Category: Smash Party VR

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Viacom Next VR Studio has now Closed

It’s always a sad day when a virtual reality (VR) closes its doors, yet no company is ever totally immune. VRFocus has seen it happen with Sony Interactive Entertainment’s (SIE) Guerrilla Cambridge in January 2017 and Oculus Story Studio a few months later. This week another VR company has ceased to be, Viacom Next, the VR division which spear headed several unique and novel experiences.

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Viacom Next was well known through various projects over the last few years, having worked with two-time GRAMMY Award winning artist William Patrick Corgan (aka Billy Corgan) on an VR experience for his new single Aeronaut, Withdrawal by Atlantic Records recording artist Max Frost, The Melody of Dust by Hot Sugar, and Smash Party VR for HTC Vive in conjunction with Titmouse and many more.

The closure was first announced by the studios creative director David Liu on Twitter, with Liu saying: “Sad to say that Viacom NEXT is no more. Our super talented devs, artists and designers are looking for a new home if you’re hiring. Please DM me.”

Then a spokesperson issued the following statement reports Variety: “We remain deeply committed to developing immersive experiences for consumers through groundbreaking augmented and virtual reality. As part of our efforts to coordinate Viacom’s approach to next-generation platforms and solutions across our brands, we are absorbing Viacom NEXT into our Global Emerging Opportunities Group.  A number of Viacom NEXT’s creators and engineers will join this group, however a small number of employee positions have been affected. We appreciate these colleagues’ contributions and are making every effort to assist them through benefits and support, including severance and outplacement assistance.”

Smash Party VR screenshot 2

It’s all part of a cost cutting move by Viacom, which has seen almost 100 employees laid off across multiple divisions.

Check out some of the experiences mentioned to see the legacy Viacom Next leaves behind, and if Viacom does plan on supporting VR in the future, VRFocus will let you know.

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‘Smash Party VR’ Is Just Asking You To Break Your Vive

‘Smash Party VR’ Is Just Asking You To Break Your Vive

Any Vive owner knows that the controllers can take a beating. Swing them into a thin wall, TV, or human and the wand itself usually walks away unscathed while you’ll be left with hundreds of dollars in repairs/medical bills for whatever it hits.

With that in mind, I would still exercise extreme caution when playing Smash Party VR.

This free release, launching today, is a collaboration between animation studio Titmouse and Viacom NEXT, the emerging tech division of the media company. It’s based off of the real annual smash parties that Titmouse hosts in Hollywood, and is a short and simple affair. You find yourself in a cage, you’re given a baseball bat that’s maliciously wrapped in barbed wire (and curiously stained in blood), and given a minute to smash as many items as you can.

Smash Party VR requires slightly more than that minimum room-scale tracking space to be played, asking for 2.1m x 2.1m of space. It quickly becomes clear that this area is needed, as you’ll be wildly swinging round a single controller, trying to break cups, plates, TVs and toilets as fast as possible. The cage around you represents the limits of your tracking, but I’d still recommend keeping the chaperone system visible at all times for this one, especially if any of your boundaries are near something that could be smashed in the real world inside of the virtual one.

Put your wrist strap on, lock the cat in another room, keep the Vive wires away from your feet, and maybe unscrew the light bulbs. If you’re not careful, you’ll end up breaking just as much in the real world as you do in the virtual one.

It’s safe to say this isn’t the most responsible VR game, not that that’s a problem if you have the space. The same rings true for the bizarre presentation, which makes the Vive seem more like a pair of drug-goggles than it does a VR headset. The audience consists of twisted beasts that blind you with their hazy, vibrant colors, while the moon hangs in the sky, bearing down on you with an angry stare and a massive joint. It’s very, very strange to say the least, like you’ve stepped into a 3D-immersive scene from Hotline Miami, only you’re mercifully smashing teacups and not skulls.

And that’s pretty much all there is to this one. Hold the bat above your head for a few seconds and it will charge up, eventually transforming into a giant ax that you can bring crashing down for more destruction. In between rounds you’ll get bonus games where members of the audience will toss things for you to smash, and there’s an extra round at the end of every match where items will be tossed upwards Fruit Ninja-style for you to quickly swipe at. You’ll have seen it all within a few minutes of play.

