Category: the unspoken

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E3 2017 ‘Day 2’ Roundup: ‘Skyrim VR’ Announced, Intel Does VR eSports, ‘Lone Echo’ Dated & More

Following the revelations from the Microsoft and Bethesda presentations, this is a second roundup of news from E3 2017, currently taking place in Los Angeles. E3 technically starts today, but here’s what happened yesterday, with announcements from Intel, Ubisoft and Sony.

Intel, Oculus & ESL Look to Accelerate VR eSports:

Insomniac’s The Unspoken | Image courtesy Insomniac Games

During the PC Gaming Show powered by Intel, the company announced a VR esports ‘Challenger League’ in partnership with ESL and Oculus. Gamers will compete for a prize pool of over $200,000 using Insomniac Games’ magical dueller The Unspoken and Ready At Dawn’s zero-G, disc-throwing game Echo Arena, the multiplayer spin-off from Lone Echo.

Lone Echo launches July 20th, Multiplayer Spin-Off Echo Arena Free:

Lone Echo | Image courtesy Ready at Dawn

Ready At Dawn’s Rift-exclusive action game Lone Echo has been given a July 20th release date, priced at $40. It is now available for preorder with a 10% discount. The multiplayer mode, which looks and plays rather differently to the single player campaign, is now a separate release (also launching July 20th) named Echo Arena, shown in this trailer, and will be free for a limited time for all Rift owners. An early access beta weekend starts June 23rd.

Linkin Park VR Experience Launched:

Intel also presented their partnership with Linkin Park, who are releasing a VR experience with the help of AR/VR production studio Spatialand. Linkin Park VR Destination will feature music, contests, merchandise, and the ability to unlock secret fan experiences and events created by the band.

Ubisoft Reveals New VR Thriller Transference:

Photo courtesy Ubisoft

The VR highlight of Ubisoft’s E3 presentation was Transference, a psychological thriller developed by Ubisoft Montreal and Elijah Wood’s content studio SpectreVision. Due to launch in Spring 2018, the experience claims to be part game, part movie, and a ‘true collaboration between Hollywood and gaming’, promising a multi-branching narrative and ‘unparalleled presence’.

Ubisoft Unveils Multiplayer VR Shooter Space Junkies:

image courtesy Ubisoft

While it didn’t make an appearance at Ubisoft’s main presentation, a new VR arcade shooter called Space Junkies was also announced yesterday, described as a “jetpack-fueled arcade shooter developed exclusively for virtual reality gaming”. Shootouts take place in microgravity ‘Orbital Arenas’ with 1v1 or 2v2 combat. The game launches for Rift (Touch required) and Vive in spring 2018.

Skyrim VR Announced for PSVR:

Bethesda stayed silent about this one to let Sony reveal Skyrim VR at their main keynote, alongside several other PSVR games. The trailer appeared to show the full Skyrim experience carried over to VR, and played with motion-controlled input. The game is coming exclusively to PSVR this November, but it is likely to come to other VR platforms at a later date.

Sony Reveals 5 Brand New PSVR Games:

Moss | image courtesy Polyarc

Alongside the Skyrim VR reveal, Sony’s E3 presentation featured a significant ‘PlayStation VR Game’ section, where they announced 5 brand new VR games, each with a trailer. Star Child from Playful Corp, The Inpatient and Bravo Team from Supermassive Games, Final Fantasy: Monsters of the Deep from Square Enix, and Moss from Polyarc.

Superhot Comes to PSVR:

SUPERHOT VR | Courtesy SUPERHOT

Revealed during the pre-show for the main presentation, Superhot VR is finally coming to PSVR. The heavily-stylised, time-bending shooter has been thrilling VR gamers on PC since its initial launch in December 2016, and was given a ‘summer 2017’ release window for Sony’s headset.

The post E3 2017 ‘Day 2’ Roundup: ‘Skyrim VR’ Announced, Intel Does VR eSports, ‘Lone Echo’ Dated & More appeared first on Road to VR.

