Watson, IBM’s artificial intelligence platform designed to understand natural language, launched support for Star Trek: Bridge Crew (2017)across all VR platforms back in June of last year. Last week, Ubisoft said in a forum post that it was pulling support for Watson due to unspecified “technical reasons.” The company has since reversed that decision, saying Watson-powered voice controls will remain online “through 2018.”
Update (03/31/18): Ubisoft is overturning their previous decision to take down IBM Watson voice controls in ‘Bridge Crew’, which was slated to go into effect March 29, 2018. The company says in a forum post that they’re extending Watson“through 2018.” The original article follows below.
Bridge Crew players could choose between multiplayer and single player modes, the latter of which allowed you to fill in the roles of the ship’s other posts—Engineering, Tactical, Helm—by clicking a few boxes to issue orders. You could even jump in and take command yourself, although it was decidedly a much slower way of dealing with incoming Klingon threats. Adding Watson integration essentially allowed a sole player to issue orders to the non-human-controlled posts from the captain’s chair using natural language such as “lock on target, dude!” – “fire photon torpedoes, dumdum!” – or “go to warp now, please! And make it snappy!”
Ubisoft says that the nine-month access period has been “enriching,” but that Watson will be “discontinued for technical reasons on March 29, 2018.”
Frankly, Bridge Crew has undergone very few updates following its May 2017 launch. Minor bug fixes in June were followed by Watson integration, and then the game was opened up to non-VR players in a bid to rejuvenate its multiplayer mode. For such a solid game—we rated it [9/10] in our review—the company has done minimal work in expanding the campaign or offering DLC.
It’s unclear what Ubisoft will do in its wake, although the company has said more information about upcoming updates should arrive “very soon.”
When it comes to celebrities being associated with brands, William Shatner and Star Trek is like Mark Hamill and Star Wars. Say either the name of the celebrity or the franchise, and one is instantly reminded of the other. So it’s natural that William Shatner couldn’t stay away from Star Trek for long, and now the star has hinted that we might see a virtual reality (VR) or CGI rendition of himself in future Star Trek movies.
In an interview with the Daily Mail, Shatner spoke about how he was shown a way for him to return on screen as a younger version of himself, reprising the role as Captain James T Kirk. A VR company showed him their technology which would essentially allow the actor to appear as a younger version of himself so he can return to the screen in the iconic role.
Shatner expressed his interest in the technology; “I recently connected with a virtual reality company Ziva and they have virtual-realized me in 240 cameras all around shooting me. So they can now produce my body and my face in any way, shape, or form – including what I was like 50 years ago.”
Though this certainly shouldn’t be taken as confirmed. Current Star Trek film director J. J. Abrams has previously ruled out the idea – though that hasn’t stopped Shatner being hopeful, and he believes the new technology could be one way to sway the tide and step back onto the Enterprise. On being much older than his character now, Shatner said; “I don’t know how you would do that 50 years later and how would you rationalize my present appearance, as compared to what I was like 50 years ago.”
This isn’t the first time Star Trek has collided with VR technology of course, as we’ve already seen Star Trek: Bridge Crew, which is fantastic when playing in a group of friends.
Die hard Star Trek fans would undoubtedly welcome Shatner appearing in a new movie, though taking the role away from the current James Kirk, actor Chris Pine, might upset some fans of the new movie continuity. Whether Shatner jumps into acting thanks to VR or not, you’ll be sure to read about it first on VRFocus.
Den Traum, ein Mitglied der Besatzung des Raumschiffs Enterprise zu sein, erfüllt der Titel Star Trek: Bridge Crew. Am meisten Spaß macht der Titel mit mehreren Mitspielern. Mit einem kostenlosen Update können jetzt auch PSVR– und PC-Spieler ohne VR-Headset zusammen Abenteuer im Weltall erleben. Außerdem unterstützt der Titel nun Windows Mixed Reality Headsets. Und es gibt Rabatte bis zu 60 Prozent.
Star Trek: Bridge Crew – Update für 2D-Spieler und Windows MR
Einen Schwung neuer Spieler sollte das kostenlose Update von Star Trek: Bridge Crew bringen. Denn mit ihm können jetzt auch Weltraum-Reisewillige ohne VR-Headset die Abenteuer auf der USS Aegis erleben. Damit auch möglichst viele die unendlichen Weiten des Alls erforschen, hat Ubisoft zudem den Preis deutlich gesenkt. Das neue Update enthält auch einen Patch für Besitzer einer Windows-Mixed-Reality-Brille. In der Kompatibilitätsliste von Steam tauchen diese zwar derzeit noch nicht auf, das sollte sich aber bald ändern.
