Modern Gaming

Sneak Peek At Atari’s New Gameband Smartwatch

07/02/2017 By ausretrogamer

Last week we reported on the imminent new Atari hardware, and now we can tell you a tad more. With just 3 days to go till the official Gameband Kickstarter launch (1:00am February 9th AEDT), some teaser sneak peek photos have emerged of the Gameband Atari and Terraria Edition smartwatches.

As can be seen in the photos (from left to right); there’ll be a straight Gameband Edition (Black, sleek and shiny), an Atari Edition (red, black and retro) and a Terraria Edition (brown, green and indie). Apparently there will be a super early bird price on Kickstarter (starting at $99USD) for a limited quantity – too bad the Kickstarter will launch at the ungodly hour of 1:00am our time :-/

According to Gameband’s CEO, Feargal Mac Conuladh, the Gameband Smartwatches will be “An insanely powerful Smartwatch, wrapped in gaming design and content.”. We shall see!

We reached out to Feargal to state that the launch was going to be at 1:00am on February 9 (our time), meaning a lot of Australians would miss out on the early bird special. He responded thusly:

@ausretrogamer you telling me gamers down-under are in bed by 1am? 😉

— Feargal Mac Conuladh (@feargalmac) February 7, 2017

It’s always good to see a CEO having a sense of humour!

Sydney Game Developers Jam Together

06/02/2017 By ausretrogamer

How long does it take to create a video game? According to the trail blazers at the Global Games Jam, just 48 hours – all in the spirit of good fun of course!

The flagship event of the 2017 TAFE Open Week saw 183 game developers converge on the North Sydney campus for the Global Games Jam. Global Games Jam is an annual international event in which competitors from around the globe are given a theme to create a fully playable game in just 48 hours. 2017’s event saw over 36,000 jammers in 702 sites across 95 countries create over 7,000 games in just one weekend!

Artists, musicians, coders, designers, writers, producers and more spent a hectic sleepless weekend creating games inspired by the deceptively simple theme of “waves“, with matters being complicated by our list of optional diversifiers. The games that emerged at the end of the weekend took the theme in many directions, some very literal and others more esoteric. We had ocean waves, sound waves, Mexican waves, enemies attacking in waves, players communicating by waving their hands, and so much more.

“Global Games Jam offers both TAFE North Sydney students and the wider Sydney gaming community the chance to come together and share their love and passion for gaming.” says Daniel Hale, Game Development Course Coordinator at TAFE North Sydney.

Having competed in every Games Jam since January 2015, Ray Frihy and Memia Lin are certified Games Jam veterans – at just 18 years of age! Both began their studies at TAFE North Sydney at 16, completing the Diploma of Interactive Games and are now currently completing an Advanced Diploma of Screen and Media.

For them, Games Jam has been instrumental in developing their technical skills for game development, as well as giving them the real-world experience of working towards deadlines and collaborating as a team – essential skills necessary to succeed in the highly competitive gaming industry. This sentiment is echoed by their teacher Daniel Hale; “Ray and Menia are both great examples of the budding talent we are seeing at TAFE North Sydney. Games Jam offers them and others students the chance to meet directly with industry professionals and demonstrate their amazing talent, we believe it is really important to nurture talent and provide them with the skills necessary for a successful career in games development.”

Now in it’s third year, TAFE’s Global Games Jam saw the cream of Sydney’s video game development crop come together as a community to share their knowledge and passion for gaming. A fantastic live stream hosted by Bajo (Steven O’Donnell from ABC’s Good Game) led to the reveal of the “waves” theme after a keynote video created by the team at Extra Credits. This led to a frenzy of creation, which didn’t stop at the weekend. Many games developed in previous Game Jams have become fully realised games. The Global Game Jam is open source, hardware and software agnostic and all projects are protected under a Creative Commons license. Some standout mentions from this year included:

Wave Breaker – A tsunami survival game with a bizarre Nicholas Cage Easter egg.

