Augmented & Virtual Reality Confabulation
What Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality developers are talking about
You can get Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice for free when buying an Xbox One from Newegg. Eight different bundles are available for this deal, so you can walk away with Sekiro and another game such as The Division 2 or Anthem.
The post Get Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice for free when buying an Xbox One appeared first on Digital Trends.
Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) surprised everyone this month by announcing that PlayStation wouldn’t be attending the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) next year, marking the first time the PlayStation brand won’t be gracing the hallowed halls of the Los Angeles Convention Centre. Whilst this will impact PlayStation 4 fans eager for the latest news and hands-on gameplay – there’s no press conference either – the impact on virtual reality (VR) could be even greater.
Having attended E3 2018 and seen the stand I know the absence of PlayStation cannot be taken lightly. Two booths dominated the West Hall, PlayStation, and Nintendo, side by side vying for attendees attention. In fact, PlayStation had three booths in total, with the smaller two splitting North American and European press.
What they all had on display was a decent roster of PlayStation VR’s, showcasing titles such as Astro Bot Rescue Mission, Firewall Zero Hour, Tetris Effect, and many more. There were so many that I actually spent a great deal of time purely on the PlayStation stand. Once I managed to tear myself away and investigate the rest of the show one thing was instantly apparent, there were no other big VR stands.
Sure, VR was sporadically dotted around the halls in the smaller stands, but there was no real support from any of the other big players. Without PlayStation VR my job covering the event would have been over much quicker.
So what’s going to happen? Will Oculus or HTC Vive use this opportunity to make a big impact at the event. It’s hard to say at the moment. Both tend to use the Game Developers Conference (GDC) as their main event of choice, with Oculus hosting a fairly large stand while HTC Vive is usually found under the Steam banner.
Oculus hasn’t attended E3 officially since 2016, and HTC Vive never has, with the headsets only being found on indie developer stands. It would be a great chance for them to make a serious impact during the most well-known videogame show in the world. But Facebook is slowly but surely absorbing Oculus under its own banner, and may not consider a big traditional expensive stand to be worthwhile.
And then there’s Microsoft. It didn’t have a dedicated stand during E3 2018, but was part of the event, holding its press conference at the Microsoft Theatre. Will the company use this unusual turn of events to announce VR for Xbox One? Probably not in all honesty. Ever since its Xbox One X announcement during E3 2016 which did mention VR support, Microsoft went virtually silent, and there’s been no further mention of compatibility. It would be a boon for the industry if the company did make a surprise reveal during the show – especially for Windows Mixed Reality headsets – however, my feelings are they would have done this by now.
Being honest I’m somewhat apprehensive about E3 2019 when it comes to VR. It will be there, I’ve no doubt in that, just in what quantity. Booths like IndieCade will be there alongside smaller developer stands. To have a proper presence at an event like E3 you need to be a global company with cash to burn, and a good portion of the industry isn’t. They’re small studios and startups looking to help push the industry forward whilst working out ways of making a profit. What I’d love to see is a big dedicated VR area with a giant neon VR sign hovering above. Think that would work?
Another Black Friday and Cyber Monday have come and gone, and if you want to grab an Xbox One X but missed the weekend deals, then Walmart has this awesome 4K gaming console on sale for just $410 while stock lasts.
The post Cyber Week deal: Take $90 off the Xbox One X 4K gaming console appeared first on Digital Trends.
A new report from Cnet claims what we’ve long suspected; Microsoft’s Xbox VR headset has been put on ice.
The tech site cites sources familiar with the matter in saying that Microsoft was indeed working on a VR headset for its Xbox One console and had even partnered with a few developers to bring games to the system. Sources reportedly noted that the headset’s specs were good, but didn’t measure up to the Oculus Rift or HTC Vive, which suggests it may have been in line with Sony’s PlayStation VR (PSVR) headset for PS4. Plans for a release were apparently put on hold in order to wait for better technology that could deliver a much more immersive experience.
Microsoft’s messaging around Xbox VR definitely seems to correlate with this story. Nearly two and a half years ago at E3 2016 the company introduced its upgraded Xbox One console, Xbox One X to the world, stating that it was capable of true 4K gaming and “high fidelity VR”. A video teasing the project even included Bethesda’s Todd Howard talking about the VR version of Fallout 4 the studio was making at the time. In early 2017, the company again teased that the console would get “mixed reality experiences” in 2018.
