Geekscape Games Podcast: Level 167 – PAX West Day 1

by Derek KraneveldtAugust 31, 2018

Courtney, Mikaela, Derek, and Jake break down what they saw and played during the first day of PAX West!

THIS EPISODE:

Derek is sick, but LOVES With Friends Like These. Jake plays Ace Combat and won’t let Courtney talk. Mikaela plays some AMAZING VR on Oculus Rift and gets FOMO because there are so many games at PAX West!

The group chats about these games and more:

The Gardens Between
Soundfall
Stormland
Battletech Panel
Marvel Battle Lines
Driftland
Aground
With Friends Like These
Fortnite Offsite

We’ll be posting two addition PAX West episodes while we’re here, so stay tuned tomorrow night, and Monday!

https://soundcloud.com/geekscape-games/167-pax-west-2018-day-1

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Geekscape Games Theme Song: Winter Frosts – MmcM

Outro – The Safety Dance

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SDCC 2018: Derek’s Long-Winded SDCC Recap – Pre Convention And Preview Night

by Derek KraneveldtJuly 19, 2018

…And we’re back.

How has it been a year already since SDCC 2017? It’s absolutely flown by – and speaking of flying, I’m currently sitting at gate E90 at the Vancouver International Airport awaiting my slightly delayed 6AM flight to Los Angeles.

I’m super excited.

Last year I had only been at my current vocation for half a year or so, and as such I hadn’t actually earned enough vacation time to take as long a trip to California as I typically do. If you read last year’s recaps (check them out here if you haven’t and if you want to read a lot of words) you may remember that I arrived at the San Diego airport just before midnight on the Tuesday night, and had to leave the convention on the Sunday morning, long before it was over. Everything happened at what felt like the speed of light, and before I knew it I was taking a Lyft back to the airport.

I had a great time last year, but I’m super happy to be getting a couple of convention-less days with some of my Geekscape family this time around.

Last year I wrote a lot. Before finally turning in each night I published a huge recap of everything that I did, saw, ate, drank, thought, and avoided every day of my visit. I wasn’t sure if I’d do something similar this year, as those pieces were a lot of work, and I didn’t know how interesting they actually were.

In retrospect, I think that people were actually into them. I received a bunch of feedback from friends, family, and people I didn’t know telling me just how much they enjoyed reading each piece, and the interesting perspective that the journals gave to a non-attendee (or even the different perspective that they gave to a standard attendee). I’ve actually had more people come up and talk to me about these pieces than any interview, video, or review that I’ve posted over my near seven years with Geekscape.

A few days ago, in preparation for this trip and to help to try to figure out just what the hell I wanted to put together this year, I read through all of last year’s journals. I really enjoyed reading back on last year’s experiences (and imagine I will be especially grateful that I wrote them when I try to look back even a few years from now), and reading back on the convention made me realize a few important things:

A). Grammar disappears and writing becomes nonsensical when you’re trying to finish a piece at 1AM.
B). Even just a year later, an event like SDCC is such a sensory overload that you pretty much forget everything. I’m super happy that I wrote out my experience – in reading back I had more than a few “oh, right” moments that made me smile and reminisce. I appreciated seeing everything put together in a sort of timeline, rather than just a mass jumble of photos.
C). Remembering the way that I felt last year, I feel like I’m mentally in a better place today than I was then. That’s not to say that I’m in a great (or even good) place today, but I feel at least slightly better than I did then. Phew.
D). I am stagnant. I mean, I was stagnant this time last year, but at this point if I were water, I think I’d be water that has been standing so long that it basically kills you if you go near it. Last year, I wrote of goals and ways that I thought I could better myself, or things that I’d wanted to try based on my experience in San Diego, and… I’ve done none of it. I didn’t start meditating, I didn’t lose weight, I didn’t get a cool new job. Nothing. Reading back made me feel full of shit and, and it really opened my eyes (they really should have been open already) – I need to stop talking about being better, and simply start being better.

In saying that, I want to set a public goal (making it public will make it happen, that’s how this works, right?). I’m going to lose 70 pounds by next SDCC.

But first I’m going to land in California, eat In N’ Out, Panda Express, alternate varieties of Doritos Locos Tacos (we only have the standard in Canada), and simply burn the candle at both ends for ten days or so (a candle burned at both ends burns twice as bright, right?).

Matt and I have been waiting for Panda Express for some time now.

So, here we go again. Based on feedback, reflection, and… a lack of creativity (?), just like last year I’ll be posting a daily recap/journal of my experience at San Diego Comic-Con. The piece you’re reading now will be a recap of my time in California before heading to San Diego, but after this you can expect a daily write up full of convention goodness. I’m hoping to keep the pieces a little shorter and a lot more concise than they were last year, but based on the current word count of this very first recap, I’m not promising anything.

I really don’t get the hot towel benefit that first class gets on flights. It’s not even 7AM and it’s like 25 degrees (Celcius) outside. It’s warm in this cabin, so please put a hot towel on my face that’ll definitely help. I have no idea why this happens. But then again I’ve never been a first-class citizen, so maybe I just don’t have the brain capacity to understand.

