A new standalone competitor arrives soon

HTC?? has reveale?d its new standalone virtual reality headset, the Vive XR Elite. It's able to handle both virtual and augmented reality, and comes in at a price tag of $1,099.

Pre-orders went live today on sites like Amazon, where you can check out the specifications f??or this new headset. HTC's new set looks to compete with the likes of the Meta Quest, an extremely popular headset that's also cut out the cables.

This headset looks aimed to do ma??ny of the same things you'd expect out of something like the Meta Quest. It's a standalone VR headset that can also hook up to a PC for some extra power, and it has adjustable diopter dials for glasses-wearers. The battery allows for up to 2 hours of continuous power but is hot-swappable, and the screen comes in at a combined 3840 x 1920 resolution, with 110 degree field of view and 90 Hz refresh rate.

Quite interestingly, the Vive XR Elite can also fold up into a case and go on??-the-go with you, like a pair of sunglasses. It's a neat trick, but certainly intriguing ?for folks who want their VR games to travel with them.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LPZr04Xf34

As for other Vive headsets, The Verge reports that the Vive Focus 3 and Vive Pro 2 headsets will stay on sale, though the Vive Flow will likely be retired n??ear the end of the year.

Expanding reality

This headset looks to compete in t?he growing market of VR/AR headsets, which is where o?ther companies seem to be looking too. The Vive XR Elite looks to pack in some power with its headset, while still keeping things light and portable.

It's an interesting competitor to Meta's options, both for the price-bumped Quest 2 and the pricier Quest Pro. We'll have to see how this new headset fits in?to the landsc??ape later on this year.

The post HTC unveils its new VR headset, the Vive XR Elite appeared first on Destructoid.

No survivors

Like a Witch, Valve fans have wailed and moaned out of their own sort of tortured agony. They want more Left 4 Dead, their cries directed at no one in particular, just into the abyss and for anyone who's nearby. Like a Hunter, Va??lve has pounced from afar to rip their hearts out.

Following the reveal of Half-Life: Alyx, there have been rumors that Valve will follow it up with a VR-focused Left 4 Dead. That speculation heated up this morning when HTC Vive's president in China gave a presentation at an awards show, where he stated "Half-Life: Alyx and Left 4 Dead 3 will drive consumer and triple-A studio i??nterest [in VR]." Juicy!

Juice-less, actually. Valve was (uncharacteristically) quick to debunk this. In a statement to IGN, Valve says "We've seen rumors to this effect for the last couple of months. We did briefly explore some Left 4 Dead next-gen opportunities a few years ago. But we are absolutely not working on anything Left 4 Dead-related now, and haven't for years."

As it turns out, HTC's guy didn't have the insider info you'd expect from an executive at a major virtual reality headset manufacturer. He was going off a report from Valve News Network, which often publishes inaccurate and speculation-laden stories. Valve addresses this sort of false reporting by saying "It’s clear some people are having fun creating misinformation to spin up the community and other outlets. Unfortunately, for now a new Left 4 Dead game is not something we're working on."

Left 4 Dead 3 is 'Absolute??ly' Not Currently in the Works??, Valve Says [IGN]

The post Valve shoots down talk of a new Left 4 Dead appeared first on Destructoid.

The Prettygoodlands

Vi??rtual reality is one of those things that you ??kind of accept is going to be a slightly handcuffed experience.

The nature of the beast dictates that what you gain in immersion and wow-factor you lose in control and full autonomy over movement, mostly because one way or another you're tethered either via cables or camera facing one direction giving the illusion of a freedom. Certain games, like Resident Evil 7, absolutely stand out as anomalies, but for the most part you just know concessions must?? be made in order to make the whole thing tick.

But that doesn't mean you can't still have a damned fun game that knows th??e medium's weaknesses and plays to its strengths.

Hopalong: The Badlands (PC, PS4 [reviewed])
Developer: From the Future LLC
Publisher: From the Future LLC
Released: November 21, 2017 (PC), July 17, 2018 (PS4)
MSRP: $14.99 (PC), $24.99 (PS4)

Hopalong: The Badlands is an arcade shooter at heart -- which is the highest compliment I think I can pay it. As the sheriff of the town, y??ou're tasked with hunting down The Dynamite Gang, a group of brigands intent on doing something or another that you don't like for some reason involving you being good and them being bad. If you're he??re for a story, I'm afraid you'll be let down as this is as bare-bones Western as you can get. The law is on your side, and you've gotta shoot all the bandits in order to bring law back into town. That's it, and it doesn't need anything else.

What the game lacks in story, it makes up for everywhere else. Simply put, this is a classic arcade shooter you could find a dozen copies of at Aladdin's Castle in the late 90s distilled into a home VR experience. You'll ride, shoot, use special powers, and not much else as you make your way from desert town to cave? back to desert town. If that ??sounds shallow, it's because it is -- it knows what's fun about the genre and tells the rest to fuck off in favor of keeping the pace moving right along.

I don't need to explain how you'll point at things and shoot them with your Move controllers. I do need to explain the locomotion in this game. You'll use your dominant hand to shoot (an option when you first boot up the game) and use your other hand entirely for movement. The game features an incredibly intu??itive movement system: Your left (for most of us) hand acts as the rei?n over your horse, and you'll hold down the trigger and bob your hand up and down, simulating the movement of a horse in order to move forward or backward. The X and O button on the Move controller rotate the camera in 45 degree increments in either direction to allow you to turn as you ride, giving a pretty close approximation to full movement. It takes a bit of getting used to, but once you get the hang of it it's an incredibly clever way of handling movement in the VR space.

Normally aesthetics would be its own category later, but I have to specifically mention how your horse is??n't a real horse, but instead a stick horse that you more or less pretend to ride. In fact, all enemies in the game also ride variations of the stick horse which does nothing but add to the whimsical arca??de nature of the game. I love it to death. It's not super serious, and it doesn't take itself that way; you'll shoot dynamite back at stick horse-riding baddies as they shout, "Dern it!" as if the game is winking and nodding back at you. It's part Muppets and part Three Stooges, and hits that perfect balance of tone and subject matter.

The desert landscape gets the job done with its canyons and cacti, and overall the game looks really great in motion. The enemies are just robotic enough to not venture into uncanny valley, and environments pop with cartoony fun despite the largely tan scenery. Some of the cave interiors are a bit too dark and one level in particular is a chore due to its la?byrinthine layout of samey walls and rocks, but there's not much to complain about as far as visuals go.

In fact, the biggest complaint I have about the game is it's sometimes too arcadey at times. There are early sections when you're still learning the controls that are especially tough if you don't know exactly where the enemies are coming from, leading to some memorization of parts and placements to survive. Inversely, once you get a handle on the controls you'll be zipping and dodging like a pro, leading to some parts being a breeze. The difficulty never quit?e finds that balance despite the game doing its best to ramp up with bigger and tougher enemies as you go along.

