Evil Dead Virtual Nightmare will be coming to mobile VR Devices

Following on from the successful partnership that brought ‘Evil Dead: Endless Nightmare’ to iOS and Android, indie publisher Boomdash Digital has today announced that they have brought the companies back together for an exciting new VR project.

‘Evil Dead: Virtual Nightmare’ will offer fans a truly unique opportunity to fully immerse themselves within the Evil Dead universe unlike ever before. With 360 degree sound and vision the players can roam freely around the Evil Dead world. ‘Evil Dead: Virtual Nightmare’ will offer players a thrilling experience in first person mode inside the infamous cabin and engage them taking on Deadites in the surrounding forest.

Scheduled for release in June 2018, ‘Evil Dead: Virtual Nightmare’ will be the second publishing project that Boomdash Digital has licensed from Ghosthouse Entertainment. By bringing together industry financing specialists Tasseract and continued support from Screen Northern Ireland, ‘Evil Dead: Virtual Nightmare’ will be developed in Belfast as part of the city’s growing creative scene. The deal was brokered on behalf of Ghosthouse by Striker Entertainment, Ghosthouse’s worldwide licensing agency.

“After the successful partnerships that was established for ‘Evil Dead: Endless Nightmare’, it only felt natural to bring everyone back together to collaborate on this next project. We’re excited to be working with all parties and bringing Evil Dead to the mobile VR audience. It develops further our capabilities of working with brand owners to mobilise their properties to existing and now VR audiences.” - Viktorya Hollings, Production Director at Boomdash.

Hasbro And Oculus Bring Trivial Pursuit and other gaming brands To Oculus Go

 Hasbro Inc is working with Oculus to bring Virtual Reality  experiences for Boggle, Trivial Pursuit and Monopoly to people with Oculus Go, for the first time.  The VR games will be accessible in the Oculus Store wherever Oculus Rooms is available for Oculus Go, across 23 countries.  The launch of the games is a part of a major update for Oculus Rooms, an Oculus app that allows people to spend time with friends in VR while enjoying social activities like playing games and watching TV. Oculus Go users will be able to play games head-to-head with friends in Oculus Rooms with life-like avatars in fully customizable environments.  Boggle will be the first game to launch this June; Trivial Pursuit and Monopoly will be released later this year.

“Gaming is a major strategic differentiator for our company and as gaming platforms and audiences continue to expand globally we are excited to work with Oculus to bring our beloved brands to new audiences in VR,” said Mark Blecher, SVP Digital Gaming & Corporate Development at Hasbro.  “Our consumers are technologically savvy and we strive to provide them with products that fit their lifestyle, which includes, engaging content, enhanced play experiences and digital interaction.  Bringing Hasbro Gaming experiences to the virtual world was a logical next step in this evolution.  We can’t wait to see how much fun people will have playing Boggle in VR!”

The 5/3/18 Google Doodle is a 360 animated short in honor of film pioneer George Méliès

The Google Doodle, Google Spotlight Stories, Google Arts & Culture, & Cinémathèque Française teams have collaborated to create the first-ever Virtual Reality (VR) / 360° interactive Doodle to celebrate the life and artistry of French illusionist and film director Georges Méliès. Produced by Nexus Studios.

George Méliès was a French illusionist and film director who led many technical and narrative developments in the earliest days of cinema. Méliès was well-known for the use of special effects, popularizing such techniques as substitution splices, multiple exposures, time-lapse photography, dissolves, and hand-painted color. He was also one of the first filmmakers to use storyboards. His films include A Trip to the Moon (1902) and The Impossible Voyage (1904).

His work has been influential in the development of special effects and was honored by the Smashing Pumpkins in one of their music videos.

Check out the launch trailer for CoolPaintrVR, the PSVR answer to Tilt Brush

The PlayStation VR answer to the Tilt Brush will arrive on May 9th. Much like the popular Tilt Brush, CoolPaintrVR allows you to unleash your imagination and paint in a 3D space.

Use your PS Move controller like a brush, selecting from a variety of tools to express your creativity: brushes, tubes, geometric primitive shapes and particle emitters. Additionally – thanks to Wildbit Studios’ own RTSE technology – you can create a 3D model from a hand-drawn shape. It will have its own skeleton that you can manipulate, bone by bone, to help capture your desired stance.

Wildbit has designed a simple and user friendly interface that any level of artist can play around with. But for those looking for more advanced techniques, CoolPaintrVR also offers advanced features for more experienced painters: Symmetry plane, load reference images, alternate colors randomly with each stroke …you can even export your creation to a USB device so you can load it into third party 3D programs!
 

