Items tagged with Oculus Rift
Earlier this week, we first got wind of Half-Life: Alyx, the latest entry into the Half-Life saga. The original Half-Life -- which was a first-person shooter blockbuster, helping to revolutionize the genre -- blazed onto the scene back in 1998, and was followed up by Half-Life 2 in 2004. Half-Life: Alyx is what Valve calls a full-length, virtual reality addition to the Half-Life world. So, make no mistake, this won't be a glorified tech demo or some simple side excursion to divert your attention for a few minutes. Valve is hoping to sucks fans into the gameplay experience the same way the original and its sequel did. According to Valve, Half-Life: Alyx is set in-between the events of Half-Life...
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The first hints we get that new products are incoming frequently surface in software updates for existing products. A recent software update for the Oculus devices for PC users has dropped a hint that Oculus has a new headset in the works called the Rift S. Rumors suggest that the device will have better resolution than the current Oculus Rift and feature an inside-out tracking system akin to what is used on the coming Oculus Quest headset. When perusing the PC software, Upload VR says that it found a setting in the user interface code that allows PC users to select between 50Hz and 60Hz room lighting along with an option for auto-selecting between the two. The description for the setting read...
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Palmer Luckey is the founder of the company that created the Oculus Rift VR headset, so he is a bit biased when it comes to VR hardware. On his blog, Luckey penned a new post titled "Magic Leap is a Tragic Heap," and he goes on to say that he carefully chose the title. Luckey writes that the Magic Leap headset is a "tragedy in the classical sense" and then notes that the device is a flashy hype vehicle that no one can use in any meaningful way. Luckey seems to be most angry because the hype surrounding the Magic Leap headset "monopolized" funding in the AR investment community, yet the headset fails to deliver on "almost any" of the promises it made to raise that funding. There are some...
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First announced back in October, Facebook today announced that it is now shipping the Oculus Go standalone wireless VR headset. Unlike the original Oculus Rift or the HTC Vive/Vive Pro, the Oculus Go doesn't require a PC and won’t limit your freedom of movement with bulky cables. The Oculus Go is also different from solutions like the Samsung Gear VR in that it doesn't require you to strap in your smartphone. Powering everything is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 processor, which was hot stuff in the flagship smartphone world in late 2016. Paired with the SoC is 3GB of RAM and either 32GB ($199 model) or 64GB of storage ($249 model). There are no provisions for a microSD slot on the Oculus...
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Valve has announced a rather significant update to the SteamVR Beta that will be a boon to owners of both current and future virtual reality headsets. The SteamVR runtime has been upgraded with a new auto-resolution scaling routine that is able to enhance your visual experience based on how powerful the GPU is in your current gaming rig. So how does this work? According to Valve's Alexa Vlachos, SteamVR will automatically determine the speed of your GPU and will choose a resolution based on what it is capable of rendering. Vlachos says that many gamers have incredibly powerful graphics cards that simply aren't being utilized to their fullest potential in VR applications. Now, however, SteamVR...
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If you're looking to find a last-minute gift for the PC gamer on your shopping list, and don't mind parting with nearly four Benjamins, the Oculus Rift is now on sale for the low, low price of $379. This represents a $20 discount from its normal selling price. We should note that this isn't the lowest price we've seen for the virtual reality headset (it fell to $349 on Black Friday), but this is the lowest that we'll probably see for a while. The promotion is good through December 20th. The lower price is available direct from Oculus.com, or if you prefer, you can visit one of your favorite online retailers like Amazon, Best Buy or Newegg to get in on the deal. The Oculus Rift bundle will get...
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We've been hearing rumors of a cheaper, standalone wireless VR headset on the way from Oculus for quite some time. Today, Facebook revealed to the world what it has been working on, and it is called the Oculus Go. As expected, Oculus Go is a self-contained headset that doesn't require a physical connection to a smartphone or PC. And more importantly, it's wireless, so you don't have to worry about tripping over cables when the action starts heating up in your VR games. Given its wireless nature, don't expect the Oculus Go to provide the same type of immersive experiences that you would get with a [tethered] Oculus Rift and a high-end gaming PC. It is instead aimed at the mobile VR market, is...