There are a few glitches here and there and the final level is more frustrating than it probably needs to be, but when you're speeding by a gang of dynamite-wielding hooligans shooting shotguns and smacking them with a pickaxe, you'll forget all about the minor small annoyances. Hopalong: The Badlands is a fun and intui?tive arcade shooter that lasts just long enough for you to feel like you've truly mastered its controls, but not too long to overstay its welcome.

And you ride a stick horse! Did I mention how dam??n adorable that i??s?

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

The post Review: Hopalong: The Badlands appeared first on Destructoid.

And your shotgun, and your rifle, and your hand cannon, and your...

If you've ever been a kid and rode around your living room with a stick horse, pretending to shoot at bank robbers with your TV remote, then you'll be a satisfied camper today as we've wrangled up 75 Steam keys for Hopalong: The Badlands to give out!

We'll supply the key, you supply the stick horse.

Hopalong: The Badlands puts you in the boots of a ??wild west sheriff tasked with taking down the infamous Dynamite Gang before they blow the town to smithereens. You'll use innovative locomotion controls to gallop with one hand on your stick horse and shoot seven different weapons with the other to take down anyone and everyone in your path. With interactive environments and hilarious dialogue, this is one VR game that puts ar?cade fun front and center.

To hopalong to this western shooter, all you need to do is email me for a copy at tacos@jbsgame.com. These are first come, first served, s??o hit me up right away for your free Steam key! As this?? is a VR title you'll need either an HTC Vive or Oculus Rift VR set to play. The first 75 people who email will get a key.

Hopalong: The Badlands is available now for HTC Vive and Oculus Rift via Steam, and PSVR. Check out our sister site PC Invasion for more chances to win!

The post Giveaway: Grab your six-shooter for a fre??e Steam key of Hopalong: The Badlands appeared first on Destructoid.

No numbers has always been the whole problem

Our interpretation of virtual reality's commercial success is almost entirely anecdotal and relatively-uninformed. It has to be. Most of the major players won't tell us VR's adoption rate in actual sales figures. Sony is the only one who will, and it announced that PlayStation VR was at 2 million sales as of last December.

This near-universal non-disclosure has led to the widespread assumption that VR hasn't taken off like many people thought it would. The most negative assessment of the situation is that VR is dying. Not so says the Vive? team.

In a recent blog post on its site, Vive explicitly refutes the notion that VR is dying. Vive calls those claims "greatly exaggerated" and "not the whole story." This feels like a good place to remind everyone that Vive is a company that would benefit greatly from people not thinking that V??R is dying. In fact, Vive would benefit most if people thought VR was healthy and growing and profitable.

As for the actual reality, who knows? It's impossible. But Digital Trends wrote a report last week -- Vive's post seems to be positioned as a direct response to this -- that states Vive sales (and most VR sales in general) have plummeted. Vive says sales are down because its headset is so popular. "Vive has paced at its highest sales velocity of all-t??ime, for weeks on end, and we sold out," Vive states. "For a consumer electronic product in its third calendar year, this continued trajectory is nearly unheard of."

Highest sales velocity of all-time sounds great but we have no data to substantiate what that really means. ??Is that millions of units? Hundreds of thousands? Tens of thousands? Just thousands? There's no frame of reference and that's why this all feels kind of chest-thumpy.

Vive also analyzes the virtual and augmented reality market as a whole with a confidence that it will see sustained growth over the next five years. This claim is corroborated by an outside source: The International Data Corporation, which is ??a firm that specializes in aggregating data and forecasting market trends, and then selling these findings to businesses.

In a report from last month, the IDC predicts that VR will grow for the remainer of 2018 after tumbling 30.5 percent year-over-year from the first quarter of 2017. However, that decline is attributed to low-end headsets no longer being bundled with smartphones. The IDC predicts that the adoption rate will reach 8.9 million units by the end of the year and 65.9 million units by the?????????????????????????? end of 2022.

In the short-term, Vive isn't necessarily pegged as a major factor for this growth. The IDC thinks the Oculus Go will get VR? into new homes more effectively than anything else. This mid??-range headset doesn't require a VR-capable PC to run. It's about lowering the barriers to entry.

Vive also cites the IDC in a pie chart that indicates it has the highest revenue market share (35.7 percent), nearly doubling Samsung who has the second highest (18.9 percent). (Note: I could not find the data that supports this graphic. It might be hiding behind one of IDC's $4,500 paywalls.) In terms of ordinary-no-frills-attached market share, the IDC says Samsung is still the leader despite a 39.4 percent decline. (This report is ??also behind a $4,500 paywall.)

So, what's the takeaway? Uhh, that virtual reality probably isn't dying, and that Vive wants us to think it's definitely not dying. Like any emergent technology, there are growing pains and VR is going through them right now. But emphatically stating over and over that everything's just dandy isn't going to win the confidence of the consumers. That will o?nly be achieved by releasing sales figures.

Think VR is dying? It's just getting started [Vive]

The post Vive refutes the notion that VR is dying, cites ‘highest sales velocity of all-time’ without revealing numbers appeared first on Destructoid.

Vive and Oculus Rift support

Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice is getting a free VR update for the PC version next week. Launching on July 31, the VR mode for Hellblade will be the full game and not ??some extra bonus feature. ??It will be free for owners of the PC version and will have support for the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive headsets.

The reason for this update? Ninja Theory honestly thought it would be a cool addition for fans. In the video below, Dominic Matthews (commercial director for Ninja Theory) explains how there wasn't much of a business reason to include the VR mode, but the studio collectively felt it was great ??getting a different perspective on the action. "That's why we're giving it away for free, so as many people can experience it as possible."

The only limiting factor will be that this VR mode requires a GTX 1080 to run. Since VR games don't work well with lower framerates, it makes sense that there would be a suitably high system spec to get Hellblade running with the opt?ion. At least you won't need to shell?? out more for the option, though.

Announcing Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice VR Edition [Ninja Theory via YouTube]

The post Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice is getting a free VR update on PC appeared first on Destructoid.

Vice and Oculus supported

Ubisoft's VR shooter Space Junkie will be heading into open-beta very shortly. You can pre-register on the official website to secure your spot for the June 28 date. The devs will be playing, as well, so you'll be able to give your feedback directly to them while kicking their asses. Best t??hing is that it wi??ll support both Oculus Rift and Vive headsets, so you won't be limited by your hardware.

The post Ubisoft’s VR shooter Space Junkies gets an open beta on June 28 appeared first on Destructoid.

Cease and desist not buying a VR platform

Holy shit, they've finally done ??it. They've finally made a game that makes me take a second, see it ??in action, and proclaim, loudly and proudly: "I need VR."

After years of VR horror games, walking sims, faux-action titles, and awkward shooting galleries, a developer h?as come along to give us the virtual reality experience we didn't know we wanted. A virtual experience unlike no other, unafraid to take the big?? risks to deliver the high thrills the platform has been promising - but has thus far failed to deliver - for years.

Traffic Cop VR ?lets you? control traffic. In VR. Sign me the hell up.