Continuing the trend (second year in a row now) of heading down to California with some sort of ailment, I was an absolute idiot and didn’t apply an appropriate amount of sunscreen (or remember to re-apply it) when two days ago I spent several hours in the sun watching the Vans Park Series (skateboarding competition) preliminaries at Hastings Skatepark in Vancouver (man, do I want to start skating again each time I see events like this). My forehead is red (and hurts), my knees hurt (and hurt really badly when I towelled them off this morning), and my arms are pretty red as well. That said, I would take this any day (or every day) over last year’s infected tooth debacle. I’m getting chills just thinking about that one. I even felt a tiny bit of pain in my mouth as I woke up this morning, which reminds me that I’m due for another cleaning and checkup when I get back to Vancouver.

Flight wise, I lucked out (aside from that slight delay) and had nobody beside me on my YVR to LAX journey. Security was painless to get through (you pretty much just tell the TSA agent that you’re going to a comic book convention, they look at you in disgust (fuckin’ nerd), and let you through without another question. Instead of napping, I used my time in the air to start writing this recap, read a few comics (x, x, and x) , watched a little Netflix (x), and before I knew it the plane was landing. After stuffing my carry-on to the verge of explosion last year (even after leaving a few unneeded items with others in San Diego), I decided it best to check a larger bag this year, so I waited around for that before reuniting with Jonathan.

What was the first thing we did? Chiller Club reunion, obviously.

Following Chiller Club, we dropped our things off at Jonathan’s, caught up a bit, and drove to a nearby AC-equipped bougie as shit Starbucks to drink more coffee and get a little bit of work done.

Then it was ‘wrasslin time. WWE’s Extreme Rules PPV started at 4PM, so Matt Kelly found his way back to Jonathan’s place and we sat in the heat for hours to watch the whole thing. Old friend Zack Haddad joined, and aside from a few shitty, why-did-this-happen matches, and the whole thing not being that extreme aside from its title, the PPV overall was an enjoyable one (also I hope Kevin Owens is okay). Also, I think that time moves more slowly in heat like this as, while it wasn’t that long, Extreme Rules felt like it took absolutely forever.

Before turning in for the night, it was time for some food. At this point in my journey, I hadn’t had any In-N-Out yet, so we drove to a nearby location and quickly realized that it just wasn’t going to happen. The drive-thru line was nearly a block long, and the small parking lot was completely full.

Instead, we ended up at some “world famous” place that I’d never heard of until this trip: Tommy’s World Famous Hamburgers. It was a burger place (naturally) that has a love for chilli, which it puts on almost everything, I had a burger with chilli on it (for the first time ever) and some chilli cheese fries (also for the first time ever), and it was fucking delicious. Why have I never thought to put chilli on shit before? Seriously.

That was it for the night! We turned in pretty quickly so we could get an early start on Monday morning.

Monday

I don’t know if its the sunburn or what, but while the temperature in Los Angeles right now is similar to that of Vancouver, it feels fucking hot, and as such the cold shower that I had this morning felt like it might just be the best part of this entire trip (not really).

Matt and I went for breakfast at Cafe 101, which is apparently super famous and has been in a ton of movies. The locale definitely looked familiar, but I couldn’t figure out just where I’d seen it before. The conversation was good, the bacon was super tasty, and the coffee woke me the hell up. Thank goodness.

A ton of exclusives news has been dropping this morning. I always get really excited for what Mondo has to show off at their booth because each and every piece that they do is incredibly beautiful, and being able to pick pieces up at the convention saves me a ton of money on shipping and duty. Prior to my flight to Los Angeles, the only revealed piece that I was really hankering for was the Daniel Danger piece for The Shape Of Water. I loved the film, and have the convention exclusive Daniel Danger Crimson Peak piece from a couple of years back, and I think they would look gorgeous beside each other.

Today, the company revealed some incredible art for Drive, Jurassic Park, and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. I’m going to lose any self control I thought that I had…

Yep. I’m screwed.

After breakfast we went back to Jon’s for a bit before Matt took off to meet up with some old friends. I had some emails to respond to, and Jon was still working on the Geekscape / Dweeb Darlings press release to announce our upcoming SDCC ConQuest Scavenger hunt. We did some running around (I even met a new canine friend at Lodger) before finally sending out the release (after learning that our standard Geekscape email accounts could not be used to send mass emails, of course).

Things were pretty relaxed here for the rest of the day. We went to a giant theatre to see the BIGGEST BLOCKBUSTER OF THE SUMMER, Dwayne Johnson’s Skyscraper. The first thing that I noticed is that the actual auditorium for this screening was tiny compared to what I’m used to in Vancouver – maybe 60 or so seats. Also, Movie Pass is fucking insane, and people who complain about it are just freaking wrong. Give me that shit at whatever price you want and I will pay it happily.

The movie itself was fucking awesome. It was dumb as hell, with some fantastic action, some terrible villains, tons of quotable one-liners, and an amputee The Rock who is somehow still more bad-ass than anyone with all of their limbs. It was a fabulous time, and I’m super glad that we’d decided to see something like that instead of something more serious. It was really a perfect way to kick-off what’s about to be an insane and exhausting week.

