on paper.”

VRFocus will bring you more news on VR bundles and offers throughout the week to come, and as we end Friday be sure to look out for this week’s edition of ‘Something For The Weekend’ hitting this Sunday.

 

New PlayStation VR US/Canada Bundle Details Announced

Virtual reality (VR) has never been more affordable or accessible. Mobile VR continues to develop as smartphone manufacturers and stakeholders such as Google and Samsung push the experience quality up. Thanks to work from Oculus collaborating with PC hardware manufacturers there’s been a continued push down of the minimum spec required to run VR and the cost of a minimum spec VR-Ready PC steadily lower. You also have the PlayStation 4 – a VR capable console many already own working to shape its own piece of VR real-estate.

Beyond this, this Summer specifically has seen a number of high profile cuts. First from Oculus, reducing the cost of an Oculus Rift to $399 and then a responding cut from HTC on the Vive. Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) had though yet to get involved in the Summer push – at least when it comes to hardware.

Until now.

Newly announced on the PlayStation Blog, courtesy SIE’s Vice President Mary Yee, SIE have revealed a new PlayStation VR deal for the US and Canada aimed at providing “greater value”. The first, and what will be the new main bundle going forward, consisting of the PlayStation VR head-mounted display (HMD), and the PlayStation Camera will cost $399 (USD) or $499 (CAD).

The second bundle for PlayStation VR Worlds meanwhile will be getting a price cut. The box, which contains the contents of the “core” box as well as the addition of a pair of PlayStation Move controller and the videogame PlayStation VR Worlds will now be $449 (USD) or $579 (CAD). The changes will come into effect as of September 1st, 2017.

Yee also acknowledged the problems some have had in acquiring the PlayStation VR Aim Controller, and confirmed that the Farpoint bundle including the gun peripheral was now back in stock. It is unclear at this time if any of these changes will be reflected in Europe or elsewhere. Should they be, VRFocus will bring you the details.

 

PlayStation VR Worlds Original Score Now Available to Download

Videogame soundtracks have been steadily increasing in popularity for many years, yet it seems that virtual reality (VR) – despite the many reasons why the audio score is considerably more important in these experiences – seems to have been fairly slow to catch on. Following the recent publication of the original score for Lone Echo, the PlayStation VR exclusive PlayStation VR Worlds soundtrack is now also available.

PlayStation VR worlds Case

Written by Joe Thwaites and Tim Fowler, the PlayStation VR Worlds audio score features 23 original tracks featured in the VR videogame. PlayStation VR Worlds itself is a compilation of different experiences – from a dive deep into the ocean and coming face-to-face with a shark, to being embroiled in a heist with London gangsters – and as such the soundtrack promises a great deal of variety.

At present, the PlayStation VR Worlds soundtrack is only available via download at Amazon and streaming via Spotify. However, releases across various digital distribution and streaming platforms are expected to follow. VRFocus will keep you updated with all the latest details on PlayStation VR Worlds and the promotion of other VR titles beyond their initial release.

PlayStation VR Bundle Deals Arrive Ahead of E3 Reveals

Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) is expected to make a wealth of announcements regarding the PlayStation VR at a press conference later today, prior to a playable outing at this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), Los Angeles. The retail industry has obviously taken note of this, offer a number of discounted PlayStation VR bundles to tempt you into a new purchase at the crest of the new announcement hype.

 

Farpoint screenshotThe pre-E3 press conference from SIE is set to take place at 11pm BST/3pm PST today, and a huge number of new PlayStation VR titles are expected to be revealed. Previously announced titles such as Golem, Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown and GT Sport are also expected to make a return to the limelight, along with rumours of brand new virtual reality (VR) experiences from Sony Santa Monica and Bethesda Softworks.

For those who’ve been waiting for this second wave of videogame titles to be revealed, there’s never been a better time to purchase that PlayStation VR head-mounted display (HMD). The official suggested retail price (SRP) of £349.99 GBP is greatly discounted in these bundles, including value add-ins of videogames and even the PlayStation Camera.

The best value bundle, offered via Amazon.co.uk, includes the PlayStation VR itself, the hugely popular Farpoint, DriveClub VR and a PlayStation Camera for just £349.99. Another offers Farpoint with the HMD for the same price, or Resident Evil 7 biohazard for the slightly higher price of £357.60. Additional bundles see the PlayStation VR packaged with a carrying case for £347.28 or PlayStation VR Worlds for £348.10.

 

Resident Evil 7 - FamilyIt should be noted that none of these packages are official bundles distributed by SIE, instead compiled by retailers themselves. If SIE intend on readdressing the value package of the PlayStation VR it’s possible that we could see such an announcement at the press conference later today. VRFocus will of course keep you updated with all the latest details direct from the show.

Play GT Sport in VR at Insomnia60

Last week saw the announcement that Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) would be bringing the PlayStation VR to Insomnia60, 14th – 16th April 2017, at Birmingham NEC. Today, booking will open for public appointments to get hands-on with a variety of PlayStation VR titles including the highly anticipated GT Sport.

GT Sport screenshot

Insomnia60 will be the official public debut for GT Sport’s virtual reality (VR) gameplay in Europe. While the videogame was originally expected to launch last year, a delay has seen anticipation rise even higher. No official release date has been set for the PlayStation 4 debut of the Gran Turismo franchise, though the official PlayStation website states ‘2017’.

Alongside GT Sport, SIE will showcase PlayStation VR Worlds as well as the previously confirmed Resident Evil 7 biohazard and Farpoint. PlayStation VR demonstrations will use the familiar booking system which SIE has rolled-out at many international events, with appointments available to schedule from 4pm BST today.

Insomnia60 will take place at the Birmingham NEC, 14th – 16th April 2017. A full day at Insomnia60 will cost £25 GBP per person, with the full VIP experience priced at £90 + fees. VRFocus will keep you updated with any further VR experiences added to the playable line-up at Insomnia60.