CYCLONE_RYDER.EXE – A wave pattern maze game that is deceptively difficult.

Electric Surfaloo – A surfing themed game which pits Broseidon against an onslaught of beach goers.

That’s My Queen – A truly unique and entertaining concept that requires you to make the correct hand gestures to your kingdom’s subjects as you pass by in your car.

For a full list of games created and participant lists follow the link to the official Games Jam site here.

image source: TAFE North Sydney – Global Games Jam

Wonder Boy III: The Dragon’s Trap

23/01/2017 By ausretrogamer

Wonder Boy III: The Dragon’s Trap is Ms. Ausretrogamer’s favourite Sega Master System game, so to say she is excited for the remake of the 1989 classic would be a gross understatement!

The Dragon’s Trap remake is being developed by Paris based Lizardcube and published by the awesome DotEmu! We eagerly read each development blog entry for how things are panning out, and we wait with bated breath for this game to come out on all modern consoles, including the Nintendo Switch and also PC.

No matter your choice in systems, 2017 is going to be a great year for gaming! We can’t wait for The Dragon’s Trap.

source: The Dragon’s Trap

Back To The Virtual Future

11/01/2017 By ausretrogamer

image source: VR Source

We live in a brave new world of virtual reality and ‘real’ 3D experiences. The race for full-immersion is on, with big money invested in tech to transport you into a virtual world. It seems some people won’t rest until every home has access to a Star Trek style holodeck. In these heady days of VR pioneering, it’s easy to forget that the seeds were planted long ago. This post looks at early appearances of VR in popular culture that inspired the current gold rush.

Simulated reality is a very powerful idea. It strikes at the heart of the human experience and touches on existential questions about our nature. I’m not suggesting Oculus Rift is going to shed new philosophical light on the writings of Descartes, but it certainly highlights a longstanding human desire to shape our own reality.

Early science fiction novels played with the idea of virtual reality from as early as 1941. Robert A Heinlen’s book ‘They’ tells of a man confined to a mental institution because he believes he is one of the only real people alive and that the rest of the universe has been created by a few others to deceive him. This solipsistic work sets the tone for many early virtual realities. Most are generally dystopian in nature and play heavily on people’s fears of being unable to trust their own senses and the people around them. This theme reoccurs frequently in popular culture.

Phillip K. Dick, took a slightly different tack. In his 1953 novel “The Trouble with Bubbles” we first see the idea of humans creating virtual worlds for others to experience. It is an interesting concept with relevance to the creators of today’s VR experiences. The book fully explores the morality of having total control over the lives of others.

image source: DailyTech

It’s not just books that play with virtual reality. TV and films explore the trope in great detail. One of the first references to VR on TV was, of course, Star Trek. In 1974, long before Captain Picard was flouncing around the holodeck, the crew of the Enterprise has an encounter with an unusual cloud that affects their computer. The ship starts to play practical jokes; including turning the recreation room into a dangerous virtual reality area that almost kills the unfortunates who get stuck there. A far cry from the holodeck’s mainly benign incarnation in Star Trek: The Next Generation.

image source: Front Effects

Tron (1982) is one of the first examples of close human computer interaction in film and of course borrows heavily from computer games for its action scenes. Again, it is a very twisted form of reality with the main character trapped in a computerized world, fighting against the very system he programmed. The VR on display is highly advanced, with full body immersion and the very real possibility of death.

Other films like Lawnmower Man (1992) and Johnny Mnemonic (1995) come closer to the current day experience with headsets and body suits that relay information between user and applications. The Matrix (1999) has a connection straight to the brain that delivers an almost fool-proof illusion of reality. The first two have technology that is either within our grasp or very close, while the direct brain plug of the Matrix is not as far away as you might think. Advances in direct neuro controls for things like prosthetic limbs shows our understanding of the brain is expanding at a rapid rate.