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Intel Announce the Worldwide VR Challenger League

While the first couple of E3 2017 press conferences were a bit of a disappointment for virtual reality (VR) news, the last couple have greatly improved matters. Today has seen Intel hold its event alongside the PCGamer Show, with reveals including the release date of Lone Echo on Oculus Rift as well as Echo Arena arriving alongside it for free. Additionally, Echo Arena will feature in a new eSports event being run by Intel, ESL and Oculus called VR Challenger League. 

Both Echo Arena from Ready at Dawn and magical combat experience The Unspoken by Insomniac will be featured during the challenge, which will encompass both European and North American communities with regular online and offline competition. After playing online players will qualify for offline regional events, which will then seed them into the world championships at IEM Katowice in 2018.

Insomniac’s The Unspoken is a dueling spellcasting experience where players face up against opposing mages in 1v1 battles. Players can cast powerful spells and utilize the destructible environment to gain an advantage over their opponents. While on the flip side is Echo Arena which is a team-based, 5vs5 multiplayer where players have to score points by scoring goals. But the arenas all feature low gravity as well as obstacles to stop the ball and cause issues for the players themselves.

The VR Challenger League will begin in July 2017, namely due to Lone Echo and Echo Arena both launching on 20th July. The former is available for pre-order for $39.99 USD, while the latter will be free.

In terms of other VR news, Bethesda made a couple of little announcements yesterday, revealing DOOM VFR and Fallout 4 VR, the former for HTC Vive and PlayStation VR and the latter just for HTC Vive.

VRFocus will continue its coverage of E3 2017, reporting back with the latest announcements.

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Intel: ‘We want to bring VR to Esports’ With The Challenger League

Intel: ‘We want to bring VR to Esports’ With The Challenger League

At today’s Intel press conference from E3 2017 Ru Weerasuriya, the Co-Founder and CCO of Ready at Dawn came onstage to talk about the company’s upcoming game, Lone Echo. Up until now its multiplayer, the Echo Arena, was believed to be part of the same release in one package but today we learned it is getting a separate, free release on Rift.

During the presentation Echo Arena’s competitive side was played up significantly and Intel announced what’s being referred to as the VR Challenger League, an Esports competition focused specifically on competitive VR games. Insomniac’s The Unspoken and Ready at Dawn’s Echo Arena are the two games mentioned for the new league competitions.

Esports were a major part of Intel’s mini-conference today. During the opening a video played in which several competitors said, “Game on!” as a sort of rallying cry. Intel’s host stated that, “We want to bring VR to Esports,” before explaining that the biggest barriers to competitive VR gaming right now are a lack of titles that are “worthy” o gamers and a generally small playerbase.

For more news and announcements from Intel, the PC Gamer show, and this week’s conference, check our E3 news hub. Let us know what you think down in the comments below!

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Insomniac Games Release Arcane Update for The Unspoken Introducing Spar Mode

Insomniac Games’ Oculus Touch launch title The Unspoken has received its next update this week, with the studio new features and content including a Spar Mode for players.

The magical combat multiplayer’s new Spar Mode is designed as a way for players to hone their skills in a more relaxed environment. Still against other players, they battle for points in matches just this time they’re unranked, reducing the stakes somewhat. The studio’s blog explains: “We developed Spar Mode as a direct result of some great feedback from our community. We heard loud and clear that many players want a chance to learn the game in a more forgiving environment.”

“We set out to create a mode that’s inviting for players of all skill levels. A mode that helps new players close the skill gap and prepare for the ranked game. And ultimately—we hope!—a mode that gets high-ranked players into Duels faster by drawing from a larger matchmaking pool.”

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That’s not all though. Insomniac has added a new location, the Midway Pier Arena, where players can battle in an amusement park. There’s also a friends leaderboard so players can see how well (or bad) they’re doing against their mates.

Additionally, a bunch of tweaks and fixes have been added to refine the experience even further, all of which can be found in the changelog below.

