Looking for a summary of all Oculus Rift E3 news so far? Road to VR has got you covered!
Oculus Rift E3 news: 1080p HD prototype
Undoubtedly, the biggest piece of news was the Oculus Rift HD prototype that was unveiled by Oculus VR on the show floor last Tuesday. Upgraded with a 1080p, 5 inch display, the HD prototype “makes the world feel more immersive, more immediate”, according to The Verge. IGN reports that the screen-door effect is “significantly reduced”, Engadget‘s Michael Gorman agrees:
“Surface textures could be seen in much higher fidelity (…) and the general detail of the entire environment was greatly improved”
Paired with a more vibrant, possibly IPS, panel, the HD version of the Oculus Rift even seems to be good enough for pleasant movie viewing experience. Oculus VR showed confidence into the display’s fidelity by demoing VR Cinema 3D by Joo-Hyung Ahn, a demo that takes you to your own personal 3D cinema. According to most testers, the new 1080p prototype offers a pleasant movie experience – which gives hope for mainstream Oculus Rift use outside of the realm of gaming.
EVR now called EVE-VR, stuns E3 visitors
After unveiling EVR at the EVE Online Fanfest a few weeks ago and covering the history of CCP’s small side-project in an insightful community blog post, the icelandic game studio showed EVE-VR at E3 as well.
Unfortunately, the game still ran on the Oculus Rift Dev Kits, but nevertheless fascinated players: Reddit users (including Chris Dycus, Hardware Developer at Oculus VR) are reporting EVE-VR as “one of the best Rift experiences” and pocket-lint.com even goes one step further in its praise for EVE-VR:
“There is no easier way to describe it other than by saying this is what it must be like to fly a spaceship. Really.”
Unfortunately, CCP hasn’t announced any plans at E3 to release the game to the public. If you want to show your support, visit the still ongoing petition to release EVE-VR to the public.
Sony confirms interest in the Oculus Rift, Shuhei Yoshida “loves” it
Another very interesting Oculus Rift E3 news bit comes from an Engadget interview with Shuhei Yoshida, President of Sony’s Worldwide Studios – A confirmation that the Japanese electronics giant has interest in the Oculus Rift: “We’ve got a couple of the development kits, and I tried it out and I love it,” he told Engadget at E3 2013.
After being asked whether Playstation 4 supports Oculus Rift, Yoshida denies: “No, it doesn’t”. Further inquiries were greeted with a “No comment”, but Yoshida seems to be a fan – During CES in January, he already tweeted about the Oculus Rift: “I say Oculus, you say _ _ _ _?” alluding to a VergeCast that was recorded during the exhibition.
Of course this is in no way a confirmation for Oculus Rift support in the Playstation 4, but the fact that Sony has multiple Dev Kits is a very strong indicator that the console makers are watching Oculus VR closely. On the same note, Microsoft is rumored to plan their own gaming glasses with Project Fortaleza for the Xbox One and could very well take inspiration from the Rift’s current success.
We will be watching the LA exhibition center for any more Oculus Rift E3 news, so stay tuned to Road to VR in the coming days.