Following the movie, we walked over to a nearby In-N-Out burger so that I could finally fill myself with that sweet, fattening, never-frozen never-microwaved burger goodness. Before we ordered, Matt said “Ah man, you better go first. I don’t know what I want,” and I replied by noting “What the hell are you talking about, they have like three options!?” Matt went first, and it wasn’t that hard.

We returned to Jonathan’s, and spent the rest of the night recording a pre-SDCC episode of Geekscape that largely turned into a roast of Matt Kelly and a chat about just how awesome Skyscraper was. You can listen to the episode below, but be warned that there are some spoilers on the ROCK-solid plot of the film.

Following the recording, we crashed hard and turned in just before midnight…

Tuesday

Matt and I left Jon’s apartment at 8am as Matt had to return his rental car before we hopped on an AMTRAK to San Diego. The drop-off was right at the station, which was nice (although it ended up being confusing as hell and we had to drive around the station several times before we found an employee that could actually give us directions to a completely un-signed area underground where the car could actually be returned), and Matt handed his keys to some dude without a uniform who just said “Yo you can give those keys to me.” I was pretty sure that this guy just stole the car, but Matt received a “Thank you for returning your rental” email a half-hour or so later.

We grabbed a quick Starbucks coffee and breakfast sandwich (thank Xenu for cheap food) before jumping on the train. Matt immediately started talking up everyone around us, and I was again envious of his crazy ability to find common ground with everyone. Within three minutes of sitting down he was telling people about the SDCC booth, the Geekscape Podcast Network, and had a business card from some local stand up comedian.

The ride itself was pretty chill and was my first time on a several-hour train ride that wasn’t bursting-at-the-seams crowded (which was just taking me to work, as well). It featured seats, wifi (which actually works pretty well, unlike the wifi on BC Ferries), air conditioning, and a table that I could put my iPad on so I could keep working. 10/10 would train again.

It wasn’t the prettiest view, but it was still a cool time.

From the San Diego station, we walked over to our hotel at the Hilton Bayfront (right beside the convention centre, aw yiss), checked in (where Matt Kelly got some weird story from a girl named Kelli that used to be Kelly), turned the air conditioning to the lowest that it could possibly go to, and then went to meet Jonathan and Heidi at ROCKIN’ FUCKING BAHA.

I had mango salsa, it was phenomenal. I also ordered a beer and didn’t realize that it would be massive (25oz), and instead of eating the tacos that I normally get a spent like $4 more and had a weird bucket that included lobster, steak, shrimp, chicken, and corn on the cob. Fucking delicious.

I can’t wait for more mango salsa.

We all made our way back to the hotel, and Jonathan quickly passed out for a super loud nap. By this time, Courtney had arrived at the airport, dropped her stuff off at her home for the week, and was waiting in the lobby of the Hilton Bayfront. I went down to the lobby instead of subjecting her to Jonathan’s snoring, and we caught up for a bit before deciding to grab a drink.

Courtney had a Maple Old Fashioned, and I grabbed some sort of Amber Ale that I can’t remember the name of (the waitress even upgraded me to a larger size for free because she couldn’t remember what I ordered). Of course, the very second that Courtney’s tiny drink and my Dwayne-Johnson-in-SKYSCRAPER sized beer arrived, Jonathan texted me to let me know that it was time to set up the booth.

We went into the Convention Centre (it’s pretty freaking cool getting early access to the show floor in order to see everything being built) and put the booth together before shooting a small El Chucho short to kick off the Seed and Spark Crowdfunding Campaign for the Stalking LeVar short film that is about to launch.

Following the booth build, we took things pretty easy for the rest of the night. Jonathan, Heidi, Courtney, Gui, Matt, and I went to Lolita’s Mexican Restaurant near PetCo Park for some food (I was still pretty full, so I just had a couple of small Taquitos and a bunch of water), and following that Matt, Courtney and I decided to go to a grocery store to grab some hotel room supplies before turning in for the night. I grabbed a case of 24 bottles of water (for like $2, instead of the $3.50 the hotel wanted for a single one), some coconut water for when I wake up each morning (to keep me hydrated, obviously), and a few granola bars to throw in my bag so that I eat those instead of spending like $40US on a pretzel.

The day felt so relaxed. The Gaslamp district was empty, we didn’t have to wait for what felt like hours to get food, and nearly all of the incredible-looking offsite events were still being built. Wednesday brings preview night, and press previews for a bunch of events that I’m beyond excited for (like LAIKA Live, which remains one of my most anticipated events of the entire week).

Wednesday

After fighting to fall asleep for what felt like hours (until I finally hopped out of bed to grab some earplugs), I eventually passed out and slept in until about 8am. When I woke up everyone else had already left the room aside from Matt, who had already showered and was watching this week’s RAW beside me.

I showered, had a quick chat with Mikaela, and Matt and I made our way to breakfast. We both had some eggs, bacon, and pancakes before walking over to the FYE Pop-Up at the Horton Plaza (look for photos from the shop right here). I found a rad GLOW shirt that I had every intention of buying, but there was only an L (which was too short) and an XXL (which was far too wide). I asked an employee if they had more in the back, and the guy said that everything they had was on the shelf. I said “So it’s only Wednesday and you have like four Glow shirts left?” and the guy kind of just shrugged and walked away. This was definitely a little disappointing, but the place was filled with cool stuff, and was packed with people to the point where it was hard to take photos of some of the offerings.

