Oculus Touch will control over 30 games this year
Were you worried that Oculus’ Touch controller would arrive without any games that used it? If you ask Oculus, there’s no reason to worry. It’s promising that over 30 Oculus Rift games will use the VR peripheral in 2016. Some of them are titles you’ll know, like Rock Band VR and Serious Sam VR, while others are Touch-ready versions of existing VR experiences like Job Simulator and The Climb. Oculus itself will bundle a sculpting title, Oculus Medium.
This is still just a sliver of the overall gaming universe, so it’s not quite the abundance that Oculus makes it out to be. Also, some of the more promising material, like Twisted Pixel’s Wilson’s Heart, doesn’t show until 2017. Treat this like a video game console launch — there will be plenty to play, but only if you’re not picky. The real show begins when the “hundreds” of future Oculus Touch games arrive and you can simply assume that many (if not most) Rift games support the device.
Source: Oculus
GoPro and Ubisoft join forces to bring thrillseekers ‘Steep’
Love watching amazing stunts recorded by fearless people with skis, snowboards or even wingsuits? Don’t have the guts to do all those things yourself? Ubisoft wants to give you the power to experience some of the very same experiences without all the danger with the aid of GoPro in the form of their latest project Steep.
Steep is essentially a virtual playground for those who dig snow sports. Players will be able to navigate the mountain playgrounds of the Alps using four different and unique methods of traversal: ski, wingsuit, snowboard or paraglide.
There are droves of hidden spots and various areas to uncover as you explore the snowy terrain, all spread throughout the Alps. To keep things as realistic and immersive as possible, the game also utilizes various GoPro perspectives including footage from actual GoPro cameras and several potential new products.
While playing, you’ll be able to meet and follow other players or gather friends to pull off some stunts, even mixing different sports to record some truly insane tricks. If you fly solo, you can take on a series of challenges like Big Air, Proximity Flying or Forest Slaloms to prove to the rest of the world you’re not to be trifled with.
When you’ve done something truly share-worthy, you can send your feats to your friends via social media. You can choose the pace, camera angle and even speed to capture your run, which becomes uniquely yours.
Steep will be releasing for Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC.
Ubisoft is still making a ‘Watch Dogs’ movie
Ubisoft has decided that all of its major video game franchises should be turned into movies. Following Assassin’s Creed and The Division, the publisher has reiterated (almost three years after its original announcement) that Watch Dogs is getting a big screen adaptation. There’s no word, however, on when it’ll be coming out. Or what it’ll be like. The upcoming Watch Dogs 2 has a wildly different tone to its predecessor, removing the unlikeable Aiden Pearce in favor of a more youthful hero. The trailers so far have been hilarious, in a borderline cringeworthy way — if the film is based on the new game, hopefully it can strike a better tone.
Follow all the news from E3 2016 here!
Serious Sam’s next adventure will be in virtual reality
Adapting classic gaming franchises to VR seems to be a theme at E3 this year. Fallout is getting a VR experience. So is Doom. So, what nostalgic game series is next? Serious Sam, of course. Today, Croteam announced Serious Sam VR: The Last Hope — a virtual reality smorgasbord of explosions, hordes of alien monsters and gratuitous 1990s video game violence.
The game’s teaser trailer is wonderfully silly — bursting with the over-the-top aggressive shtick Serious Sam is known for. Details on gameplay are a little sparse though: all we really know is that players will face off against new and old enemies in new and old locations, and that the game appears to be a standing rail action shooter akin to Space Pirate Trainer.
If the trailer seems a little shallow, that’s because it is — the title’s developer says that Serious Sam VR is just a “fun separate side project,” and reassures die-hard fans on twitter that a proper sequel is still in the works. “We’re still working hard on Serious Sam 4 as our prime goal,” Croteam wrote on Twitter. “Be patient!” There’s no word on when the official sequel will be ready, but folks with VR headsets will be able to play Serious Sam VR on Steam early access later this summer.