You can bet that the brains behind the current crop of VR are aware of the fiction behind the science. Science fiction has always influenced technology, inviting scientists and engineers to turn the imagination of writers into reality. With the amount of money being invested in the new generation of VR, it’s only a matter of time before more outlandish ideas become reality. At the current pace, we will likely see highly convincing virtual reality with haptic feedback and all senses engaged within our lifetimes.
It is strange that something that is clearly a great fantasy for many people is inspired by popular culture that generally warns of the dangers of the technology. Let’s just hope that science fiction has only predicted the emergence of the tech and not its dystopian themes.
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Andy Trowers is a game design consultant, freelance ne’er-do-well and staff writer for www.australia.for-sale.com

Double Dragon IV: Billy and Jimmy Lee Are Back!

04/01/2017 By ausretrogamer

Just in time to celebrate their 30th anniversary since kicking ten shades out of the Black Warriors gang, Billy and Jimmy Lee are back in Double Dragon IV! This time, the Lee brothers are bringing back the gritty 80’s with them, however the battleground has moved from New York City to Japan!

This instalment of one of the greatest co-op beat’me ups will be coming to the PlayStation®4 and Steam (PC) at the end of January (Jan 30 in North America). We have yet to hear if that is a worldwide release date – we hope it is! Either way, all Double Dragon fans should rejoice as key members from the 1987 arcade version including Original Planner, Yoshihisa Kishimoto, Designer, Koji Ogata, and Composer, Kazunaka Yamane, have teamed up to recreate the next chapter in this awesome saga.

Details about this sequel are sketchy, but the screenshots show that the game will follow Double Dragon‘s old school pixelated visuals and will offer both a story mode and a two-player duel. The catchy Double Dragon theme song has also been remixed for your aural pleasure.

To say we are excited for Arc System Works’ Double Dragon IV would be a gross understatement! Get your baseball bats ready!

video & image source: Arc System Works

Dialed In: Meeting Jersey Jack Pinball’s Jack Guarnieri

09/12/2016 By ausretrogamer

If you weren’t aware, there is more than one player in the pinball manufacturing business. Jersey Jack Pinball started in January 2011 and immediately took the pinball scene by storm, creating and releasing innovative, fun and quality pinball machines. This trailblazing pinball company was founded by Jack Guarnieri, an amusement veteran of some forty years and a visionary that understands that pinball must break new ground in features and technology to keep players interested and to attract new ones to this wonderful game we call pinball.

In their short history, Jersey Jack Pinball (JJP) has introduced a number of pinball innovations; the high quality backboard LCD-HD screen, RGB-LED playfield lighting, rich audio, QR codes with social media integration and exquisite playfield toys to name just a few. Keeping this ground breaking momentum isn’t easy, but JJP understands that it is crucial to their continuing success.

JJP definitely took a leap of faith with their latest machine, Dialed In – it is refreshing to see a pinball company take a risk and be at the bleeding edge of pinball design and technology! Pinball designer extraordinaire, Pat Lawlor jumped on board and has integrated a number of mind-blowing features, like Bluetooth connectivity enabling additional player capabilities through a smartphone and a camera that emblazons player selfies on the backboard LCD screen. You would think that Dialed In’s original concept may not attract players to it, but we reckon Pat Lawlor and Jersey Jack Pinball have absolutely nailed it! With the game being meticulously developed over a number of years, it shows that no stone has been left unturned for an engrossing and engaging experience. With only the software left to be completed by the legendary Ted Estes, we can’t wait to see the final result!

Dialed In undercover! Waiting for the Australian unveiling

The unveiling of Dialed In! The anticipation was unbearable!

This past weekend, Mr Pinball and Bayside Pinball Club hosted the Jersey Jack Pinball event, with JJP founder and CEO, Jack Guarnieri as the guest of honour. Jack’s Australian unveiling of Dialed In drew a capacity crowd at the Sandbelt Hotel in south-east Melbourne. Eager onlookers could not wait to get their first glimpse of the machine and have a play. Once the machine was available for play, it was like moths to a flame – the queue to play the machine became longer by the second! We were glad that we waited for our turn, as playing Dialed In was a mesmerising experience that left us wanting to play it over and over again. The playfield was inviting, the ‘feel’ of the flippers felt right, the flow of the silverball was precise and that rich thumping audio was just so visceral! Dialed In is already a winner from our brief experience!