Set in the 1950s, Traffic Cop VR puts you in the shoes of a dutiful and dependable traffic cop, who must ensure the safety of the city's drivers by controlling the flow of traffic at the busiest intersection in town. As any good traffic?? controller is wont to do, you'll use hand gestures to guide the motorists down the correct lane at the correct time. Or, in what I'm very confident will wind up happening to all of us, you can just cause absolute chaos in the streets and send cars careening off-course toward other vehicles and buildings, because you go to work every day and pay your taxes and sometimes you just need to watch the world burn, god damn it.

In addition to abusing the powers vested in you by both the community which you serve and the local government which serves them, there are three additional gameplay modes which look like pretty much everything I want in a game. In one mode, you can use a slingshot to shoot at birds as they fly through the sky, most likely minding their own business until some asshole ?in a uniform decided to start firing on them. Unlikely as a scenario as that seems, it seems compelling enough to keep you entertained for hours.

Another finds the community finally fighting back against police violence and taking matters into their own ?hands b??y throwing food at you. Take that, abuse of power! You can catch the food and throw it back, hurl garbage at them from a barrel of trash (that is in no way a metaphor for law enforcement in this country), or eat donuts. I'm sensing a theme here.

A third mode finds you finally doing something about those aliens entering our country planet illegally! You get a blaster and?? get to take down planetary refugees to prevent them from invading your community and taking your jobs, I think. Either way, you get to shoot aliens. All snarkiness aside, this game looks amazing and, if you don't want to play it, I officially hate you. You're on notice, dear readers.

Traffic Cop VR will be available on? May 29 for HTC Vive. Ports for Oculus Rift, Windows M??ixed Reality headsets (whatever the hell that is) and PSVR are planned down the road. Finally, a reason to get PSVR!

The post Traffic Cop VR is here to finally make y??ou want VR appeared first on Destructoid.

This article void if read on toilet

Earlier this month, the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) had sent warnings to six different companies that their "Warranty Void if Removed" stickers on hardware were actually illegal. These stickers had been voiding a 1975 Act that stated no manufacturer of a product over $5 could put repair restrictions on a device they offered a warranty for. Now, the FTC is giving these companies 30 days to remove these labels from future products before they take?? legal action. The compa??nies given this citation are Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo, HTC, Asus and Hyundai.

The FTC's associate director of marketing, Lois Greisman, originally s??ent the letters out on April 9 ??to give the parties a chance to change their practices before the deadline was imposed.

The FTC's letters stated, "Warranty language that implies to a consumer acting reasonably under the circumstances that warranty coverage requires the consumer to purchase an article or service identified by brand, trade or corporate name is similarly deceptive and prohibited." Each company has slight alterations in tex??t based on their products, but the FTC is still adamant that these terms are illegal.

The full letter reads, "This letter places you on notice that violations of the Warranty and FTC Acts may result in ?legal action. FTC investigators have copied and preserved the online pages in question, and we plan to review your company's written warranty and promotional materials after 30 days. You should review the Warranty and FTC Acts and if necessary, revise your practices to comply with the Acts' requirements. By sending this letter, we?? do not waive the FTC's right to take law enforcement action and seek appropriate injunctive and monetary remedies against [company name] based on past or future violations."

FTC?? Gives Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo 30 Days to Get Rid of Illega?l Warranty-Void-if-Removed Stickers [Motherboard]

FTC: Warranty-voiding la?nguage like Nintendo’s and Sony’s is illegal [Ars Technica]

The post Console manufacturers are under fire from ??the FTC for illegal?? warranty practices appeared first on Destructoid.

Next Stop: Nueveos Aires

Blendo Games has been one of the pion??eers of storytelling in gaming for the better part of a decade. Blendo's games range from "walking-simulators" all the way up to action-based hackers. Blendo have an unmistakable air of confidence, exuding the perfect amount of cinematic influence while still using the video game medium to their advantage?.

One of the early games that thrust Blendo into the indie spotlight was Flotilla, so while it should be no surprise that they would return to these roots for a sequel, it may be surprising to learn that Flotilla 2 will be a virtual reality title.

While Flotilla 2 will utilize VR for its interface, the gameplay looks to be very similar to the original. Taking place in space, Flotilla 2 will once again have players move around large spaceships to gain a tactical advantage against their foes. Utilizing room-scale VR, Flotilla 2 will take turn-based battles to a new dimension.

Unfortunately for those of us without a headset, the game is only planned for released for the VR platform, specifically the HTC Vive for the aforementioned room-scale capability. Those of us that do have a VR headset can look forward to playing Flotilla 2 when it arrives, August 1.

The post ?Blendo Games announces Flotilla 2, coming to?? VR this Summer appeared first on Destructoid.

Still VR only

From seemingly nowhere, the once PS4 exclusive Psychonauts in the Rhombus of Ruin is now available on PC. The game doesn't shed its VR requirement, but it is available on the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift via Steam or the Oculus Store. Going for $19.99, anyone that picks u??p the game during it??s first week on sale will receive 20% off, which isn't that bad of a deal at all.

As for whether or not the game is any good, why not take it from our own Jordon Devore? "As someone who is by no means a superfan, Rhombus of Ruin left me feeling proper excited for Psychonauts 2."

Double Fine [Twitter]

The post Psychonauts? in the Rhombus of Ruin is n?ow available on PC appeared first on Destructoid.

And that's just for the headset!

If you were thinking of holding out for the HTC Vive Pro, you might want to reconsider after hearing the price. Pre-orders have opened for the new model, which packs built-in headphones and brings an increased resolution of 2880 x 1600. The headset is due out April 5 for a whopp??ing $800.

There is a silver lining, though. If you're open to the original Vive, that has dropped down to $500. You'll get everything you need -- the HMD, the controllers, the base stations -- as well as Fallout 4 VR.

Clearly, they're going for the high-end market with the Pro. That's not surprising in and of itself, but $800 for just the head-mounted display (the existing controllers and base stations are compatible) is?? higher than I was expecting. If I had gotten the Vive at launch, I'd be sitting this one out for sure.

HTC Vive Announces P??rice of Vive Pro HMD at $799, Pre-orders Start To?day; Price of Vive Reduced to $499 [Vive]

The post Vive Pro w?ill cost $800, original Vive drops to $500 appeared first on Destructoid.

CES will have answers

It's?? the Consumer Electronic Show next week, and from the look of i?t, HTC will use the venue to announce a new-and-improved Vive. The company posted this "new year's resolution" tease today:

#newyearsresolution #HTCVIVE pic.twitter.com/s29FcX8BPe

— HTC VIVE (@htcvive) January 5, 2018

I'm personally expecting a revision rather than a second-generati??on Vive, though I'm curious where the pricing will fall and how the current model will be affected. We'll find out so??on enough.

HTC Vive [Twitter]

The post HTC is teasing a higher-resolution Vive appeared first on Destructoid.

