Octopus Overlords

Star Trek: Bridge Crew, sampled on this occasion via Oculus Rift, is the best multiplayer virtual reality experience I've had so far—not that I have a great deal to go on, admittedly, both in terms of alternatives played and measuring the depth of the (full) game in question.

I play this demo mission—rescue people, don't die yourself—twice in the company of Motherboard's Ben Sullivan (who's written his own assessment of the session, from the perspective of being quite the Trekkie, here) and a couple of on-hand Ubisoft representatives, which possibly gives us an advantage: after all, they've seen what plays out numerous times before.

And yet, the teamwork aspect of the operation is paramount to its success, and one or two people in the four-person crew being adept won't be enough to guarantee a winning result.

Communication is therefore everything in Bridge Crew—and having been a little skeptical about its novelty appeal back at E3, not being a Star Trek fan in the slightest myself, I'm surprised to find myself loving every second of each play through.

Grifman wrote:A sad new thing on VR:

http://money.cnn.com/2016/10/24/technol ... index.html

PlayStation VR is going to launch with a game that allows players to sexually assault a woman who is actively asking them to stop. Yes, that's exactly as gross as it sounds and yes, of course the game is Dead or Alive Xtreme 3. The game's virtual reality update is slated to launch on the same day as PlayStation VR, and features a handful of experiences designed to let players ogle the female body. A video from Gamer.ne.jp shows that one of these game modes features active harassment -- allowing a player to continually touch a woman who is verbally protesting.

Zitterbacke wrote:I will wait for more games that allow me to do magical things, or create space-stations, maybe RPG, or a No Man's Sky, but done well. Something I'd like to be immersed into, no creepy shockers or war-zones. And possibly wait for first reports of kids that fried their brains. Better theirs than mine.

TiLT wrote:

Zitterbacke wrote:I will wait for more games that allow me to do magical things, or create space-stations, maybe RPG, or a No Man's Sky, but done well. Something I'd like to be immersed into, no creepy shockers or war-zones. And possibly wait for first reports of kids that fried their brains. Better theirs than mine.

Sounds like you might enjoy Elite: Dangerous, which is arguably still the best VR game out there. It's very immersive, and you never have to fire a weapon if you don't want to (you do have to be prepared to run from attackers from time to time however). Equipping a ship for exploration and heading out into the unknown to be the first player to ever set foot on an alien planet is a magical experience in VR. I've sometimes taken my buggy and just sat there, looking at the beauty of a binary sunset on some distant snow planet, feeling utterly alone in a good way. There's nothing else quite like it. I would never play this game outside of VR again. It just wouldn't be the same.

Jaymann wrote:When is the next gen/lower price version coming out?

Jaymann wrote:When is the next gen/lower price version coming out?

coopasonic wrote:I got an award at work that comes with a 1500 prize... that has me thinking about this stuff for real now. My PC is already up to snuff per whatever app I found on steam that is supposed to know such things, so it would just be the VR hardware.... I need to try this stuff out somewhere. I heard Microsoft stores have the Vive? Does anyone have Oculus Rift to demo?

wonderpug wrote:
Also, if you ever find yourself 600 miles westward for some reason, you're welcome to stop by and try mine.

TiLT wrote:

Zitterbacke wrote:I will wait for more games that allow me to do magical things, or create space-stations, maybe RPG, or a No Man's Sky, but done well. Something I'd like to be immersed into, no creepy shockers or war-zones. And possibly wait for first reports of kids that fried their brains. Better theirs than mine.

Sounds like you might enjoy Elite: Dangerous, which is arguably still the best VR game out there. It's very immersive, and you never have to fire a weapon if you don't want to (you do have to be prepared to run from attackers from time to time however). Equipping a ship for exploration and heading out into the unknown to be the first player to ever set foot on an alien planet is a magical experience in VR. I've sometimes taken my buggy and just sat there, looking at the beauty of a binary sunset on some distant snow planet, feeling utterly alone in a good way. There's nothing else quite like it. I would never play this game outside of VR again. It just wouldn't be the same.

