Category: Vertigo Games

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Arizona Sunshine to Launch on PlayStation VR in June

Today, Vertigo Games and Jaywalkers Interactive have announced that their popular virtual reality (VR) first-person shooter (FPS) Arizona Sunshine will be arriving on PlayStation VR next month. 

Arizona Sunshine originally launched for Oculus Rift and HTC Vive back in December 2016, and for its PlayStation VR debut in June the videogame will not only support PlayStation 4 and PalyStation 4 Pro, it’ll provide compatibility for the PlayStation Aim controller that’s due to arrive this month alongside Farpoint. That’s on top of being able to play the videogame using the regular DualShock 4 controllers and PlayStation Move.

ArizonaSunshine_PSGamepage (1)

Built from the ground up for virtual reality (VR), Arizona Sunshine allows players to handle, fire, and reload a multitude of different weapons with real-life movements, whilst destroying hordes of zombies across a series of huge southwestern American environments, including blistering-hot deserts, treacherous canyons and deep, dark mines. Featuring both single-player and co-op multiplayer modes, players will be able to jump in for a short sessions or stay for the entire campaign due to the way it’s split up. Whilst multiplayer features both co-op campaign and a Horde mode for up to four players.

No exact date in June has been stated but expect an announcement during the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) 2017. For the latest Arizona Sunshine updates keep reading VRFocus.

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Head to Vegas and go Hunting in Arizona Sunshine’s Undead Valley

At CES 2017 Vertigo Games debuted an upcoming update for its popular first-person shooter (FPS) Arizona Sunshine, called Undead Valley. Today that update has gone live, taking players across the Arizona-Nevada border to Las Vegas.

Undead Valley is a Horde mode map set in a zombie-infested old transport warehouse-turned-underground casino, challenging players to mix up their strategies by using the height of the map and its surrounding outdoor areas to their advantage.

Arizona Sunshine Vegas_SS4The studio has ensured the new map is dynamic and open to different tactical possibilities, with players able to find keys to locked doors or blast away obstacles to uncover new areas. If they look hard enough they’ll be able to locate more weapons, hidden ammo caches and useful positions to slaughter the rampaging horde of zombies.

Over the course of 2017 so far Vertigo Games has released several updates for the title, starting the year with a trackpad locomotion option for those players who find teleportation less immersive. Then last month another Horde map was added, taking players into the dark and dangerous Mines, where they have to choose between dual wielding their guns or using a torch to see.

As with all the past updates, Undead Valley is completely free for Oculus Rift and HTC Vive. VRFocus will continue its coverage of Arizona Sunshine, reporting back with the latest announcements.

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New Arizona Sunshine Horde Map Takes You Back into the Mine – Available Now

New Arizona Sunshine Horde Map Takes You Back into the Mine – Available Now

Arizona Sunshine is releasing a new map today for its horde mode. In horde mode, you and up to three other players must work together in order to fend off waves of the undead while managing limited ammunition and health restoring items. Since launch, Arizona Sunshine has had only one horde map that is set in a brightly lit outdoor encampment. Today’s update however will take players where they hoped they’d never have to go again: back into the mine.

The mine is a level in Arizona Sunshine’s campaign mode that has become notorious for being the most horrifying 20-30 minutes of the entire game. The mine in the main game is pitch black with the only light source emanating from your flimsy flashlight or a few weak generators scattered around the map. Similarly, the new mine horde map surrounds you in darkness and makes you question what lies around every shadowy corner.

We had the chance to try the mine horde map at GDC 2017 and there a few things players need to be aware of before hopping in to this gut wrenching new experience. The first is that this map is significantly larger than Arizona’s original horde arena. That map was essentially a square that you could cover in a few seconds. The mine, however, is so large that you’ll have to actually hunt down zombies to progress through early waves rather than just letting them all come to you in a funnel.