Hurl me plenty

I like to gush about how good I think Doom 2016 is. Some naysayers on the sidelines like to point out its flaws, and I respect that; nothing is perfect, and I could write a doctorate on the fundamental differences between new and old Doom and why I still be?lieve the original is a superior game. But sitting down with a remake/sequel/whatever decades after the original came out and saying aloud, “holy shit, they didn’t fuck this up” is as remarkable achievement as any, and I’ll be playing it long after people have forgotten it exists - if the developers let us forget, since it will likely be re-released eight hundred times, a trend which is already apparently beginning.

Being a bit of a VR advocate and loving Doom meant I was pretty excited to see how Doom VFR would turn out. So it’s utterly disappointing to me that I have to be writing this now with borderline annoyed negativity, because for me personally, Doom VFR is a let down. There may be a decent experience there. It might be as good a transition to VR as is possible. But for the first time ever playing a game on the HTC Vive, I experienced all of the negative effects people complain about - including crippling, shock-like nausea which cut ??my total play time down to under a single miserable, unplayable hour.

Now keep in mind, I tried to play Doom two different ways. One by moving around with the traditional controller setup, and one by ignoring the full locomotion functionality altogether and simply teleporting and da?shing around the map. I recognize that full locomotion can cause problems, thus the teleport mecha?nic existing in the first place, but even fully embracing that made my stomach turn.

This is of course extremely subjective, and if you are particularly resistant to fast motion in VR, I wouldn’t worry about it - you can ignore what I say about this particular element of my experience altogether. I could not personally find a configuration for the game that didn’t send a hot tingle up my spine and make me feel like I was going to pass out, and my friend who loaned me his Vive for the experience reported a similar level of discomfort. But I am seeing a lot of reviews and impressions where people were perfectly fine with it.

All that being said, my limited time in the Doom VFR world brought a couple of issues up to the forefront, the main one being that this just doesn’t feel like a Doom game to me, at least initially. The trappings are there; the familiar environments and enemies which look beautiful rendered on a 1080 Ti video card regardless of tiny Vive screens. They didn’t feel quite to scale in a way I can’t properly describe. I have played other games on the Vive where enemies felt gigantic, as though they were in the room with me, and were incredibly intimidating to behold. The first time a bull demon ran in my general direction I jumped a bit, and that was officially the end of my terror for the duration of the rest of my play. It's weird th??at your in-game hands feel connected to your fucking mouth like the pinchers of a beetle.

This isn’t a major complaint or anything. The appeal of Doom has never been pants-shitting fear for me, and frankly I was glad I felt at least a tad disconnected with the world. My heart still jumps when playing the original and a Baron of Hell greets me with a howl despite the otherwise now-primitive look of Doom, so I don't have a strong heart for video game fear. The new one doesn’t give you any time for it anyways; you need to be constantly on the move and in the face of your enemy to survive. While Doom VFR recognizes this, the wind is taken out of its sails a bit during the boring tutorial portion which removes the subversive ??commentary of middle finger to typical narratives in favor of a more user-friendly and familiar initial hand-holding session.

I recognize that a tutorial really needs to be here in order to learn the ropes, but it cheapens the simplicity of Doom and lends it an immediately awkward tone that dissipates quickly in favor of a more straightforward campaign. I still really despise the teleportation thing. I get the need for it, especially after forgetting to bring my barf bag to Doom VFR, but I don’t think I’ll ever feel comfortable with the frustrating, limiting static nature of it. Whatever I liked about Doom 2016 is not accurately represented here, and I was questioning why anyone would ever prefer playing Doom VFR over its predecessor despite the novelty of VR which, if this is all the technology is goin??g to hav??e to offer in the future, has quickly diminishing returns for me personally insofar as how it has been dealt with up to this point.

Anything that has you in the cockpit of a vehicle works great on the Vive. Point-and-click adventure style games work beautifully. The sorts of games where you can look around and take in virtual vistas, or hear pounding visual mind-fucks such as Polybius. I think VR has massive merit among particular genres and styles of gameplay, but as a forever Doom fan and supporter of VR, I don’t think the technology is refined enough yet to deal with more or less direct translations of the current sorts of popular experiences most gamers are accustomed to.

But you know what they say, opinions are like Joel Petersons; they’re assholes. So if you had interest in it, don’t let me stop you. It was a flaccid experience for me that I couldn't enjoy since I was so busy trying to prevent my intestines from shooting out of my mouth, but I still have faith in the potential of VR for now, and am trying to remain optimistic for the future. However, Doom VFR did li??ttle else but to make me sick about the whole ex?perience.

I'm frustrated having to write?? this, because I have imagined playing a game like this in VR my whole life. And it tells me that VR either isn't working to its full potential yet, or that I am a defective man-baby.

I mean the latter is true regardless, I guess. I'm just pissed that I didn't have a good time ripping and tearing into Doom VFR. Better luck next time.

_{[This piece is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

The post Doom VFR makes me sick appeared first on Destructoid.

The award-winning student team talks to me about VR, tall players and dealing with pesky headset wires

The well-deserved winner of the Most Innovative Newcomer award at the PLAY creative games festival, held in Hamburg, Germany from 1–5 November, was Tell Me What You See, a co-op VR puzzle-adventure game. It is being developed by Pesky Bees, a Copenhagen-based student dev team. A lot of the games on display at the festival showed creative flair in their own special ways, but Tell Me What You See had a distinctive style and charm, and?? earned brownie points in making use of tricky HTC Vive VR technology.

The build I played at the festival was a two-player demo. One player would sit at a computer screen, and would have a zoomed-out overview of the ent??ire level, which is a diorama of a child's bedroom. The other player would wear the Vive headset, and would be in the life-sized bedroom. Communicating via headset microphone, the player at the computer monitor assists the second player in escaping the room, using machines straight from a child's vivid imagination that are made out of cardboard boxes.

The art style is a joy, and a?ll of the interactions with objects in the game feel natural. As an aside, I'll a?dmit this was my first attempt at a VR game, and I embarrassed myself a fair bit. I was so taken aback by everything being in front of my face that I giggled uncontrollably – and loudly – throughout the entire experience. I also collided with one of the team, who were running the demo booth themselves, and was not very graceful in plonking myself on the floor to "climb" into an object.

But out of all of the exhibits, it was the one with which I had the most fun – which is why I loved this game so much, and why I ??just had to get an interview with the develope??rs. Keep on reading for my chat with the team! 

What made you specifically want to develop a VR game?

While the economic sustainability of developing for VR seems to be uncertain, we do consider it a format full of potential for expressiveness and innovation. However, making the game in VR was just the beginning of the plan. We know more students creating projects in VR t??han in any other platform, so that would definitely not set us apart. If we chose VR is because we had a very specific take on it and we wanted to see how far we could go with that idea.

What specific difficulties did you encounter making a VR game compared to a "normal" game?

VR adds a new layer of difficulty on top of every part of the development process. First of all, the production phase demands higher requirements for hardwar??e and actual physical space than any other kind of game. Also, setting up playtest??s, recording playthroughs, traveling to festivals... becomes more challenging. The fact that our game was also online didn’t make things easier.