Side note – sorry about the IMGUR banners from here on out. Geekscape is having major issues uploading images at this time.

Before heading back to the hotel, we decided to walk a few more blocks to the Castle Rock installation that was still being set up at the Children’s Museum park. The area was pretty fenced off and was still mostly being built, but what we saw at this point was freaking awesome – they build a fucking house first of all, there was a car in the fountain, a creepy figure (Georgie?) and a memorial to Georgie (that was too fenced off to get a good photo of at this point). Amazing. We also saw a Stranger Things train station, but we couldn’t get too close at this point as a local news station had taken over the area.

Somehow I convinced Matt to get on one of these rental motorized scooters that are everywhere in San Diego at this point. I don’t think that these existed at last year’s convention, but it was pretty hard to walk 30 feet without seeing one. We used Lime, and it was so convenient and inexpensive. The scooters are $1 to unlock, and then $.15 per minute after that. You push off to start, and then the handlebars show have a ‘Go’ and ‘Stop’ switch to accelerate or brake. The scooters travel way faster than I expected them to, and they were a fun and fast way to get back to our hotel. I even managed a selfie while riding, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen Matt look so excited in my life.

After arriving back at the hotel, I wrote up my FYE piece before meeting up with Courtney. We chatted for awhile before heading back to the convention centre to pick up my badge (which took a total of like four seconds somehow), and then decided that it was time for lunch at… Rockin’ Baha of course! At this point, I wondered just how many times we would hit up the same restaurant before the week was over.

Next up was the first official event of the week, FutureTechLive! This event is open through Sunday, and is located on the second floor of the Omni Hotel. Here, there were a bunch of VR experiences to try, a neat Overwatch photo op (I definitely lost my balance on this one, as the platform we stood on spun around) that netted you an exclusive Overwatch pin once you completed it, and some Bitcoin and other coin vendors. We played a game called Star Wars Jedi Challenge which was a stand-alone headset, lightsaber, and tracking ball thing, where you fight different Star Wars villains with your lightsaber. It was kind of fun, but felt pretty janky, and the field of view on the headset (which was powered by your phone) was quite poor – you would turn your head naturally in order to see where Darth Maul (or whatever villain you were fighting) was, and all of a sudden everything would go blank. It’s also $200 which feels like a lot for what it is. It felt a little bit like Wii launch title Red Steel, but that game is like ten years old and the Wii did way more for your money. We also played a pretty cool four-player cooperative title that was demonstrating a technology called HoloGate. The game we played was a simple first-person shooter that has the four players shooting easy drones and robots, followed by some larger robots and dragons and stuff. The round lasted about five minutes, and while it was simple I probably had a smile on my face the whole time. The setup was pretty neat, and it was really cool having a system to hold the VR wiring (and to keep it safe) while you moved around in the virtual space. We checked out a couple of other things before it was time for me to head to the Hilton Gaslamp for a preview of the DC Universe offsite event.

There is a lot of incredible stuff at San Diego Comic-Con. The offsite events get more and more elaborate every year, and up to today the coolest activation ever remained the Godzilla Encounter from 2013 (read my coverage of that event right here). It’s freaking Preview Night 2018, and tonight I attended not one, but two events that may have surpassed it.

The first was the aforementioned DC Universe offsite. It’s here to represent the aptly titled DC Universe app and subscription service, which should launch in beta in the next few weeks, and in full this Fall. The service is kind of like Marvel’s long running Marvel Unlimited service for digital comics, except that DC Universe includes not only comics, but DC films, television series, animated features, and even some original content like the upcoming live-action Titans series (the costumes from which were on display at the exhibit) and way way more. DC Legend Jim Lee said that the event itself was meant to act as a sort of physical representation of the DC Universe app, and the location was filled with concept art, real props from the Batman movies (like a giant rubber duck, Mr. Freeze’ freeze ray, and the freakin Batmissile), stations where you could try the app out, food, and way more. Inside the building you could find things like “Harley Quinn’s Chaos Room”, in which you suited up in protective gear, donned a baseball bat, and smashed things for 45 seconds, and there was even a small Swamp Thing activation in which an actor took you through the “swamp” while things jumped out at you. You’ll tap into each experience using an RFID bracelet, and a link will be texted to you so you can see photos, videos, and more of you in each piece of the experience. Pretty cool, and pretty seamless.

The DC Universe offsite is open through Sunday, and is an amazing time. You can look for my full write-up on the event on the site sometime tomorrow, but for now you’ll have to settle for just a few photos that are posted above.

