VRFocus - As virtual reality (VR) enthusiasts will already know, there are far more VR head-mounted displays (HMD) currently in development other than the Oculus Rift and Project Morpheus. Earlier this month Samsung made a huge impression on the scene with its Gear VR smartphone-based HMD while others have either quietly released or seen successful Kickstarter campaigns. Vrvana hopes to launch join the latter category over the coming weeks as it launches a Kickstarter campaign for its Totem HMD later this week.
From the start, Totem's incredible pixel graphics and coloration that attracted a large audience at its booth. Killing enemies, collecting Mana from plants, and gaining new powers wasn't anything that other games haven't done but Totem's graphical style kept these tedious from getting stale. With the demo ending on a high-point, providing an excellent boss fight against a god.
VRFocus - In mid-September 2014 Vrvana launched a Kickstarter crowd-funding campaign for its Totem virtual reality (VR) head-mounted display (HMD). The company had hoped to raise $350,000 CAD in funding to aid production of the device. Just over three weeks later and the company has cancelled that campaign, six days before it was due to close naturally on 15th October. With less than a week to go, the campaign had raised $181,643 with the help of 472 backers, leaving a big gap to close in the final days. Instead the company is now opting for funding based on pre-orders.
VRFocus - It’s just under a week into the Kickstarter campaign for Vrvana’s Totem virtual reality (VR) head-mounted display (HMD) now and things seem to be progressing smoothly. The company has raised over a third of its $350,000 CAD goal and has been busying itself trying to promote the campaign across the internet in order to further raise funds. Towards the end of last week the company hosted an Ask Me Anything session on Reddit, where it faced some tough questions from the VR community about how the device stacks up to the more popular VR HMD, the Oculus Rift.
Agreed. Just like there is room for more than one Blu-ray player manufacturer. I just want VR to be a success as a whole.
Hopefully all the time they are putting into it is going to solve all its issues, still a very real possibility there isn't room for any VR on the market. I've been tempted to pick up a oculus dev kit, anybody own one and have any thoughts on it?
I don't own one, but I got to test out a DK2 and Morpheus at E3. It is just as awesome as everyone says. It's like that moment you picked up a controller and fell in love with video games. Or a light gun. ;)
This will change gaming. This will change film. This will change everything, if we allow it to. Eventually, we will be working with much smaller hardware, like glasses. That's the goal, anyway. But even with current hardware, this stuff is mind-blowing. According to everyone who has played the new kit, it's rocking a 4K resolution and the "screen door effect" is gone. That's great news! Eye tracking is here, too!
So, it's a matter of getting the marketing correct, pushing the right content, and not flooding the market with bad software. This whole thing is a gamble, but one I hope pays off. I couldn't be more excited about this stuff!
It will never replace T.V.s. Quit trying to believe this thing has any purpose other than some first-person non-sense.
It's not trying to replace TVs. It works incredibly well with third-person games, too.
This thing has great potential for thousands of new gameplay mechanics, on top of the other areas it can be beneficial. Just check out Google Cardboard on your phone, if you're curious. Seriously. I'm telling you. VR is incredible.
Spoken like someone who has never tried VR before, and I'm sure you haven't. Tv will never be replaced, but what VR offers is an immersion and sense of presence that TV can never offer, not even with the best graphics or multiple monitor setup. 3rd person games works perfectly well in VR with the example of Couch Knights. Games like God of War could still be awesome in the 3rd person view. Someday when you get the chance to try VR with the right demos, it will open your mind to a whole new world of gaming potential.
Since it's obvious that Oculus Rift and Morpheus are not in competition with each other because their potential customers don't overlap. Heck, both Sony and Microsoft have even said it themselves.
But even if they were, I'd have no problem with a third company. The more competition in this market the better. What if this company comes up with a great VR, or the more likely scenario would be they come in much cheaper, causing a price war. Consumers always come out on top the more competition there is.
Man, there's a hmd/vr war that has started! Exciting!