Resolution Games, the studio behind Demeo (2021), Blaston (2020), and Angry Birds VR: Isle of Pigs (2019), shared more info on how it’s engineering a new sport for its upcoming game Racket Club.
The studio released a new behind-the-scenes video that goes into detail about how Racket Club is played, where it came from, and what sets it apart from other racket sport experiences in VR.
In the video, chief creative officer Mathieu Castelli explains how Racket Club was built with realism in mind, offering up a sort of gameplay that could easily translate to real courts.
Castelli says that a big step in the project was modeling the “right feeling of impact” of when the ball hits the racket, something that is fairly mathematically complex. Another was defining the space so users could play naturally at home, and not need in-game locomotion stuff like teleportation. In the end, it comes down to body positioning and swing accuracy, something that is a 1:1 translation from physical racket sports.
While the basic physicality of Racket Club could translate to a real-world court, there’s a few things that VR simply does better, Castelli explains. As players gain expertise, the glass enclosures lower, increasing the chance of knocking the ball out of the court. Impressively long rallies, or the classic back and forth shots between players, can also give you more points, which can turn around a match in one go.
Racket Club is set to release on the Quest platform and PC VR headsets sometime in 2023. In the meantime, you can wishlist the game on Steam and the Meta Quest Store.
Finding the best Oculus Quest ping pong game is a bit like trying to find the most immersive game on the headset. Ping pong is one of those rare things that just works in VR.
There’s no need to run around a massive world and the slight jolt of controller vibration is actually a pretty convincing haptic stand-in for the sensation of hitting a ball with a paddle. Add the wire-free, inside-out tracked Oculus Quest to the equation and you’ve got one of the most immersive experiences you can have in a headset. And, sure enough, two of the most popular table tennis VR games — Racket Fury: Table Tennis VR and Eleven Table Tennis — are now on the platform.
But which is the best Oculus Quest ping pong game?
We spent extensive time with both games across a variety of conditions in search of that answer, which is just a little more complicated than you might expect.
The Best Oculus Quest Ping Pong Game – Racket Fury Or Eleven?
Single-Player Options
Both Eleven and Racket Fury offer single-player matches against AI opponents, though there’s a little more structure to the latter’s solo mode. Racket Fury has a full tournament mode with 16 matches that starts off pretty gently before moving up to more demanding opponents. If you weren’t into multiplayer, this campaign would definitely help justify the price of entry; each opponent offers a fair challenge and you can unlock new avatar options by working your way up a leveling system.
Eleven, meanwhile, treats its single-player offerings mainly as training for multiplayer. That’s by no means a bad thing, it just has a little less structure to it all. You can choose between five levels of AI difficulty (though they’re pretty tough from Medium up) and jump straight into matches either for practice or while you wait for an online invitation. There’s also an extensive practice mode, which lets you fine-tune returns right down to the angle and amount of spin your opponent puts on them. A handful of minigames round out the package.
Multiplayer Options
As important as single-player is to any sports game, chances are you’re most interested in the multiplayer support. Again, both games offer full online options, though this time they’re both in line with what you’d expect; straight up 1v1 matches either with friends or strangers.
We tested both over long-distance and local (same room) matches. Both titles had some inevitable lag when one player in the UK faced off against a friend in California. Of the two, Racket Fury was definitely a smoother experience, though neither offered an ideal solution. For the best results, you’ll need to tackle players closer to you, which results in much better gameplay.
Ultimately, though, which multiplayer you prefer probably comes down to which game’s mechanics you prefer, which leads us onto the most important points…
Authenticity
A vast variety of options is all well and good, but it doesn’t mean all that much if the game doesn’t play very well, does it? Fortunately, both Eleven and Racket Fury hold up on the table, though they both offer their own distinct styles.
For Eleven, realism and authenticity is at the heart of the experience. You know that frustrating feeling you get when picking up a paddle for the first time and sending a ball flying when you thought you gave it a mere tap? Eleven has that. The game requires precise control and patience to a startling degree, so much so that you can pour so much focus into a match you’ll truly forget where you are in a virtual world.
But, just as with the real thing, over time I found myself naturally starting to adapt to Eleven. My returns almost instinctively stopped careening off into the back of the room and I could pretty consistently get a good rally going in single-player. It’s about as close to the real thing as you could hope to get.