 

According to the Vertigo reps at the GDC demo, exploration will be essential to succeed in this new map. Ammo and health will not simply spawn at your relatively well-illuminated starting platform. Instead, you’ll need to grit your teeth and march into the dark unknown if you really want to go for the gold.

I played this map with unlimited ammo and invulnerability at GDC and I was still terrified out of my mind. My advice to you is to bring a friend, or two, or three. These jet-black caves are far too terrifying to challenge solo.

This new map will be filling in for the promised Las Vegas DLC that was slated to release last month. According to Vertigo, that content is now being slated for late March instead.

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Free Multiplayer Map Coming to Arizona Sunshine Next Week

Since it’s launch back in December, Arizona Sunshine has seen a tremendous response from gamers, on both the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive systems. The first-person zombie shooter features a multiplayer horde mode and now Vertigo Games has revealed a new map will become available in the next update.

The studio confirmed to VRFocus at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) 2017 this week, that the Horde mode would be expanded upon, adding a dark and dingy mine level, similar to the campaign.

Arizona Sunshine screenshot 7

Players will need to have torches at the ready, as the new area will feature a mixture of dimly lit platforms and pitch black tunnels to explore. To ensure players don’t just simply camp out in a nice little corner, the studio has made sure that vital supplies such as ammo and health aren’t just bunched together, spread between different areas of the map.

While Horde mode can be played on your own, it’s much better as a multiplayer experience, so that players can assist each other when resupplying or when the horde get too much. But with each additional player the undead only grow in number and become even more dangerous.

The Mine map will come as a free update when Vertigo Games release it on Tuesday, 7th March. VRFocus will continue its coverage of Arizona Sunshine, reporting back with the latest updates.

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Trackpad Locomotion Option Now Available for Arizona Sunshine

Last month Arizona Sunshine saw worldwide release on HTC Vive and Oculus Rift for Oculus Touch. The title only featured teleportation as a movement mechanic but today Vertigo Games and Jaywalkers Interactive have announced players can now use a trackpad locomotion option instead.

Most virtual reality (VR) video games tend to use teleportation as a standard mechanic for moving around virtual worlds as it’s comfortable for most players, reducing the dreaded simulator sickness. Whereas movement with a thumbstick or trackpad can cause issues for some players. For VR players that can handle that sort of locomotion its means increased immersion, realism and greater control in VR.

Arizona Sunshine cars

“We are grateful for all of the suggestions game players have made for additional modes and features they would like to see in the game. We have been listening and are pleased to announce the addition of trackpad locomotion. This free update will be published January 24, 2017. The teleport mechanic will still be available in the game, meaning that players will now have an option on how they want to experience the game,” said Vertigo Games’ Managing Director, Richard Stitselaar in a statement. “We are incredibly pleased with the reception the game has received from press and players. It’s a huge validation to see the game receiving such high user ratings. It was amazing to see Arizona Sunshine at the top of the charts in its first week, and from what we can tell, it may be the fastest selling non-bundled PC VR title to date.

Released on 6th December, Arizona Sunshine has earned sales of more than $1.4 million USD in its first month confirms the developer. The update is applicable to both the HTC Vive and Oculus Touch versions.

For any further details on Arizona Sunshine, keep reading VRFocus.

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‘Arizona Sunshine’ Might Be The Fastest-Selling VR Game With $1.4 Million In The First Month

‘Arizona Sunshine’ Might Be The Fastest-Selling VR Game With $1.4 Million In The First Month

Arizona Sunshine [Review: 8.5/10] is getting an update that supports full locomotion. That part we knew, but what we didn’t know was how much money the game made so far.

Developers Vertigo Games and Jaywalkers Interactive today said their VR zombie shooter made $1.4 million in sales during its first month of release on the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive, from Dec. 6 to Jan. 5. In a prepared statement, Vertigo Games’ Managing Director, Richard Stitselaar said “from what we can tell, it may be the fastest selling non-bundled PC VR title to date.” The game usually sells for around $40 and we confirmed with Vertigo the $1.4 million figure that was shared is the amount sold before a cut taken by Valve’s Steam or Facebook’s Oculus store.