But most importantly, making a game for VR sometimes requires a completely different mindset. Level design, for example, needs to consider the actual physicality of the player. For a long time, one of the puzzles in the game was based on the VR player not being able to reach a certain obje??ct. That worked until our first player who was two metres tall tried the game and proved the design to be wrong.

Why did you decide to make a game that required working in pairs?

I think that most people who try VR realise that there is something magical about that digital space that you are suddenly inhabiting. Somehow, even if the hardware is still far fro?m perfection, the trick works and we feel transported to another place. With our game, we wanted to open a window for a second player to accompany the VR player through this experience.

The main goal w??as to see how those two players would&nb??sp;collaborate in a common space that is presented to them in such a different way. That was the foundation of the project and we always tried ??to make our design, sound, and visual choices based on that concept because we considered it to be worth exploring.

From there, it was all about making the game enjoyable for both parts. We didn’t want the PC player to just enable the fun of the VR player. We tried to understand the strengths and weaknesses of both platforms and build a game in which those te????chnologies were not competing but enriching each other’s experience. This required careful puzzle design and many iterations of the mechanics that can be performed by both players.

You developed the demo as a student project. Do you think the process of working on a game as a group of students is any different to working on one full-time at an independent studio?

Since our roles were clearly defined from the start (programmer, artist, game designer, and sound designer) the workflow was surprisin??gly similar to the one of a small independent studio. However, there w?ere of course some differences. A negative one is that we couldn’t commit full-time to the development. The positive side is that our decisions were not constrained by the economic viability of the project; the priority was always for the game to be as close to our initial vision as possible. We knew that this situation was not likely to be repeated in the future, so we enjoyed the process of developing with that freedom.

I think I accidentally punched one of the people working the booth when playing your game. How often have you been hit by people trying out the demo?

We became experts ??at untangling cables while remaining unnoticed by the players. What we couldn’t avoid is some of them trying to lie down on what is just a digital model of a bed and falling as a result.

Oh dear. Thanks for the interview, guys! The game is still in development, but follow the team on Twitter for further updates.

The post Interview with Pesky Bees, creators of Tell Me What You S?ee appeared first on Destructoid.

Take a spooky stroll around Croft manor

The VR-oriented Blood Ties chapter of 2015's Rise of the Tomb Raider has finally been added to the PC port of the game. The announcement was made on Steam by developers Crystal Dynamics.

The VR chapter, which launched on consoles earlier this year, sees the intrepid Lara Croft return to her family mansion. Wandering the dusty, forgotten halls, once the home of the adventuring elite, she will uncover a mystery that has haunted the Croft family for generations. Think Gone Home for the British upper classes.

Blood Ties is compatible with HTC Vive and Oculus Rift. The chapter is available as part of the 20 Year Celebration DLC pack or can be downloaded f??or free by those who own the 20th Anniversary Edition of the base game.

Rise of the Tomb Raider is a??vailable now on PC, PS4, Xbox 360 and Xb??ox One.

Experience Rise of the Tomb Raider's “Blood Ties” single-player story chapter through the eyes of Lara Croft - now on @SteamVR via @htcvive & @OculusRift. Explore Lara’s childhood home in VR and uncover a Croft family mystery that will change her life forever in this free update! pic.twitter.com/oruiEhJD1N

— Tomb Raider (@tombraider) December 5, 2017

The post Rise of the Tomb Raider’s VR chapter is now available on PC appeared first on Destructoid.

Now we wait for Bully

As everyone patiently waits for Red Dead Redemption 2, Rockstar is bringing something to tide us over with enhanced ports of L.A. Noire to modern consoles. All versions release on November 14, 2017 and will include all the DLC previously r??eleased.

PS4 and Xbox One versions will run natively at 1080p (Xbox One X and PS4 Pro run at 4K) with "enhanced lighting and clouds, new cinematic camera angles, high resolution textures and more." The Switch version will not see such?? graphical enhancements, but will receive support in the form of HD rumble, contextual touch screen controls, "wide and over-the-shoulder camera angles," and "gyroscopic, gesture-based ?controls" via the Joy-Con.

L.A. Noire: The VR Case Files&n??bsp;rebuilds seven (out of 21) cases in virtual reality for HTC Vive. I'm not sure why only seven but with imp?roved visuals on an already impressive looking game why not try it out in VR?

L.A. Noire delivered on the story front and made every aspect of the game feel cinematic (I loved just walking up and down the stairs and trying on different suits), but outside of the main story there really isn't much to do gameplay-wise. Even so, if you haven't played it yet it's definitely worth a playthrough, although sometimes you may not like how Cole answers certain prompts.

The post L.A. Noire ??coming to PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and? HTC Vive this November appeared first on Destructoid.

Is that low enough?

That recent Oculus Rift price reduction and sale must've moved a lot of on-the-fence VR adopters i??nto action. Today, HTC is following suit with a significant permanent price drop of its own for the Vive. Previously priced at $799, the virtual reality headset will now cost $599 going forward.

It's still an expensive purchase, to be sure, but when you're building or even upgrading your PC to handle VR, eve?ry dollar counts. $200 off the Vive price tag can go a long way.

I've only recently gotten a desktop powerfu??l enough to do VR well, and at this point, it's not so much a matter of "Do I go Rift or Vive?" as it is "How long can I hold o??ut for a second-generation headset?"

New Vive Price Makes The Best VR Syst?em More Accessible to the Mass Market [Vive]

The post $200 price cut brings HTC Vive down to $599 appeared first on Destructoid.

CATS NEED BUTTHOLES, TOO

Cats are my life, now. I can't escape them. At this point, why would I even want to? They're cute and cuddly, and are now allegedly in desperate need of he?lp. For you see, not all cats were created equal. Hell, not are cats were created as actual cats. Some ha?ve beaks. Some, tentacles. Others still, horns. And you know what's worst of all?

Some cats were created without buttholes.

In Cat Sorter VR??, you can help right all the wrongs committed against this planet's cats - and all in vir?tual reality!

Releasing for HTC Vive on August 29, Cat Sorter VR allows players to pluck defective cats from a celestial conveyor belt to strip them of their imperfections (I should get some sort of reward for resisting a purr-pun there) and give them more traditional cat features, like? cute, whiskered noses, normal cat tails, and of course, buttholes.

This is not a drill, friends. This game gives you a bucket of cat buttholes to place ??on cats that were not initially equipped with buttholes. Here's the cat butthole bucket:

Here's a cat, happy that he now has a butthole. Unlike before, ??where h??e had no butthole:

What a good kitty! Now he'll be able to take a dump in my dress shoes that I only wear once every couple of months, so I won't find it until right before I need to leave the house and wind up sliding my foot into the shit-filled husk I once ca?lled my shoe. As cats are wont to do.

Can't wait until August 29 to get your cat butthole fill? Well you're in luck, as the game will be demoed at CatCon 2017 on August 12-13. What is CatCon, you ask? Why, it's only the premiere cat and cat enthusiast convention! Held i?n Pasadena, CA, show-goers will be able to experience the cat-butthole-surgeon simulator for the first time ever, proving yet agai?n that California really is for buttholes.

