E3 is the biggest gaming event of the year, where games companies and console manufacturers gather to show off their latest big ideas. Oculus took the stage in Los Angeles today to kick off the E3 season, and to show off the final version of its Oculus Rift virtual reality headset. It may be five days until E3 proper, but already we’ve got some cool news to share – take a look!
The final version of the Oculus Rift looks much more polished than its developer predecessors, with a smooth facade and a streamlined harness that keeps it position on your head. In concert with a camera attached to your monitor or TV, accelerometers built into the unit are able to track your head with startling accuracy. This lets you look around a virtual world, piped into a display and headphones.
The latest version uses two displays instead of one, increasing the quality of the footage and reducing the ‘screen door effect’ that dogged earlier models. Oculus are actually using Samsung displays for the retail unit; one of many partnerships that Facebook-owned Oculus have made in order to get to market.
Another important one is Microsoft, who are providing Xbox One controllers for each retail Oculus Rift. They’re also allowing some Xbox One games to be played using the Rift – which makes sense, given as how bitter rivals Sony are developing their own VR headset called Project Morpheus for the PlayStation 4.
Oculus are also developing their own input system, called Oculus Touch. The device includes a trigger, buttons and thumb sticks, but it can also track your hands in real time and understand gestures – like flipping the bird or giving a thumbs up.
The Oculus Rift is scheduled to arrive in the first quarter of 2016, but so far we don’t have a firm idea of the price. Oculus previously announced that the cost of an entire Oculus rig – including a gaming PC powerful enough to play VR games – would cost $1500. Ideally, the Rift would cost $300, but this may be difficult to achieve for the first version unless Facebook allow them to make a loss on the hardware.
Speaking of VR games, launch titles for the Oculus Rift were also announced today. EVE Online developers CCP are bringing their space dogfighting title EVE Valkyrie, Gunfire Games are making Chronos, and Ratchet and Clank developers Insomniac Games are making an arctic survival game called Edge of Nowhere. Other developers – including Rock Band makers Harmonix – are also reportedly making games for the system, but they haven’t announced these games yet. We may see more Oculus Rift games at E3 proper next week.
What do you think of the Oculus Rift news? Are you going to pick one up at launch if the price is right? Let us know in the comments below, or write to us on Twitter @mobilefun! And if you can’t wait to try VR, have a look at our VR headsets for smartphones!