Then, later on at E3 2017, Xbox One X was revealed in full without so much as a mention of VR. Xbox executives stated that the console could run VR experiences, but wouldn’t confirm that it ever actually would. In an interview just before the show, the company’s Alex Kipman stated that it was Microsoft’s belief that “console VR should be wireless”.
Fast forward a year later to E3 2018 and Microsoft finally admitted it had no plans to bring VR to Xbox One X at this time. Microsoft has partnered with companies like Dell and Asus to release a line of Windows Mixed Reality VR headsets, but these are only for PC.
It would seem that any plans for VR on Xbox One X are dead, then, but this report does at least leave hope for the future of Xbox VR. At this year’s E3 Head of Xbox Phil Spencer confirmed that the company is hard at work on “the next Xbox consoles”. Hopefully VR is a part of that work.
Tagged with: Xbox One X, Xbox VR
The post Microsoft’s Xbox VR Headset Put On Hold – Report appeared first on UploadVR.
Bereits 2017 veröffentlichte Microsoft die Xbox One X, welche sich zum damaligen Zeitpunkt nicht nur als leistungsstärkste Konsole der Welt einen Namen machen, sondern ursprünglich auch Virtual-Reality-Erfahrungen unterstützen sollte. Der VR-Support blieb jedoch aus und man konzentrierte sich vorerst auf die Windows-PC-Brillen. Lange Zeit blieb es still um das Thema, nun verkündete Mike Nichols in einem Interview, dass es auch in Zukunft keine native VR-Unterstützung für Xbox-Konsolen geben soll.
Unter dem Projekt Xbox Scorpio kündigte Microsoft bereits 2016 eine VR-fähige Konsole an, die spätestens 2018 Highend-MR-Inhalte offenbaren sollte. Auf der Pressekonferenz der E3 2017 wurde später die Xbox One X enthüllt, doch das Thema Virtual Reality blieb zunächst außen vor. Lange Zeit hörte man daraufhin nichts mehr von einem VR-Support für die hauseigene Konsole, nun gibt es Neuigkeiten.
In einem kürzlichen Interview mit Gameindustry.biz verkündete Mike Nichols, Marketing-Chef von Microsoft, dass VR-Support vorerst keine Rolle bei der Xbox-Konsole spielen soll. Stattdessen fokussiere man sich auf die MR-Brillen für den PC. Dies begründet er mit den Vorteilen der offenen Plattform:
“Wir haben vorerst keine konkreten Pläne Virtual Reality oder Mixed Reality in unserer Xbox-Konsole umzusetzen. Aus unserer Sichtweise ist der PC auch weiterhin die beste Plattform, um immersive VR- und MR-Erfahrungen anzubieten. Als offene Plattform ist es dort einfacher und schneller möglich zu iterieren. Es gibt zahlreiche Unternehmen, die innerhalb dieses Markts investieren und neue Hardware, Software oder sogar beides beisteuern.”
Ob dieses Statement auch für zukünftige Generationen der Konsole gilt, ist derzeit unklar. Auf der E3 bestätigte Microsoft die Entwicklung der nächsten Xbox-Konsolen, die in den kommenden Jahren erscheinen soll.
(Quellen: Gamesindustry.biz | Upload VR)
Der Beitrag Microsoft: Zukünftig kein VR-Support für Xbox-Konsolen geplant zuerst gesehen auf VR∙Nerds. VR·Nerds am Werk!
Back at E3 2016, Microsoft’s Head of Xbox Phil Spencer announced on stage that the Xbox One X (then ‘Project Scorpio’) would become the industry’s next VR-compatible console, positioning the platform to compete with Sony’s PSVR with what Spencer called “high fidelity VR.” Now, it appears, Microsoft’s chief marketing officer for gaming Mike Nichols has put a final nail in the Xbox One VR coffin in a recent GamesIndustry.biz interview, saying the company doesn’t have “any plans specific to Xbox One consoles.”
