Sony verschickte innerhalb der letzten Wochen Einladungen und Promocodes an amerikanische PlayStation-Plus-Abonnenten. Die Auserwählten hatten die Möglichkeit für 14 Tage eine kostenlose PlayStation VR (PSVR) inklusive Skyrim VR zu erhalten. Nach Ablauf der Testperiode werden die Empfänger aufgefordert das kostenlose Bundle zurückzusenden. Der Clou dabei: Die Teilnehmer konnten durch die Promoaktion insgesamt 150 USD beim Erwerb des Skyrim-Bundles sparen.
PlayStation VR – Kostenloses Skyrim-Bundle zum Testen
In den letzten Wochen erhielten glückliche Besitzer eines PlayStation-Plus-Abos die Möglichkeit ein kostenloses PlayStation-VR-Test-Bundle zu erhalten. Sony versendete E-Mails mit den Teilnahmebedingungen an seine Abonnenten, wobei die schnellsten 1400 Personen seit dem 1. Dezember ihre Pakete erhielten. Zur Teilnahme waren die Angaben der persönlichen Daten inklusive Adresse und Kreditkartennummer nötig.
Das Test-Bundle beinhaltet eine PSVR-Brille, eine dazugehörige Kamera, zwei PlayStation Move Controller sowie Skyrim VR und eine PSVR Demo Disco 2.0 – also so gesehen ein komplettes Skyrim-VR-Bundle.
Bis zum 14. Dezember dürfen die Empfänger ihre neue PlayStation-VR-Brillebehalten und ausprobieren, nach Ablauf des Zeitraums werden sie aufgefordert ihr Testpaket zurückzusenden. Sollten sie sich dazu entscheiden das VR-Paket zu behalten, so werden ihnen Kosten in Höhe von 299,99 USD ausgestellt. Dasselbe gilt natürlich auch bei Beschädigungen jeglicher Art. Spannend daran ist die Tatsache, dass ein normales Skyrim-Bundle normalerweise 449,99 USD kostet. Dadurch können die Teilnehmer der Aktion insgesamt 150 USD sparen.
Die Promoaktion ist auf die spezielle Zielgruppe der PlayStation-Plus-Abonennten zugeschnitten, da diese bereits eine notwendige PlayStation 4 oder PS4 Pro zum Einstieg in die VR besitzen. Zudem sind sie eher gewillt für weitere Inhalte für die Konsole zu bezahlen.
Wir sind gespannt, ob es das Test-Bundle auch nach Europa schafft und welche weiteren Aktionen Sony in Zukunft plant. Wir werden euch über diesbezügliche Neuigkeiten auf dem Laufenden halten.
Missed out on all the week’s biggest VR news? Where have you been, Mars? Oh, actually I guess that’s quite possible. Well, either way, we’ve got you covered with our round up of the biggest stories in VR over the past five days.
Bethesda’s second big VR game of the holiday season, Doom VFR, is finally upon us. After we all fell so hard for Skyrim VR, does this shooter spin-off measure up to expectations? Well it really depends on how and where you play it; the PSVR version has some deeply troubled control schemes, while the Vive version only offers smooth locomotion with a gamepad. The result is a game that’s a little more awkward than we’d hoped, but still has its moments.
Where were you during the great Doom VFR debacle of 2017? Yesterday, when the game launched on Steam, we immeadiately tested to see if the game would work on the Oculus Rift. Officially, it’s only been released on Vive, but SteamVR allows headsets not natively supported by developers to still access the content for the most part. Doom VFR appeared to be the rare exception, which many suspected may have been a deliberate move as a result of Bethesda parent company Zenimax’s ongoing legal dispute with Oculus. Fortunately, Valve updated the SteamVR Beta to fix the Rift support. Saved!
Okay but, seriously, all this Doom talk reminds us that it’s been about five minutes since we last played Skyrim VR and we need our fix. This week, our own David Jagneaux wrote about how the game gets a new lease on life inside VR, which is an impressive feat considering it’s now a six year old RPG that released while Palmer Luckey was still toying away with the Oculus Rift in his garage. Whoever thought Skyrim would age well?
Outside of Bethesda-land, we also recently wrote about scares in VR experiences, and the need to keep players feeling safe inside of the virtual worlds they explore unless they’re specifically told it’s a horror experience. It seemed to strike a chord with at least some of you who don’t like spiders jumping at their face (who knew?). Others just wanted to point out that I’m a coward and need to shut up. That I did know.
PlayStation’s annual fan event, PlayStation Experience, is right around the corner and it sounds like this year’s show could be a big one for PSVR. Sony released its list of panels for the event this week, and the first session is a talk on a new PSVR title from “two legends”. Our spidey-sense is official tingling.