Interestingly, Racket Fury offers a take on both realism and something less demanding with an Arcade mode that seeks to lessen that learning curve with a touch of automation. The ironic thing is that, compared to Eleven, the Simulation mode in Racket Fury is still noticeably less convincing. I was surprised, in fact, to find just how different the game felt to Eleven right off the bat (or paddle). The game feels far more forgiving with overpowered hits, as if the ball itself were heavier, and sometimes I felt like my returns were far slicker than they deserved to be. It’s still not a pushover, but something definitely feels just a little off compared to Eleven’s hyper-realism.
Eleven takes the round on realism, then. But there’s something to be said for Racket Fury’s brand of accessible VR ping pong, too…
Accessibility
While Eleven might offer the definitive authentic table tennis VR experience, Racket Fury makes some great strides in accessibility that shouldn’t be overlooked. True, its Simulation mode isn’t quite as convincing as Eleven, but its Arcade mode offers an important option for far more casual players, be they first time VR users, first time table tennis players or those just generally unconcerned with realism.
In this mode, it’s easy to get a rally going by just bringing your paddle up to meet the ball. Wildly overpowered shots will still land you well outside the table, but you can instead focus more on simple reflexes rather than trying to hone your virtual craft. This makes Racket Fury the more instantly accessible game and the better option for, say, passing a headset between friends, though one could argue there’s more worth to investing your time in something you’ll get naturally better at the more you play.
Still, Eleven’s Easy difficulty mode and range of practice options will help you to slowly introduce yourself to the game; it just takes much more dedication than Racket Fury’s Arcade mode. And you can always graduate to Racket Fury’s Simulation mode if you want to graduate beyond Arcade, it’s just not quite as good as Eleven’s offering.
Presentation
Presentation is probably a little lower on your priorities list, especially when, generally speaking, both games look rock-solid on Quest. Tonally, though, both games tend to stick to their roots; Eleven opts for a range of realistic environments with some functional, if relatively basic avatar support. Racket Fury, meanwhile, establishes an entire universe of robo-athletes going head-to-head. Particularly impressive in Racket are the single-player avatars, rarely putting a foot wrong (it probably helps that the robots don’t actually have feet).
Overall
When it comes down to it, the best VR ping pong game is sort of decided on what you want out of the genre in the first place. That might sound like a bit of a cop-out but it’s absolutely true; if you’re looking for a more gentle, forgiving entry point into the sport that doesn’t require any past skill or much in the way of practice, Racket Fury is the way to go. The Arcade mode will get you up and running in an instant with none of the frustration that comes with learning real table tennis, and the option of a more realistic (though inferior t0 Eleven) mode is there if you desire.
But there’s little doubt that Eleven offers a more authentic, demanding table tennis game. And that’s a pertinent point as, even if you think you’ll want the easier experience, in the long term you’d find a deeper, more satisfying rendition of the sport in Eleven, provided you stick with it.
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Racket Fury: Table Tennis VR and Eleven: Table Tennis are both available now on Oculus Quest and other platforms. What do you think the best Oculus Quest ping pong game is? Let is know in the comments below!
A project developed by mechanical engineers Florian Auté and Alexis Roseillier resulted in a 3D printed paddle, grip and holder for an Oculus Touch controller.
The grip replicates the feel of a real racket for use in the VR table tennis game Eleven.
Eleven was already available on PC VR but just launched on the Oculus Quest last week. The game offers realistic physics and environments that simulate the classic game of ping pong. The extreme light weight of a ping pong ball also makes the sport a good candidate to replicate in VR, as the haptic feedback provided is much less than, say, hitting a baseball or tennis ball.
One area that differs the most, though, is replicating the grip of a real table tennis paddle in VR. An Oculus Touch controller, or any other VR current controller, does not have the same grip, feel, orientation or weight as a real table tennis paddle. So modifications to the controller would be needed to make that happen.
To counter this problem, in January Florian Auté began prototyping a way to integrate an Oculus Touch controller with a standard table tennis paddle grip. Auté worked on the initial prototypes with his girlfriend as they focused on connecting an Oculus Touch controller to an existing paddle grip.
Auté then enrolled the help of friends Alexis Roseillier and his wife for their 3D printing knowledge and skills, and they began work on a 3D printed grip. Roseillier and Auté both studied at the same engineering school in France but they live in different countries, the Netherlands and Germany. Auté is a fan of Eleven but Roseillier was not interested in table tennis at the beginning of the project, according to Auté, but now that Roseillier tried their add-on he’s thinking of getting an Oculus Quest.
The final result is a 3D printed racket/paddle holder that securely holds an Oculus Touch controller, while also positioning the center of gravity to more closely match a real table tennis paddle.