The company was initially bullish about Xbox One VR integration back in 2016, which included the announcement that Bethesda would eventually bring Fallout 4 VR (2018) to the platform—a game that still hasn’t made it to PSVR. Shortly after, Microsoft backpedaled however, indicating that one major roadblock to VR on Xbox was the ability to offer a fully wireless experience. Trouble in paradise? We weren’t so sure.
After two years of near silence on the team’s promised integration of VR into the Xbox ecosystem, Spencer offered a bold glimpse of the team’s future tech on stage at E3 2018, including gaming AI and new consoles (plural), but critically left out VR as area of future investment. The talk of new consoles comes less than one year since the Xbox One X hardware refresh was released in November 2017. Only one month prior, the company released a bevy of Windows VR headsets from various PC hardware vendors, and a big update to Windows 10 which bakes VR directly into the operating system.
Until now, Microsoft has almost entirely silent about their promise, which Spencer said in 2016 would “lead the industry into a future in which true 4K gaming and high-fidelity VR are the standard, not an exception.” Now that appears to have changed completely.
“We don’t have any plans specific to Xbox consoles in virtual reality or mixed reality,” Nichols told Games Industry. “Our perspective on it has been and continues to be that the PC is probably the best platform for more immersive VR and MR. As an open platform, it just allows faster, more rapid iteration. There are plenty of companies investing in it in the hardware side and the content side, or some combination therein. Obviously on phones, augmented reality is a good scenario as well that’s going to grow. But as it relates to Xbox, no. Our focus is primarily on experiences you would play on your TV, and ultimately we’d like to make those experiences more broadly.”
While it’s clear the company as a whole is investing in both virtual reality and augmented reality, any hope for Windows “Mixed Reality” VR compatibility is entirely gone, as the Xbox team dials in on it next TV-centric console(s), which according to Nichols’ statement, continues to be the company’s primary focus for its consoles.
The post Microsoft Affirms No Plans for VR on Xbox Consoles appeared first on Road to VR.
Over the past couple of years there has been a great deal of speculation on whether or not Microsoft intend to bring virtual reality (VR) to the Xbox. The company itself has seemed to zig-zag on the issue, making it quite hard to discover what is really going on. At last it seems, Xbox fans are getting some answers.
Microsoft offers the audience pretty much everything they could ask for during its E3 2018 keynote, with a whole host of new titles announced, and even a tease about new hardware, but no sign of VR.
Techradar noticed the same thing, and set out on a mission to get to the heart of what exactly is going on with regards to VR and the Xbox by speaking to Xbox’s Corporate Vice President, Mike Ybarra.
Ybarra said that there were reasons why Microsoft had refrained from bringing VR to Xbox One X: “For us, we’re going to continue to invest on the Windows side where people are engaging. Our MR devices work with Steam games now – I love what’s happening there – and in the living room there are still, in my opinion, challenges to be solved. But we’re looking at that and we’re listening to customers and fans, but our investment profile will remain on Windows for now.”
When further pressed for details about who Microsoft might be talking to with regards to bringing VR to consoles, Ybarra said he couldn’t comment at this time, but also declined to say there was zero chance of VR making it to Microsoft’s consoles.
Some developers and analysts have pointed out that the similarities between a current-generation Windows 10 PC and the Xbox One means it would be relatively simple to make the Windows Mixed Reality range of devices compatible with the Xbox, but Ybarra’s comments indicate that Microsoft is concentrating on keeping MR in the PC sphere for now.
For future coverage of news from the VR industry, keep checking back with VRFocus.
Back in 2016, at the E3 reveal of the Xbox ‘Project Scorpio’ (which would go on to become the company’s flagship Xbox One X), Microsoft said the console would bring “high fidelity VR” to Xbox. But after backpedaling from those plans, today marked the second E3 without a peep from the company about VR on the Xbox One X, even while touting a deep investment in the future of the platform, and continuing a VR push on its PC platform that’s isolated from Xbox.
We weren’t exactly surprised not to hear any significant announcements about VR from the Xbox E3 presentation today. After announcing in 2016 that the Xbox One X would offer VR capabilities, and even announcing a VR game that would be coming to the console, they later backpedaled, indicating that one major roadblock to VR on Xbox was the ability to offer a fully wireless experience.
But with Sony in the lead in console sales, and the PSVR bringing in hundreds of millions in revenue and new gamers that are being left on the table by Xbox, we figured they might at least consider VR worth mentioning when they talked about their commitment to investing in future technology for the platform (especially considering that Microsoft has already entered the VR game on the PC side). Alas.