The last stop of the evening was an invitational preview to the LAIKA Live offsite that I first wrote about a few days ago. This event was literally heaven. Life-sized versions of Coraline, the Other Mother, Kubo, Sparky, and Norman wandered around the event taking photos with patrons as they chatted and consumed the wonderful food and drink provided. The food really amazed the hell out of me, as it was all themed after different LAIKA properties, and the cupcakes were even decorated with artwork of the distinct hair of numerous LAIKA characters. This, by the way, was only the entrance of the experience. Once inside, you could stare in absolute amazement at actual sets from Coraline and The Boxtrolls, sit in a life-sized version of the Other Mother’s living room, chat with actual LAIKA animators (where I learned that the now rarely used art of stop motion is still evolving, and in the upcoming LAIKA feature Missing Link, they’ve actually added the ability for the puppets to breathe. The whole thing sounds incredible.

Teri Hatcher, the Other Mother herself even showed up in order to help kick off the event and to help celebrate Coraline‘s tenth anniversary. She even saw a little girl out on the street selling giant suckers for a charity called Child Hunger Sucks, brought the girl inside, and let her tell everyone about what the organization does. Pretty freaking amazing. LAIKA Live is in the old Dick’s Last Resort locale, and is also open through Sunday at 6PM. The offsite even has a ton of amazing merchandise for sale (I need more money), and will even have the store open separately so that you don’t have to wait in line for hours and hours if you just want to buy things. That said, LAIKA Live is worth waiting hours and hours for.

Just like with DC Universe, you can look for more from LAIKA Live right here on Geekscape tomorrow!

Now, however, it’s midnight and I need to crash! Tomorrow kicks off with the Mattel / WWE Panel to mark the first full day of SDCC 2018!

Thanks for reading!

‘L.A. Noire’ Gets Next Gen Release This November Including Nintendo Switch & VR!

by The_aczSeptember 7, 2017

One of the most unique games to grace the 7th generation of game consoles was Rockstar Games and Team Bondi’s L.A. Noire. The game became infamous for having one of the craziest development cycles, as well as shutting down the developer Team Bondi 5 months after release. Aside from the controversy, the game was pretty much universally praised by critics and fans alike.

Now, the game is getting another chance to shine. This morning, Rockstar announced that the game will be heading to next gen platforms November 14th. This includes your usual suspects like PS4 and Xbox One, but the big bombshell is that the game will also be heading to the Nintendo Switch the same day as the other 2!

This is big news as there hasn’t been a Rockstar game on a Nintendo system since 2009’s Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars for Nintendo DS. Aside from that, they also announced L.A. Noire The VR Case Files for the HTC Vive. Are you excited to play L.A. Noire wherever you go? Do you want to see the series make a comeback? Tell us in the comments below!

Geekscape Games Podcast: Level 118 – ‘While At SDCC 2017 We Forgot To Come Up With A Title’

by GeekscapeStaffJuly 25, 2017

Join Derek, Courtney and MATT KELLY(?!) as they discuss the last week at San Diego Comic Con 2017!

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This Week:

Our Tremendous Trio recant their adventures at San Diego Comic Con 2017. They DO talk about video games at some point, and we never do find out the bathroom story.

Check Out The Horror Movie Night Podcast!

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SDCC 2017: ‘Monkey King’ VR Defies Expectations

by Courtney DossettJuly 20, 2017

When VR first came out, I thought it was just a cheesy gimmick to suck more money from gamers. My first experience with VR, a roller coaster ride and ocean diving experience, while fun, didn’t justify the cost of getting a VR accessory.

Then I tried the Monkey King at SDCC.

Monkey King is a virtual reality experience (not interactive, but so beautiful and well thought out that it makes up for it). Created by Digital Domain, Monkey King is an immersive story experience that puts you in the Chinese folktale of Wukong the Monkey King. Each of the three, 8 minute long episodes gives you a 360° look into this version of the tale, and is so detailed, sometimes it’s hard to stay focused on following the main characters. You feel like you’re actually part of the story through the whole experience.

I was really drawn into the story of Wukong, which is a very popular legend in China. I had never heard of the tale before hearing from Digital Domain, and their VR experience is an amazingly beautiful way to be introduced tp the story.

This is Digital Domain’s first foray into a direct consumer experience, and as far as I’m concerned it’s a very successful one – like I’m considering getting PlayStation VR so I can watch the whole story, and any more that Digital Domain comes out with. The three part story will be available July 26th for PlayStation VR, and will be available in Mandrin and English.

What do you think of the Monkey King? Let us know in the comments below!

SXSW Special VR Event ‘The Mummy’ Info and Mini Review

by AllieHanleyMarch 10, 2017

SXSW kicked off officially today and the city of Austin and convention center is literally swarmed with people from all over the world. It’s hard to decide what and where to go so Twitter can be very helpful. Yesterday, almost by accident I came across a post about some Virtual Reality activation for Universal’s “The Mummy” starring Tom Cruise.

If you’ve seen the trailer then you may already know there is an exciting plane crash scene where the cast are literally floating through the rapidly descending plane. This Virtual Experience (VR) is a 20 minute How-We -Did -It video. In a day and age where CGI replaces so much, this action sequence (plane crash) has been shot using 90%practical effects according to the Universal release.

What happens and is it worth the effort?