INK Stories VR Experience “Hero” awarded at Tribeca

Starbreeze Publishing has announced that “Hero,” a VR experience developed in partnership with iNK Stories was awarded the prestigious Storyscapes award at the ongoing Tribeca Film Festival in New York.

“We’re pleased that the jury chose to recognize Hero as we feel it’s not only an important story that was deserved to be told, but it also represents a huge advancement in the way VR will enable content creators to amaze and tell immersive stories in the future” said Mikael Nermark, Head of Starbreeze Publishing.

HERO puts audiences at the center of a moment of a civilian air raid in a Syrian city, where choices shape one’s own experience. In an unprecedented use of interactive technology to convey a deeper humanity––HERO features multisensory engagement touch, smell, climate, utilizing 6 tracking cameras and a 32 audio DTS channel solution featuring DTSX tools to achieve the groundbreaking, haptic sound design. hisuntethered experience powered b the HP Z VR Backpack PC allows for the full potential of virtual reality to come to life with the most powerful wearable VR PC available, giving participants an astonishingly immersive experience. The collaboration with DTS and Starbreeze redefines a location-based VR experience and takes experiential storytelling to a whole new level.

iNK Stories is the award winning, visionary studio known for bringing authentic and impactful stories to immersive entertainment such as the BAFTA nominated and Facebook’s Game of the Year Winner, 1979 Revolution. At Tribeca Film Festival ‘18, iNK Stories proudly presents the NYC Premiere of HERO––the latest in their Vérité VR Series made in partnership with Starbreeze Publishing. As the only touring exhibit of HERO, Tribeca Film Festival marks a special opportunity to catch this impactful piece. Available to the public with tickets from April 20th-28th. HERO as one of five immersive experiences in competition for the prestigious Tribeca Storyscapes Award. 

The 2018 Storyscapes Award, presented by AT&T, which recognizes groundbreaking approaches in storytelling and technology, jurors were Myriam Achard, Marcie Jastrow, and Nicholas Thompson.

HERO is part of Starbreeze Virtual Reality (VR) experiences produced under its Publishing arm to be produced for future Location Based Initiatives (LBE) in the StarVR Virtual Reality HMD. Each experience aims to push the bar far beyond what’s possible in-home use setups. 

John Travolta Stars in "SPEED KILLS VR," now available on several platforms.

Coming off a massive win for the Best Feature Film VR 2018 at Cinequest Film Festival in Silicon Valley this past month, the cinematic virtual reality episodic experience 'Speed Kills VR' has been officially released.

Staring John Travolta, Kathleen Winnick, Kellan Lutz, and many other stars, the 360 degree experience was shot alongside the feature film, which will be out in the coming months, and offers a unique perspective inside the life of a notorious speed boat builder, who at one time made the fastest boats alive used by both the US Coast Guard and drug smugglers in the late 60's, 70's and early 80's. Inspired by a true story the experience covers the rise and fall of this world champion and multi millionaire whose life showcased in VR is one of the first VR period drama's to ever be released.

Created by TopDogVR the groundbreaking experience is 8 episodes at 7-9 minutes per episode covering immersive boat racing, mobster beatings, drug running and DEA chasing in 360 degree's of action packed content. The VR series, produced by Richard Rionda Del Castro, Guy Griffithe and Travis Cloyd, was shot in Puerto Rico in the summer of 2017 to resemble Miami Beach in the early days of speed boat racing. Set to become available across the US, China, France, Korea and the rest of the international markets, Speed Kills VR provides over an hour of replayable cinematic VR content.

This award winning VR film is being delivered to a rapidly growing audience prime for mass adoption and new experiences. Especially with standalone headsets anticipated soon, the ease and comfort levels will only get better. More importantly for fans who have yet to jump into VR this film offers a high impact story with legendary Hollywood icons they've enjoyed for so many years on the big screen. In a world full of gaming and 2D content bringing entertainment and technology together to create these kind of cinematic VR experience's to marketplace will open doors to the next wave in film making and give inside access to tell stories on a spherical canvas. Just like Speed Kills VR, providing extremely top level of artistic and creative vision as well as the highest level of technical VR experience to coexist along side feature films.

Google Play - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.topdogvr.speedkillsvr
Apple App Store - https://itunes.apple.com/app/id1323048876
Oculus - https://www.oculus.com/experiences/gear-vr/1524720470974585/

Jam City brings you super cute animals with their new mobile match 3 "Wild Things: Animal Adventure"

Jam City, a global leader in mobile entertainment, providing social gaming experiences for millions of players around the world, today announced that is has developed an new, original mobile entertainment franchise: Wild Things: Animal Adventure. Introducing a cast of stunning, 3D animated animals, Wild Things: Animal Adventure sets players on a mission to help these personable creatures restore their homelands, giving purpose and personality to the gameplay. With the game coming soon to Android and iOS, pre-registration for Wild Things: Animal Adventureopens today, alongside a new trailer and a first look at the animal characters.