Meeting Jersey Jack Pinball’s Jack Guarnieri was both an honour and a humbling experience

The crowd is abuzz awaiting Jack’s inaugural Australian keynote speech!

The other highlight of the event was meeting Jack. Greeted by a warm hug, we knew that Jack was the kind of person we could immediately call our friend. Jack’s eagerness to get to know people, his intellect and humour made him very endearing. He made himself available for people to approach him, even going without food all day to ensure that he got to meet as many folks as possible. Jack’s keynote speech at the unveiling of Dialed In and the Q&A session were great insights into the man and the JJP company, from his fascinating beginnings in Manhattan and the Jersey Shore, to pinball operations, manufacturing and distribution. We hope that Jack returns to Australia in the not too distant future!

Many thanks to Wayne Gillard from Mr Pinball and Lucas Bardin from Bayside Pinball Club for putting on such a great event!

Jack introduces Pat Lawlor’s original concept game, Dialed In! And it’s a beauty!

The crowd gathers to take a closer look!

Always drawing a crowd – Martin Robbins gets dialled in!

Check out Marto’s selfies on the backboard!

Finally, it was our turn to play!

We were mesmerised by the playfield

The Hobbit – Black Arrow edition made its Australian debut at the event too!

Australian IFPA Co-Director, Luke Marburg is taken by The Hobbit

Getting ready for Jack’s fireside (Q&A) chat

Even with technical problems, Jack managed to power through and keep the crowd entertained!

Grant Levy shows off his Battle Pinny homebrew pinball machine

Always available for a chat

Jack and his magic TEXTA!

Last call of duty – autographs!

Bayside Pinball Club were raffling off this Judge Dredd beauty

There were other pinball machines to be played!

Stacey Borg (aka: DRC) and Martin Robbins go head-to-head

Pinball was the winner on this day!

We’ll definitely keep flippin & tweetin’

SEGA 3D Classics Collection

18/11/2016 By ausretrogamer

RELIVE YOUR FAVOURITE SEGA MOMENTS WITH SEGA 3D CLASSICS COLLECTION!

Let’s start this review by saying that we prefer our games on physical media! Nothing beats holding something tangible in your hands. We already downloaded some of the games from the SEGA 3D CLASSICS COLLECTION, but having all games bundled on the one cart, some that had never been released outside of Japan, was a temptation too great to pass.

This highly anticipated COLLECTION is available now at all good gaming stores around Australia. The compilation consists of nine classic SEGA titles, all beautifully remastered in stereoscopic 3D with some extra bells and whistles (features) thrown in for good measure.

The CLASSICS COLLECTION hosts SEGA favourites like Sonic The Hedgehog, Thunder Blade, Galaxy Force II, Altered Beast and never-before-released Nintendo 3DS games including Puyo Puyo 2, Power Drift, Maze Walker and Fantasy Zone II (W and The Tears of Opa-Opa).

The big question now is, how do these SEGA classics play on Nintendo’s 3DS? Well, let’s just say that SEGA has not disappointed. With pretty much every genre covered, from driving, platforming, shoot’em up, to side-scrolling beat’em ups, maze crawlers and head-to-head puzzle games, there is something for everyone. You may have heard or read that Altered Beast and Thunder Blade are the weakest of the 3D remastered SEGA games, but let us assure you, they are faithful arcade conversions, that play, look and sound even better than their arcade counterparts! You’ll be hard pressed to find a weak game in the lineup, with your only problem being, what to play first. With that said, the stand out game of the COLLECTION for us is Power Drift! It is as close to having the real arcade driving experience without having the bulky machine in your living room – and you can play it on the go!