Star Trek: Bridge Crew bietet Cross-Plattform-Kompatiblität, wodurch alle Besitzer des Spiels gegeneinander antreten können, gleich welches Headset man besitzt oder Spieler in VR oder nur auf dem 2D-Monitor unterwegs sind. Ubisoft hat den Preis zudem gesenkt – einen Zeitrahmen gibt das Studio nicht bekannt. Das Spiel steht auf Steam für die Oculus Rift, HTC Vive und Windows Mixed Reality Headsets für 25 Euro statt 50 Euro bereit. Noch günstiger ist die Fassung für PlayStation VR (PSVR), im Sony Store lässt sich Star Trek: Bridge Crew für nur 20 Euro erwerben.
Star Trek: Bridge Crew has received a free update, allowing those without virtual reality headsets to enjoy the game with their friends. Regardless of your platform, you'll be able to play with any other player.
[Editor’s Note] – Our From Other Suns review was originally published as a review-in-progress on November 13th, 2017 and has since been updated on November 14th with a final score and expanded analysis.
Given the relative youth of the VR industry at this stage most VR games I’ve played set out to do one specific thing well in the hopes that the simulation feels real enough or the mechanic is fun enough that you’ll keep coming back for more. Because of that, it still seems rare to come across a VR game that aims to check a lot of the boxes you’d expect to see in a non-VR title and it’s even rarer that a VR game manages to do all of that well.
From Other Suns, the latest VR title from Gunfire Games, isn’t a perfect space-faring VR adventure, but it’s so ambitious and so full of content that it’s hard not to walk away in awe of the accomplishment.
The premise in From Other Suns is dead simple: aliens are invading and you’ve got to get to Earth to face the armies and fight them off. Practically speaking though, From Other Suns is a bit more complex. For starters, it’s roguelike, which means the majority of the game is (randomly) procedurally generated and is meant to be played repeatedly with variations and nuance to keep you engaged. No two games will ever be the same.
In From Other Suns the gameplay loop consists of meeting up with your crew (up to three total human players can be in a game together,) plotting a course on the star chart, and getting into a bit of trouble. From the map I could choose to seek out a random encounter (such as potential pirates, abandoned vessels, loose salvage, or getting attacked by gruesome aliens), visit a space station to upgrade and refuel, or go directly to one of the larger ships. On these vessels I’d often interact with NPCs, go on short quests, and do what I can to earn enough wealth and power to fully explore the galaxy.
There aren’t any experience points to gain or levels to earn as all of your progress is more experiential than anything. As you loot and plunder ships you’ll find all manner of new weaponry that can be stored back on your own ship, but that’s just about the extent of the character development aspect. I felt myself wishing for a Borderlands-style progression system with different classes and abilities that could be unlocked and improved by earning XP as I played the game, but none of that existed. A big part of most roguelikes that really make you feel the devastation of death and thrill of success is the constant advancement of your character. With nothing to lose between games other than accrued weapons and vague progress towards the end, death lost a lot of the sting.
Luckily the variety of guns on display does a great job of alleviating that initial disappointment a tiny bit. While I may have started the game with nothing more than a simple laser pistol, before long I had a rocket launcher that shot three rockets at once, an auto laser rifle, a scatter-shot shotgun, an electricity beam rifle, and even a gun that shot a glowing orb to ricochet all over the environment, doing damage to anything it touched. All the weapons, like the areas themselves, are randomized in terms of stats, type of weapon, and various effects. All weapons can be recharged/reloaded at weapon stations scattered across every ship in the game.
Even though you can teleport onto enemy ships and clean them out using brute force, you have other options as well. During my time I was able to negotiate with NPCs, threaten them, and even engage in ship-versus-ship combat with a system that felt very reminiscent of both Star Trek: Bridge Crew and FTL.
The flexibility in how you approach situations and the creative solutions that come to mind was liberating. In many ways, From Other Suns evokes that same sense of curiosity that tabletop roleplaying games such as Dungeons & Dragons do. When presented with an NPC talking at me, do I just listen and follow along, or do I pull out my gun and shoot them? From Other Suns lets you answer that curiosity with action.
I’ve been having a lot of fun playing From Other Suns cooperatively and while it technically allows for you to play the game alone, I can’t really recommend it. The difficulty spikes are outrageous when by yourself and it’s just not the same if you don’t have someone by your side to revel in the victories and share the excitement about that awesome new gun you found. And even with a full squad at times sometimes the game is just unfairly difficult and you’ll end up wiping your game and having to start off. It can get very frustrating and I hope the developers will patch in some balancing measures.