In Wild Things: Animal Adventure, players set out on an expedition to rebuild the animal’s natural habitats, which have fallen into disrepair. Players earn magic leaves by beating match-3 puzzles, which are used to replant trees, renew waterfalls and other tasks that rejuvenate the animal’s homelands. Meeting new characters along the way, each level combines puzzle gameplay with an animal’s unique story, entertaining players as they advance through the narrative. 

“Wild Things: Animal Adventure delivers the spectacular visual and storytelling impact of an animated television or web series to mobile platforms,” stated Chris DeWolfe, co-founder and CEO of Jam City. "With engaging characters that connect with players,Wild Things: Animal Adventure enriches Jam City’s portfolio of hit titles with a deeper, story-driven style of gameplay. Based on extremely positive feedback from consumer testing, we believe we have a one-of-a-kind entertainment franchise in the making, and we can’t wait to introduce Wild Things: Animal Adventure to the world later this year.”

In Wild Things: Animal Adventure, the puzzles themselves have a purpose, as game modes like ‘Free Parakeets’ and ‘Feed the Baby Panda’ give players a goal within each level. As the story progresses, new animal characters are unlocked, each with a unique personality and signature power-up that players earn by completing levels. Sharing their success, players can connect and compete with friends in challenging puzzles and show off the creatures they have helped along the way.

Pre-register for Wild Things: Animal Adventure at www.jamcity.com/wildthings to receive updates and information about the game, as well as a special bonus at the game’s launch.

Detroit: Become Human gets a demo on 4/24 as well as an Amazon Alexa tie in.

Developer Quantic Dream will be releasing a demo tomorrow for one of my most anticipated games this year "Detroit: Become Human". It will be available for download on the PlayStation Store starting from April 24th, 12:01 am EST. In the demo you take on the role of Connor, a hostage negotiator android sent to take control of this high-stakes situation.

As part of the Hostage demo experience, there’s also an extended Alexa Skill! Properly named “CyberLife,” the Alexa Skill will provide you guidance and additional intel about this near future android filled world. As you take on the role of Connor, a hostage negotiator android sent to take control of this high-stakes situation, the CyberLife Skill will help guide you in your decision making throughout the investigation process, while giving you a deeper look at the various characters involved within the Hostage demo. It will also give you insights on how you can best alter your decision within the experience that could result in a different ending outcome.

With the CyberLife Skill, you’ll be able to learn more about the world of Detroit: Become Human:

• Tell Me About – Get more details as you examine every piece of the crime scene.
  Try saying: “Alexa, ask CyberLife to tell me about the fish?”
• What’s Their Story? – Uncover the truth behind any character you find within the demo.
  Try saying: “Alexa, ask CyberLife to tell me about the Phillips Family?”
• Alter the Course of History – Using the Flowchart at the end of the demo, use the skill to discover alternate endings.
  Try saying: “Alexa, ask CyberLife why Connor failed to reach Daniel in time?”

  To get started, all you need is the following:
  1. Download the Detroit: Become Human Demo from the PS Store on PS4
  2. Have access to any enabled Amazon Alexa Device
  3. Download the Detroit: Become Human CyberLife Skill by saying “Alexa, enable CyberLife” or by doing a search for Cyberlife with your Amazon Alexa app (requires Alexa app and Wi-Fi internet connection). Info Via Playstation Blog

Snail Games updates ARK Park to bring players a better dinosaur VR expereience.

Snail Games, the developers of the VR dinosaur theme park simulation have been hard at work on movement systems – and the game has now been updated with free locomotion in its most recent patch. Some graphical issues from PSVR players have also been addressed and a patch that should hit around mid-May will make the graphics better according to the Snail Games team. The game has also has been discounted by 30% during the SteamVR Spring Sale :)

Standard Edition: $27.99
Deluxe Edition: $33.59

Also added is a tutorial that explains the free movement option – which is presented to players upon starting a new game. The fixes come after the Snail Games team assured press and VR fans that they would be making sure to continue improving the game in a post-GDC statement. 

“ARK Park – like the baby dinos in the game – is in its infancy. VR fans are now getting their first taste of this massive new addition to the ARK franchise. If you want more content in ARK Park, I can tell you one thing: It’s coming. This is an incredibly exciting time for us, and we can’t wait to show gamers what the future holds for them.”-Peter Kang (Director, Snail Games)

The game is not perfect by any means but still provides some magic moments in this early stage of VR. Encountering dinosaurs and my varied interactions from riding a Triceratops to encountering silly Giant Beavers brought a big smile to my face. Its hard to say the value of a game but I would say that ARK Park brought me closer to how I felt watching the original Jurassic Park than buying a $15 ticket to see Jurassic World. It is a pretty awesome game for anyone interested in both dinosaurs and VR. 