Checkout The Unspoken stream Insomniac Games did for the new update and for any further announcements, keep reading VRFocus.

Full changelog for The Unspoken: Arcane Update 4.0:

New Content

  • Spar Mode: Battle for points in timed matches in this new unranked mode! Master the art of spellcasting with lower stakes and an all-new way to play.
  • Midway Pier Arena: Duel for supremacy in a long-vacant amusement park. The concession tents glow once again with electric light.

New Features

  • Tournament Cloaks: It’s time for The Unspoken Tournament at Microsoft Stores across North America! Celebrate with new crimson tournament cloaks.
  • Friends Leaderboard: How do you rank against your Oculus friends? Find out here!

Tuning and Fixes

Anarchist

  • Plate Glass: Increased the health of all Plate Glass charge tiers.
  • Plate Glass: Reduced the duration of a minimum charged Plate Glass.
  • Plate Glass: Reduced size of fully charged Plate Glass.
  • Chaos Skull: Added speed boost immediately after being cast.

Kineticist

  • Force Bubble: Added new behavior. Enemy spells entering the bubble now stop for the entire shield duration.
  • Debris Drop: Added new behavior. All cars now travel to where the player is looking if no car is already there.
  • Debris Drop: Added a Cooldown between successive volleys.

Blackjack

  • Disc of Blades: Reduced the max speed of both a minimum charge and curved Disc of Blades.
  • Disc of Blades: Increased the visibility of Disc of Blades.
  • Spectral Cloak: Increased the number of Spectral Crystals formed by a minimum charged cloak.
  • Spectral Cloak: Increased cloak health.
  • Wild Cards: Reduced projectile speed.

Drifter

  • Celestial Dome: Increased the health of a minimum charged Celestial Dome.
  • Celestial Dome: Reduced the duration of a minimum charged Celestial Dome.
  • Vermin: Increased flight speed.
  • Shatter Mine: Increased the health for both charge tiers.
  • Shatter Mine: Reduced the fuse time for both charge tiers.
  • Shatter Mine: Reduced the damage for both charge tiers.

Artifacts

  • Infernal Contract: Further reduced the health penalty for signing the contract.
  • Aerogramme: Increased the health of each plane.
  • Dispelling Censer: Reduced the size of the dispel AOE.
  • Dark Tag: Triggering Dark Tag no longer removes the other traps.

General

  • Map Table: Renamed tab headings for clarity.
  • Map Table: Added an arena selection context.
  • Primal Shields: Increased the recharge delay.
  • Primal Shields: Reduced shield damage taken from primals when blocked with shield center.
  • Voice Chat: Enabled voice chat by default.
  • Progression: Added checks to ensure that unlocked items remain accessible.
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VRTV’s Week In Recap: Tech Wizards, Space Wizards And Wizard Wizards

Life as a chestbursting alien, a world record, Oculus launches a contest to find the best wizard, Palmer Luckey returns from the social media wilderness and Nokia getting set to take you to a galaxy far, far away are just some of the virtual reality (VR) related technology, experiences and stories that have come out all within the last week.

As usual, Nina is here to guide you through all the stories of the last seven days with VRTV. What stories really caught your eye this week? Let us know in the comments.

This week’s stories, click here for more information on each:

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Erhaltet drei kostenlose VR-Spiele beim Kauf ausgewählter NVIDIA-Hardware

Die Virtual Reality ist für viele hochinteressant, jedoch ist die notwendige Hardware teilweise noch etwas zu teuer. Um mehr Personen dazu zu begeistern in diese innovative und immersive Technologie einzutauchen, bieten Unternehmen des Öfteren diverse Angebote an. So auch NVIDIA, denn sie veröffentlichten am 25.04.17 ein interessantes Paket für alle VR-Begeisterte. Dieses beinhaltet beim Kauf ausgewählter PC Hardware gleich drei Virtual Reality Spiele.