According to the creators the total weight is around 167 grams and keeps the controller’s buttons accessible while locked into the 3D printed mount. The tracking remains stable while in the grip, according to Auté, and it can also be used with the table tennis shakehand grip, where your index finger is placed on the back of the paddle.
The user will need to adjust the orientation of the paddle in-game — Eleven allows that kind of customization — so that it matches the offset position of the controller when placed in the grip. We contacted the developers of Eleven and they said they are planning to add a custom preset in the game that will easily adjust the orientation of the simulated paddle to work with the grip without the need for manual alignment.
They posted the 3D model for the grip and it is available free on Thinigverse, an online library where users can upload the files for 3D models they’ve created. This allows others to download the files and print the models with a 3D printer themselves. You can download the grip on the Thingiverse listing now with instructions included on the page. It works with the second generation of Oculus Touch controllers which ship with both the Oculus Quest and Oculus Rift S headsets. An earlier 3D print was made by different creators for the original Oculus Rift Touch controllers.
Here’s a video of the new accessory recorded by the creators and originally posted to Reddit showing how it works:
The print requires a two M4 screws you should be able to get at a hardware store — one with a 10 mm thread length to lock the controller in place — and another with 35 mm thread length for the hinge.
A contact with a 3D printer is sending UploadVR Managing Editor Ian Hamilton two of the prints — one for a right Oculus Touch controller (same as the listing on Thingiverse) and another with a mirrored print for the left Oculus Touch controller. He’s left-handed but his family members are right-handed, so with two of the prints he and his family can use two Quests or a Quest and a Rift S to play table tennis together in their living room. Eleven’s developers say the game should minimize latency when on a shared Wi-Fi network, with a possible delay of only 2-3 milliseconds. In other words, once the prints arrive it should make for an extremely realistic game of table tennis without any physical table or ball.
Are you going to be 3D printing the grip to up your table tennis game in VR? Let us know in the comments below.
All images provided by Florian Auté from Thingiverse and Reddit and posted here with permission. Video rehosted on YouTube with permission from Auté, and the original can be found on Reddit. Managing Editor Ian Hamilton contributed to this post.
Another table tennis game is bouncing its way onto Oculus Quest this week.
Eleven: Table Tennis VR hits the platform on February 27 at 10am PST. For Fun Labs, the game’s developer, confirmed as much over on its official Discord channel this weekend.
Initially released on PC VR headsets all the way back in June 2016, Eleven does pretty much what it says on the tin. You can play table tennis online in a variety of environments ranging from cosy living spaces to the middle of deserts and more. Visually the game has always been a real looker, so we’ll be interested to see how that holds up on Quest.
The game also comes with a handful of other modes to fine tune your skills. Table tennis games make a lot of sense for VR considering you only really need to stand in one place and quickly return a ball.
“We have put a loooot of work in terms of connectivity, match logic, etc the last few days,” the developer noted on Discord. “I’ll try my hardest to also include the big physics update with this launch.”
No word yet on if this might include cross-buy with the Rift version of the game. But this won’t be the first table tennis game to make its way onto Quest; Pixel Edge Games’ Racket Fury: Table Tennis VR arrived on the headset at launch last year. A little head-to-head competition never hurt anyone, did it?
Will you be picking up Eleven: Table Tennis on Quest? Let us know in the comments below!
VR Ping Pong Pro is the upcoming sequel to the 2016 ping pong simulator VR Ping Pong. However now the studio is bringing their 1v1 ping pong game to PSVR as well in addition to HTC Vive and Oculus Rift.
VR Ping Pong Pro is headed to all supported platforms sometime in September. There’s currently both a Steam page and a listing on Viveport, although pricing has yet to be revealed.
The game is said to feature nine new levels including an arcade, a stadium and a Japanese garden, this time with a clear focus on photorealism over the studio’s previous title.
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Image courtesy Reddoll Games, Merge Games, IV
Image courtesy Reddoll Games, Merge Games, IV
Image courtesy Reddoll Games, Merge Games, IV
VR Ping Pong Pro also features racket/ball customization so you can style your kit as you play against five difficulty levels.
Reddoll Games is including player statistics, online rankings and online multiplayer, although the studio hasn’t mentioned whether the latter will be cross platform.
The game features:
Singles Match – (Player vs CPU or Player 1 vs Player 2)
Online multiplayer – choose to play either single matches or tournaments with people from all over the world
Tournament Mode – pyramid-style tournaments are ranked by difficulty
Mini games where you can hone your skills or just have fun!