With 9 classic games remastered in 3D, multiplayer (local 2-player) mode on Puyo Puyo 2 and Altered Beast, pack art design by Ken Sugimori (Pokemon Art Director), plus Power Drift (and Puyo Puyo 2) making their Western debuts, there is only one logical conclusion, the SEGA 3D CLASSICS COLLECTION is a must get for your Nintendo 3DS!

source: SEGA Europe

Review copy supplied by Five Star Games.

PAX Aus: It’s All About The People

15/11/2016 By Ms. ausretrogamer

Sure, there’s always heaps to see and do at PAX Aus (more and more each year it seems!), but the best part is always the people – meeting new people and catching up with old friends. We had many laughs, hugs, handshakes and great conversations over the course of PAX Aus 2016 – here a just a few of the wonderful people we caught up with.

Many of the great people from Ausretrogamer, Retro Domination, Weird and Retro, Bartronica, Zax Amusements, Pinmem and the Bayside Pinball Club who worked with PAX to bring you the CGA

The CGA enforcer team was fantastic (again) this year – here are just a few

A special thanks to the fabulous CGA Enforcer Team Leader – Zailee (thanks also to Spyder!)

Look who stopped by the CGA to chat with Glenn – none other than Guy ‘Yug’ Blomberg, PAX Aus Content Manager

… or is it Gabby Boreland?

Glenn and Zailee

The ausretrogamer team – Alex Boz, Kerith (ms ausretrogamer), Alan Ly and Brant Raven

Alex with Weird and Retro‘s Serby

Greg and Josh from Bartronica

Retro Domination’s Matt and Daz…

…and Mark and Peter

‘We’re just making sure they work!’ Weird and Retro‘s Dr Curlytek with Scott Kellett and Pete

Bayside Pinball Club President – Lucas Bardin

Lucas with pinball wizards Nick Hamhougias and Wal Dickie

Group shot with some of our interstate friends – MeezerMummy and Lord Panek from Sydney plus artist, DM, retro game developer and top hat wearer Mr Ant Stiller from Brisbane

Ant with bro Grant, or ‘Granthony’

Nick with Melbourne Silverball League‘s Martin Robbins

Paul and Hoa – Weird and Retro

Aaron from Press Play on Tape Podcast and the adorable Phoebe

Aaron and Phoebe with fellow Tasmanians Tehkella and Damian

Chris Van Graas very kindly loaned some amazing items for the CGA retro museum, including Mel Croucher’s ZX Spectrum used to code ‘Deus Ex Machina’ and Chris Huelsbeck’s MIDI sampler used to create the famous music for ‘Turrican’

Chris also introduced us to three metre pizzas!

Alex with passionate classic gamer, Harmik

Retrogamer and artist Sean Tagg with the awesome Henry

Pinball prodigy Jordan ‘JTH’ Tredaway and family

The talented costume and prop-makers from Combustible Props

Bethesda ANZ Community Manager Noel Wheatley, CNET Editor Seamus Byrne and Stacey Borg (Dr Curlytek) with Alex pre-panel (‘Geek Trash or Treasure? Finding Collectibles with Real Value‘)

Seamus also stopped by the CGA for quick game

Some friendly faces in the ‘Geek Trash or Treasure’ audience – Serby, Skye, Alan, Aaron, Damian and Tehkella

Selfie with Frank and Lauren from Mana Mojo
(Photo from Mana Mojo)

Great pic of tech journalist Adam Turner and son

Shane Rubans, Marcus Sezenov (Rosstown Retro Pinball Arcade) and Luke Marburg

John and Ryan Sozanski

Alex with Hal, Kale and Kevin Tilley (Reset magazine)

Sairuk with Aaron

Alex with Kelly (Weird and Retro) and Andrew Owen

Tamagotchi!

Alex with Adam Renardson, Content Services Manager PlayStation Australia

Developer and YouTuber Rob Caporetto with programmer and CGA enforcer Rajesh Singh

Raj, Rob, Kevin and Chris

Rob in super-cool mode!