Erhaltet beim Kauf von NVIDIA-Hardware drei kostenlose VR-Spiele

Das Angebot bezieht sich auf die Grafikkarten aus dem Hause NVIDIA sowie auf PCs bzw. Laptops, die mit solch einer GPU ausgerüstet sind. Denn beim Kauf einer GeForce GTX 1080 Ti, GTX 1080, GTX 1070 oder GTX 1060 Grafikkarte bzw. bei Computersystemen mit einer dieser integrierten Karten und einer Oculus Rift mit Touch Set erhaltet ihr zusätzlich drei kostenlose VR-Spiele.

Die drei Titel sind The Unspoken, SUPERHOT VR und Wilson’s Heart.

In The Unspoken taucht ihr in die Rolle eines Magiers, der im Duell gegen andere Zauberer antritt. Das Spiel überzeugt mit beeindruckenden Effekten und Multiplayerduellen. Neben verschiedenen Klassen könnt ihr diverse Zaubersprüche und Artefakte nutzen, um die gegnerischen Zauberkünstler auf die Bretter zu schicken.

Im Spiel SUPERHOT VR werden dagegen Science-Fiction-Träume wahr, denn der Shooter lässt euch in Matrixatmosphäre Kugeln ausweichen und zwischen verschiedenen Waffen zur Bekämpfung der Gegner wählen. Oculus Touch wird empfohlen!

Der letzte Titel Wilson’s Heart ist ein Psycho-Thriller-Adventure in Graustufen. Das Spiel folgt einer großartig erzählten Geschichte mit einigen Schockmomenten, die das Eintauchen in die Narration unumgänglich macht.

Die drei Titel sind also nicht nur beigelegte Spiele, welche nach einer Stunde Spielzeit in Vergessenheit geraten. Im Gegenteil: Die VR-Spiele sind mit unter das Beste, was aktuell für die Oculus Rift verfügbar ist. Zudem wurden die Titel durchgängig positiv bewertet.

Aktuell mit diesem Angebot ist also eine großartige Zeit, um sich ein VR-fähiges System zuzulegen. Dieses Paket von NVIDIA ist ein durchaus gutes Angebot und ist nur für eine limitierte Zeit verfügbar.

(Quellen: UploadVR | NVIDIA)

Der Beitrag Erhaltet drei kostenlose VR-Spiele beim Kauf ausgewählter NVIDIA-Hardware zuerst gesehen auf VR∙Nerds. VR·Nerds am Werk!

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Oculus and Nvidia Giving Away The Unspoken, SUPERHOT VR and Wilson’s Heart with Select GeForce Deals

Consumers that have been eyeing up a new virtual reality (VR) focused system may want to look towards Nvidia and Oculus today, as the two companies have announced the launch of a free content deal with certain purchases. 

Starting today, anyone buying a GeForce GTX 1080 Ti, GTX 1080, GTX 1070 or GTX 1060, a system or a laptop alongside an Oculus Rift with Touch kit will get The Unspoken, SUPERHOT VR and Wilson’s Heart for free.

Insomniac Games’ The Unspoken was an original launch title for Oculus Touch, putting players in a magical world where they have to use spell casting techniques to defeat each other. They can wield fireballs, create arcane shields and summon all sorts of creatures to defeat their opponent.

While SUPERHOT VR aims to challenge the first-person shooter (FPS) genre with time manipulation. If a player moves then so does time, stay still and everything goes into slow motion. The title doesn’t feature health bars or safe areas to reload, it’s an all out action experience where players dodge bullets and grab whatever they can to shoot, slice and out manoeuvre their enemies.

Wilson’s Heart offers a completely different experience to the previous two. A first-person psychological thriller, players find themselves in a 1940’s hospital as Robert Wilson. Upon waking up Wilson makes a grim discovery, his heart has been replaced by a mysterious device. As players wander the hospital they’ll discover increasingly maddening corridors, environmental hazards, and sinister inhabitants whilst trying to recover their heart

This isn’t the first time Nvidia and Oculus have teamed up to promote VR. For the launch of Oculus Touch in December they ran two competitions for gamers to win GeForce cards and Oculus Rift’s. For US and Canadian VR fans there’s the recently announced Unspoken VR Tournament set to take place in May, giving away hardware, software and cash prizes.

