SUPERHYPERCUBE, a spatial reasoning puzzle game for PSVR looks to be soon headed to the Vive through SteamVR. And while SteamVR normally supports the Rift, a developer protest could exclude the headset.
SuperHyperCube is most succinctly described as a ‘Tetris (1984) for VR’. But that alone would betray the game’s unique take on depth-based geometric gameplay—that works uniquely well in virtual reality—and its distinct and superbly directed art and sonic stylings.
In the game, players are tasked with reorienting a 3D shape to fit through a 2D hole. It sounds pretty easy—and it is, until the shapes become increasingly complex, ramping up the engagement of your spatial reasoning centers as your brain attempts to reconcile the rules of two dimensions simultaneously.
Developed by Kokoromi and published by Polytron, SuperHyperCube made its debut as a launch title alongside PlayStation VR back in October. And there it has remained, garnering a 4 out of 5 star rating with its $30 price.
NOW LOADING… pic.twitter.com/oPl3D1BonS
— Polytron (@Polytron) January 30, 2017
But now it seems the game will be soon coming to the HTC Vive and SteamVR. A tweet from Polytron today portrayed the Vive’s controllers in the unmistakable style of SuperHyperCube.
Rift Support in Question
With support for the HTC Vive, that means the game will almost surely be landing on SteamVR. And while SteamVR technically supports the Rift too, Polytron had proclaimed back in September that they would not pursue support for Oculus’ platform, following revelations that Oculus’ founder, Palmer Luckey, was involved in politically polarizing dealings. A situation that might have been eventually swept under the rug, had the election not turned out as it did.
Interestingly, you can see that the Vive trackpads in the Twitter tease show a d-pad and buttons that are laid out just like those of the PS4’s controllers, except the button mappings use the same XYAB layout as you’d find on an Xbox One controller. An oversight, or a clue? We’re not quite sure. It could be as innocuous as showing that the game (which relies on a gamepad on PSVR) would support Vive players using an Xbox One controller connected to their computer. But, the fact that every Oculus Rift comes with an Xbox One controller included adds an additional wrinkle to the situation.
It isn’t clear if Polytron’s original intent was to never see the game played on an Oculus Rift headset, or they simply didn’t want to put the game on Oculus’ distribution platform (which would thereby give the company a share of the game’s sales). In the latter, it’s possible that the company will allow Rift users to play the game via SteamVR (as the revenue share would go to Valve instead). We’ve reached out to the company for comment.
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One other major question is whether or not the game will make use of the Vive’s roomscale tracking capability or its motion controllers. On PSVR the game relies on a gamepad for seated play, which really only has the player leaning from side to size to look around the shapes.
One could certainly imagine a lot of fun, new gameplay which would employ the Vive’s motion controls and expanded tracking volume, but such an addition would probably mean a major reworking of the game. More likely, we’ll see a simple port to start, though we’d be happy to see SuperHyperCube take on a life of its own on the Vive.