It is well-deserved; Arizone Sunshine was named UploadVR’s 2016 Game of the Year shortly after its launch. The first-person shooter uses position tracked controls to offer an intense zombie massacre in which the player treks across the Arizona desert.

Arizone Sunshine isn’t the only VR game to see success over the past year. Earlier this month we reported that Owlchemy Labs had sold $3 million with its Job Simulator since launch in April 2016. Furthermore, The Gallery developer Cloudhead Games and Raw Data developer Survios have both independently confirmed to UploadVR that they cleared $1 million in sales for their respective titles.

Along with the sales milestone, Vertigo took the opportunity to formally release the full locomotion update, arriving today. That means players will be able to navigate the game’s world using controls similar to a normal first-person shooter game, which fans had requested as an alternative to the teleportation system the title already uses.

We’re expecting the game to arrive on PlayStation VR later this year, though no final date has been set.

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Zombie Hunters Rejoice! ‘Arizona Sunshine’ to Receive Long-Awaited Full Locomotion Update

Zombie Hunters Rejoice! ‘Arizona Sunshine’ to Receive Long-Awaited Full Locomotion Update

This year our Game of The Year award went to Vertigo Games’ Arizona Sunshine, and for good reason. This Rift and Vive title combined exceptional mechanics with a compelling narrative and a beautifully created world. The result is a fantastic experience that every VR fan owes it to themselves to at least try, but there is one fly in the ointment: locomotion.

May fans of VR gaming and Arizona Sunshine have lamented its “blink” (teleportation) locomotion system, wishing instead for a more natural, free roaming, movement scheme. Well, it looks like these squeaky wheels are about to get a healthy serving of grease.

During an interview with UploadVR at CES in Las Vegas, Vertigo Games’ Lead Tech Trevor Blom revealed that the studio is hard at work on a new movement scheme for Arizona Sunshine.

According to Blom, “We are constantly listening to feedback from our fans and users and what they think about our game. One of the most consistent things we’ve heard is that people really want a different locomotion system. They seem to be interested in a more free-flowing option that games like Onward use. So we’re working on it. Right now we have prototypes but we haven’t found that perfect solution yet.”

When asked exactly when players could expect this update, Blom’s response was that he simply could not say at this point as he isn’t sure when exactly the perfect solution would be completed. But he did reiterate that its a very high priority for the studio and it is absolutely on the way.

Fans of the original blink locomotion system needn’t worry, however, as Blom said that Vertigo will most likely make the updated scheme optional and give users the choice to switch between it and the existing teleportation system.

CES has been a significant show for Vertigo as it turns out. The studio quietly debuted Arizona Sunshine’s first new gameplay mode  since launch yesterday — a cooperative survival experience christened “Undead Valley” — which will be releasing on both its host systems early next month.

Arizona Sunshine costs $39.99 and is available for download on both Steam and Oculus Home.

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‘Arizona Sunshine’ Shows Potential Las Vegas-Themed Game Mode ‘Undead Valley’ at CES

‘Arizona Sunshine’ Shows Potential Las Vegas-Themed Game Mode ‘Undead Valley’ at CES

Arizona Sunshine by Vertigo Games is a great game. We liked it so much, in fact, that we awarded it the designation of our favorite VR game of 2016. The complete single player campaign mode, cooperative multiplayer support, and addictive horde mode delivered a lot of content to a game that was already overflowing with fun and engaging gameplay mechanics.

At CES 2017 in Las Vegas, NV this week, we caught a glimpse of some potential new content in the works for the zombie-slaying shooter. Outside of the Intel booth area on the show floor, there is a short teaser video playing that shows someone on a turret mowing down waves of zombies. We can see that it’s set in a post-apocalyptic version of the Las Vegas strip (appropriate because it’s at CES in Vegas right now) as opposed to the Arizona desert featured in the core Arizona Sunshine game.

