Ready Player Two Sequel Novel Releasing This November

Big news in the book world today! Ready Player Two, the direct sequel to Ernest Cline’s 2011 break out novel, Ready Player One, is set for publication on November 24th, 2020.

Ernest Cline’s Ready Player One (2011) is a sci-fi novel set in a not-too-distant future where resource scarcity has left the world a shallow husk of what it once was forcing society indoors to instead live out most of their lives in VR. It reached the top of the sales charts and spent over 100 weeks on the New York Times bestsellers list before being adapted to film by Steven Spielberg in 2018. You can read and watch our review of the feature film by the same name at that link.

Check out the minimalist, albeit appropriate, cover image for Ready Player Two right here:

ready player two cover

Cline has been working on the sequel novel for several years now, but we finally have a firm release date set. Plot details are scarce, but Cline has been clear in interviews that this will be a direct follow-up to the book itself, not the film. There are tons of differences between the two, which should make for an interesting continuation of the story.

The film went on to earn over $580M at the box office on a budget of around $160M and was considered a success. I’d be surprised if a film based on the sequel doesn’t materialize.

I don’t want to get into spoiler territory here, but let us know what you’d like to see happen in Ready Player Two down in the comments below. I certainly have plenty of ideas about where they could take the story considersing how completely the plot threads were tied off at the end.

Leave a comment down below!

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Sparc Was Revived By CCP Games Today With Big New Update

Seemingly out of nowhere CCP Games dropped a major update to Sparc with new game modes and spectating options.

Sparc is one of those VR games that just felt special when you played it. The smoothness of the visuals, excellent animations, fantastic Tron-inspired mechanics and stylings, and everything else just coalesced into a supremely polished package. But unfortunately it suffered from a lack of features and a tiny VR playerbase when it first launched. Despite it all, dedicated fans have kept it on life support even after CCP Games reigned in their focus on VR development nearly two years ago.

Today, that might start to change again. Out of nowhere Sparc’s Championship Update is bringing a slew of new features to a presumed dead game, including:

  • New Online Modes: Quick Play, Custom Games, and Ranked matches,
  • Ranked Matches are wave-based to keep games flowing using a player’s recent records to pit them against a worthy opponent and is split into 5 tiers. Players remain unranked until completing 10 Ranked games,
  • Ranked Leaderboard,
  • New Spectating Tools with different camera locations or even allowing free-fly view around the arena. Players can now see how many spectators they have and voice communication for spectators has been disabled.

To this day Sparc is still one of my go-to VR games when I have friends over that aren’t accustomed to the medium. Putting someone in my Rift and then playing against them on a PSVR is a great way to show the potential of VR gaming in a way that’s easy to understand and get into.

There’s no word at this time, but a Quest version would be superb. It would fit the wireless standalone format superbly well.

Let us know what you think of this sudden revival down in the comments below! You can buy Sparc on Oculus Home for Rift, on Steam for all PC VR headsets, or on PSN for PSVR. There is full cross-play between all devices.

The post Sparc Was Revived By CCP Games Today With Big New Update appeared first on UploadVR.

Jeff Bridges Wants Tron 3 To Be in VR

It’s hard to deny the influence that classic 80s sci-fi film Tron has had on virtual reality (VR). The neon-bright aesthetics, glowing circuitry lines and sharp edges have shaped the look of many VR titles, including Rebellion’s Battlezone and CCP Games recent effort Sparc. Oddly, there has yet to be an official Tron VR experience. Tron actor Jeff Bridges has hopes that will change.

Bridges appeared as Kevin Flynn, the maverick programmer in the original Tron who was transported to the computer world. In the 2010 sequel Tron: Legacy he reprised his role, and was also de-aged with the power of CGI to play his digital doppelgänger, CLU. Though Disney have supposedly put plans for a third Tron film on hold, rumours persist of a Tron 3.

Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Bridges addressed those rumours and his hopes for the film series: “Yeah, yeah, I’ve heard those rumors too,” Bridges replied. “I hope that happens. I think Joe’s got the script and everything, you know. Yeah, I don’t know that I’m supposed to talk about it or not. I don’t know. It should be the first virtual reality movie, you know? Wouldn’t that be cool…to see Tron in that world?”

Critics of Tron: Legacy noted that one of the biggest positives of that film was how well it translated into 3D, pointing out that one of Tron’s strengths was its ability to present an entirely different world to the viewer, something that VR can only enhance with its immersive capabilities.

It remains to be seen if Tron 3 will ever get made, or if it will be in VR, or have a VR tie-in. Considering the profound influence Tron has had on the VR landscape, it would be a shame if Tron never made it into VR.

VRFocus will continue to bring you news on new and upcoming VR projects.

‘Tron’ Star Jeff Bridges Thinks ‘Tron 3’ Should be the “first virtual reality movie”

Speaking on an Entertainment Weekly radio show to be aired on August 15th, actor Jeff Bridges, star of Tron (1982) and sequel Tron: Legacy (2010), suggested that a third Tron feature should be “the first virtual reality movie.” Posted in a short entry on the Entertainment Weekly website, writer Clark Collis explained that he was prompted to ask about Tron rumours by Bridges’ new collaboration with Tron: Legacy director Joseph Kosinski in upcoming movie Only the Brave.

“Yeah, yeah, I’ve heard those rumors too,” Bridges replied. “I hope that happens. I think Joe’s got the script and everything, you know. Yeah, I don’t know that I’m supposed to talk about it or not. I don’t know. It should be the first virtual reality movie, you know? Wouldn’t that be cool…to see Tron in that world?”

CCP Games’ forthcoming VR game ‘Sparc’ has a neon-futuristic aesthetic that evokes ‘Tron’ | Image courtesy CCP Games

The original 1982 Tron, widely acknowledged as the first film to significantly feature CGI, was strongly influenced by the early video game industry. Its striking visual style has, in turn, been ingrained in sci-fi culture, with many VR experiences opting for a similar look over the years, sometimes as a nod to the franchise, or simply because its clean design makes efficient use of limited rendering performance.

While a third Tron sequel designed for VR would indeed be a milestone for the movie industry, it’s doubtful whether both the technology and audiences are ready for a ‘full-length’ blockbuster VR film. Recently, Felix & Paul Studios released Miyubi, the longest ‘VR film’ at 40 minutes, but question marks remain over the ‘3D spherical camera’ approach, compared to the ‘true VR’ experiences only possible with real-time rendering.

The post ‘Tron’ Star Jeff Bridges Thinks ‘Tron 3’ Should be the “first virtual reality movie” appeared first on Road to VR.

Mundo Pixelado Brings TRON Legacy into VR

A new studio has entered the virtual reality (VR) development scene, as Mundo Pixelado has launched its debut experience. A VR location at present, the TRON Legacy inspired Outlands Safehouse will benefit from additional mini-games and interactive content as it progresses through its Steam Early Access campaign.
Outlands Safehouse is a roomscale based VR experience currently playable on HTC Vive and also coming to Oculus Rift. The Steam Early Access version of the videogame available now includes a ‘relax zone’ in which the player is invited to explore the calm, futuristic environment. Mundo Pixelado plan to expand the videogame with additional objects and challenge-based gameplay.

Tron Legacy Outlands Safehouse VR Experience #2
“We would like to use the Early Access period to build additional interesting features like furniture, minigames and bug fixes,” reads the official Steam page for Outlands Safehouse. “This is a personal project that I modelled and programmed for pleasure in 2015, that I have decided to adapt to VR to enjoy the beautiful environment as it should, taking advantage to receive funding to make it possible to further develop.”

Mundo Pixelado suggest that Outlands Safehouse will remain in Early Access for five-to-seven months, and is currently available for £1.99 GBP. VRFocus will keep you updated with all the latest details on Outlands Safehouse and future VR projects from Mundo Pixelado.