Virtual Reality News

This is a page that I will update as news about the different system is released

So which companies will release VR soon? Lets go through the biggest ones.

Oculus Rift

Price: 599 USD with a Xbox One Controller since the real controllers are delayed until later this year.

Well, I guess that the most recent news I heard regarding the Oculus is the fact that they have actually finished their Oculus Ready PCs. Remember those?

Both here on the blog and at the podcast we bashed them pretty good. Sure they will work on the first few games or movies that will get released in VR. But with the specs on those computers, they won't last very long. 
Please be adviced, check your alternatives before purchasing any computer right now. With all this new technology coming out there will be a lot of things happening on the market for computers. 
New advanced things like graphics card will get released in order to support VR in the future. So you can either spend a bit more money in a few months time and get gear that will last for a long time. Or you can probably pick up the older ones cheaper.

Here is the thing. In order for the companies to be able to make any money on this entire VR thing, they need to make sure that the users can afford machines to run it. The VR systems themselves will cost a substancial amount of money, and the games/other content will probably not be cheap. 
I'd say that these Oculus Ready PCs are a perfect example. In order to make sure that the consumers will be able to use Oculus, they are selling packages containing the Oculus Rift and a computer that will be able to run it. 
There are a discount on the computer itself, since you get a package deal with the VR. Like I said above though, think it through.


What content will be available for the Rift?

If pre-ordered, the Rift will come with a game called EVE: Valkyrie. A space shooter as far as I can tell by watching the video from the Oculus website.

Lucky's Tale will be included in all Rift purchases. A very odd game to be used to launch a VR machine. Is there any point in having VR in a game like that? I'd call it a platformer, in lack of a better word.

Sony VR
Release date: October 2016
Price: 399 dollars, 399 Euros 
Note: The camera that is required is not included in the price. Neither is the motion controller that is needed for a few games. They will sell complete packages as well but the price announced is only for the VR headset.

Any upsides besides the cheap price?
How about the games that will be released for Play Station VR only? Star Wars Battlefront and Until Dawn 2 for example. They have guarenteed at least 50 titles to be released between October and the end of 2016 for PS4 VR.

HTC Vive Pre
Release date: April 4th 2016



A Steam VR headset developed in cooperation with Valve. 

Samsung Gear VR
It is out already! It was the first version released to the public out of all these VR versions that I am writing about on this page. 
And do I know anything about it? My buddy Bas from The Fit Gamer Podcast has actually laid his greasy hands on a copy of this technology. And from the moment he put that VR headset on his head, it sounded like he just lost his virginity. I was listening to him via Skype as he went crazy reacting to using the VR headset for the very first time.

It is VR being connected to a phone. How good can it be?
It can be quite good actually. You put the phone inside the headset and uses its screen as the monitor. The headset blocks all light from your surroundings which means that you will be totally focused on the screen. So just to stay safe, lock the door to avoid being scared by someone randomly entering your house/room and scare the living crap out of you. 
Because you will be so into the movie/game with earbuds and everything. 

At the moment there are not that many apps designed for VR but it is still brand new so who can blame them? In some countries they gave you the VR for free when ordering the Samsung Galaxy S7 which makes it really worth the money if you needed a phone anyway.

AMD SulonQ
AMD entered this VR contest quite late, at least I had not heard about it until quite recently. And they brought something new to the table. A cordless VR headset. Not connected to your PC like the Vive and the Rift. Instead... and hear me out. 
It straps a mini-PC to the back of your head!

So it will require a great battery considering the fact that you would like to use the headset for hours at the time when watching movies for example. I am guessing that you will be able to plug in the cords to charge it while using it. That is a guess.

Any special when it comes to the speccs?
It seems that it won't have anything really fancy there, the thing mentioned is the resolution which apparently is better than the Vive and the Oculus.

Cool things about VR

Remember all the movies that is basically Sci-Fi hichtech when they can have like a computer menu all around them in the room. With VR that can become a reality. Wow! 
Imagine having like the desktop on your computer but instead of different tabs you can cycle through, you are having all those windows open and can see them when turning around. Give me that shit and I will be happy with using VR!