On-screen text mentions the need to collect packages, which alludes to a potentially objective-oriented gameplay loop, rather than the pure survival-based horde mode that’s already in the game. One of our only issues with the shooter as it exists right now is the lack of additional maps in horde mode, but if this is a whole new experience called Undead Valley, that would certainly alleviate some of those issues.

We know that this mode supports up to four players at once, just like horde mode, and it was shown running on an Oculus Rift with Touch at the event. We don’t know anything else at this time, but we’ve reached out to Vertigo Games for more details on what Undead Valley is and how it factors into the content strategy for the game moving forward.

Do you have any questions about this potential new game mode? Let us know in the comments and we’ll get to the bottom of it at CES this week in Las Vegas.

Additional reporting on this story was performed by Staff Writer Joe Durbin.

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‘Athena’ is a New Lighthouse Tracked VR Gun Controller from Ilium VR

Ilium VR are working on a new VR-centric gun peripheral which plans to use Valve’s SteamVR ‘Lighthouse’ tracking to bring realistic weapon control to virtual reality games.

Shooting things in games is cool. Shooting things in VR can be infinitely cooler. Add in a dedicated controller that gives you the physical feel of a weapon and add tracking and peripheral functionality to it and you have something that has the potential to take shooting things to the next level.

Ilium certainly think so as they already begun a crowdfunding campaign to kick off their plans to build a virtual reality-centric gun peripheral to be powered by Valve’s Lighthouse tracking system. Athena is the peripheral’s name and it will come in the form of a futuristic looking assault rifle.

For clarity, outside of the design renders seen in the above promotional video, the rifle peripheral being demonstrated is not Athena but Ilium VR’s earlier VR gun dev kit “The Persuader”, modeled on the M1A1 Thompson ‘Tommy Gun’ and using a rudimentary mount for a standard SteamVR controller in order to leverage its tracking.

The Athena is an altogether more ambitious beast and promises recoil action, the ability to reload via a magazine pull-out / pull-in action, whilst also integrating standard joystick and button inputs. What makes the device interesting however is the team’s plans to integrate Valve’s ‘open’ SteamVR ‘Lighthouse’ tracking functionality into the device. Basically, the final peripheral would be clustered with sensors to enable the gun to detect the sweeps from SteamVR’s laser base stations, and as with the packed-in SteamVR controllers, beaming that data wirelessly for a compatible game to map to in game actions.

athena-features

SEE ALSO
Second-gen Lighthouse Chip Could Improve Tracking, Reduce Cost of HTC Vive 2

We reported recently that Valve’s long awaited plans to open up the Lighthouse platform to form a tracking standard of sorts for developers and manufacturers had finally begun in earnest. Valve announced just prior to the company’s Steam Dev Days event that it’s already licensed Lighthouse tracking to some 300 companies, royalty free since it’s original announcement back in august. According to Valve, the company are gearing up to show off “new VR peripherals” which will be made available for “demonstration and design collaboration with attendees,” at some point in the future.

SEE ALSO
SteamVR Tracking Courses Begin, Already Completed by 50 Developers

The Athena is one of the first gaming specific product we’ve seen to take advantage of Valve’s new initiative and it’s a brave move. Traditionally, peripherals for gaming have rarely fared well. Gaming systems (including the SteamVR powered HTC Vive of course) ship with standard controllers allowing developers to target them and hone their software knowing that everyone who buys their game or application will own those devices. 3rd party peripherals on the other hand require the manufacturer to acquire interest and support from those same developers to add in legacy support for the proprietary device. The Catch 22 situation of course is that, developers don’t want to commit resources to build around a device few customers own and customers won’t buy hardware without software support.

athena-gun-render-lighthouse-pointsIllium are of course aware of this and have tried to mitigate the issue by entered into a partnership with Invrse Studios (The Nest) and Vertigo Games (Arizona Sunshine) who will both include updates to add native support for Athena to their games. A good start indeed.

