The presentation of Samsung’s Gear VR yesterday has run like wildfire, and then there have been a multitude of indie developers who have announced the upcoming availability of some well-known experiences for owners of an Oculus Rift. However, Samsung has also announced that the most important film studios have jumped on the bandwagon.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VO6T4M4VMuk
The full list of major studios unveiled at the Gear VR Unpacked event includes Warner Bros, Marvel, Paramount, Legendary Pictures, DreamWorks and 20th Century Fox. Everything indicates that video streaming services can be one of the strengths of Gear VR. The possibility of feeling inside an IMAX cinema from the comfort of our sofa is a huge incentive for users who are fond of technology and cinema.
On the other hand, the indie community is also turning to Gear VR, and it seems that the creation of multiplatform applications for Oculus Rift and Gear VR thanks to the Oculus SDK is relatively simple, once the creators adapt the number of polygons and textures depending on the platform for which they are compiling. The possibility of keeping both versions in the same project makes the task much easier, and these are some old acquaintances of Oculus Rift and some new titles that will come to Gear VR:
Titans of Space is a title that needs no introduction, since it was one of the big stars of DK1 last summer and its recent adaptation to DK2 has been a great success and an example of how to correct the bleeding of the black color. This program invites us to tour our Solar System while learning a little about the planets and moons that make it up, and promises to become a great experience in Gear VR.
Dreadhalls has also penetrated very deeply into the community, since it won the honorable mention at last year’s Oculus VR Jam and is a game that has terrified thousands of people around the world thanks to its dark corridors and the horrible creatures that populate it. Sergio Hidalgo is adapting the old version to the DK2, of which we already have a preliminary version, while working on version 2.0 of the game, for Oculus Rift and Gear VR.
Proton Pulse successfully completed a Kickstarter campaign last year, only to disappear shortly after due to legal problems. But its author, Justin Moravetz, has solved those problems and recently published a new demo of it for DK2, in addition to continuing to work on the final version, which will appear on Oculus Rift and Gear VR. The classic brick breaker of a lifetime seen with a new perspective and taking advantage of the Oculus Rift tracking is still as addictive as a couple of decades ago.
Vanguard V is another title from the creator of Proton Pulse. Although his Kickstarter campaign has failed, Justin will continue with the development of it and he is also going to bring this peculiar version of the usual space arcade to Oculus Rift and Gear VR.
Look & Loot: Epic Pets, from the creator of the incredible Technolust, is also coming to Samsung’s HMD. This game will transport the player to a magical place where he must look for treasures to improve his pet, both visually and functionally.
Darknet was announced a few months ago as the launch title for Oculus Rift and is the successor to Ciess, the demo that won the Oculus VR Jam. It is a game of skill in which we will have to hack networks through an addictive mini-game. Ciess will take the mechanics to another level and will also appear in Gear VR.
Ocean Rift is one of the friendliest experiences for new virtual reality users, and the DK2 version is a must-have experience. Its slow pace and the smoothness of movement when moving through the underwater world make seasickness almost impossible. With Gear VR we will also be able to make an incredible journey along the seabed.
Keep talking and nobody explodes is an original one experience for Oculus Rift in which one player carries the Rift while the rest have the blueprints of a bomb, and they must give instructions on how to deactivate it to the player who is using the viewfinder, and cannot see the blueprints. Communication is vital so that no one explodes.
For now these are the announced titles, but surely in the coming days many others will get on the Samsung and Oculus bandwagon.
