It's been an interesting few weeks for the virtual-reality world. After Sony's PSVR2 was notably absent during the company's most recent State of Play, some took that as a sign that the industry was contracting or at least topping out as a niche slice of the gaming hobby. Realizing this, many companies invested in VR are pivoting to enterprise projects, with VR and AR technology making huge gains in the construction industry. Nonetheless, Meta and Apple made a handful of announcements recently that generated some buzz.
First, we have Meta/Facebook which valiantly announced the Meta Quest 3, their new VR headset for consumers. According to Meta, this new headset will attempt to utilize an updated and higher definition screen and processor and will even include AR technologies to improve the user-experience. From their announcement posting:
Meta Quest 3, our next-generation virtual and mixed reality headset, will ship this fall.
Meta Quest 3 features higher resolution, stronger performance, breakthrough Meta Reality technology, and a slimmer, more comfortable headset.
Starting June 4, we’re lowering the price of Quest 2 to $299.99 USD for the 128GB SKU to help even more people access the magic of VR.
Hilariously, as a result of their announcement involving the Meta Quest 3, Meta announced that the Quest 2 would have a "permanent price drop" to $299.99; WHICH WAS THE PRICE IT WAS ORGINALLY AT BEFORE THEY TRIED TO SELL IT AT $399.99 EARLIER THIS YEAR! I should note that that "price drop" is only currently announced for the 128 GB model of the Quest 2. That aside, to try and get more people on board with previous or next generations of their VR tech, Meta also showcased a bevy of video games, some of which took people by surprise. Here's the full list of what they showcased (each link directs to a trailer):
- Samba de Amigo: Party Central
- I Expect You To Die 3: Cog in the Machine
- Silent Slayer: Vault of the Vampire
- Ghostbusters: Rise of the Ghost Lord
- UNDERDOGS
- NFL PRO ERA
- Racket Club
- Vampire: The Masquerade - Justice
- Dungeons of Eternity
- Arizona Sunshine
- Stranger Things VR
- Attack on Titan VR: Unbreakable
- Assassin’s Creed: Nexus VR (this is a 15 second teaser and is not worth watching)
- Asgard’s Wrath 2
- The 7th Guest
Bulletstorm VR - Which I am going to post in this thread because I don't think any of us saw a Bulletstorm revival in the form of a VR spin-off (apologies to noted Bulletstorm fan, @rorie)
So, as you can see it's a mix of small goofball titles, spin-offs of tentpole franchises or pre-existing IPs, and sequels to games that did well on the previous generations of the Meta Quest.
On the other hand, Apple decided to do something only they can honestly get away with. They announced that they would be entering consumer VR with their own headset, titled the Vision Pro, that will also be a hybrid and using AR technology on top VR, but it would be priced at $3,500. For those of you North of the United States, get ready for this thing to sell at five-thousand Canadian dollars at MSRP. To Apple's defense, their approach to AR/VR hybridization is a significant step beyond what Meta and others in the industry have shown or done. As you can see in the video linked below, the device is programmed to seamlessly toggle between a VR and AR display and when in the AR mode, can project digital slideshows and images on top of or on walls and surfaces in the real world.
BUT HOT DAMN THAT PRICE!Say what you will about Meta, but their headsets have comparatively consumer-friendly SKUs and are easy to use compared to other headsets. So, are any of your intrigues by the latest buzz-generation announcements from the VR gaming field? Who in the world is shelling taht amount of money for Apple's device? Feel free to chime in.
Log in to comment