The most triumphant moment of PAX Aus 2016 – collecting our ‘PAX XP’ PAX Aus towels (thanks to Alan for doing most of the legwork):
(Photo from Meezergal)

PAX Aus 2016 was a blast – and spending time with awesome people was really what made it. We’re already looking forward to 2017, can’t wait to see you there!

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Ms. ausretrogamer
Co-founder, editor and writer at ausretrogamer – The Australian Retro Gamer E-Zine. Lover of science fiction, fashion, books, movies and TV. Player of games, old and new.

Follow Ms. ausretrogamer on Twitter

PAX Aus 2016 – I’m Making A Note Here: HUGE SUCCESS

12/11/2016 By Ms. ausretrogamer

So… we’re calling it – PAX Aus 2016 was a triumph (it’s hard to overstate our satisfaction).

This year’s PAX Aus was bigger and better than ever – including a huuuge Tabletop Area, a speed running stage, a VR Freeplay Area, awesome speakers like Larry ‘Major Nelson’ Hryb (Director of Programming for Xbox Live, Microsoft) and live performances by 7bit Hero and Axis of Awesome. But best of all was the massive Classic Gaming Area (of course!).

(Maps from the PAX Aus website)

We met heaps of cool people (look out for our upcoming article about that), saw masses of amazing cosplay, and basically spent three full days on our feet helping man (and woman) the Classic Gaming Area or wandering around, taking in all that PAX Aus had to offer (which was a lot!).

Let’s start by celebrating the Classic Gaming Area. Back for the fourth time, the CGA was bigger than ever. The CGA is a joint initiative between PAX and Melbourne-based retro gaming experts Ausretrogamer, Retro Domination, Weird and Retro (all providing retro consoles and computers), local barcade Bartronica (providing arcade machines), and pinball enthusiast Scott Kellett with Zax Amusements, Pinmem and Bayside Pinball Club (providing pinball tables). We also had an awesome museum of retro treasures and rarities this year.

The PAX Aus Classic Gaming Area – Stay a while… stay forever!

The arcades were as popular as ever

The consoles, computers and handhelds provided much nostalgic fun

Competition was fierce but friendly in the CGA tournaments

Pinball tables were a hit!

A new addition to the CGA – the retro museum

But PAX Aus 2016 had more to offer than just the Classic Gaming Area…

The Expo Hall

The Tabletop Area

PC and Console Freeplay

The Handheld Lounge

Queuing for merch

The six rules of PAX

Noms

Pin-pressive!

D20

Sanic

Game over – until 2017

And just like that, PAX Aus is over for another year, but we had a blast – and we have so many great memories. We hope you do too. See you all again next year!

Photos: ausretrogamer.com and Alan Ly

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Ms. ausretrogamer
Co-founder, editor and writer at ausretrogamer – The Australian Retro Gamer E-Zine. Lover of science fiction, fashion, books, movies and TV. Player of games, old and new.

Follow Ms. ausretrogamer on Twitter

First Impressions: PlayStation VR

18/10/2016 By ausretrogamer

We’ve had our fair share of Virtual Reality (VR) experience, albeit, from the 1990s. We’ve even written about our walk-through the VR graveyard from two decades ago. When PlayStation announced that they were going to produce a VR add-on for their PS4 console, we reserved judgement till its release. Well, the PS VR is now out and we got our trusted friend and VR aficionado, Alex (aka:Alexpletives), to give us his first impressions based on the ease of setup, design, comfort and most importantly, performance and gaming experience.

Ease of setup:
The first thing that struck me about the PS VR was how easy it was to setup. Once switched on, position your head in the centre of the camera, and that’s it! Doesn’t get much easier than that!

Instructions! Bah, seems easy enough, and it is!

Design:
The design is genius, making the plugging in of the bits and pieces an absolute breeze. Just in case there are some of you that want to know how all this VR’ing hangs together, here we go: the VR headset plugs into the extension with the inline remote which features the volume, mute and VR on / off buttons. The other clever design are the raised volume buttons and sunken mute on/off buttons – you’ll always know, by feel, which buttons you are interacting with.