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As more and more people move to adopt virtual reality (VR) for gaming, the hardware market is beginning to heat up. In July, the Oculus Rift VR headset was slashed from $599 down to $399. HTC also chopped the price of the Vive VR headset by $200, bringing the cost of entry to a permanent $599. Sony is used to being one of the cheaper points of entry for the VR world with the PlayStation VR headset, and now the company has announced a price cut on the device. With the price cut in place, the PS VR headset and PlayStation Camera can now be had in a new bundle for $399 in the U.S. and $499 CAD. Sony says that the move essentially throws in the PlayStation Camera at no charge, and this will...
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If you’re a fan of Mozilla’s Firefox web browser, a big update is coming to the release channel tomorrow. Firefox 55 features support for WebVR, which is a platform for viewing virtual reality content from within a browser environment. Mozilla says that its current implementation of WebVR will be supported on both the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive VR headsets. The company describes WebVR, writing: WebVR transforms VR into a first-class experience on the web, giving it the infinite possibilities found in the openness and interoperability of the Web Platform. When coupled with WebGL to render 3D graphics, these APIs transform the browser into a platform that allows VR content to be published to the...
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Earlier this week, Facebook made a huge step forward in making virtual reality headsets more adorable for the enthusiast community. For the rest of the summer, the Oculus Rift and Touch bundle will cost just $399, which is a $200 discount from the usual price. However, according to a new report, Oculus is looking to drive the price down even further in the future and provide a “cord-free” VR experience. Oculus is looking to bridge the gap between cord-free headsets that rely on your smartphone to power the VR experience (a la Samsung Gear VR) and more powerful corded systems like the Rift and HTC Vive, which offer a vastly superior level of immersion. This new wireless headset will reportedly...
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If you’ve been waiting for the perfect opportunity to jump in an experience the Oculus Rift for some kickass virtual reality gaming, then now is probably the best time to jump in feet first. Oculus is kicking off its summer sale, and as part of the 6-week long promotion, the Oculus Rift + Oculus Touch bundle will receive a $200 price cut. This drops the price of entry down to a more palatable $399. This new price drop comes after the Oculus Rift and Oculus Touch were separately discounted permanently to $499 and $99 respectively. At $399, the Oculus Rift should appeal to a much broader audience and could help to further drive VR adoption. However, we wish that the price cut was permanent instead...
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It’s been three years since Facebook first acquired Oculus, which at the time seemed like a rather curious purchase. Over the years, we’ve seen that Facebook is putting an increasing focus out virtual reality (VR) and devices like the Oculus Rift serve as the perfect hardware platform to take the plunge with early adopters/enthusiasts. That focus on Oculus Rift is expanding today with the announcement that Facebook Spaces is launching in beta form. Facebooks Spaces is a separate VR app that allows you to interact with your friends “in a fun, interactive virtual environment as if you were in the same room.” Similar to how you can create your own avatars on console platforms like the Xbox One,...
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Consumers at large do not seem to be ready to embrace the concept of virtual reality, at least not at today's asking price—a high-end headset costs $599 to $799, plus there is the cost of a PC with sufficient hardware to support VR experiences. Due to low sales of Oculus Rift in Best Buy, Facebook has decided to close 200 of its 500 VR demo stations at Best Buy locations across the United States. Facebook acquired Oculus three years ago for $2 billion, or closer to $3 billion if you factor in the cost to retain employees and bonuses for reaching certain milestones. Either way you slice it, Facebook is heavily invested in Oculus and the VR category as a whole. When development on the first generation...
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There has been a ton of buzz surrounding virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reality hardware and software. The truth of the matter is, nobody really knows if any of these technologies have legs, and if so what field they will thrive in. Developers have largely focused on gaming early on, though what about social? Oculus just launched something called "Oculus Rooms and Parties" for Gear VR owners, and it reminds me of a time when services such as America On-Line and CompuServe brought users together. "The first wave of VR was all about the magic of presence, the immersive sense of actually being inside a virtual space. The next step is to let you feel that same sense of presence with...
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After a rather lengthy delay, the Oculus Touch controllers are finally available to purchase. You can do things the simple way by ordering them directly from Oculus online, or you can drive on down to a brick and mortar store like Best Buy to pick them up in person. Originally scheduled to launch in the first quarter of 2016 along with the Oculus Rift virtual reality (VR) headset, the Oculus Touch controllers were instead delayed in order to work out bugs, improve performance and make the experience more reliable for users. “Precise tracking and ergonomic handle design work in tandem to bring hand poses and social gestures into VR for a more immersive experience,” writes the Oculus Team. “Thanks...
