Tag Archive for: oculus

Boiling Steel – SCI FI VR Madness

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MicroWin Studio, the studio behind Guns ‘n’ Stories: Bulletproof VR, have announced an amazing Sci-Fi VR shooter. It’s called Boiling Steel and will come to Steam Early access on December 5th 2019.

Boiling Steel has been in development since early 2018. It’s made for gamers who love fast-paced action! Which is also wrapped in a complex story rich setting. It’s written by a member of the team behind the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series.

From what we can see this game has some beautiful graphics, smooth controls and a lot of action! Boiling Steel has an arsenal of upgradable construction tools too. Which provide a truly unique experience!

Boiling Steel: Plot

The story of Boiling Steel is set far in the future and centered around a colonized planet. This planet has been designed to be a bastion of scientific research and development. Furthermore it is free of bureaucratic, religious, and legal restrictions and the technology is very very advanced.

So, by utilizing the ability to transfer a human consciousness to a robotic shell (how cool does that sound!). Players are able to do hazardous work in mines and factories without the need to worry about danger. You are eager for the chance at a better life. Therefore you get really excited about working for the Engineering Corps.

However, radical fanatics with unknown motives launch a virus into the system. Messing things up real bad. Empty shells run rampant as they’re controlled by the virus. Murdering anyone they can find.

This leads players to a number of questions such as:

Who is behind the virus attack and why?
Why haven’t the military arrived to rescue the colonists?

You get inquizitive and it’s up to you, even with your construction equipment, to get to the bottom of the issue.

Included in Boiling Steel:

  • 9 tools, each with unique playstyle, upgrades, and handling
  • Experience upgrade system: The more you use a tool, the more powerful it becomes.
  • Furthermore, be rewarded for sticking with a favorite.
  • Non-story missions are randomly generated to make each playthrough exciting and unique.
  • Plus, more than 40 combat missions! Equaling over 10 hours of action-packed VR shooting goodness.
  • A variety of enemy shells with a multitude of armaments, configurations, and combat style.
  • Overcome planetary security systems! Such as automated turrets, minefields, energy barriers. Achieve even more with smarts, quick reflexes, and puzzle-solving ability.
  • Also, explore cloud-city complexes, frozen structures, sandy mining platforms, and more.

Purchase via Steam here!

Early Access Release Date: Dec 5th 2019

Price: $19.99

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Episode 301 Gadget Show’s Georgie Barrat

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VR Concert

The First VR Concert

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Our friends over at Mashable are reporting about the recent Oculus Venue concert from Vance Joy. Vance performed at the Colorado Red Rock Amphitheatre and it was beamed across the world as a live VR concert.

It was part of a brand new feature that’s available for the Oculus Go and Samsung Gear VR. A feature that allows users to watch live events with friends in VR! To show off this cool feature Facebook offered a free concert from Australian Vance Joy to concert goers back in May. It wasn’t pre-recorded and beamed across the world like a DVD showing. It was an actual live event. A first for Facebook/Oculus but not a brand new thing. To be eligible for this you had to have an Oculus Account, the Oculus iOS/Android App and a Oculus Go or Gear VR headset. Bad luck any of you top of the line Oculus owners, you were out of luck. Then open up the Venue section and connect to the event.

Event

Just like in real life you sit down in a stadium , albeit a virtual one, looking at the Red Rock Amphitheatre. Look around and it’s filled with other VR concert goers in avatar form. You are able to watch in both solo mode or with others in social mode too. While as you would expect social mode allows you to chat with other fans, in an attempt from Oculus to make it feel like an actual concert. Like you’re there, without actually being there. If you are wondering too, you can chat to them using your voice and not messaging one another. Though as Oculus is Facebook owned, if you share common interests with the person next to you, it will show up on screen.

VR concert: Behaviour

As is like the real world you’re going to have to behave yourself, upon entering the arena, Mashable are reporting that you are presented with a code of conduct screen. Which we’re not sure if many people will read, yet, Mashable are reporting that it states not to harass, use any offensive language or display anti-social behaviour. So like in real life at concerts. Don’t be a d*ck.

If someone is being the aforementioned body part you can click on their avatar and Facebook will look into it. While they may not get kicked out straight away, you are able to mute and block them. If only that feature could work in the real world. However, you can add them as an Oculus friend. You can turn up the music and turn down the chat volume of the crowd too. With Mashable reporting that this was a real pleasing part of the experience! To add to this experience trumping a real life concert, there are no phones in your face recording the event. People are too busy enjoying the music or talking to one another. Something that really should happen in real life in all honesty.

