Earlier today, Oculus held a press conference in advance of next week’s massive E3 gaming event. For the most part, this awkward one-hour stage show was spent discussing the minute details that differentiate the final hardware from the prototypes. But the most interesting news coming out of this event, by far, is the fact that Oculus has decided to partner with Microsoft.
The first segment of the press conference was mostly spent making promises about how comfortable the VR helmet is. We’re told over and over that it’s incredibly lightweight, and we’ll wear it “like a baseball cap.” It’s understandable that comfort and design are huge points of pride, but the presentation was more than a little off-putting. The new Oculus Rift hardware will be available for industry folks to try first-hand next week, so I’m left scratching my head as to why Facebook‘s VR team is giving us such a hard pitch.
In addition, the final hardware will feature a dial for fine-tuning the spacing of the OLED screens, comes with detachable earphones, and offers better compatibility for people with glasses. These are smart usability improvements, but these announcements are better suited for a press release — not as major on-stage selling points.
Sadly, the headset also needs an external motion tracker to work properly. To keep the tracking accurate and lag-free, you’ll need to place a slender device on your desk. In addition, you’ll need a controller to play the vast majority of games, so Oculus has partnered with Microsoft to deliver a wireless Xbox One controller (and adaptor) alongside the Oculus Rift.
Microsoft’s Phil Spencer got up on stage briefly to discuss the partnership, and he went so far as to announce that you’ll be able to stream Xbox One games directly to the Oculus Rift. While that sounds like a big deal at first, this actually seems to be little more than displaying a regular 2D image without any meaningful VR functionality. Unless Microsoft plans on unveiling proper VR game support next week, this is unexciting from top to bottom.
In a bizarre turn, Palmer Lucky (founder of Oculus) got up on stage at the end of the event and showed off a new controller prototype dubbed “Oculus Touch.” Why, exactly, is this being announced right after talking up the Xbox One controller? Are we expected to own both an Xbox One controller and the Oculus Touch? Are we supposed to switch back and forth depending on which title we’re playing? Lucky didn’t really get into any of the nitty gritty, and it’s unclear if the Touch will be available when the Rift launches early next year.
In effect, this two-part controller seems to function a lot like the PlayStation Move. Thumbsticks, face buttons, and triggers are sticking around, but you’ll also be able to track hand motions as well. It’s not exactly the seamless motion-gaming experience of my dreams, but at least it’s cribbing from a product that seems to work reasonably well. Let’s just hope the product launch goes a lot smoother than today’s event.
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Oculus Rift 1.0 will ship in Q1 2016 with an Xbox One controller
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