Keep your eyes out, and buttholes in, for Cat Sorter VR.

The post Play God in Cat Sorter VR appeared first on Destructoid.

Let's a go!

Mario Karate Arcade GP VR (that's a mouthful) will be making its way to Bandai Namco's VR ZONE, ??;when it opens in Shinjuku this Friday, July 14.

If the name isn't obvious, this is Mario Kart's jump into virtual reality. It runs on an HTC Vive and a Mario Kart Arcade racing rig. You can toss shells, banana peels, and even get smacked with that dreaded blue shell, all in virtual reality.&n?bsp;

In the video, you can see some noticeable changes to the Mario Kart formula. Including items hanging from balloon?s, rather than being in blocks, and new items like the hammer. It's also worth noting t??hat VR Thwomp looks terrifying.

Unfortunately for those of us outside of Japan, it looks like this won't be available as a home product anytime soon. W?e can dream though. If you find yourself in the Shinjuku area, be sure to check it out. 

New Mario Kart Arcade GP VR video [Nintendo Everything]

The post New video s????hows gameplay from Mario Kart Arcade GP VR appeared first on Destructoid.

Bungee cord and a rubber band!

I think its safe to say that most of us wanted to be Spider-Man in our high school years. The whole charm of the character is overcoming extreme odds to prove yourself to the world; its an allegory for puberty and the radical changes that happen to your body. That being said, we used to get actual good Spider-Man games, so a lot of us had our fix for?? web slinging and wall crawling years ??ago.

As for the younger generation, you guys can experience Spider-Man in a new VR experience! Out now on Steam for the low price of free, Spider-Man: Homecoming VR Experience is a first-person, VR laden adventure through the eyes of Tom Holland in the upcoming film. It features all of Spide??y's classic gimmicks as well as a boss battle against the Vulture...at least, I believe that is what's going on in the trailer.

This "experience" works on the HTC Vive and Oc??ulus Rift, so you just need to give it a download to have a go. If you happen to have PlayStation VR, then don't fret! The game is also available on PS4 for the same low price.

While I haven't tested it out myself (I don't own a VR hea?dset), I will say that I'm pleased crappy movie tie-in games are now coming out as free things. It was always a shame, back in the day, to get super hyped for a film, buy the stupid game and then waste a month with somethi?ng terrible.

Spider-Man: Homecoming VR experience out now on Steam for free [PC Gamer]

The post Pretend you’re Spider-Man with this free VR experience appeared first on Destructoid.

Job Simulator: Starfleet Edition

If there's any quintessential Star Trek fantasy, it's probably of being on the bridge of one of the series' iconic starships. Be it the Enterprise, Defiant, or Voyager, Star Trek has long defined itself through command dec??ks and the people sitting ??on them. 

Star Trek: Bridge Crew promised to use VR tech to put players in that ?fantasy, but after repea?ted delays, can Ubisoft and Red Storm bring that 23rd-century Federation experience to life?

Star Trek: Bridge Crew (PlayStation VR [Reviewed], Oculus Rift, HTC Vive)
Developer: Red Storm Entertainment
Publisher: Ubisoft
Released: May 30, 2017
MSRP: $49.99

I’m not going to bury the lede here: Star Trek: Bridge Crew accomplishes this feat rather brilliantly. At this po?int, it might be my favorite VR experience to date.

That said, I am compelled to qualify my statement, in that that brilliance comes more despite the limitations of the game than because of it. Indeed, while what Red Storm has developed can be solid platform for some choice Trek inter?actions, the content in the s??oftware itself come across as a bit thin.

If nothing else, the game does exactly what it says on the box: It places up to four players in the position of being members of a Star Trek starship’s bridge crew?. Each player, wearing one of the three major VR headsets (I played on a PSVR), takes one of the stations aboard the bridge of a shi??p, and uses either a pair of motion controllers or a gamepad to manipulate the controls for that station. Together, the players will cooperate to accomplish the missions and run the ship.

Each bridge station has a distinct function and unique capabilities. Helm officers pilot the starship, plotting courses to dif??ferent navigation points, aligning the vessel on impulse or warp vectors, and managing the throttle. Tactical officers can scan objects in the local vicinity, locating life signs, ferreting out navigational hazards, and isolating enemies’ subsystems. They can raise and lower the ship’s shields, as well as use phasers and photon torpedoes to destroy or disable enemy ships. Engineers allocate power to ship systems, increasing or decreasing their effectiveness. They can temporarily reroute power to different systems for a quick boost, as well as direct repair teams to contain damage sustained in combat.

Shared between these three stations are controls for the ship’s transporter, as well as a “System Intrusion” hacking mechanic that allows the crew to get a leg up on enemy ships in combat. The fourth station, the Captain’s coordinates the other three stations’ ?efforts, by alerting the crew to mission objectives, answering incoming communications, and manipulating the main viewscreen. Captains are also the only players who can take control of AI crew stations, in case the session is short a station or two.

These interactions, in and of themselves, are fairly simple ones. Ultimately, they boil down to three di?fferent ways to interact with a control ?panel, after all. But it's more than that, though. The genius of Star Trek: Bridge Crew - lies in the fact that no one person on the crew has everythi?ng they need to do their job.

The Captain knows the objective and how to complete the mission, but needs the other three stations working in order to actually get anything done. A helmsman can maneuver the ship and set course to the objective, but needs the Engineer to allocate power to his systems and prime the warp engines for travel. ??The Tactical officer can engage targets and destroy threats, but will need both the Helm and Engineer to keep the ship in effective range and ensure there's enough power. The Engineer can greatly increase the effectiveness of the other stations, but needs to balance their demands as well as keep the shi??p in good working order. 

Staying on top of all of this under pressure to accomplish mission objectives like rescuing castaways while under fire, or scanning crucial anomalies and escaping before a star explodes, requires communication. Bridge Crew isn't a game for the sh?y, and everyone on a crew will need to speak up to get the job done.

But the best part is that the nature of this required cooperation tends to prompt people to, for lack of a batter word, act professionally. Rather than trash-talk or racial epithets or insults (the usual language of pick-up game voice chat) the vast majority of random crewmates I played did their jobs, and in doing so ended up sounding just like one might imagine an actual Star Trek bridge crew migh?t, issuing reports on their status, making (polite) requests?, and even cracking up a bit during the more stressful missions. Even little things, like the way it's easier to say "Helm", or "Captain" or "Tactical" than it is to read someone's absurd nickname tends to have people address each other like they might if they were actual crew members on a ship. This natural "role-playing" feels profound and frankly magical when combined with the sense of presence one gets from using VR headsets and motion controllers.

Of course, I might be a somewhat biased observer, being a hardcore Trek nerd who's been dreaming of this sort of experience since childhood. I'd wager that many of the people I interacted with were in the same boat. I also can't imagine what it might be like trying to get over a language barrier (the Asia-region servers weren't especially populated at the time of review). And yet, I can still recognize that while Bridge Crew is the closest I've come yet to realizing that longtime Trekker fantasy, it's n?ot quit??e all there yet.

