SteamVR

Today we're taking a peek at the release details of Star Wars: Squadrons. This is the newest EA Games / Motive Studios release in the Star Wars universe, centered on 5v5 dogfights in starfighters piloted by New Republic (rebellion) pilots and pilots fighting on the side of the dying Galactic Empire. Now that the Death Star II has been destroyed, and both Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine along with it - things are different, and attitudes have changed.

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The HP Reverb G2 represents a team-up of HP, Valve, and Microsoft, to create a virtual reality / mixed reality headset that'll top the rest. This device works with one 2K x 2K resolution per eye, and rolls with a 114-degree field of view. This headset is wired, worked with Windows Mixed Reality and SteamVR, and MSFT spatial audio - as well as HP Labs newest spatial audio format.

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This week Valve made clear they're not in a position where it makes sense to continue supporting Apple's OSX for their SteamVR platform at this time. They've suggested that the SteamVR platform will continue to receive support, but all support will be focused on Windows and Linux. Users of Apple computers, running OSX, will need to use use "legacy builds" from this point forward.

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Half-Life: Alyx is not Half-Life 3, but it is a new Half-Life game. It is a new game from Valve, and it is out and available to play today. Users will find the game released as of the posting of this article. In other words - if you're reading this, there's a brand new Half-Life game available to play via Steam right this minute.

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Half-Life is one of those games that many gamers talk about, most often very fondly, but very few new gamers today see. That's mostly because, despite the cult following, the game has not seen any new release in more than a decade. That will be changing next month when the sequel-prequel-spinoff Half-Life: Alyx is finally released on Steam. It could be the start of the franchise's revival if the game truly takes off, which is going to be tricky considering it's exclusive to PC-based VR systems only.

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Valve is perhaps best known for the Steam PC gaming store and platform but it is perhaps a lesser known fact that it has also developed and published a few games, including the famous Half-Life franchise. It is, however, also infamous for being unable to follow up on its ow promises of sequels, particularly in completing trilogies. The company is now stirring up the waters by announcing what it says is its flagship VR game. But, no, Half-Life: Alyx might not be the Half-Life 3 fans were promised many moons ago.

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The folks at Valve released new Valve Index VR headset kits today for immediate shipping in the USA. The Valve Index VR system was actually first released in late June, but "initial quantities were outpaced by demand." As Valve tells us today, "users were asked to reserve their hardware as new kits were in production." Today's the day when new kits begin to ship.

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The HP Reverb VR Headset Pro Edition has 2x smaller LCD displays where most competitors have larger AMOLED. But the HP headset has more pixels per eye, a larger field of view, and a slightly lighter overall weight than HTC Vive Pro and Samsung Odyssey. This device weighs approximately the same as the current Oculus Rift headset, and works with both Steam VR and Windows Mixed Reality VR systems.

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February saw just over a dozen employees laid off from Valve, possibly the result of shifting plans for the game company's virtual reality division. Among the 13 people let go, a number are confirmed to have been working on VR-related projects, including the SteamVR platform, along with some that are believed to have been involved in new hardware development.

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The HTC VIVE Wireless Adapter is a bit of technology that changes the overall feeling of reality in a room-scale VR experience. This is an add-on to the original HTC VIVE and the HTC VIVE Pro. This adapter isn't required to enter virtual reality, but it'll make the process a lot less painful if you're not particularly sure-footed. Less painful, that is, if you didn't have a rough time setting up the VIVE in the first place.

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The current big challenge for virtual reality technology is to work in large rooms. The next dream for the future, however, is likely to be multi-room experiences, where users can wander between rooms or other connected spaces without issue. This is probably still a couple of years away, but HTC has shown off a small example of how it could work, with a demonstration featuring a Vive Pro, multiple base stations, and a beta of SteamVR 2.0.

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Back in 2016, Valve debuted its vertically oriented "Knuckles" controller for use with SteamVR. The device remains exclusive to developers, but a new EV2 model has just been unveiled with a number of refinements that translate to improved controls in a VR environment, including new sensors that detect finger movement and grip strength.

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