In a post-Black Friday world this is not something I expected to see today. Apparently, Sony is currently testing a PSVR “Trial Bundle” with select PlayStation Plus subscribers right now. If you were one of the lucky few chosen that signed up in time, you would have received a special promotional code in an email with a link to this website. After inputting your personal details and promo code, you’d reportedly be sent a PlayStation VR headset, PS Camera, two PS Move controllers, Skyrim VR, and the PSVR Demo Disc 2.o. Basically, you get a Skyrim PSVR bundle totally for free.
The catch? You can only keep it and play it for 14 days.
According to the rules, if you fail to return it in pristine condition within 10 days of your trail period ending, you will be charged $299.99 to keep the bundle. Makes sense, except for the fact that the entire bundle typically costs $449.99, a whole $150 more than the failure to return fee. This means that if you were one of the lucky 1,400 that signed up before the promotion ended today, you could essentially get the Skyrim PSVR bundle for $150 less than is currently possible anywhere else. Part of that baffling decision is lessened when you realize that by accepting the deal, you appear to be charged the $299.99 fee up front in its entirety as a hold that is removed only once returned. This way you can’t give them your card’s info and then go cancel the card once you’ve got the headset.
While the failure to return fee seems oddly low, as a whole this is a genius idea. You can currently try PSVR at various store locations right now if you don’t own one yet, but this is the first we’ve heard of a loaner program designed to entice prospective buyers. Targeting PlayStation Plus subscribers makes sense as well, since those customers are already proven to spend more money on PlayStation content and products.
It’s also worth noting that the trial period and website for signups is being administered by Prize Logic, a company Sony has worked with in the past for promotional periods. It seems to be legitimate since I got an email on my personal account from the same address that always sends daily product and content updates (PlayStation@playstationemail.com). It looks like this:
What do you think of this move? Are you bummed you missed out? Let us know down in the comments below!
Here we are again with our fourth livestream of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR. For this stream we’ll be focusing on the quest line for The Companions and learning about what it takes to become a werewolf. If you missed our previous livestream, in which we built our very own house on the lake near Falkreath, you can check that out here.
We’ll be livestreaming Skyrim VR starting in about an hour as of the time this is being published (which means we’ll start at approximately 1:00PM PT) and aim to last for about two hours. You can see the full stream embedded right here down below once it’s up:
For the first time ever I’m seriously addicted to a VR game. When the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive first came out I played a lot of EVE: Valkyrie and Longbow from The Lab, but that only lasted a few days during the launch hype. I’ve returned to games like Onward from time-to-time and do still play Echo Arena when friends are available, but that’s more of a social interaction platform that it is true addiction to a VR experience. But The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR is different.
This isn’t a VR app that’s bolstered by including other humans to interact with or a VR app that was built from the ground up for this new immersive medium. No, Skyrim VR is actually just a port of a six year-old game that’s already been ported a half dozen times and it features some of the most unintuitive and clumsy motion controls using PlayStation’s Move wands that I’ve ever seen. Yet, despite it all, I can’t stop playing it.
Feels Like Home
While a lot of people would argue that a game needs to be built from the ground up for VR in order to truly excel, Skyrim VR defies that logic. Since it’s a beloved game that I’ve already sunken hundreds of hours into over the years I went in with a certain degree of expectation. I already know a dragon is going to attack Helgen during the opening moments and I’m going to be able to pick and choose how I play the game depending on my preferred playstyle. I’ve even seen many of the game’s biggest cities and locales outside of VR previously.
But I haven’t seen them in VR. I was enamored the first time I walked up the steps to High Hrothgar and gazed out at the city of Whiterun down below, sprawled out, as a representation of my journey. I’m astounded every time I think about how far I’ve traveled without ever having to see a load screen. Fighting a dragon for the first time got my heart pounding like never before. Bashing enemies with my shield and picking them off with arrows from a distance is everything I’ve ever wanted in a game.
While I am envious of those that get to use the power of VR to visit Skyrim for the very first time, there’s something profound about revisiting an old friend with a new perspective. Lots of elements are rough around the edges in terms of VR integration (such as the UI, menu elements, interacting with some objects, talking to NPCs, etc) but the game as a whole more than makes up for it with its sheer breadth and depth. You can go anywhere and do anything — it’s a promise that no other VR game has even come close to upholding.
A brand new IP that tries to emulate the Skyrim VR experience will come out eventually and it will likely be very fun and very good, but it won’t be Skyrim in VR. It won’t be Tamriel, and the Elder Scrolls, and chuckling as I hear guards mumble about sweet rolls and arrows to the knee. It won’t have the nostalgia that this does.