The campaign is something of a disappointment, for one. Lasting between 3 and 5 hours, the handful of story missions available tell the tale of the U.S.S. Aegis, a new starship from the rebooted continuity (AKA "The Kelvin Timeline") sent to explore a r?egion of space in search of a new homeworld for the Vulcans. Unfortunately, most of the drama just doesn't land, and ??the actual missions merely function as an in-depth tutorial for the different stations. 

This puts the onus for the game's longevi??ty on its "Ongoing Missions" mode, a procedurally generated set of challenges and randomized missions designed to test a crew's coordination. These work, but it's clear that something is missing without the benefit of a bespoke, scripted campaign. 

Further, Bridge Crew's (natural) emphasis on limiting action to the bridge and ship itself expose a somewhat uncomfortable truth, that contradicts the opening statement of my review: As it turns out, Star Trek is a lot more than the bridges of its famous starsh??ips. 

The crew can’t get together in a conference room to figure out that the mysterious signal that’s giving them horrible visions of atrocities is, in fact, a psychic memorial planted by a long-dead alien race. They can’t get the engineer can’t modify the navigational deflector to mimic cosmic string vibrations and draw off a dangerou?s herd of two-dimensional space beasts. They can’t infiltrate a malfunctioning holodeck game program and seduce its boss character to end its feud with a race of? holographic aliens.

By the way, all of the above are actual plot points from Star Trek episodes. Suffice it to say that much the drama, adventure, and hijinks of the last fifty years feels absent when people are confined to their seats and left to simply do their jobs. In a way, playing Star Trek: Bridge Crew feels sort of like being part of a crew that is not starring in its own Star Trek show, they're just there, doing their jobs while other, more photogenic off??icers, go and get themselves into trouble.

One could, of course, try to do this in a more single-player setting. Bridge Crew supports the use of AI crewmates, with the player using the captain's chair and issuing orders with a radial menu, but the resulting game is oddly silent and quite difficult, as the AI is a bit dim and will require babysitting. It's like trying to play Overcooked alone: You can do i??t, but it's clear that it's not the best or most enjoyable way to play.

Of course, this assessment is somewhat unfair. The game is Star Trek: Bridge Crew, not Star Trek: Story Simulator. And yet even 2001's Star Trek Bridge Commander had a more substantial and diverse story campaign, one with a classic Next Generation plotline. I guess I'm trying to say I wish the campaign was stronger and more fitting of how lovely the game feels to play, especially with other people. That's why I referred to Bridge Crew as a "platform" for Star Trek, since its actual content doesn't quite live ??up to its design.

But what a platform, though! Star Trek: Bridge Crew is a brilliant VR experience, and pushes the technology to emphasize social interaction and cooperation in a way only a handful of other titles have been able to realize. Beyond that, it's fine slice of Star Trek fan service, as well. There's plenty more new life and new civilization to find in Star Trek: Bridge Crew, and ?I'm hoping that it'll be able to boldly go and realize the rest of its potential.

_{[This rev?iew is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

The post Review: Star Trek: Bridge Crew appeared first on Destructoid.

Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra

If you’ve been on the fence about picking up a VR headset and also happen to be a giant Trekkie, HTC has some good news from you. Going forward, HTC says that every Vive headset it sells will come bundled with a copy of the multiplayer stress simulator, Star Trek: Bridge Crew. 

As its name would imply, Bridge Crew puts you and three other players in critical roles on the bridge of a starship in the midst of a deep space exploration mission. The game itself has been hit with a number of delays, so at the very least a bundle like this is a nice little treat for anyone that was waiting on this sp?ecific game to pick up a VR? headset. 

Soon-to-be Vive owners can pick up Star Trek: Bridge Crew, a Vive, two controllers, and the other bells and whistles packaged along with the headset for $799.99. For the rest of us, Star Trek: Bridge Crew releases today on Oculus Rift, HTC Vi??ve, and PlayStation VR for $49.99.

The post Star Trek: Bridge Crew now com??es bundled with Vive headsets appeared first on Destructoid.

Be the Dark (loner) Knight

If you were jealous of PS4 users for getting a VR Batman game, it looks like your time has finally come. Shedding the exclusivity set up last year, Batman: Arkham VR will be grappling over to PC on ?April? 25 with support for the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive (along with Dualshock 4 and Xbox One gamepad support).

Rocksteady's creativ?e director, Sefton Hill, had this to say about the announcement:

Bringing Batman to VR was a very rewarding experience for us here at Rocksteady. The Dark Knight has always been an incredible character to work with due to his psychological depth, so it’s really exciting to use this immersive medium to delve deeper into his psyche than ever before. We’re thrilled that PC players can finally wear the cowl for themselves and take on the role of the World’s Greatest Detective?? with the addition of the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift versions.

Batman: Arkham VR announced for PC, release date set [PC Gamer]

The post Batman??: Arkham VR is scowling its way to PC this month appeared first on Destructoid.

2 + 2 = Half-Life 3 Confirmed!

I know Humble Bundle has offered things like books in the past, but I don't believe I've ever seen them pre-selling tickets to an upcoming film. There is a first time for everything, though. Humble, alongside Starbreeze Studios, is giving us the John Wick bundle that includes the first film alongside two tickets to the upcomi??ng sequel.

For the cheapest tier, you'll receive Payday 2 and some small DLC, including a John Wick-inspired gun pack (because nothing screams John Wick like bank heists...). For $6 you'll get the "Game of the Year" edition of Payday 2 and some mask DLC (plus the previous tier). $14 sees them throwing in Dead By Daylight, $25 gets you a pre-order for the John Wick Chronicles VR game,? and $45 nets you the first film and the tickets for the new one (it should be noted that tickets are limited to the first 5,000 purchases and are for AMC or Regal theaters only).

Now, I'm not going to totally crap on John Wick as it was a decent film. The action was shot pretty well and I really liked how regular action movie tropes were thrown out the window. Sadly, the ?main villain then succumbs to stupid syndrome and beg?ins complaining about how no one can kill John, despite having the guy knocked out right in front of him. I suppose there just has to be a totally contrived and thrown-together finale in every film.

Still, $45 seems a bit insane for three games (one of which isn't even out yet) and a movie. I mean, you can get the 4K Blu-ray of the first film for $15 on Amazon and Dead By Daylight routinely goes on sale for cheap. I've heard Payday 2 isn't worth a damn anymore, but with Starbreeze handling the game, may??be everything has changed. Still, I know ?I've seen the "Game of the Year" version for $5 during a Steam sale.

Supporting charity is always a nice thing, so maybe I'm just being too frugal about this. Well, if you feel like biting the bullet, you only have a few more days to get a shot at this deal. If you don't feel like going through Humble Bundle, pre-ordering the John Wick Chronicles game on Steam will net you Payday 2 and the John Wick DLC for a short time.

Humble Starbreeze Studios Bundle Presents John Wick [Humble Bundle]

The post Humble Bundle is offering John Wick: Chapte??r 2 tickets alongside Pay??day 2 appeared first on Destructoid.