A variety of photo-realistic environments, placing you right at the centre of the action
True to life physics, (with full-spin mechanics), make it feel like you’re really there!
Customizable Rackets – racket changes serve a practical purpose as well as a visual one, and can alter your serve for example
Racket Fury: Table Tennis VR has been a solid VR ping pong offering for existing headsets since its release in 2017. The game is confirmed to be launching alongside Oculus Quest, which brings with it some interesting advantages which make for a very compelling VR ping pong experience.
Racket Fury really shines on Quest thanks to room-scale tracking out of the box, and no need to be tethered to a computer.
As long as you have the space, it’s easy to set up room-scale (or larger) playspaces with Quest. If you have enough room, you’ll have effectively have no limit on where you can engage the ball at the front of the table, which means you can even go for those leaps and dives to try to save a difficult shot. Because Quest doesn’t require that you face in any specific direction, I was able to maximize my available space by orienting the virtual ping pong table into the corner of my mostly square playspace.
Image by Road to VR
Doing so gave me the full diagonal length of my playspace for maneuvering, opening up enough area that I never felt like I was being restricted by the boundary and could engage the ball as naturally as if I was playing actual table tennis.
The lack of any tether on Quest also means not having to worry about my arm getting caught up, or reaching the end of the tether and yanking my computer when going for a desperate save. Along with Quest’s controller tracking handling the game with no visible issues, the result feels really good, and surprisingly similar to real ping pong.
I’m just a casual ping pong player, but I definitely love getting some good spin on the ball or nailing that slam shot. Racket Fury’s default physics setting is ‘Arcade’, which does an amazingly good job of reading my intentions. Adjusting the paddle rotation so that it felt right in my hand was essential, but once I dialed it in I could put spin on the ball in any direction, easily hit front hand, back hand, and drop slam shots, and all of it felt as satisfying as real ping pong.
There’s also a ‘Simulation’ physics setting which demands more paddle precision in both position and force to get the ball where you want it to go. Simulation mode offers greater challenge and is fun in its own right, though I leaned toward the Arcade setting so that I could focus less on precision and more on the overall strategy of when, where, and how to hit the ball back to the opponent. This Quest launch trailer for the game shows some of the Simulation physics in action:
I spent a few hours going up against the AI in Racket Fury and really quite enjoyed it—it’s ping pong after all, and I imagine anyone who enjoys some casual playing will feel the same (just don’t forget to adjust your paddle rotation!). What’s more, I could feel the game engaging my upper body muscles; it’s not exactly a workout, but a little bonus exercise while having fun is never a bad thing.
The game also features a multiplayer mode which I’m excited to try, though as Quest isn’t out yet there was no sparring partner available just yet. Racket Fury will allow cross-play between Quest and PC headsets, which ought to make it a great way to connect Rift, Vive, and Quest players.
Update (May 16th, 2019): Developer Pixel Edge Games has confirmed that Racket Fury will support cross-buy between Quest and Rift, as well as cross-platform multiplayer. This info has been added to the article above.
With May soon coming to an end it is time for the last Something For The Weekend for the month and this time VRFocus brings you a selection of some of the latest deals on virtual reality (VR) titles from the PlayStation store. With the PlayStation VR home to a number of impressive titles, covering a wide range of genres, there is bound to be something for everyone this weekend. As always, be sure to check back every weekend for even more deals right here on VRFocus.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR
“The achievement made by The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR is one by way of both hardware and design to capitalise upon this. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR’s level of immersion is simply fantastic, and while Bethesda Softworks could well have gone the route of DOOM VFR and created a shorter spin-off experience, developing a brand new The Elder Scrolls instalment specifically for VR would have taken many years and far too much in the way of resources for what is still a nascent audience. As it stands some may find the price point of the videogame a bitter pill to swallow, but for those who dreamed of a truly immersive role-playing experience, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR is simply the best opportunity available today.” – Read VRFocus’ Editor Kevin Joyce’s review of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR.
Have you ever wanted to punch a top hat wearing octopus in the face? Well, in Knockout League that is something you can do. Enter the ring in this arcade boxing title where you will need to go up against a crazy cast of characters to become the champion of the Knockout League in immersive boxing action. Dodge with your body and attack with your hands as you make use of the 1:1 movement to unleash a deadly assault of punches on your foe. Think you can be the champion?
Knockout League is currently available for £15.99 (GBP) down from the usual £24.99 with PlayStation Plus members able to save an extra 10%.