Something Fresh
Since Skyrim VR is the entirety of the originally game, plus all DLC, that means a lot of people have seen and experienced the content already. But unlike virtually all other ports of the game, the VR version does have a lot of new features. For example, aiming with the bow and arrow while using the Move controllers works just like you’d expect it to with motion controls. I reach up and nock an arrow with my right hand, aim the bow itself with my left hand, then pull back and release an arrow to send it soaring. Getting a headshot this way, as opposed to simply lining up a crosshair and pressing R2, feels incredibly satisfying.
In the realm of spell casting the motion controls make you even more powerful. Now you can cast each hand independently and aim them wherever you’d like, instead of pointing both hands at your crosshair at all times. This lets you do things like block and attack with a Wars from one direction while blasting Flames at another enemies, or even hitting two enemies on either side of you.
Decorating a house feels more immersive now as well since you can pick up and move objects using your actual Move controllers. And with melee combat I can swing my arm to attack, raise my shield to block, and even bash enemies with a strong shove.
None of this was even remotely possible in the non-VR version of Skyrim.
Above all else though, the most breathtaking thing about Skyrim VR is just how immersive it all feels once you learn to live with the PS Move controllers or decide to use the DualShock 4. Maybe it’s the small desk fan in my office playing tricks on me, but I could have sworn I felt a strong gust of wind the first time I went to the top of High Hrothgar.
How far are you willing to go to make your VR gaming less sedentary? For a lot of users that just means standing up every now and then for particularly intense games (like Sparc and Onward) or making a conscious effort to really get into it and move around. We’ve even seen people lose a significant amount of weight from playing VR games. But it’s rare that someone would go as far as literally using exercise equipment while in VR to better simulate the game’s sensations.
Archie Robert Hansford Jr. is one such gamer that’s found himself absolutely enamored with The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR on PSVR. That’s not too surprising — it’s a great game. He’s a member of the PlayStation VR Owners (PSVR) Facebook Group and he posted on Friday, November 17th, 2017, an image of his PlayStation Move Controllers setting on his treadmill with a step counter app at 3,000 steps (pictured above). He also included the following caption:
“So here’s my solution to locomotion, set speed low and over encumbered myself. Took me roughly 3,000 steps to go from Solitude through Dragon Bridge (the long way) to get to Dawnstar. Last night I walked from Whiterun to Rorikstead that took me about three hours and I have mastered the bow and arrow in that time. No fast traveling I want to make it to Riften to see them autumn leaves!”
For those unaware, Skyrim VR is an absolutely massive game with hundreds of dungeons, mines, and crypts to explore, cities to settle, and characters to meet. I’d wager it’s near impossible to fully complete everything (including expansions + DLC) in less than at least 100 or more hours. The problem though, especially with the lackluster PS Move controllers, is that movement is severely limited. If you don’t want to teleport or use the DualShock 4 gamepad then your only other option is to glide across the game as if you were floating by pointing the left PS Move controller like a wand. It feels wonky and is inconvenient at best during combat.
“After 3 hours of gameplay I had the controls down pretty well, sword and board is hard with aiming the motion controller in the direction you need to go so I have a lot more luck with bow and arrow,” Hansford told me during a private Facebook chat. “Skyrim VR is going to capture the hearts of people I can already tell. The day after release the internet was buzzing with great stories from people all over the world that had nothing but great things to say about it.”
The overall PSVR Facebook Group mentioned above has been awash with new members and excited posts, as well as sub-Reddit forums, Discord channels, and social media. Sales even suggest it’s not only outselling the Switch version of Skyrim, but it’s helping Sony actually move PSVR units themselves.
“It drives me crazy playing games that have your character running around for miles day and night while I’m sitting in the couch,” admits Hansford. “I’m an avid jogger and love to game so I want to combine the two. No simulation sickness and I do it to stay fit.”
I like to play using the PS Move while standing, but I’m nowhere near that dedicated.
What’s the most you’ve done to accommodate a VR gaming preference? Let us know your thoughts on this and Skyrim VR down in the comments below!
We’re back again today with another Skyrim VR livestream. Last time we ascended the Throat of the World and made our way to High Hrothgar to officially become the Dragonborn of legend. Since then I’ve been piddling away at side quests and miscellaneous content to increase my level. Since this is our third Skyrim VR livestream you can watch our first and second at the corresponding links right there.
We’ll be livestreaming Skyrim VR starting in about an hour as of the time this is being published (which means we’ll start at approximately 1:00PM PT) and aim to last for about two hours. You can see the full stream embedded right here down below once it’s up:
Livestream embed coming soon
And don’t worry; this isn’t a one-off thing! We’re livestreaming VR games a lot more often now and you can see our archived streams all in this one handy Livestream playlist over on the official UploadVR YouTube channel (which you should totally subscribe to by the way).
Let us know which games you want us to livestream next and what you want to see us do, specifically, in Skyrim VR. Comment with feedback down below!