Smash Party VR is shallow, but fun, free, and arriving out of the blue, so there’s little to complain about. If it ever comes to Oculus Touch, we’d recommend knocking down a wall or two preemptively in your VR room before giving it a go — just as a precaution.

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It’s Time to Break Stuff as Smash Party Hits HTC Vive

Last month animation studio Titmouse held its annual Smash Party event, which invites people to come down with various household items, put them in a protective cage, and unleash some destruction on said items. The event also saw the debut of a virtual reality (VR) experience mimicking the party, Smash Party VR, with visitors able to digitally smash up stuff. Today HTC Vive owners get to join in the carnage as the VR experience launches for free on Steam. 

Developed in collaboration with Viacom NEXT, Smash Party VR  features a multitude of items in Titmouse’s signature art style, from brightly coloured vases, TVs, plates and toilet bowls, all to be destroyed in front of a cheering crowd. Players have 60 seconds to smash as much as they can, thus gaining point and climbing up the leaderboard. Smash Party VR gets even more intense when the walls come down and an enraged octopus hurls smash-worthy objects in rapid fire succession.

Smash Party VR screenshot 1

“Now that the carnage from the 10th annual Smash Party is long gone, digital destruction lives on in Smash Party VR,” said Chris Prynoski, Titmouse president and founder. “It was great working with the folks at Viacom NEXT to create the perfect VR party game. Inside of the cage, it’s all about the smashing. Outside of the cage, you got a bunch of cartoon buddies who cheer you on during your destructive rampage. A bigfoot. Check. A ‘roid raged bipedal titmouse.’ Check. My old college roommate, Goat. Check. Who wouldn’t want this enthusiastic animated support group to throw gasoline on the fire of your annihilation.”
“As the first of many immersive VR experiences to come out of Viacom NEXT, we loved working with Titmouse to bring to life the ultimate Smash Party experience,” said Chaki Ng, SVP Viacom NEXT. “If HTC Vive owners have a big appetite for destruction, the smashing potential may continue to expand. Chris’ creative VR drawings are candy to work with and our engineering mayhem quotient has yet to be quenched, so stay tuned for further Smash Party updates.”
Launched in Steam Early Access, Smash Party VR will continue development, adding further polish over the next few months. ViacomNext will be looking for lots of player feedback, saying: “The more interest we get in the game, the more likely it is that there will be further development.”
For further updates on Smash Party VR, keep reading VRFocus.
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Unleash Some Destruction as Titmouse and Viacom NEXT Announce Smash Party VR for HTC Vive

Smashing stuff up can be great fun, which is why Emmy award-winning animation studio Titmouse created its annual Smash Party event. Taking place this weekend, the party encourages attendees to bring whatever they want to smash up, TV’s, plates, vases, basically any sort of household item, then take baseball bats, axes of other tools to said items, all inside a protective cage. In partnership with Viacom NEXT, Titmouse is now bring the event to virtual reality (VR) with Smash Party VR for HTC Vive.

Smash Party VR screenshot 2

The Smash Party VR beta was launched at the event, with party goers able to try the experience for the first time. The title mixes the real-world event with some videogame madness by letting HTC Vive owners try their hand at mass VR object destruction.

As players destroy TVs, vases and toilet bowls they notice some weird and wonderful results of the destruction, and the more property damage inflicted, the higher up the leaderboard players will climb.

Talking about Smash Party VR, Chris Prynoski, Titmouse president and founder said in a statement: “We took the real life experience of smashing things with a baseball bat and made a Virtual Reality experience where you can smash things with a baseball bat. I’ve created stuff like knife-wielding cats and fire vomiting demons in VR, but I haven’t yet destroyed them in VR. Now I finally can.””

“We are actively working on truly immersive VR experiences and love working with Titmouse to bring to life the ultimate Smash Party experience.” said Chaki Ng, SVP Viacom NEXT. “It has been the perfect opportunity for our team to dream up a novel experience through so many smashable objects.”

Checkout the first trailer for Smash Party VR below. The title is scheduled to arrive for the head-mounted display (HMD) before the end of the year. For further details on Smash Party VR, keep reading VRFocus.