End Space
Jump into the pilot seat of the most advanced starfighter the United Trade Consortium has ever built and enter intense space dogfights in this immersive title. Track targets using your gaze and blast them away with a range of powerful and visually impressive weapons. With plenty of missions and upgrades to unlock as you fight to protect the UTC’s secret jump-drive technology from the Tartarus Liberation Front insurgents. Welcome to the fight, pilot.
End Space is available now on PlayStation VR for £7.99 (GBP) down from £15.99.
Waddle Home
“Waddle Home is a game about life as a benevolent alien who loves saving penguins and solving puzzles. Guide penguins through a snowy world filled with traps, guards, and ice, and lead them back home to the Rescue Ship. Bop blocks and toggle switches to help them escape nasty traps and dodge those pesky robot guards. Save the penguins as fast as you can, and collect all three eggs in each level to get a high score!”
Waddle Home is available now for £3.29 (GBP) on sale from the usual £7.99 for PlayStation VR.
Apex Construct
“Despite some minor gripes, its clear that Apex Construct represents the way forward for VR videogames, an absorbing, intriguing experience that draws you in with a rich world complete with its own history and mysteries to be unravelled as well as a fluid combat system. Apex Construct is the standard by which future VR titles will be judged, and an indicator that VR has stepped up its game.” – Read VRFocus’ Staff Writer Rebecca Hills-Duty’s review of Apex Construct.
Apex Construct is only £17.99 (GBP) down from £24.99 with PlayStation Plus members saving an extra 10%.
VR Ping Pong
If you are looking to lose yourself in some immersive Ping Pong fun then look no further than VR Ping Pong. With a number of different gameplay modes and plenty of immersive environments to play in, Table Tennis fans are sure to enjoy their time in this virtual recreation of the popular sport. With a number of difficulty levels available for the AI in each mode players can fine tune the experience and work their way up to being the ultimate VR Ping Pong champion.
VR Ping Pong is available now on PlayStation VR for £5.79 (GBP) down from £11.99.
Statik
“Statik is a superb example of a puzzle game, intelligent, immersive and lots of fun to play. The subtle story woven through is interesting, the puzzles challenging without being too frustrating. VR is used superbly as an integral part of the experience and not a tacked on gimmick. Definitely worth picking up for anyone who owns a PlayStation VR.” – Read VRFocus’ Staff Writer Rebecca Hills-Duty’s review of Statik.
Statikis currently £7.39 (GBP) down from £15.99 with PlayStation Plus members able to save a further 10%.
VR Karts
“The checkered flag is about to drop on a new Virtual Reality racing experience!Get in the drivers’ seat of your own customized kart and race against other players. Race through stunning environments, collect power ups and use weapons to gain the upper hand over other racers. VR Karts is a fun and family-friendly racing game designed specifically for Virtual Reality.”
VR Kartsis currently on sale for £9.49 (GBP) down from £19.99 for PlayStation VR.
Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-ality
If you are looking for a title that is sure to make laugh out loud and enjoy interacting with two popular character then Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-ality is for you. Be a fan of the show or not, there is something for everyone in this title. Packed full of mini-games and moments to experience, portals to strange worlds to explore and even puzzles to solve, players will be lost within the world of Rick and Morty for sometime with this title and it is sure to be a crazy ride. Time to go Morty!
“The core gameplay itself is fun, amounting to what is essentially a game of hardcore dodgeball. There are strategic elements involving dodging, blocking, rebounds and power-ups as well as careful positioning which can provide plenty of entertainment if you manage to get a full group of humans together. Which unless you have a lot of friends who all have a PlayStation VR and a copy of Smashbox Arena, you probably won’t, since the servers seem to be very sparsely populated. This is partially compensated for with the addition of AI bots, but half the time, the bots are as dumb as rocks and cause more problems than they solve.” – Read VRFocus’ Staff Writer Rebecca Hills-Duty’s review of Smashbox Arena.
Smashbox Arena is available for only £9.99 (GBP) right now on sale from £24.99 for PlayStation VR.
That is all for this week but remember that VRFocus gathers all the best sales and deals every week, so check back next weekend at the same time to discover more.
Table tennis is becoming an increasingly crowded area in the world of VR sport, and Racket Fury aims to differentiate itself with a blend of futuristic visuals, unique robot AI personalities, and detailed physics. The game has been in closed beta since July 6th, and is due to launch on Steam Early Access on July 21st.