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR ist der Top-Titel überhaupt für Rollenspielfans in der virtuellen Realität. Vor allem die riesige frei erkennbare Spielwelt sucht ihresgleichen, kein Titel bietet so viele Stunden Spielspaß in VR. Allerdings gibt es auch Kritik, denn abseits der Qualität des eigentlichen Spiels ist technisch nicht alles optimal gelungen. Ein Problem bei der Steuerung ist die Drehung mit den Move Controllern, die nur in Sprüngen möglich ist. Nach einem Forums-Post arbeitet Bethesda daran.
Skyrim VR: Sanfte Drehungen mit Move Controller
Noch am Tag der Veröffentlichung von The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR reagiert der Community-Adminstrator Jurassica im Forum von Bethesda auf die Kritik, dass Spieler von Skyrim VR mit den Move Controllern sich nur sprunghaft drehen können. Das stört nicht nur die Immersion, sondern führt auch in Kämpfen manchmal zu Frust, da man sich nicht präzise genug ausrichten kann, wenn der Feind sich bewegt. Das Problem könnte bald Vergangenheit sein, denn laut Foren-Post von Jurassica wollen die Entwickler die sanfte Drehung ohne Sprünge mit den Move Controllern dem Rollenspiel beibringen. Generell finden wir die Art der Steuerung mit den Move Controllern noch nicht optimal und sehen da noch etwas Luft nach oben, die Drehung wäre ein Anfang.
Auch an anderen Feinheiten sind die Entwickler dran, beispielsweise an dem Problem, dass man mit der Waffe unbeabsichtigt Leute anstößt. Ein anderer Bug betrifft Linkshänder: Sobald man ein Schild benutzen will, muss man das Schwert in der rechten Hand halten. Auf die Frage, ob die Grafik des Spiels für die PlayStation 4 Pro noch verbessert wird, gibt es ein klares Nein, da die Pro-Version bereits Supersampling für eine höhere Auflösung und ein schärferes Bild nutzt.
GT Sports, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR und eine massive Preissenkung der Bundles von 470 Pfund Sterling auf 250 Pfund: Zum Black Friday eroberte die PSVR die Pole-Position bei Amazon Großbritannien. Und das nicht nur in der Kategorie Video- und PC-Spiele, sondern von allen Produkten, die bei dem Online-Händler gelistet sind.
PSVR: Skyrim VR und Preissenkung sorgen für Rekordverkäufe
Software verkauft Hardware, das ist eine alte Binsenweisheit. Der Black Friday sorgt für leuchtende Augen bei Sony-Fans, denn das PlayStation Headset konnte laut VR Focus den ersten Platz der Amazon-Verkaufscharts erobern. Satte 467 Plätze konnte die PSVR seit Beginn der Aktion aufrücken. Grund des Erfolges dürfte nicht nur bei der Veröffentlichung von Skyrim VR (hier in unserem Video-Test) am Freitag liegen, sondern vor allem wegen der massiven Preissenkung: Die Bundles mit Skyrim VR und GT Sports zusammen mit der PSVR, Kamera und dem Titel PlayStation VR Worlds hatte Amazon in Großbritannien von 470 Pfund auf 250 Pfund (umgerechnet rund 280 Euro) gesenkt. Derzeit sind beide Sets ausverkauft.
Ebenfalls bestens verkauften sich laut VR FocusStar Trek: Bridge Crew, GT Sports und Until Dawn: Rush of Blood sowie die PlayStation Move Controller und die PlayStation-Kamera. Die Webseite sieht demnach PlayStation VR im Augenblick als das leuchtende Vorbild für Virtual Reality in der Industrie und benennt die größten Stärken der Sony-Lösung: Leichter Zugang, guter Preis und eine große Auswahl von VR-Titeln. In Deutschland kostet derzeit das Bundle mit Skyrim VR, PlayStation VR Worlds, Move Controllern und Kamera derzeit bei Amazon 350 Euro.
Yesterday morning when the review embargo lifted for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR at 7AM PT we live streamed two hours of gameplay. If you missed it, you can see the archived footage here. During the stream we started a brand new character and fielded hundreds of questions and comments from viewers about the game.
Last time we got out of Helgen, went to Riverwood, and did some exploring in a mine and fort. We’re playing a Nord that utilizes a mixture of one-handed weapons with a shield and some archery from a distance. We’re building him to be a well-rounded fighter type that will probably wear medium armor to maximize stamina. Today, we’re going to pick up right where we left off and the stream will be over on UploadVR’s YouTube channel starting at around 1:00PM PT — in less than an hour! We’ll embed it directly right here once it’s live:
Steam coming soon
If you want to read more about Skyrim VR you can read our full, detailed review, this Q&A about how Bethesda re-imagined the game for VR, or this op-ed about why it’s going to be even better once it gets ported to PC VR headsets. Now that it’s out you may have had a chance to play it for yourself too — let us know what you think down in the comments below!