Ganbatte is a VR game in which you’re a cat competing to become the best sushi eater of the galaxy.

Ganbatte is a competitive multiplayer game for VR, about cats, in space, eating sushi. Players try to eat as much valuable sushi as they can to reach the highest score. The game is family-friendly and brings together hungry sushi cats from across the galaxy. Ganbatte is currently in development and was released as an Early Access title on April 19, 2018.

History

Ganbatte is inspired by the Nintendo 64 party game Pokémon Stadium (1998), which featured the highly addictive mini-game Sushi-go-round. With Ganbatte, Mimicry expands and reimagines this game for VR, bringing together hungry sushi cats from across the galaxy.

Features

• Quick Match, 4 players competing online
• Host & Join, multiplayer frenzy
• Single-player vs. AI, bots at easy/medium/hard
• 28 Challenges, can you complete them all?
• Step-by-step tutorial, learn at your own pace
• Friends and Global Steam Leaderboards
• Oculus and Vive cross-platform multiplayer
• 8 different types of sushi
• Combo system
• Double conveyor belt, moving in opposite directions
• Powered by Unreal Engine 4 and Steam

National Geographic partnered with Humaneyes Technologies to deploy the Vuze VR camera for the first-ever 3D 360 experience captured aboard the International Space Station

National Geographic recently launched an extension to its critically acclaimed series ONE STRANGE ROCK, with the first-ever virtual reality (VR) 3D experience captured aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Users can take an unprecedented virtual tour of the ISS by downloading ISSVR on all major VR headsets starting today or by viewing the 360-degree video on National Geographic’s YouTube and Facebook channels.

From executive producers Darren Aronofsky and Jane Root, ONE STRANGE ROCK tells the extraordinary story of Earth, told through the only people who have ever left it: astronauts. To bring the astronauts’ viewpoint even closer to those on Earth, National Geographic partnered with VR experts Humaneyes Technologies to deploy the Vuze VR camera, the first 3D-360-degree VR camera that captures professional-quality VR video and audio to make VR content creation accessible to everyone. The Vuze VR Camera was selected by National Geographic and NASA after rigorous vetting. At 244 miles above Earth, European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Paolo Nespoli used the Vuze VR Camera to record everything he heard, saw and felt in the ISS’ working and living quarters along with the stunning sight from the observation deck.

ISSVR is narrated by ONE STRANGE ROCK former astronauts Chris Hadfield, Mae Jemison, Mike Massimino and Nicole Stott, and it exhibits Nespoli’s experience aboard, giving the user the freedom to look around, glide past high-tech experiments and witness astronauts at work and play as they simultaneously share how life in space has impacted their worldview.

“ONE STRANGE ROCK gives viewers an enlightened perspective of our magnificent planet, and ISSVR brings them even closer to understanding the larger, intricate forces that we are part of,” says Kyle Christensen, VP of Digital Strategy for National Geographic. “Our purpose in creating ISSVR is to draw people into what makes our experience on Earth exceptional and bring renewed excitement to science and human exploration.”

“We were thrilled when the Vuze VR Camera passed the test to go to space. It’s truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to showcase the genuinely immersive experiences the camera creates, allowing viewers to feel as if they were on the ISS themselves,” says Shahar Bin-Nun, CEO of Humaneyes Techonologies. “Plus, its lightweight, compact and durable size proved to be the perfect companion for astronauts to quickly document their day without burdening the crew with additional or complicated camera rigs.”

The WaveVR closes $6 million Series A round led by RRE Ventures and includes strategic investors from General Assembly and OK GO.

The WaveVR today announced it has closed a $6 million Series A funding round led by RRE Ventures. The round also includes top venture capital firms such as Upfront Ventures, KPCB, Greycroft VR Gaming Tracker Fund, The VR Fund, and more, with participation from strategic investors including Andy Ross from OK Go; Alex Chung, co-founder and CEO of Giphy; and Matt Brimer, co-founder of General Assembly and Daybreaker. Alice Lloyd George, investor at RRE, joins the company’s board.

With this latest infusion of capital, the company’s total funding comes to $10 million, which will allow them to expand theapp’s community tools and port to additional platforms. TheWaveVR today also opens a new Los Angeles office, where they are collaborating with top artists and musicians on a number of high profile VR concerts this year.