Is it worth it?

Enjoy music at home, without the commute home, pushing and shoving, drugged up skinny teenagers trying to sell you dodgy pills, p*ss bottles, should know better middle aged people trying to be cool or the rowdy couple who couldn’t wait to get home. While all that sounds rather inviting and pleasing, maybe that’s what concerts are all about. The experience, the atmosphere isn’t just the same as being there. That’s what it feels like, hopefully we get the chance to experience this in How To Kill An Hour towers ourselves, as it seems rather intriguing!

Click here to purchase Oculus Go or Samsung Gear

Crisis On The Planet Of The Apes

Crisis On The Planet Of The Apes VR

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FoxNext VR studio have recently announced Crisis On The Planet Of The Apes. A VR game based on the Planet of The Apes saga! A first person action adventure game that’s available on all VR platforms from April 2018!

Available April 3rd on, Playstation VR, HTC Vive and Oculus Rift. Crisis On The Planet Of The Apes, takes place between two movies. The Rise of the Planet of the Apes and Dawn of the Planet of The Apes Movies. Five years since the outbreak of the Simian Flu, which has wiped out half of humanity and primates evolved.

Crisis On The Planet Of The Apes: Plot

So, the destinies of the two species are at a crossroads, you take the shape of an Ape, an Ape that is of advanced intelligence. You’re captured and held prisoner in an guarded facility as mankind searches for a cure. Consequently, it is here, where you take on the mission of managing through the violent world to escape, gather up your fellow primates and return home to Caesar.

You play from the primates perspective, become part of the storyline, captured and forced into conflict with humans. Fighting for their lives as they attempt to escape bitter captivity. Furthermore, players are expected to join forces with other captive apes, confront human violence and channel primate instincts to survive.

“VR has always held the promise of bringing together the cinematic storytelling of film and the deeply immersive interactivity of games. Crisis on the Planet of the Apes VR takes this potential to the next level….We set out to give the fan a lead role in this dark Planet of the Apes world – to feel the ape’s strength, power and movement as he fights his way to safety.”  Brendan Handler, SVP & GM, FoxNext VR Studio.

To listen to the guys chatting about this please click here!

 

Oculus Gloves

Oculus Gloves: Immersion crazy!

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Oculus Rift are looking to make VR a lot more immersive and we cannot wait! If their latest patents come to fruition that is. Oculus Rift are said to be working on a set of Oculus Gloves that provide haptic feedback, throwing a user into a world of immersion never seen before!

Oculus Gloves: How they work

The patents describe “tendons” within the gloves that mimic and simulate the sense of a realistic touch. All within the virtual world, so they’d tense and relax based on what your doing. Such as picking up a glass of water, or opening a door. While this sounds super cool, it won’t be the same as holding something in your hand though. As your fingers and hands are able to sense that your holding something through pressure in your fingers. Yet these designs from Oculus work in a different way. They work opposite, in the sense that the tendons will run along the back of your hand. Using the haptic feeback to offer resistance to your own movements.  Thus mimicking that your touching an object. So not the same, but pretty darn close!

The Oculus gloves are described by the guys over at Digital Trends as having string tied to the backs of your hands. Pulling at you and making the action of clenching your fists a little bit different. Yet in real life, you’d see the effect with your own eyes. Therefore if you’re in a VR world, the input in your eyes you’d experience the action of pulling differently. Your brain would be tricked into believing that your holding the object.

Patents don’t always mean that the product will come to fruition. But it is quite cool to imagine how this would be implemented! Imagine Call Of Duty picking up a gun or Forza, holding a steering wheel whilst racing around Imola. How cool does that sound! What’s even more impressive is that Tesla want to take this one step further and make full body suits!

To listen to the guys chatting about this please click here!

MARVEL Powers United VR

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Marvel Powers United – Oculus Rift and Touch VR

Check out the new Marvel Powers United game on oculus and VR! Tag a mate who you would play this with.

Posted by How To Kill an Hour on Saturday, 29 July 2017

Unleash your rage and smash foes, lock n’ load your favorite plasma cannons, or take to the skies with powerful photon blasts. Hulk, Rocket Raccoon, Captain Marvel, and a powerful roster of Marvel’s greatest heroes are ready for battle. Suit up, power up, and team up with friends to engage in immersive, explosive co-op fights from across the Marvel Universe. Be the hero and unleash your powers now! (Oculus)

To buy MARVEL Powers United VR please click here!