Today is a pretty big day for the folks at Oculus, as the company is launching two new virtual reality headsets. Coming out of the gate today are the Oculus Rift S and Quest, and though the goal of each headset may be bringing VR to the masses, they both do it in very different ways. The headset you go for ultimately depends on what kind of set up you're looking to have.
Today Facebook revealed the Oculus Quest and Oculus Rift S head-mounted-display virtual reality headsets release. They've confirmed the ship dates on both products, and have prices set. Now all they've got to do is convince the world that such products are necessary, or at least enticing for the average young person with four hundred spare dollars lying around.
Oculus, the Facebook-owned VR hardware company, is gearing up to release a pair of new headsets in the coming weeks: the Oculus Quest and Oculus Rift S. But during the manufacturing process it seems some unintended Easter eggs were added to the motion controllers that will ship with the devices, the company has revealed. Silly phrases like "This Space For Rent" have been printed inside "tens of thousands" of the new Touch controllers, a joke that was only meant for prototype models.
Apparently, launching one VR headset this spring isn't enough for the folks at Oculus. In addition to the standalone Oculus Quest, the company announced today that it'll also be launching the Oculus Rift S. The Rift S brings back the tether, meaning you'll need a relatively beefy gaming PC to use it, but in return Oculus promises "access to the most immersive content that VR has to offer."
Last year, Facebook revealed the Oculus Quest, a new standalone VR headset that falls somewhere between the Oculus Go and Oculus Rift. Essentially, the Quest is Oculus's attempt to take standalone VR to the next level after introducing an entry-level standalone headset in the Go. Today, Oculus is celebrating a pretty major win, as it announced at GDC that Beat Saber has been secured as a launch title for the Oculus Quest.
His last months in the now Facebook-owned company may have been filled with controversy but Palmer Luckey will forever be honored in history as having co-founded Oculus and pushing the virtual reality towards its renaissance. The tech pioneer hasn't been on the spotlight of late but he is by no means done with VR. In fact, he's now hitting the news again thanks to his admittedly generous offer of a repair kit to address loyal Oculus Rift users' audio issues.
The standalone virtual reality headset Oculus Go has been on the receiving end of three new apps for video content: ESPN, Sling TV, and FOX NOW. The latest additions join a number of existing video options, including Pluto TV, Netflix, Plex, YouTube, and more. As well, Oculus is offering customers the opportunity to get an $80 credit for Sling TV, a livestreaming television service.
Back in September at its fifth Oculus Connect conference, the company that started the VR renaissance announced that YouTube VR, Google’s premiere hub for 360, and 180, degree videos, would be coming to the new, independent VR headset and platform. It seems, however, that after the hype and frenzy died down, either Google or Oculus or both forgot to make good their promise. Because it’s only now, almost two months later, that YouTube VR has finally landed on the Oculus Go.
VR and AR, especially when headsets are involved, are solitary experiences. Yes, you can join others around some virtual campfire or in a virtual disco room, but everything you see is for your eyes only and no else can experience it first hand. That is unless you let them see through your eyes. The latest update to the Oculus Go does exactly that, sort of. It will let others see what you’re seeing, except they’ll have to settle for watching it the flat screen of your phone or tablet.
Oculus co-founder and former CEO Brendan Iribe is leaving Facebook, he has announced, following cancellation of the Oculus Rift 2 headset. Iribe was reportedly leading the Rift 2's development, which was said to have been nixed last week after "internal shake-ups" at Facebook. The news follows Facebook's recent loss of Instagram co-founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger.
Traditionally, the middle-child can be the most problematic, but Oculus is hoping that its new Oculus Quest virtual reality headset bucks that trend. Revealed at Oculus Connect 5 today, the Facebook-owned company's annual VR developer event, the Quest slots in-between the existing Rift and Go headsets and, as I eagerly put to the test, promises the best of both.
Seven major games were shown at OC5 today by Oculus, by in Oculus Studios and in Oculus Publishing, too. In the Oculus Studio Titles category were Stormland by Insomniac Games, Lone Echo II by Ready At Dawn, Echo Combat (also by Ready at Dawn), and Defector by Twisted Pixel. Under the Oculus Publishing Titles umbrella were three titles: VOX Machinae by Space Bullet, Space Junkies by Ubisoft, and Final Assault by Phaser Lock.