To secure the funds for this round, TheWaveVR team used the company’s content creation tool, ‘Wave Builder’, to create a fully interactive VR pitch deck to pitch VC’s within the TheWaveVR platform. TheWaveVR and RRE also signed the Series A term sheet in VR, which you can see in the video found here.

“When Adam and his team pitched us in VR, from within TheWaveVR itself, we saw that the possibilities could go far beyond music,” said Alice Lloyd George, principal at RRE Ventures. “It’s the most creative experience in VR today and is continually evolving. TheWaveVR is a brilliant venue for concerts, but also much more. We're already seeing users explore it for other experiences, from digital art to narrative storytelling to business meetings. We're excited about the product roadmap and their future launch onto other platforms, and thrilled to work alongside this incredible team for their next chapter.”

The funding round follows a successful collaboration with Warner Bros. that brought to life the dance club scene from Steven Spielberg’s new action adventure “Ready Player One”, in theatres now. Through TheWaveVR app - available on Steam in the U.S. - anyone can immerse themselves in the dance party scene with specially designed avatars, iconic 80s visuals and music, and experience the ability to fly in VR.

“The VR ecosystem is approaching a tipping point with the release of ‘Ready Player One’. With hardware prices coming down, stand-alone headsets like Oculus Go and Vive Focus on the horizon, and developers discovering best use cases, VR is on a sure path to become mainstream,” said Adam Arrigo, TheWaveVR CEO and co-founder. “We spent last year nailing down the format for these fully interactive concerts and proved people love our experience; this year we’re focused on how that content gets created and shared.”

For more information on TheWaveVR, visit http://thewavevr.com/. You can also follow the company on Facebook and Twitter.

Check out footage from the upcoming atmospheric VR sci-fi thriller, Downward Spiral: Horus Station ft music from Ville Valo

A sci-fi adventure in the mold of classics 2001: A Space Odyssey and Solaris, Downward Spiral: Horus Station is the mysterious and atmospheric sci-fi thriller 3rd Eye Studios teased in last year’s Downward Spiral: Prologue. Unlike most narrative-heavy games,Downward Spiral: Horus Station doesn’t use any cinematics or dialogue.

Instead, players will have to piece together the plot through observation and interpretation as they navigate the derelict space station, accompanied by the electronic ambient soundtrack composed by platinum selling HIM frontman Ville Valo. Players can explore the deserted Horus Station solo or with a friend thanks to the game’s 2 player online co-op.

Downward Spiral: Horus Station is a mysterious and atmospheric zero gravity thriller set in the lost and forgotten Horus Station for PC, PS4™ with optional PS VR, HTC Vive, Oculus Rift Touch and Windows Mixed Reality support Spring 2018. Use the ship's maintenance hardware -- like bolt throwers, rail guns, and arc welders -- to take out threats, solve puzzles and find the truth of why Horus Station has been left drifting in space, accompanied by the electronic ambient soundtrack composed by platinum selling HIM frontman Ville Valo.

Downward Spiral: Horus Station’s focus will be heavy on environmental storytelling, as the game features no dialogue or cinematics. Instead, players will have to piece together the plot through observation and interpretation as they navigate the derelict space station, accompanied by the electronic ambient soundtrack composed by platinum selling HIM frontman Ville Valo.

Additionally, 3rd Eye Studios is introducing an innovative control system that rethinks how movement works in zero-gravity. Rather than just float, players will have to push themselves off of the environment to propel themselves forward, or use tools just as they would in deep space.

The game also features a raft of options for how to experience it. Not only is it playable on both a regular screen and VR headset, the game is also playable in two player co-op, allowing players to explore the Horus Station’s deceptively immaculate, retro-futurist decor as an investigative duo. There’s also the option to entirely remove combat from the campaign for those who wish to soak up the story without enemies. In addition to Horus Station’s story campaign, there’s eight-player PvP and PvE multiplayer modes including Deathmatch, Horde and Survivor challenges.

http://www.3rdeyestudios.fi/downward-spiral-horus-station/

2MD brings VR football to PSVR

2MD: VR Football is a standing-room motion-controlled VR arcade football game,the very first of its kind for the PlayStation family.2MD is a thrilling two-minute drill VR experience where players take on the role of a quarterback tasked with capturing victory in the final minutes of a gridiron game: Draw the plays, call the shots, and throw the ball to take down opponents before the clock runs out! Find out more at http://www.2mdvr.com

The CatsAndVR GDC2018 Student Of The Month is ᴉɥɐʌǝɟᴉʌǝɥɐʇ

Yeah, so since VR is still kinda a joke is their really a need for a April Fool post. Just jesting but I still have so many actual GDC posts to do. So instead here is a small sample of the work of the CatsAndVR GDC2018 Student Of The Month, ᴉɥɐʌǝɟᴉʌǝɥɐʇ

