Oculus Connect day one is over, but it was but a warm up act for the remaining two days, kicking off today with a series of keynotes at 10am PST. In the mean time, UploadVR noticed that information has ‘leaked‘ via the Oculus Connect app which means we know what demo’s will be available to try on Oculus’ proprietary VR input device, ‘Touch’.
Firstly, it’s great to see so many titles playable with the device Ben Lang labelled as “poised to be the best VR motion controller out there” after spending time with the system at E3 in June.
See Also: Hands-on: Oculus Touch is an Elegant Extension of your Hand for Touching Virtual Worlds
But very few people outside of press and selected developers have yet to try the input system Oculus is banking on to complete their virtual reality system, due to ship in Q1 2016 next year (note: Touch won’t ship until Q2 according to current information).
So, Oculus Connect 2, the developer conference specific to virtual reality and Oculus technologies, will be the first place many will have had a chance to get their hands on, literally, with Touch. The Oculus Connect 2 app, launched a little while ago gives us a sneak preview into the titles in development for Touch and on display at Connect, and the signs are that there’s an encouraging amount of cross-platform development seemingly underway spanning both Oculus’ Touch and Valve’s SteamVR controller platforms, the latter due to ship in numbers with HTC’s Vive VR headset in Q1 next year.
The list is as follows:
- I Expect You To Die (Schell Games)
- Job Simulator (Owlchemy Labs)
- Nimbus Knights (Otherworld Interactive)
- Pulsar Arena (Zero Transform)
- Surgeon Simulator (Bossa Studios)
- Final Approach (Phaser Lock Interactive)
- Bullet Train (Unknown)
- Dead and Buried (Unknown)
- Moon Strike (Unknown)
Those last three we’ve yet to hear anything about, meaning we may see some new IP demonstrated at Connect today. Of the remainder, 5 of them have either been confirmed, demonstrated as or rumoured to support Valve’s SteamVR platform, specifically the HTC Vive.
This good news for 3 reasons:-
One: It means that both competing VR platforms from both Valve and Oculus are not aggressively locking in developers for artificial exclusivity to their platforms – at least not yet.
Two: It probably indicates that development for both platforms simultaneously is not so arduous or painful that small development teams (which make up the vast majority here) as to make such a feat inaccessible. And may even be desirable.
Three: As the vast majority of consumers looking to purchase virtual reality hardware will likely be able to afford or play host to only one of them, it means the consumer isn’t punushed for his or her choice of platforms.
Basically, it’s great news for the industry in general is allowing this healthy cross-pollination of talent to occur. Without it, the launch velocity required to unearth VR from it’s past reputation and prejudices in the consumer’s eyes won’t be reached.
Either way, we’ll be learning a lot more about these titles over the next two days as we settle in for the main body of the Oculus Connect 2 conference and people begin to get their hands on the software. For now though, it’s all looking mighty positive for everyone involved.
Road to VR are at Oculus Connect, reporting back on the latest news throughout the conference.