Turn me up!

All leads lead to the Processor Unit. Each lead is numbered which makes it damn simple to get all plugged in. The best part is, you can connect other systems via HDMI, like the Xbox One!

Easy as 1, 2, 3!

Comfort:
Right off the bat, the PS VR was way more comfortable to wear than the Oculus Rift. When using my Oculus Rift I tend to get quite sweaty, but with the PS VR, I didn’t have such a problem. The strap tightness is cleverly independent of how near the actual headset is to your face. The button under the visor enables it to be moved forward and back independent of the strap. This provides superior comfort as you can have the strap nice and tight, with the the visor just resting against your face. In comparison, the Oculus feels like wearing a diving mask.

Strap me in baby!

Lenses and surrounding rubber – very soft and lovely, oo’er

The PS VR aural experience is provided by in-ear headphones which clip in the inline remote on the main cord running from the PS VR. Volume still comes out of the TV so your guests can hear and see what you’re doing.

And I can’t go without mentioning the lens cloth that comes with the PS VR – it is beautifully embossed with the triangle, circle, X and square buttons, a very nice touch indeed.

psvr_cloth

Performance and gaming experience:
The very first game that I tried was DRIVECLUB VR. I noticed immediately that the VR version had lost a fair bit of detail compared to its non-VR graphical tour de force counterpart. The vehicle detail was still as good, but track-side detail was vastly cut down (with reduced lighting). You don’t really notice it when racing, but you do if you look around. I’m sure the casual DRIVECLUB VR player will not notice these little niggles, as it doesn’t impact the racing.

DRIVECLUB VR

Scavengers Odyssey

source: Playstation

The next experience was provided from VR Worlds, via Scavengers Odyssey – it was damn good! I did suffer some motion sickness, which was generated by moving back and forth and side to side within the game but not in the real world. The brain was seeing you move but no feeling to match it, so that stuffs up spatial awareness. It didn’t make me stop playing (it was that good), but its effects did linger for a few hours.

Ocean Descent

source: Playstation

Also from VR Worlds, I hit Ocean Descent, where you are lowered in a cage deep into the sea. I didn’t do the shark attack part though, as I knew it was scary (it was that real!). The experience was intense – you felt like you were right there in the cage with full 360 degree views, with fish everywhere and an absolutely beautiful manta ray with a 9-foot wing span leisurely gliding about. It was very impressive. There was a nice touch with the light on your helmet spilling light on wherever your head turned.

VR Luge

source: Playstation

The other VR Worlds game I tried was VR Luge. This one was a bit of hit and miss. There was a nice sensation of speed, but for some reason the 3D felt flat. Having limited depth perception made it difficult to judge how far things were. Apart from this issue, VR Luge was as good as it could be given the power (when compared to a high-end PC rig with an Oculus Rift).

Overall the performance was as expected, nothing more, nothing less. What PS VR really needs (to succeed) is a VR killer app. Just like Tetris on the Game Boy, the PS VR needs its own special bit of software that can provide its unique experience that would not work without VR.

Final thoughts:
One point that keeps plaguing VR is the inducement of nausea. Whether that goes away the more you use it, I don’t really know. Do astronauts get used to zero gravity? Well, they learn to live with it, don’t they?

Every person I have shown PS VR has been blown away by it. VR is something that can only be appreciated by experience. I could talk until I’m blue in the face about the immersion and instinctive feelings it generates whether they be fear, exhilaration or just plain enjoyment. But experiencing it really is believing.

These are pioneering days of VR, if you discount the crude shenanigans of the 90s. Developers will need time to harness the power of VR which will hopefully lead to wonderful games and experiences. We just have to be patient.

The future is here
psvr_isometric

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Alexisms (aka: Alexpletives)
UK based gamer with a taste for the bleeding edge in gaming. Cystic Fibrosis sufferer, 15 years post heart and double lung transplant, diabetic. You’ve got to laugh, er I think!

Follow Alex on Twitter and Twitch.

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