SEE ALSO
These Tiny Sensors Will Let You Build Lighthouse Tracked Headsets and Peripherals

Athena is currently being offered via an Indiegogo campaign with a lofty $100,000 funding target. Backers can notionally get their hands on a single gun along with The Nest and Arizona Sunshine for $300. The device itself has a timeline for delivery of December 2017. The campaign seems troubled currently however, with just over $4000 of that goal currently met. It’s not clear how key the funding is to progress of the product.

It’s an interesting project and one we hope to see more of in the future, especially if the Ilium team manage to square the peripheral support issue mentioned above. However it does join Stryker, another VR-centric peripheral featuring impressive recoil, in the same space. We’ll watch with interest to see how much traction both projects gain in the future.

The post ‘Athena’ is a New Lighthouse Tracked VR Gun Controller from Ilium VR appeared first on Road to VR.

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Arizona Sunshine: Achievements, Cheats, Tips & Tricks

Earlier this week Vertigo Games and Jaywalkers Interactive launched their long awaited zombie shooter Arizona Sunshine on HTC Vive and Oculus Rift for Oculus Touch. On Steam players can unlock 37 Steam Achievements, which VRFocus has listed below.

Arizona Sunshine takes place across a series of huge south western American environments, including blistering-hot deserts, treacherous canyons and deep, dark mines. Players have over 25 different weapons to choose from, with both single-player and co-op multiplayer modes available. Steam currently offers a 15 percent discount until 13th December, dropping the price £29.99 to £24.49 GBP.

Arizona Sunshine Concept Art 2

Full Achievement List:

  • And the award for Can Killer goes to…
    Finish the level Base
  • Steady Hand
    Kill 50 zombies with a Headshot
  • LOOT!
    Collect some loot!
  • Headshots like a Boss!
    Kill 100 zombies with a Headshot
  • It’s a Sunny Day!
    Finish the level Bridge
  • No Mercy
    Kill all zombies that are locked up in the cage in Canyon
  • So Sqhuishy
    Throw a duck
  • It’s getting Hot Hot Hot!
    Finish the level Canyon
  • Charley Horse
    Play for a total of 2 hours
  • Badabing Badaboom!
    Kill 20 zombies using grenades
  • Freddy, you there?
    Play for a total of 3 hours
  • Flashed your way out!
    Finish the level Caves
  • Eye see you..
    Shoot with a sniper in the game
  • Master Scavenger
    Collect a ton of loot!
  • You climbed the
    Climb the scaffold in the level Traintracks
  • Delayed
    Finish the level Traintracks
  • Baby Wipe War
    Shoot with the Machine Gun in the Refinery
  • Biting the Bullet
    Finish the level Refinery
  • Howdeeyhow!
    Finish the level Trailerpark
  • I’m not the only one?
    Listen to the radio in the level Sunshine
  • Direct Hit!
    Kill a zombie with an object
  • You Win!
    Finish the level Sunshine
  • Rescued!
    Complete the entire campaign!
  • Medium well beef plz
    Eat 10 burgers
  • Juicy Meat
    Collect 20 burgers
  • Last Man Standing
    Be the only survivor in Horde Mode
  • VR Creep!
    Play the game for 4 hours in a row
  • Skull Cracker
    Kill 300 zombies in Horde Mode (streak)
  • A Thousand Miles
    Walk a distance of 10 miles
  • Duck Attack!
    Kill a zombie with a duck
  • We have ourselves a Cowboy
    Kill 400 zombies in Horde Mode (streak)
  • Quack Quack %$#@!
    Collect all the ducks in the game
  • Green Thumb
    Pick up all shovels inside the shop in the level Sunshine
  • Hard Boiled
    Complete the Apocalyptic Mode
  • Go Outside
    Unlock all the achievements in the game
  • Gun Collector
    Collect all the guns in the game
  • The Sherrif has arrived!
    Kill 1000 zombies in Horde Mode (streak)