Here it is, guys. The final project. The culmination of years of waiting. Oculus held a “Step into the Rift” event this morning and dropped a ton of new information. We’re here to give you all the info if you didn’t check out our live blog.
So, what did they show?
A new headset that is light enough to be held with one hand. The device also has tracking studs all over it that will be picked up by a sensor that plugs into your computer. The studs and sensor together will track your head movements to allow for the great immersion possible.
According to the Oculus devs, the device is put on exactly like a baseball cap and will rest comfortable on your brow. It has an interior wrapped in cloth to allow for the greatest comfort for the wearer and it can even accommodate those of us who wear glasses. There’s a dial on the exterior of the device that you can shift to change the distance of the lenses from each other to best accommodate the position of your eyes.
They also have built in 360 degree audio, but it can be removed to accommodate headphones.
Any other info I should know?
Indeed there are. First and foremost, it was announced there will be a partnership between Oculus and Microsft, though what that means for the Hololens we’re not sure. The Rift will come with a wireless X-Box One controller, complete with an adapter for your computer.
Phil Spencer also took the stage to tell us that the Rift will natively work with Windows 10. Which is great, because the alternative would be pretty embarrassing.
What about the software?
Several trailers were shown.
First was the impressive EVE Valkyrie trailer from a few months back, featuring some dogfighting and the acting talents of Katee Sackhoff.
Gunfire games announced Chronos, which seems like an interesting Zelda-esque third person fantasy game. While it has a slightly cartoony style, it seems to have some sword combat and great dynamic lighting effects to create a sense of depth. You play a hero over the course of his life as he tries to free a land from a dragon. You will enter a labyrinth over and over again, each time having aged slightly. As a young man, your character will be spry, he’ll have experience in his middle age, but by the time you’re old you will be more frail.
Insomniac Games announced another third person adventure called Edge of Nowhere. It seems to be an Uncharted inspired platformer set in the Antarctic. There looks to be a lot of caves and ice. It will be playable at E3.
Playable demos for games called Damaged Core, VR Sports Challenge, Esper, Airmech (an RTS), and Lucky’s Tale will also be at E3.
Anything about Indie Games?
Yup! Oculus announced a 10 million dollar initiative to support indie games for the Rift.
Wow.
Yeah, talk about putting your money where your mouth is.
Any other partnerships they have going?
They threw up a list of companies near the end of the press conference, but we didn’t catch all of them. Two names that stood out were Square Enix and Harmonix.
Will the Oculus have an software interface?
Yes. It’s called Oculus Home and it’s a hub so you can get to your games, social media, the Oculus store, etc. It’s very much inspired by X-Box Live.
I heard about a new controller, what about that?
It’s called the Oculus Touch and it looks amazing. We have a separate in depth article about that. Check it out if you’d like to know more.
When does the Oculus Rift come out?
Q1 2016, which means anywhere from the beginning of January to the end of March 2016.
2 Comments