You go to Ballroom B on the far side of the convention center. You can only go one direction so do not think you can save time and go from E straight to A and B. Seriously you have to walk around so be sure to adjust your schedule to accommodate the walk. Once there, you have 2 choices. If you pre signed up (info at bottom) you get an assigned time and go right in. If you didn’t get a reservation you may wait in the standby line. The line on Friday was 30 people deep. They take 20 people every 20 minutes. When I arrived only 7 of 20 showed up… so the line does move.

Once inside, there is a brief film trailer with Tom Cruise discussing his dedication to one-upping himself in every film and that this Zero G action stunt is one of his most grandiose stunts to date. There are some very limited set pieces including a sarcophagus from the film to check out as well.

After the briefing you enter a very unique screening room. See pics. There are 20 open, half circle pods that you sit in. There are plenty of staff to assist you in donning the VR camera and Bose headphones so the change out is fast. As the video begins, it’s the same video again. I couldn’t believe that this was going to be the VR experience. I was almost willing to concede this was a huge waste of time and effort but then the VR kicks in and it’s pretty spectacular.

I’ve seen a few VR experiences including the “Game of Thrones,” “F/X’s American Horror Story: Asylum” and “Interstellar.” This one rates as next to best. “American Horror Story” last year at San Diego Comic Con was just incredible. This one is pretty worthy though.

The pod moves to help simulate some of what you will be feeling. The 20 minutes is a scenes from a separate camera crew that was in the jet when they filmed the zero G sequences for the film. They are actually in there with the film crew and cast and you get an unbelievable view of what it was like to be in that jet and how the stunts were performed (all by Tom Cruise and Annabelle Wallis).

Should you do it?

I would recommend doing this VR experience if you want a break from the conference meetings, or if you are in between films. If you have a limited amount of time and have never done a VR Experience then you should make a point to try it out. If you done them before and you have a tight schedule this may be something you can skip. It’s also next to the Vimeo which has been relocated from where it was last two years. You may be able to screen a film or TV show and schedule this close to it.

How to Sign Up:

Here is the link to sign up. It opens everyday at 6 PM CST for the next day. It will list the day you are reserving on the page. Then you need to select how many people, there is only an option for 1, and then go to the bottom of the page to find the “next” button. A friend of mine missed out because he was on his phone and didn’t scroll down far enough. He assumed it locked up. It will ask for your email. A confirmation for your time will come quickly to your email. You can only make one reservation a day per name and email. They do have a record at check in.

The 12 Days Of Switchmas Day 10: VR Prospects

by The_aczJanuary 10, 2017

I’ll be honest, I’m not the biggest fan of VR right now. While I’ve tried out an Oculus game and PSVR here and there, I still don’t think the device is living up to what it can be, but that doesn’t mean Nintendo shouldn’t try implementing it with the Switch. I feel like Nintendo could find an easy, fun, and affordable way for VR that could evenly compete with the likes of PSVR, and maybe even the PC big boys. How do I propose they do this? Well.

About a month ago, people found a patent Nintendo filed showing an idea of possibly using the switch as a VR headset (See article banner for said image.). I feel that this could be a great cheap alternative for people looking for a console VR experience in a couple of different ways. One of the ways is that if we assume that the Nintendo Switch will retail for $250, that means it’ll be fairly cheap to come out with a VR accessory for the system. If we were to say that this headset accessory would cost no more than, oh say, $20, that’d round out the price to about $270 total. Not too shabby if I say so myself.

Even if this headset accessory is more expensive when being sold, it’s doubtful that that it’d go anything over $50. At the highest price it’d probably be somewhere around $300 for both the headset and Switch, STILL making it at least $100 cheaper than Sony’s PSVR. The only thing really worrying me about how cheap this VR could be is that it might fall more in line with Phone VR than Console. As long as Nintendo can make the console maintain a steady frame rate and speed during the games though, this shouldn’t be a problem.

Time for Bets

In 2 days during the Switch event, not only will we get the confirmation that the Nintendo Switch will be VR compatible, but that it will also be launching in the summer AND that it will be the 2nd VR system to get full support for Resident Evil 7: Biohazard. The slide in attachment will $20 separately, and $80 with RE7 as a pack in. Lock it in!

Well, I think that just about does it for Day 10 of Switchmas. We’ve only got one more day for regular articles. Tune in tomorrow for the return of Josh to see what else he has to say about the Switch, and don’t forget that Geekscape.net will be holding a live reactions event at 7:00PM PST.

‘The Game Awards’ Are Less Than A Month Away! Find Out How You Can Watch It!

by The_aczNovember 2, 2016

We’re just 29 days from the most wonderful time of the year (Thursday, December 1st if you don’t feel like counting)!

What? No! Not Christmas. I’m talking about the 2016 Game Awards hosted by Geoff Keighly. Ever since ditching that awful Spike sponsorship back in 2013, The Game Awards only grows stronger every year. In fact, Last year was a treat since some of us here from Geekscape got to attend the show live. It really is a magical night.

So how can you watch it? Easy! Almost anywhere. That’s right, You can either purchase a ticket to the awards show right here or you can check out the list of websites and services below that will be hosting it when it goes live next month. Not only will you be able to enjoy the show from all the listed websites below, but for the very first time, the show will finally be airing in China and even in VR!! How awesome is that!
Are you excited for The Game Awards? What kind of announcements are you hoping on seeing there? Tell us in the comments below, and make sure to stay locked to Geekscape.net on any updates.