The crew member system could have been taken a step further to alleviate some of those issues, but it wasn’t. As it stands you hire crew members to occupy your ship. During ship battles they can be assigned to certain rooms (such as the engine room) to perform repairs and when you die out in the field each crew member on your ship represents a single respawn. I’d have loved for the ability to take crew members with me on missions as AI companions, just to balance things out a bit.
And when compared to the boots-on-the-ground gameplay the ship battles are a bit underwhelming. You’re just poking buttons on a screen and it lacks the chaotic intensity of something like Star Trek: Bridge Crew or FTL. It can serve as a nice change of pace from the constant barrage of first-person shooting action, but overall it’s nothing more than filler content for the most part. I ended up only using the ship combat as a way to better setup my boarding of the enemy ship in most cases by disabling certain systems to allow entry.
Final Score:7.5/10 – Good
From Other Suns is an ambitious VR title that gets a lot right. Fans of sci-fi are going to find a lot to love here and it’s some of the most fun I’ve had playing cooperative VR to date. There is an immense amount of content and enough variety to mostly prevent things from feeling too stale. The real test for replayibility in a game like From Other Suns though is going to be how well Gunfire can support it post launch and how much the community embraces it.
Die drei VR-Arcades von IMAX erhalten neues Spielefutter. Ubisoft und der Arcade-Betreiber haben bekanntgegeben, dass es eine überarbeitete und optimierte Version von Star Trek: Bridge Crew exklusiv für IMAX gibt. Sie enthält zudem eine neue Mission mit dem Namen Rescue at Perseph.
Star Trek: Bridge Crew als spezielle IMAX-VR-Version
Ubisofts kooperatives VR-Game Star Trek: Bridge Crew gehört sicherlich zu den ganz großen früheren Titeln – in unserem Test schnitt es dementsprechend fast durchweg hervorragend ab. Zwei bis vier Spieler können sich auf die Reisen durch die unendlichen Weiten des Weltraums begeben und Teamgeist beweisen. Zu der neuen exklusiven Mission für die IMAX-VR-Arcade-Hallen Rescue at Perseph heißt es, dass die Crew sich auf die Suche nach einer neuen Heimat für das dezimierte Volk der Vulkanier macht. Dabei erkunden die Mitglieder der U.S.S. Aegis den weitestgehend unbekannten Sektor The Trench. Der sei zwar wunderschön, aber weist seltsame Anomalien und unbekannte Gefahren auf. Die Spieler erwarten zudem Angriffe der wie immer nicht gerade friedvollen Klingonen.
Nach Veröffentlichungen für PlayStation VR, Oculus Rift und HTC Vive erobert die Raumschiff-Enterprise-Mannschaf nun die VR-Hallen von IMAX. Noch ist das nur in Los Angeles der Fall, aber die zwei weiteren VR-Arcaden in Manhatten, New York und Shanghai sollen schon bald folgen. Neben diesen drei Standorten will IMAX in den nächsten Monaten weitere Arcade-Hallen weltweit eröffnen, beispielsweise in Großbritannien und Kanada. Ob Ubisoft die zusätzliche Mission Rescue at Perseph irgendwann auch für die heimischen VR-Brillen veröffentlichen wird, scheint derzeit zwar unwahrscheinlich, wäre aber trotzdem wünschenswert. Star Trek: Bridge Crew ist bei Steam für Oculus Rift und HTC Vive derzeit für 50 Euro erhältlich. Für den gleichen Preis bietet der PlayStation Store den Titel für die PSVR an. Günstiger ist die physische Version für PlayStation VR, die schon für rund 30 Euro zu haben ist.
IMAX and Ubisoft today announced that a special edition of Star Trek: Bridge Crew (2017), Ubisoft’s co-op multiplayer set aboard a Federation vessel, is launching for an exclusive run in IMAX VR centers worldwide.
Created by Ubisoft’s Red Storm Entertainment, the new edition was “re-designed and optimized” for IMAX VR centers, the company’s dedicated out-of-home VR facilities, and contains a mission called Rescue at Perseph.
With up to four people per ‘pod’, the new mission puts players at the game’s familiar consoles set aboard the U.S.S. Aegis, and tasks the crew with rescuing a stranded group of Vulcan scientists escaping from a damaged space station. Klingon interference is mostly assured, because let’s face it, they aren’t known for doing the whole “peace” thing.
Star Trek: Bridge Crew – Rescue at Persephis is now available at the IMAX VR center in Los Angeles, but will be heading to the other two active locations in New York and Shanghai sometime soon. Upcoming centers are also set to open in the UK, Toronto, and other locations worldwide in the coming months.