Source: Twitter
Live from Sony’s PlayStation showcase at E3!
Sony is set to unveil the latest games and hardware updates for the PlayStation 4 tonight, and we’re on the ground at the big show. Rumor has it that Sony’s pièce de résistance is a new PS4 model with 4K output and all-around upgraded guts. Join us live from the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California starting at 6PM PT / 9PM ET — and make sure to bring your own popcorn because Sony is known for mic-drop moments.
Watch Sony’s E3 press conference right here
It’s hard to imagine Sony topping its E3 press conference from last year. Shenmue 3, The Last Guardian and a remake of Final Fantasy VII was a pretty jaw-on-the-floor combination. Still, this year could be a doozy too. We’re nearing the launch of the PlayStation VR, so a few extra game announcements wouldn’t go amiss. Throw in a new God of War and some fresh footage from Gran Turismo Sport, Dreams and Horizon Zero Dawn — that’s a packed show already. To keep up with the madness, you can watch Sony’s livestream right here (there’s also an audience camera feed for the full you-are-there- feeling) and follow along with the Engadget liveblog.
Source: PlayStation (YouTube), Live.PlayStation.com
Madden NFL 16 championships will be broadcast live on ESPN2
While their deal with League of Legends may have been a pipe dream, ESPN is expanding their eSports coverage to something a little closer to the roots of the “Worldwide Leader in Sports.” On June 14th from 6–7:30 PM ET, ESPN2 will televise live coverage of EA’s Madden NFL 16 Championship series for the first time ever.
The live, in-person event will be broadcast from the Novo Theater in Los Angeles, where game Madden publisher Electronic Arts is currently hosting their weeklong EA Play event. Streaming coverage of the quarterfinals is already playing on EA’s site, but the TV broadcast of Tuesday’s championship game will mark the first time the sports channel has put the virtual Super Bowl on network TV. (For the cord cutters out there, it will also be streamed to desktop computer and set-top streaming boxes via the WatchESPN app.)
With eSports shaping up to bring in nearly half a billion dollars in revenue this year, and more and more traditional sports clubs adding eSports players to their rosters, it makes sense to see one of the biggest sports game franchises of all time make the leap to broadcast TV. On the other hand, the championship bonuses aren’t quite as lucrative in eSports yet — players in the Madden NFL 16 Championship are competing for just a piece of a $50,000 total prize pool.
‘God of War’ is coming to PS4
Kratos is back — and he brought his axe. Sony kicked off its E3 2016 press conference with a familiar face, as we’re finally getting a new God of War game on PS4. Moving on from last year’s God of War III remake, Sony has a new game that looks bigger in scale than anything we’ve seen before, which is saying something for this series. Kratos took on a giant and just before the end of the stage we saw…a dragon? Check after the break to watch the nearly 10-minute gameplay trailer yourself, just don’t expect any details like a release date just yet.
Follow all the news from E3 2016 here!
‘The Last Guardian’ finally arrives on October 25th
At last, that pesky bird rodent is almost ready to roam. The long-awaited, long in-development, The Last Guardian will hit PS4 on October 25th. The trailer didn’t show us much else (there appears to be multiple giant ratbirds…) but the game seems as melancholy and stylish as ever. Take a look for yourself below.
‘Halo Wars 2’ takes the series back to its roots next February
If Halo 5: Guardians disappointed you last year, maybe try Halo Wars 2 on for size on February 21st next year. It takes the shooter series back to its strategy roots, something that’s been toyed with a bit before. New stuff like the Mantis mechs from Halo 4 and Halo 5 look to be controllable units, with a heavy emphasis on battling the ape-like Brute enemies. It continues the story of the original game’s Spirit of Fire crew and has you battling those enemies on The Ark, a location from Halo 3.
And if you’re unsure about the whole real-time strategy nature of the game (and/or missed Ensemble Studios’ swan song back in 2009) there will be a beta to take for a spin this week for Xbox Live Gold members.
Follow all the news from E3 2016 here!
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