SDCC 2016: Watch Shane Lose It Playing ‘Paranormal Activity: The Lost Soul’!

by Derek KraneveldtJuly 25, 2016

Possibly the highlight of my trip down to San Diego for this year’s Comic-Con is not something that I did… but something that I watched someone else do.

Before the convention floor opened for preview night on Wednesday, Shane, Juan, and I traversed over to the Hilton Gaslamp hotel to checkout a media preview of VRCon. We all had an amazing time speaking about the latest VR camera rigs, but the most memorable moments of the offsite event were experiencing VRWerx Paranormal Activity: The Lost Soul.

The Lost Soul is set to launch this Summer for HTC Vive, a little later on for the Oculus Rift, and will even head to consoles with Sony’s Playstation VR headset. The demo that we experiences was about 4-7 minutes long depending on just how you played, but a VRWerx representative said that the full experience should take gamers about 10 hours.

The demo had you traversing through a dimly lit house while the terrors around you begin to unfold. We used the HTC Vive headset to look around the house, and two controllers that acted like hands, which would allow us to grab objects, open doors and cupboards, and try (and fail) to cover our virtual eyes when something in this world terrified us.

The demo was a blast. I jumped a few times, and so did Juan. It was a tense and scary environment, and I sensed some P.T. inspirations as soon as the demo booted up. This is probably the coolest VR experience I’ve had thus far, as instead of simply watching the action unfold and having the opportunity to look around it, you were fully in control, and at the centre of it. It’s incredibly immersive, with some fantastic sound design that simply never lets you calm down.

But like I said, the highlight of this year’s SDCC was not doing something, but watching someone else do something. Shane O’Hare played The Lost Soul first, and while the journalists that played before us all had appropriate, moderate reactions, Shane went completely off the rails to the point where people were leaving other booths to watch and laugh at him. There was a pretty substantial crowd waiting for him when he took the headset off.

But, don’t take my word for it, watch Shane lose it playing Paranormal Activity: The Lost Soul below.

https://youtu.be/vQ_3MtTrQxo

SDCC 2016: The ‘Resident Evil 7’ Kitchen Demo Just Sold Us On Playstation VR!

by Derek KraneveldtJuly 21, 2016

Walking the San Diego Comic-Con floor this year, it’d be impossible not to notice the insanely intricate booth-work that companies like WETA, Alex Ross Art, Adult Swim, and Capcom (among others) have brought with them from all over the country to impress the hundreds of thousands of attendees that will walk the show floor over the next four days.

The best looking booth this year? After walking KM after KM on the convention floor (trying to see all of the slick booths and also trying to hatch some Pokémon eggs), it’s pretty clear that Capcom’s Resident Evil 7 installation is the most striking both of 2016. Seriously, this thing looks like it’s straight out of the village from Resident Evil 4, which is an exciting throwback to the last time that Resident Evil was truly terrifying.

The booth features a series of small rooms. In each dilapidated, cobweb-infested, barely lit space (again, really selling the whole ‘terrifying’ aspect) was a single chair, a television, and a Playstation 4 unit with a Playstation VR headset attached.

Inside the room, we sat down and were set to experience the Kitchen demonstration, which is a short but intense PlayStation VR demo that serves to set up events that lead up to Resident Evil 7. The Capcom representative let us know that this demo has only been shown a handful of times, and was completed about a year ago (well before Resident Evil 7 was announced) to show the level of immersion that the team would strive for with the finished product.

This was the first time that I’d ever actually put a Playstation VR headset on my head, and I was beyond surprised with just how good looking, comfortable, and easily adjustable the headset was. A single button on the back of the unit allows you to adjust how tight the headset is on your head, while a button on the front allows you to move the display closer or further away from your eyes. Seriously, this is far and away the most comfortable VR headset that I’ve had the opportunity to wear thus far.

As soon as the demo begins, another thing that shocked me is just how fluid movement is on the Playstation VR. I had just completed an HTC Vive demonstration a few hours before, which I was seriously impressed with (look for the video soon), but the virtually 1:1 tracking of the Playstation VR system absolutely blew me away, and exponentially added to the already incredible immersion that VR brings to the table.

The demo is fairly short, but definitely had me jump (and Shane scream) more than a couple of times throughout its duration. Kitchen fades in from black, and has you looking around a disgusting kitchen (obviously) setting, hands and feet tied to a chair, with seemingly no knowledge of how you got there or what is happening. Turning and moving the Dualshock 4 controller will turn and stretch your wrists in an eerily-lifelike manner, and after a moment you’ll notice an unconscious body on the floor. Get his attention, and he’ll wake up and try to help you… and that’s when shit hits the fan.

I had a blast experiencing Kitchen. It was immersive as hell, but not great looking, and not the most interactive demo that I’ve experienced even today. Jaggies were prominent (though the framerate seemed very smooth), textures seemed fairly muddy (though we’re not sure if this is from the VR headset, or because of this being an older demo), and you only really need to complete one or two actions, and for the rest of the demonstration you’re just along for the (scary) ride.