#GDC2018 #GDC18 #student #gamedevelopment work from @ihavefivehat pic.twitter.com/enLSBDoVEv

— CatsAndVR@ReadyPlayerOne (@CatsAndVR) April 1, 2018

new colors 🎇 pic.twitter.com/uwzObumtrp

— ᴉɥɐʌǝɟᴉʌǝɥɐʇ (@ihavefivehat) November 14, 2017

If you're at GDC come play Static at the NYU booth! It's right by the IGF pavilion. pic.twitter.com/fHv3QMEAF2

— ᴉɥɐʌǝɟᴉʌǝɥɐʇ (@ihavefivehat) March 22, 2018

I did an actual interview with Mr. I Have Five Hat at GDC but my SD card got corrupted so just letting you know hew makes weird glitch games. Most recently his ASMR minimalist game Whisper built during the GDC train jam got some critical acclaim. 

https://www.destructoid.com/play-some-games-that-were-made-on-a-train-496154.phtml

Last years Student Of The Month Shylo Shepard went on to continue making games. We look forward to the same from  ᴉɥɐʌǝɟᴉʌǝɥɐʇ https://www.glorioustrainwrecks.com/games/*/ihavefivehat

Also Dogs

new short game: 3D dogshttps://t.co/HdJhM3OAnJ pic.twitter.com/Z1E7kiCpbx

— ᴉɥɐʌǝɟᴉʌǝɥɐʇ (@ihavefivehat) October 25, 2017

https://twitter.com/wf__games

PSVR gets a big price drop just in time for WipEout Omega Collection to get its FREE VR update.

Just in time for the WipEout Omega Collection VR update, The PlayStation VR headset bundles is getting a big price decrease to their MSRP. According to the Sony Playstation blog here are the PS VR bundles included in the MSRP reduction.

PlayStation VR Doom VFR Bundle

$299.99 USD/379.99 CAD (MSRP)
Originally $399.99 USD/499.99 CAD (MSRP)

• Includes a PS VR headset, PlayStation Camera, PS VR Demo Disc 2.0 and the Doom VFR Blu-ray Disc. Doom VFR brings the fast-paced, kinetic gameplay fans of the series love as an all-new virtual reality experience.

PlayStation VR The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR Bundle

$349.99 USD/449.99 CAD (MSRP)
Originally $449.99 USD/579.99 CAD (MSRP)

• Includes the PS VR headset, PlayStation Camera, two PlayStation Move controllers, the PS VR Demo Disc 2.0 and the Skyrim VR core game and all official add-ons. Skyrim VR brings to life the epic open world of The Elder Scrolls in an immersive virtual reality experience.

This is a great time to check out the PSVR at that price and the FREE WipEout VR update is a pretty good cherry on top.  WipEout Omega Collection brings together all the content from WipEout HD, WipEout HD Fury and WipEout 2048, enhanced for PS4 and PS4 Pro. 

With Kinda Funny's Greg Miller to guide you, Island Time VR is a kinda funny physical survival comedy.

During GDC 2018 week I got a chance to demo Island Time VR , a humorous and challenging game in which you are shipwrecked on a deserted island and try to survive as long as possible.  Crafting tools and cooking food will help you to keep your health bar up and in turn survive your time on the island. Going in I really was like what ridiculous nonsense VR game is this. Turns out that ridiculous nonsense VR game is really fun. The mechanics are simple enough but is comprised of an event system that determines when and what amounts of resources are made available to players. Once the game gets going it does become some hectic fun that would be great physical comedy to on lookers.

Speaking of comedy, the development team over at Flight School cast Kinda Funny’s Greg Miller as the voice of Carl the Crab. Carl acts as your guide to the island, provides hints, and even gives you a claw or two to help build survival tools. 

“I have no business being a voice actor, so I was blown away when Flight School reached out to have me voice Carl,” said Greg Miller, Co-Founder of Kinda Funny Games. “Then, imagine my surprise when the game turned out to actually be great! It's been an honor to be part of a game that's engaging, funny, and a great example of what VR can be."

Many non-VR game journalists have not been too friendly to VR so it is pretty refreshing to see Greg Miller not only support VR but jumping in voice first. Greg is a pretty interesting and popular figure in gaming so his support could not only help the Flight School team to promote Island Time VR but help in growing VR as a whole. Another interesting but perhaps not as popular figure in gaming is Adam Volker of  Flight School. Adam took the time to sit with me and tell me more about his team and the work on Island Time VR.