The likes of Virtual Sports, VR Ping Pong, and Eleven: Table Tennis VR have capitalised on the close correlation between the light rackets and balls used in real table tennis and the feel and feedback of modern VR motion controllers, but a new entrant is hoping there’s room for improvement, particularly in terms of style and content. Racket Fury: Table Tennis VR from independent developer 10Ants Hill is one to watch, as it appears to be heading towards a fully-featured, well-polished addition to the world of ping pong VR.
Thanks to the hint of sci-fi backstory on the game’s Steam page, we know that the action takes place in the ‘Crown Galaxy’, a place inhabited by the ‘Zen’ robot, who introduced the ‘Racket Fury Tournament’ to maintain the peace. In the single player campaign, you assume the role of a Zen, challenged to face the ‘Division of Steel’, a prestigious team of robots that have dominated the competition. The four main robot types, which increase in difficulty, have been detailed on the Racket Fury twitter account. The developers claim that the advanced opponent AI means that each robot “has their own temper and an utterly unique style of play.”
Image courtesy 10Ants Hill
Currently, the game features 16 opponents, quick-match online multiplayer, 3 arenas, and a ‘workshop’ for character upgrades; the final game promises to double the opponent count, increase the number of environments and upgrade items, and add a ranked multiplayer and event system. Originally due to hit Early Access in April, the team say that the additional three months of development has resulted in “a huge leap” in quality, listing some of the recent changes to the beta on the Steam News page.
image courtesy 10Ants Hill
The recent alpha footage shows a slick interface and impressive visuals, along with some convincing physics and motion-captured opponent animations. The rather awkward and repetitive commentary is jarring, but it can be disabled and the developer says this will be improved for the full release. 10Ants Hill have answered several other concerns in the YouTube comments, saying that the special effects on the ball can also be disabled, and that there are “no assists” affecting the flight of the ball and the physics are “100% pure simulation”. They also confirmed that they are aiming for a PSVR release in the future.
Aside from when videogame’s actually launch the majority of players will likely wait until one of the many winter/summer/black friday/or any other holiday sale to increase their library. At this time of year there’s a bit of a lull in offers, so in comes Bundle Stars with its Pure VR Bundle.
The Pure VR Bundle consists of 10 VR compatible titles for $4.99 USD/$4.59 GBP from Steam. While the offer is available to both Oculus Rift and HTC Vive users, it’s really only suitable for HTC Vive as all the videogames support the headset, only five support Oculus Rift.
They are:
God Of Arrows VR
VR Ping Pong
King Kaiju
Thirst VR
Hoops VR
VRNinja
Bomb U!
Tower Island: Explore, Discover and Disassemble
Sky Jac
Felt Tip Circus
On top of all that there’s a 20 percent discount voucher included for select videogames on the store. These include Batman: Arkham VR, Tabletop Simulator, DiRT Rally, Monstrum, Sports Bar VR and Lethal VR to name a few.
For all the latest VR deals and offers, keep reading VRFocus.
Merge Games Ltd. is set to bring Italian studio Reddoll Srl’s virtual reality (VR) title VR Ping Pong to retail stores across Europe. Having made its debut on HTC Vive last year, VR Ping Pong launched for PlayStation VR via the PlayStation Network last month and is not set to receive a physical edition at retailers across Europe.
VR Ping Pong, as the name suggests, is a recreation of table tennis specifically designed for VR. The videogame features a number of different environments styled as a stadium with a fully animated audience, creating an immersive playing environment. VR Ping Pong also features several additional gameplay modes, such as Practice in which players can train against the AI; Single match mode, allowing for competitive play in a one-off match against the AI; Tournament for multiple match challenges with the goal of becoming a champion; and Arcade to improve your skills and compare your records with friends.
Requiring the PlayStation Move controllers, VR Ping Pong is as much simulation as it is intended for light-hearted gameplay.
The retail package, currently set to be available from 7th April 2017, comes with a much higher price tag than the digital edition. VR Ping Pong is currently available for PlayStation VR via the PlayStation Store with a price of £7.99 GBP, while the HTC Vive version is available via Steam for £6.99. The PlayStation VR physical edition however, is expected to retail for £17.99.
Will VR Ping Pong start a trend for successful PlayStation VR digital titles coming to retail? At present, many titles see a simultaneous launch on the PlayStation Store and at traditional retail. Only time will tell if other publishers will follow Merge Games’ lead. VRFocus will of course keep you updated with all the latest titles coming to PlayStation VR.
