All Mode
GDC 2015 is coming in about a week, and it is sure to be very exciting.
I already talked about how VR is taking over the GDC.
But in just the past few days, we have heard lots more details about what’s to come. I don’t like to spend too much time speculating since we’ll find out what’s going on soon enough.
But here is the breaking news that is getting everyone talking:
Valve – the big gaming company responsible for Steam and Half Life 2 – has officially announced SteamVR Hardware.
There has been speculation that it is a VR Headset to compete with Oculus. After all, Valve has been a leader in VR research over the past few years, with the most advanced VR headset prototype until Oculus stepped up its game in 2013-14.
But Valve is also in the game of producing computers and gaming hardware. Their Steam Machines are designed to essentially function as living room consoles which can play the full catalog of Steam games.
My wild guess is that they have a secret arrangement with Oculus to produce Oculus-ready consoles. This would be a win-win for everyone, and solve the serious problem that I foresee Oculus having of the consumer Rift being a technical headache for most people with their unoptimized PC’s.
This would also explain why Oculus isn’t announcing their long-awaited VR input device yet: it’s being handled by Valve with their cutting edge Steam Controller.
That’s all just speculation though. It’s also possible that Valve has turned in to competitor mode against Oculus since it has become clear that Oculus plans on becoming the heart of the VR ecosystem, which would likely hurt Valve’s own Steam in the long run. Further, Oculus has not shown much love for Linux with its SDK development, which is the main platform of Steam.
Nvidia is rumored to be announcing their own VR headset.
Nvidia has not officially confirmed anything, so this is solidly in the rumor department. But it’s certainly within the realm of possibility. Nvidia has shown a clear push for VR. Among other things, its latest graphics cards include VR features.
Sony is having a major 4 hour VR event featuring its Morpheus VR Headset for the PS4.
Sony continues serious investment in to VR, and we may even get to see their consumer VR headset released in 2015.
That’s the main stuff for now. I’ll post more when there’s more concrete info.
I’ll leave you with this funny video clip shared by Reddit user sintheticreality. It’s what GDC 2015 VR is turning out to be.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KoSmxnBXMGU
What do you think will be revealed at GDC 2015? Let us know.