“Flight School is focused on pushing technology to entertain those wanting new virtual experiences, especially for VR and AR,” said Adam Volker, Creative Director at Flight School Studio. “Island Time VR provides players with fun survival challenges that push players to think creatively about ways to stay alive. We’re excited to see what solutions people come up with to survive in the game, and we'll fold all the things we learn into our next VR experience.”

VR survival game Island Time VR from Flight School Studio is launching April 3rd for PlayStation VR, Oculus, HTC Vive and Steam VR for $14.99.

http://www.catsandvr.com/blog/

ARK Park brought me closer to how I felt watching the original Jurassic Park than buying a $15 ticket to see Jurassic World.

ARK Park is now available on HTC Vive  PSVR, Oculus Rift, and Windows Mixed Reality headsets and I think it is an incredible experience for anyone who loves Dinosaurs. During a GDC event for the game I was able to meet with the development team and learned about a recent moment they had to help the life of a young boy.

“We take VR very seriously. What we have here is technology that can truly change the world. It was my great pleasure to be able to make the trip to England – bringing with me a VR headset and a copy of ARK Park to show our newest and possibly youngest fan at eight years old. The love and affection I witnessed left a lasting impression on me – and seeing Jason play the game we worked so hard on filled my heart with joy.”- Tianqi “Sky” Wu (Vice President, Snail Games)

The above video details Sky Wu's journey to share ARK Park with an autistic boy who is fascinated by dinosaurs. The boys father reached out to the ARK Park team when he heard about the game and asked for beta access. Instead Sky visited young Jason and left an impression that may last a lifetime. 

Say what you want about ARK Park but I love the game and consider it the Jurassic Park game I always wanted. When I first saw Jurassic Park I wanted to go out and pet little dinosaurs and the exploration and education modes are fascinating to me. I often found myself interacting with the dinosaurs in the game as I would my own pets. 

Based on Studio Wildcard’s best-selling ARK: Survival Evolved, ARK Park is a VR extension of that universe developed by Snail games with more than 100 dinosaurs available in the game to interact with. 

The game is not perfect by any means but still has provides some magic moments in this early stage of VR. Encountering dinosaurs and my varied interactions from riding a Triceratops to encountering silly Giant Beavers brought a big smile to my face. Its hard to say the value of a game but I would say that ARK Park brought me closer to how I felt watching the original Jurassic Park than buying a $15 ticket to see Jurassic World. 

“ARK Park – like the baby dinos in the game – is in its infancy. VR fans are now getting their first taste of this massive new addition to the ARK franchise. If you want more content in ARK Park, I can tell you one thing: It’s coming. This is an incredibly exciting time for us, and we can’t wait to show gamers what the future holds for them.”-Peter Kang (Director, Snail Games)

Indie publisher Mastiff has a VR roadmap that includes military action and thai horror!

A few of you out there may be familiar with the Heavy Fire series, a military on rails shooter that made appearances on the Wii, PS3, and XBox 360. Well during the Mastiff GDC press event it was revealed that Heavy Fire is returning and this time with a VR spin. Heavy Fire: Red Shadow is a pretty fun VR experience for those looking for an simple pick up and play PSVR game. My first run of this military wave shooter lasted around 7 minutes but was filled with enough action that it felt like I had been playing for much more. The action is tense and fast paced with everything from tanks to suicide bombers combing at you in a 360 immersive space. The game is still an on rails shooter and not Skyrim VR, that being said it was a very fun experience with detailed enemies and environments. 

During the event I was able to speak with Mastiff CEO Bill Swartz about the history of the company and their current roadmap for VR.

As a small independent publisher, Mastiff does have to compete with a very saturated market and titans like EA with lots of money to spend. Mastiff was inspired by the title BeachHead 2000 and felt this kind of game would not only good to bring to VR but could be done at a cost enough that they can release it as a reasonably priced title.  The title is niche but will find appeal to those who like intense and fast paced military styled action. Heavy Fire: Red Shadow was not the only game part of the companies VR roadmap. 

Mastiff is also working on bringing the well received First Person Thai horror game Home Sweet Home to console and VR. Currently on PC, Home Sweet Home, is a first-person horror adventure game based on Thai myths and beliefs. The core gameplay focuses on storytelling and stealth to avoid perilous spirits hunting you. 

Both these titles are very different but are both well made indie titles that are fun to play. While exact release dates are not set you can be on the look out for both of these VR titles later this year. 

Survios is quickly showing that they may be the heavyweight champ of VR game development

GDC 2018 was definitely not my first rodeo at a major gaming event and I have seen my fair share of the gaming dog and pony show.  Having been to several E3's and even having been present at the controversial THQ Homefront red balloon event I've been around the block. Part of the thrill of game journalism is the rumors and I have been waiting to see who would be the VR company that people would be gossiping about months before events like they do about the Bethesda's and Naughty Dog's of the PC and console world.