Potential VR spin-off

Gabe Newell recently held an AMA (ask me anything) on Reddit and people were obviously drooling at the chance to question the existence of Half-Life 3. While that was deftly avoided by Gaben, there were some interesti??ng hints dropped about a potential spin-off to the s??eries that could be in the pipeline. When questioned about whether Valve was actively working on any kind of single-player game, Gabe responded with, "Yes."

After that, another user further clarified the question by asking whether Valve was working on a new IP that is set within the Half-Life/Portal universe. Gabe also replied with, "Yep." Now, this could mean a number of things, but more than likely, it has to do with the HTC Vive. Gabe did bring up the possi?bility, later stating, "We think VR is pretty important as a tool for interesting games."

While that could be anything, Valve actively backs the HTC Vive, so that would clearly be its target device. You could also take this to mean that Valve is currently working on two separate projects, one in VR and one as a spin-off. Then again, The Lab is a fully VR tech demo that takes place within Portal, so who is to say what is really going on?

Source 2 is also mentioned in the AMA and Valve seems to be going full force with their new engine. While it has only debuted with DOTA 2, so far, it looks like Valve is not giving up on their technology. "We are are usin?g it as the foundation of some unannounced products," Gabe confirmed.

Someone else also brought up the potential movies that Valve was working on with J.J. Abrams.? Apparently those are still in the works, so I guess we can look forward ??to those not sucking...maybe.

Hi. I'm Gabe Newell. AMA. [Reddit]

The post Half-Life may continue, but not li??ke you want? it to appeared first on Destructoid.

No genre is safe from zombies

Q-Games, developer of The Tomorrow Children and the PixelJunk series, has decided to move to VR for its next title, Dead Hungry. More specifically it will be coming to Oculus Rift and HTC Vive via Steam. If you were baffled by The Tomorrow Children, try to break this one down. Dead Hungry could be clas??sified as a zombie, tower defense, job simulation, puzzle, and/or cooking game. 

Almost as if to try and one-up Counter Fight, Dead Hungry tries to be even more silly with rampaging zombie school girls, sumo wrestlers, and selling hamburgers and pizza on the streets of Japan. Seems like a lot of these types of games are going to try to ride the coat tails of Job Simulator.

A hectic and hilarious grill action VR game! [PixelJunk]

The post ?New VR ??burger game brings zombies and death metal to the cooking sim genre appeared first on Destructoid.

Taste the rainbow

Update: Deals are valid still as of Cyber Monday but will expire later tonight.

If you were expecting amazing deals on VR headsets this Black Friday - you're in for a slight disappointment. HTC has noted earlier this week that the Vive will receive a decent $100 discount at participating re?tailers - whereas Facebook's Oculus is mum on available deals.

Thankfully, Microsoft Store is extending the $100 bonus from the Vive to the Oculus, with both systems reviving the offer starting on November 24 at 12am Pacific. Yup, that is in fact just a few hours from writing. If you really want either sys?tem this year, and you don't want to deal with supply issues on the Vive come Black Friday, then Microsoft's deal is your best bet.

For the Oculus, as far as we ca?n tell there are only software discounts being offered come Black Friday. No other ??retailer has made a public note on the Oculu's Black Friday deals.

Black Friday VR Deals + $100 gift code

• HTC Vive VR System + $100 Gift Code — $699 <- now includes $100 off!
• Oculus Rift VR Headset + $100 Oculus Credit — $599

Note that the gift code is good for anything on the Microsoft Store and will arrive to your inbox in 10-20 days after your system has been shipped. Shipping is free. Deals are expected to?? expire on Black Friday at 11:59pm P??acific.

If none of the deal above strikes your fancy, check back on Black F??riday as we'll update the post with othe??r offerings from other retailers (when they become available).

Update: The $100 gift code for the Oculus turns out to be for the Oculus store only. It isn't bad, but it is limited in usage compare to the Microsoft Store gift code offered by the Vive deal.

The post Black Friday VR deals: ??Vive and Oculus with $100 gift card bonus appeared first on Destructoid.

Job simulator? Whats that?

I started to write this first sentence as "Japan is a country where people really love working, so I'm surprised there aren't more games about working" but then I remembered that RPGs, as much as I love them, are quite a bit like work. Still, you'd expect more actual job simulators. Germany would buy them.

Not an RPG is Tricol's Counter Fight for HTC Vive. Described as a "work simulation," this game gives me some Yoshinoya vibes, but is almost certainly inspired by Job Simulator. You work play (I actually typed "work" instinctively) as a chef at a ramen restaurant, fulfilling various orders of customers, who look like Minecraft characters in Jazzpunk-style art, including d?ifferent bowls of ramen, cooking gyouza, and pouring beer. 

Going through the video I was afraid it would be a standard follow-the-rules game without fail states or being able to do silly things as you can in Job Simulator, such as make intentionally wrong orders or toss things. Luckily good ole Ja??panese shenanigans are embraced in this game, as it closes showing the? player defending his station from robbers as well as hurling maneki-nekos and beer at everyone including the players personal Chinese-dress-adorned cheerleader.

Unlike Job Simulator this is the only job available. I'm curious about finer details such as whether or not the working space changes based on the size of your VR play area. It's unfair to keep comparing it to Job Simulator but it's hard not to. Certainly if you have a Vive layi?ng around and you are looking to goof off at work some more this might cure the itch.

The post Throwing boiling hot ramen at customers in Japanese V??R Game Counter Fight appeared first on Destructoid.

Up, right, left, down, sit, don't, chu

Hey there space cats. Bare-midriff enthusiast and blatant L??ady Miss Kier rip-off Ulala is set to make her return after years of slumming it in other character's games. At the Tokyo Game Show, attendees can check out a demo on ??the HTC Vive featuring Space Channel 5's top reporter in all her swingin' glory.

Titled Space Channel 5 VR: Ukiuki Viewing Show, the experience is a passive one as you'll be an audience member at one of Ulala's popular report shows. That's right, it looks like there will be no "chu, chu, chu" for you. The VR experience is being created as part of a multi-communication demonstration event. According to Gematsu, Ukiuki Viewing Show is currently in "committed ??development" and could come to other devices besides the Vive.

I've been waiting more than a decade for Space Channel 5 to makes its cotton-candy colored return. Since Space Channel 5: Part 2's release, there have been several occasions I thought would have been perfect for Sega to give us Part 3: when music games became all the rage, when titles like Elite Beat Agents showed how easy it was ??to make rhythm games for the DS, or when Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft all had motion control devices that would literally allow you to point and shoot.

Clearly, I was wrong and now is the right moment for her return with VR. I guess I'll take it, even if I am unable to fully enjoy the techn??ology. And if they can't get the rights to Space Michael again, something tells me Space G??aga will work just fine.

Space Channel 5 VR: Ukiuki Viewing Show Announc?ed For VR [Siliconera]

The post Ulala and her swingin’ report show return in VR appeared first on Destructoid.