I have fond memories of playing Desert Strike from Electronic Arts on my Sega Genesis (also released on a billion other platforms) growing up. The game was fascinating to me because unlike similar sidescrolling or top-down scrolling shooters, such as the classic arcade game 1942 for example, Desert Strike actually had large levels for you to...
Category: News
Virtual and augmented reality news
Exclusive: SMI’s ‘Social Eye’ Tracking Breathes Life Into Avatars
Social interactions are, for better or worse, becoming an ever more essential feature for the new technologies and ideas being pumped out of the world’s innovation centers. This mantra may lead to unnecessary add-ons that bloat some startups unnecessarily but, for the VR revolution in particular, it is a puzzle in desperate need of solving. You can see...
The Oculus Rift Is Finally Out—Here Are Its Biggest Downsides
The Oculus Rift is finally shipping to customers in more than 20 countries, and we’re getting a good idea of how the device holds up from the initial reviews. You’ll see some common threads throughout: along with an impressive virtual reality experience, the device is very comfortable with a solid design. But it’s not all...
Oculus Demos Minecraft for Gear VR, Complete with a Side of Nausea
Since its purchase by Microsoft in 2014, Minecraft has regularly been pushed to new platforms such as Windows 10, Wii U, and Fire TV. In that spirit, Microsoft-owned Mojang has been developing virtual- and augmented-reality versions of the blocky sandbox game. Recently, Oculus, whose technology powers the Samsung Gear VR, demoed a modified Minecraft Pocket...
Fly with Superman Thanks to This Integrative Roller Coaster Experience
Six Flags is teaming up with Samsung to make riding a roller coaster a little more thrilling, and quite possibly a little more nauseating as well. Six Flags is adding a virtual experience to nine roller coasters, which riders can experience via a Samsung Gear VR. It seems similar in concept to the simulator rides...
McDonald's Is Making Happy Meal Boxes That Transform into VR Headsets
Another day, another company hopping on the virtual reality bandwagon. Today, it’s fast food behemoth McDonald’s, which is testing limited edition Happy Meal boxes that you can turn into a VR headset by punching out a couple holes and tearing along a few perforated seams. The resulting headset is a lot like Google Cardboard, with...
Oculus Rift Preorders Finally Begin on January 6th
Virtual reality technology company Oculus VR announced that it will begin accepting preorders for its long-awaited Oculus Rift headset beginning Wednesday, January 6th, at 8 a.m. Pacific time. The Facebook-owned company hasn’t released any pricing details yet, but the blog post that the preorder was announced on mentioned that information will be available on “everything...
Exclusive: Mobile Headset Maker Homido Claims 500,000 Total Units Sold
Most VR companies have stayed relatively tight-lipped about sales figures. We don’t have a clear idea on precisely how many units have been sold for the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, PlayStation VR, Daydream View, or any other major headset on the market. However, uncovering sales figures for comparable and similar platforms, such as Homido’s line...
The Future of Music in VR: Mobile or Tethered?
Strap on a headset and fire up Tyler Hurd’s “Old Friend,” and you’re instantly transported to a world of little green men flailing in time to indie band Future Islands. The experience is beautiful and immersive — for a few minutes, you feel like you’ve left earth and headed to another dimension in a bizarre,...
NOLO VR Promises $99 Positional Tracking and SteamVR Gaming on Any Mobile VR Headset
NOLO VR is an intriguing Lighthouse-like positional tracking system designed to bring ‘room scale’ positional tracking and motion controls to mobile VR headsets. On top of that, the company is claiming SteamVR ‘compatibility’ through remote play via Riftcat’s VRidge software, all with an expected launch price of $99. You can sense CES is just around the corner as...