Sure Oculus and HTC get articles written about them but that is mostly for the hardware side. This year at GDC, Survios showed me that they are more than a flash in the pan VR contender. Garnering acclaim for Raw Data, a VR game that was the first make 1 million dollars in sales, the team got the attention of MGM and is now moving faster at making VR HITS than any other VR development company in the space. 

The team had their latest hit game Sprint Vector on display but also set a high bar for VR gaming at GDC with their super fun entry into the VR Music space, Electronauts, as well as their first game partnered with MGM, CREED: RISE TO GLORY.

Electronauts is a VR sonic experience where users can remix, compose, jam, and perform on uniquely designed electronic instruments. My hands on demo showed an intuitive and fun platform that was easy to pick up and easy to see how much sonic potential it had. There are people in the media that are quick to say that VR is dead, experiences like Electronauts show why they may be jumping the gun. The experience of mixing was satisfying and one that is shareable in many ways. During the Unity GDC party, Electronauts Audio Engineer showed the party potential of the VR software while mixed along side a scratch DJ. 

More hot fire from the @ElectronautsVR team @unity3d #GDC2018 #GDC party. I wanna take it to #dj at #burningman pic.twitter.com/r6JK87QUKd

— CatsAndVR@GDC (@CatsAndVR) March 22, 2018

Music is one of the most fundamental social languages that exist and many have tried to tap into that in VR to help grow the ecosystem. With Electronauts, Survios may have found a winning formula that can bring more celebrity endorsements to VR. During GDC noted WWE superstar and video game evangelist Xavier Woods tweeted that Electronauts was one of the coolest musical experiences he had in along time, not just for VR but for music as a whole.

One of the coolest musical experiences that I've had in a long time. Insanely satisfying #Electronauts @Survios #GDC pic.twitter.com/Gj4m3ugEH3

— Austin Creed (@XavierWoodsPhD) March 22, 2018

Since Xavier Woods used to go by the name Consequences Creed this is a good segue into the other new title Survios had on display. The companies fourth game and first collaborative project with MGM, CREED: Rise to Glory is cinematic boxing game inspired by the latest entry into the Rocky movie universe. 

“In all the VR experiences we build, we aim to make our players feel empowered, and REED: RISE TO GLORY™ accomplishes this in a very cinematic and active way," said James Iliff, Survios co-founder and Chief Creative Officer. “We’re throwing players into iconic boxing arenas, trading blows with the top fighters from the franchise, all while experiencing the thrills and showtime dramatics of the ultimate Hollywood-style boxing exhibition. With our new Phantom Melee Technology™, the game provides an authentic immersive experience that truly makes you feel like a boxing world champion." 

With CREED, Survios had one of the only VR games to have a line at GDC and created a immersive spectacle with a boxing ring that reminded me of E3. The ring did add an extra level of immersion and offered a great view of the experience for spectators and people in line. The game was one of the best VR boxing experiences I have played and only the fact of my limited playtime kept it from being the best. The visuals are very well done and though not completely realistic they are also not cartoony. Lets just say if their was a realistic Rocky Balboa comic book this is what it would look like. In fact I swore that I heard Rocky grunt at me during the training portion only to find out that there was no audio for him yet. The game feels like a boxing training simulator and it was a pretty good workout as well. After playing a few rounds I got a chance to interview some of the team.

Since this is the fourth game from Survios I asked producer Kim Marlis about what lessons from the previous games did they apply to CREED: RISE TO GLORY.

"We utilized all the tech from previous games and made it work with what we are trying to accomplish with CREED. We also looked back at all the pain points of previous games so we don't have to go through them again. At Survios we like to learn from our past experiences and become better. We are taking all the useful data from our previous games and applying them to CREED."

The bell has rung for the final rounds of @MGM_Studios' CREED: Rise to Glory™ 🥊 Thanks #GDC18 for such an awesome #CreedRTG debut--we'll see you back in the #VR ring soon! pic.twitter.com/uGzGlnpyWu

— Survios (@Survios) March 23, 2018

Seeing how fast Survios has moved since having a hit with Raw Data, they seem very poised to keep getting better. If they continue at this rate they may very well be the VR company people associate with quality VR. I think there is a saying that goes like a rising tide floats all boats or something to that effect. My point is that the success of the Survios team is a success for VR as a whole. Once VR grows just a bit more Survios looks to be the team to get the name recognition like the  Naughty Dog's of the world. I wish the team the best and hope by writing this I can get an invite to that eventual Survios E3 party featuring Dr. Dre, Michael B. Jordan, and Wiz Khalifa. :)