Porn was famously responsible for the marked increase in high-speed internet connections in the late nineties. And, as virtual reality becomes more realistic and haptic feedback more expected, VR porn is angling to become the industry’s next big data suck. CamSoda’s BlowCast is a teledildonics play designed to be integrated into an immersive experience.

Here’s how it works: Those wishing to provide the blowjob do their work on a dildo that records the pressure exerted. That data is compiled into a blowjob file, which is housed on CamSoda servers. Those wishing to receive mechanical head download that information to their computer, which then plays it using a “sleeve” that costs around $250. That device uses its inside rings to deploy the recorded oral.

Unagi wrote:So, educate me here....

How does one play a game (without these special controllers) like Elite: Dangerous , where the keyboard is used, while one is wearing the headset?

(I may be getting an Oculus for Xmas)

The appropriately-named Global Virtual Reality Association (GVRA) is made up of Acer, Google, HTC, Oculus, Samsung and Sony and will work to “promote responsible development and adoption of VR globally”.

No software-only companies are included in the partnership, with some hardware big players also missing. Most conspicuous by its absence is Valve, the company behind the Steam store and SteamVR platform used by the HTC Vive. Microsoft, which is working on the HoloLens augmented reality system, is also not involved.

The hope for consumers will be for the GVRA to introduce compatibility between different VR hardware and software. In a statement, the non-profit said it would “share best practices for industry and foster dialogue between public and private stakeholders” while also serving as a “resource” for consumers, policymakers and industry interested in working with VR.

Buatha wrote:Arizona Sunshine is the type of game I've been waiting for...shooting zombies and not being forced to stand in one place.

TiLT wrote:

Buatha wrote:Arizona Sunshine is the type of game I've been waiting for...shooting zombies and not being forced to stand in one place.

It's really good. I've been playing it for the past hour, and it's been a very satisfying experience. It's also one of those rare VR games that feel like real games instead of limited experiments.

Getting swarmed by zombies is pretty stressful in a good way, without resorting to jump scares or outright horror.

wonderpug wrote:

TiLT wrote:

Buatha wrote:Arizona Sunshine is the type of game I've been waiting for...shooting zombies and not being forced to stand in one place.

It's really good. I've been playing it for the past hour, and it's been a very satisfying experience. It's also one of those rare VR games that feel like real games instead of limited experiments.

Getting swarmed by zombies is pretty stressful in a good way, without resorting to jump scares or outright horror.

I'm also really liking it so far, but I think I'm going to wait until my 3rd sensor arrives before I play much more. I'm using the two-in-front sensor configuration right now and in Arizona Sunshine I've been finding I have to reset my orientation more often than I'd like in order to keep myself facing the sensors.

wonderpug wrote:Does it turn you in 45° increments or something, or does it do analog turning like a traditional FPS? The latter is barf city for me in VR.

A US court has ordered Facebook and other defendants to pay $500m (£395m) after finding they unlawfully used a firm's virtual reality technology.

The jury found Oculus, which Facebook bought in 2014, used computer code belonging to video game developer Zenimax to launch its own VR headset.

Oculus said it was "disappointed" and would appeal against the ruling.

[...]

Shortly before the results came out, the court awarded Zenimax damages from Facebook, Oculus and Oculus executives following a three-week trial.

Zenimax argued that its early innovations in virtual reality were unlawfully copied when Oculus built its own headset, the Rift.

"We are pleased that the jury in our case in the US District Court in Dallas has awarded Zenimax $500m for defendants' unlawful infringement of our copyrights and trademarks," said Zenimax chief executive Robert Altman.

The co-founder of Oculus, Palmer Luckey, was also found to have broken a non-disclosure agreement with the firm.

However, the jury ruled that none of the defendants misappropriated Zenimax's trade secrets.