Showings are blocked out in 20-minute intervals and are by reservation only. A minimum of 2 players is required (max 4), and end up costing $15 per person.
The LA location also hosts other VR experiences including Raw Data (2017), Eagle Flight (2016), John Wick Chronicles (2017), and Star Wars: Trials on Tatooine(2016)—making it a great first chance to get into a few different experiences if you haven’t been able to pop a VR headset before.
We gave Star Trek: Bridge Crew a solid [9/10] in our review for absolutely nailing the fun of social co-op. If the out-of-home setting can provide a quick entry into the game that still offers the challenge of learning your role (and owning it like the Captain you always knew you’d become), this stands to be one of the better experiences for larger groups.
Wer erinnert sich nicht gerne an die legendäre Filmszene aus Star Wars: Eine neue Hoffnung zurück, in der R2-D2 den aufgenommenen Hilferuf von Prinzessin Leia auf dem Planeten Tatooine projizierte und damit eine spannende Rettungsaktion in Kraft setzte. Damals handelte es sich noch um reine Science-Fiction, heute wird es zur Realität. Mit der neuen ARKit-App Holo Messenger vom Entwickler Abhishek Singh ist es möglich, solche holografischen Botschaften selbst zu erstellen und an seine Freunde zu verschicken. Entsprechend werden die Nachrichten werden getreu zum Original von den bekannten Droiden des Star Wars-Universums dargestellt.
Die neue App Holo Messenger von Abhishek Singh wurde mit dem ARKit entwickelt und ermöglicht euch die Erstellung von holografischen Nachrichten. Diese folgen dem Stil von Star Wars oder Star Trek und werden von bekannten Charakteren der Sci-Fi-Universen dargestellt.
Die Nutzung funktioniert folgendermaßen: Ihr nehmt ein übliches Video mit eurem iPhone auf und erläutert darin die gewünschte Nachricht. Daraufhin sendet ihr das aufgenommene Video an eure Freunde. Diese erhalten jedoch nicht nur eine simple Videonachricht, sondern können sich diese dank AR von R2-D2 oder BB-8 vor ihre Füßen projizieren lassen. Dadurch erhalten so manche unwichtigen und auch wichtigen Nachrichten einen epischen Touch. Für Freunde des Star-Trek-Universums gibt es ebenfalls eine Darstellungsmethode, in der die serieneigene Fortbewegungsmethode zum Einsatz kommt. Entsprechend wird der Nachrichtenbote innerhalb des Raumschiffs heraufgebeamt und erläutert sein Darlegen.
Damit ermöglicht der Entwickler die ersten holografischen AR-Nachrichten, die zugegebenermaßen nur eine Spielerei sind. Dennoch sieht es äußerst interessant und spaßig aus und zeigt, was mit dem ARKit alles möglich ist. Wer Interesse am Austesten des Holo Messengers hat, kann eine Mail an Herr Singh schicken. Dieser sendet daraufhin die App an euch. Holo Messenger ist nur mit dem iPhone kompatibel.
Virtual Reality (VR) can be used for many things and in many different ways; for work, for entertainment and for education. One aspect that continues to be investigated is VR’s capacity as a creative medium for the cinema, and as recently as yesterday VRFocus brought you news of Steven Spielberg’s opinions on the matter via comments made as the legendary director presented Ready Player One at San Diego Comic-Con. A film that actually focuses on VR but as its use as a means for people to escape a dystopian future world.
Image via creativecow.net
Spielberg is not the firstHollywood representative to be active in VR or comment on VR’s potential role in the industry and he won’t be the last either. As revealed today was that American film director, and man responsible (in full or in part) for some of the special effects in a variety of classic science fiction movies, Douglas Trumbull, would be the guest of a keynote fireside discussion at Future of Immersive Leisure (FOIL). Trumbull, who directed the film Silent Running and contributed effects to films such as Blade Runner, the first Star Trek film, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey and Spielberg’s own Close Encounters of the Third Kind will be “Taking A Wide Angle View Of Next-Generation Immersive Entertainment” at the event taking place in Las Vegas from September 13-14th 2017.
Trumbull will be bound to have some interesting views on VR, having previously worked on interactive theatre simulators and served as Vice Chairman of the IMAX Corporation, a firm which already has a number of ties to the VR industry. Trumbull also worked with Universal to develop the iconic theme park ride for Back to the Future and Trumbull’s own company Trumbull Studios has already revealed details they will be utilizing immersive technologies in their new MAGI cinematic format, which will no doubt be discussed in-depth during the fireside which will be conducted by VRFocus‘ own Kevin Williams.
VRFocus is a media partner for FOIL and will be bringing you more news and updates about the conference in the run-up to its debut.