Xbox head Phil Spencer capped off the company’s E3 presentation today with a bold glimpse of the future of Xbox technology and content:
In this significant moment, we are constantly challenging ourselves. Our answer? We commit and harness the full breadth of our resources at Microsoft to deliver on the future of play. Our experts in Microsoft research are developing the future of gaming AI, so the worlds and characters we enjoy will be even more rich and more immersive. Our cloud engineers are building a game-streaming network to unlock console quality gaming on any device. Not only that, we’re dedicated to perfecting your experience everywhere you want to play. On your Xbox, your PC, or your phone. And of course, our hardware team. The same team, that delivered unprecedented performance with Xbox One X, is deep into architecting the next Xbox consoles, where we will once again deliver on our commitment to set the benchmark for console gaming. And let’s talk about our games themselves. We are committed to building an industry leading first party studios organization. And as you saw earlier, we’re making one of our greatest single-year investments in teams by adding five new creative studios. We have committed our team, our company, our technical resources, so we can declare to you today, and next year, and all of the years after that: you will always experience the best in gaming on Xbox.
It’s been less than a year since Microsoft released the Xbox One X, and though it’s just a mid-cycle console refresh, it’s still surprising to hear the company already talking about future “consoles.” The question then, perhaps, is whether or not the Xbox One X will see VR introduced at some point during its lifecycle, or if Microsoft will wait until an entirely new console generation to bring VR to Xbox.
The post Xbox Boasts Investment in Future Tech, But Still Silent on VR After Backpedaling appeared first on Road to VR.
Back in 2016, at the E3 reveal of the Xbox ‘Project Scorpio’ (which would go on to become the company’s flagship Xbox One X), Microsoft said the console would bring “high fidelity VR” to Xbox. But after backpedaling from those plans, today marked the second E3 without a peep from the company about VR on the Xbox One X, even while touting a deep investment in the future of the platform, and continuing a VR push on its PC platform that’s isolated from Xbox.
We weren’t exactly surprised not to hear any significant announcements about VR from the Xbox E3 presentation today. After announcing in 2016 that the Xbox One X would offer VR capabilities, and even announcing a VR game that would be coming to the console, they later backpedaled, indicating that one major roadblock to VR on Xbox was the ability to offer a fully wireless experience.
But with Sony in the lead in console sales, and the PSVR bringing in hundreds of millions in revenue and new gamers that are being left on the table by Xbox, we figured they might at least consider VR worth mentioning when they talked about their commitment to investing in future technology for the platform (especially considering that Microsoft has already entered the VR game on the PC side). Alas.
Xbox head Phil Spencer capped off the company’s E3 presentation today with a bold glimpse of the future of Xbox technology and content:
In this significant moment, we are constantly challenging ourselves. Our answer? We commit and harness the full breadth of our resources at Microsoft to deliver on the future of play. Our experts in Microsoft research are developing the future of gaming AI, so the worlds and characters we enjoy will be even more rich and more immersive. Our cloud engineers are building a game-streaming network to unlock console quality gaming on any device. Not only that, we’re dedicated to perfecting your experience everywhere you want to play. On your Xbox, your PC, or your phone. And of course, our hardware team. The same team, that delivered unprecedented performance with Xbox One X, is deep into architecting the next Xbox consoles, where we will once again deliver on our commitment to set the benchmark for console gaming. And let’s talk about our games themselves. We are committed to building an industry leading first party studios organization. And as you saw earlier, we’re making one of our greatest single-year investments in teams by adding five new creative studios. We have committed our team, our company, our technical resources, so we can declare to you today, and next year, and all of the years after that: you will always experience the best in gaming on Xbox.
It’s been less than a year since Microsoft released the Xbox One X, and though it’s just a mid-cycle console refresh, it’s still surprising to hear the company already talking about future “consoles.” The question then, perhaps, is whether or not the Xbox One X will see VR introduced at some point during its lifecycle, or if Microsoft will wait until an entirely new console generation to bring VR to Xbox.
The post Xbox Boasts Investment in Future Tech, But Still Silent on VR After Backpedaling appeared first on Road to VR.