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It still remains to be seen if virtual reality experiences are here to stay of if they're a passing fad, but in favor of the former, developers are stepping up and taking advantage of current hardware solutions. That includes the Oculus Rift and its upcoming Touch motion controllers, which are slated to release next week. Accompanying them will be over 50 made-for-VR titles that leverage the Touch controllers. To be exact, there will be 53 VR titles optimized for Touch input on day one. Some will be better than others, obviously, but Rift owners who pre-ordered the Touch will find a large and varied catalog of titles to choose from, everything from basketball (NBA 2KVR Experience) and fishing...
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Virtual reality (VR) is starting to slowly take off on PC and console gaming platforms, but that also means that there is plenty of fragmentation going on as each platform looks to stake its claim on early adopters. This was especially the case during the early days of the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift, when attempts to “unify” the gaming experience on the VR headsets by the hacking community were initially thwarted. However, as least one game publisher, Ubisoft, is looking to allow all gamers using the three major VR platforms to engage in online multiplayer sessions together. That means that PlayStation VR, HTC Vive, and Oculus Rift users will no longer be relegated to playing in their own minuscule...
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CyberPower Polaris Powered Gaming PC Bundled With Oculus Rift Might Be The VR Ready Deal Of The Year
The biggest barrier to VR gaming right now is cost. High end VR headsets run a pretty penny and building a PC that meets the recommended requirements can be an expensive proposition, too. That is what makes this pre-Black Friday bundle on Amazon such a smoking good deal For less than a grand, Amazon is bundling an Oculus Rift with a CyberPowerPC gaming desktop built around AMD's Radeon RX 480 graphics card! Until midnight (Pacific) the exact cost is $999 with free shipping for Prime members. Considering the Rift alone normally runs $599 and the Radeon RX 480 streets for around $200, this is a really good bargain for anyone looking to jump into VR from scratch without the sticker shock that would...
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Oculus Rift owners who also have an Xbox One console will pretty soon be able to stream their Xbox One games to their VR headset connected to a Windows 10 PC. It is an expansion of the ability to stream Xbox One games to Windows 10, a feature that rolled out to the masses with the Anniversary Update, and it also underscores the ongoing partnership between Microsoft and Oculus. "At Xbox, we’re continuously exploring new ways for you to get the most out of your gaming experiences by providing the choice to play how you want, where you want and with whomever you want. With the launch of Windows 10 and the Xbox app, we first delivered the ability to stream your Xbox One games to your Windows 10 PC...
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One of the most popular games of all time is gaining support for one of the most popular virtual reality headsets of the day. We're of course talking about Minecraft and Oculus Rift, the pairing of which was scheduled to take place in a few weeks. Apparently things are ahead of schedule because one of Minecraft's developers posted an update to Twitter on Thursday saying a version that supports Rift will be out next week. This could be just the thing that helps spur VR gaming. Oculus and HTC haven't seen a shortage of early adopters flock to their respective headsets, but for pricey headsets that require even pricier PCs to catch on with a wider audience, there needs to be some compelling content...
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A new teardown and piece by piece analysis of the bits involved in making the Oculus Rift VR headset reveals a "complex mechanical design" and relatively low cost of parts adding up to just over $206, hundreds less than the $599 the assembled package sells for to consumers, IHS Markit Technology stated in a recent blog post. Isn't it fun to be an early adopter? To be fair, the total bill-of-materials (BOM), as it's called, doesn't factor in expenses beyond just the individual hardware, such as marketing, design and engineering, and everything else involved in bringing a new product to market. And in this case, the Rift isn't just a new product, it's a groundbreaking item that finally taps into...
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Microsoft and Mojang today are celebrating the one-year anniversary of the launch of Minecraft on the Windows 10 platform. Since that time, Mojang has pushed out 15 major updates for the game and has crushed over 6,000 bugs for what has become a worldwide smash hit. So to celebrate its first birthday on Windows 10 (which itself is celebrating a birthday tomorrow), Mojang has a couple of surprises in store for gamers. The first is a new Villains Skin Pack, which can be purchased for $1.99. “Grab it and join forces with Minecraft’s most dastardly denizens: slink from the shadows as the sinister Stronghold Seer, unleash the fury as the ferocious Lava Fiend, or, er, sell silverfish as the monstrous...
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