Nvidia launched the 10-series cards (GTX 1080, GTX 1070 and GTX 1060) last year. While these last few months have seen the release of the GeForce GTX 1080 Ti and the flagship TITAN Xp.

For all the latest Oculus and Nvidia news, keep reading VRFocus.

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New Oculus Bundle Gets You Rift, Touch, VR-Ready PC, And Four Great Games For $1300

New Oculus Bundle Gets You Rift, Touch, VR-Ready PC, And Four Great Games For $1300

Facebook’s Oculus VR team is announcing a new bundle for its Oculus Rift VR system. The bundle will be available in “select territories” through Amazon and NewEgg. With it, customers can get a Rift headset, the Oculus Touch controllers, an ASUS VivoX PC, and four free games for the total price of $1300.

The games for this bundle are all standouts and include: Superhot VR, VR Sports Challenge, The Unspoken and the upcoming Wilson’s Heart. The bundle is only available for a limited time and expires on June 13.

In addition to this bundle Oculus is also announcing a new partnership with Microsoft to create a gaming tournament around Insomniac’s The Unspoken, which was designed with competitive play in mind. According to a release from Oculus:

We’re excited to announce that has Oculus teamed up with Microsoft, Insomniac Games, Intel, ASUS and ESL to host an in-store gaming tournament – May 13th, participants can test out their sorcery skills at select May 20th.

Regional finalists will advance to the national finals, hosted at the flagship Microsoft Store in NYC on June 3rd. All finalists will receive free trip to New York City to compete for the grand prize: Rift and Touch, an Oculus Ready PC and $1,250 in cash!

The Unspoken is a game that was created by Insomniac (Ratchet and Clank/Sunset Overdrive), and funded by Oculus Studios. In it you take on the persona of a Harry Dresden-esque urban sorcerer and battle it out with other spellcasters over the internet.

The Unspoken was a launch title for the Rift’s Touch controllers and uses the devices as its primary input method. Spells are casts via a combination of button presses and physical motions using Touch.

According to a blog post, the full slate of prizes mentioned above will be “worth more than $7500.”

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The Unspoken VR Tournament Coming Soon to Microsoft Stores

Today Oculus has announced a collaboration with Microsoft, Insomniac Games, Intel, ASUS, and ESL for The Unspoken VR Tournament.

Taking place in Microsoft Stores across the US and Canada, The Unspoken VR Tournament will allow participants to test out their sorcery skills on the Oculus Touch.

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Beginning on 13th May, 80 stores across the two countries will be hosting heats, allowing successful entrants to win $100 USD of Oculus Store credit, as well as a free copy of The Unspoken. Winners will then go onto a regional round on 20th May, getting a round trip to New York City a two-night hotel stay, and $150 cash. This will whittle down the competition to eight finalists who’ll compete during the grand final on 3rd June at Microsoft’s flagship store in NYC. The grand prize will be an ASUS VivoPC X Oculus Ready machine, Oculus Rift with Touch, and $1,250 cash. Runners up will get cash prizes.

For further details on the tournament and the participating Microsoft Store locations checkout the official competition page.

Additionally, from tomorrow, anyone who purchases an ASUS VivoX PC plus Oculus Rift and Touch in select territories will get a free copy of The Unspoken, SUPERHOT VR, VR Sports Challenge and Wilson’s Heart. Retailers such as Amazon and NewEgg are offering the bundle at $1,299 until 13th June 2017

Earlier this month Insomniac Games released the Arcane Update 3.0 for the title, adding a new Drifter class, the ability to summon a demonic ally and a Celestial Mirror to customize a character’s appearance with new Cloaks, Auras, and Hands.

VRFocus will continue its coverage of The Unspoken VR Tournament, reporting back with further updates.