The Resident Evil 7 booth is a must-visit, and you can head to the booth (#215) as soon as the floor opens in order to get your free ticket to experience the event. Tickets are limited, so you’ll want to get there fast.

Overall, Kitchen made me really excited for the Resident Evil 7 VR experience, and really excited for a Resident Evil game for the first time in a long time.

Resident Evil 7 hits Windows, PS4, and Xbox One on January 27th, and I can’t wait to check it out.

Shane’s Thoughts

The thing I noticed first about the RE7 demo was how much I liked the Playstation VR headset.

It stretched out easily to fit my rather large head, and the lenses were the easiest to focus: VR and I haven’t really gotten along, and a lot of it looks really grainy and pixelated. From what I’ve been able to gather, it’s because of my 20/10 vision not working well with focal points/lenses designed for 20/20 vision and below with corrective lenses. It’s always been a chore to find the right focus for any of the VR experiences I’ve been able to check out. The Samsung Gear is my least favorite, as the lenses top out at an incredibly short distance.

The Playstation VR headset had an incredible range of focus with the lenses, and the rubber shroud around the goggle portion cut out any and all light coming from the inside.

Once in the demo, I instantly noticed how quickly everything moved. The refresh rate felt very high, and the tracking didn’t have any of the normal “lag” I was used to with things like Oculus and Vive.

The demo itself was very instense. As I was stuck in the chair, I was trying to move around and get a better look at the kitchen. I accidentally knocked over the camera that was filming the player, and it spooked the hell out of me.

When the “zombie” came and attacked me, I physically reacted. I cringed and leaned back as she pointed the knife in my face, and when she stabbed my leg my whole body twitched. My heart rate climbed and I was getting nervous.

The end has her coming from behind you, putting her hands over your face then leaning over and stabbing you. Seeing these bloodied fingers come around my face really disturbed me, and made me really uncomortable.

All and all I am very excited to see what Capcom is going to bring to the table with Resident Evil 7 and I can safely say this came will be amazing in VR. Just from the short demo I got to experience today, I can tell you I will be getting this VR setup.

SDCC 2016: Radiant Images Brings 360 Video & VR To The Big Screen

by Shane O'HareJuly 20, 2016

Today marks the first (unofficial) day of San Diego Comic-Con 2016. Preview night is usually relegated to damaging your liver and scoping out all the sick deals before you try to wait in line for Hall H.

I got to check out the VR Convention, just across the street from the convention center. There were multiple vendors there all showing off their great VR products and innovations. The group that caught my eye the most was Radiant Images.

They’re a manufacturing and rental house out of LA that focuses on 360 cameras. We were able to check out a few of their products.

The one that most of you will be able to check out, is the Mobius POV VR. A head mounted full 360 head shell that captures the wearers entire view.

The device was INCREDIBLY light, and has a brace that runs down the wearers back. Keeping the device very still. The directors/editors can choose how to stitch together the footage, so that you can get the feeling of being on the shoulders of the character. It’s not just going to be the cheesy First Person Shooter footage feeling.

There will be an upcoming scene in Suicide Squad that will feature footage shot on this rig.

The other very compelling camera setup they offer is the Jaunt One, code named Viper (after the probe droids from Star Wars). It features 24 cameras that all output at either 8 or 4K resolution.

The thing that piqued my interest the most about this rig, was its portability. This can be hooked up to a wire mobile rig or even a drone. It can be used for high speed environments, like sporting events.

The last setup we were demoed was the Nokia OZO. A handheld unit that is designed for mimicking the human eye.

Each of the OZO’s 8 sensors are 64 millimeters apart. The perfect focal distance to mimic the human eye. The handle of the unit features a 500 GB SSD quick swap drive. So that when one hard drive is full, you can swap them out for an empty one and keep on shooting. These cameras were used to film all the VR and 360 footage at the Euro 2016 football tournament.

Radiant Images is an incredible team of people that really want to push the future of 360 and VR footage. Designing and renting out their own, in house made camera rigs. They have those that fly and they have those that zip across the sand at incredible speed.

Be sure to check out their official website for look at some of their other incredible products.

SDCC 2016: Headed To SDCC? You’ll Definitely Want To Visit VR Con As Well!

by Derek KraneveldtJuly 20, 2016

Briefly: As a huge fan of all of the virtual reality experiences that I’ve had the opportunity to try thus far, and as someone who does not have the computing power to run a virtual reality headset, you better believe that I’m excited to check out VR Con during this year’s San Diego Comic-Con.

VR CON was created to celebrate the boldest and coolest in the exploding areas of Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), Mediated Reality (MR), Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Wearable Computing. VR CON, which will travel to cities around North America and beyond, covers entertainment, gaming, education, travel, design and more.

VR CON @ COMIC-CON is Comic-Con International’s officially-sanctioned event that showcases the latest from the leading equipment makers, film studios, television networks, game builders, publishers, brands, designers, influencers and innovators. The event will be held at the Hilton San Diego Gaslamp Quarter hotel, which directly faces the San Diego Convention Center, home of Comic-Con International.

An early sneak preview of world renowned astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson’s upcoming game Space Odyssey is expected to be a highlight attraction for attendees. The multiplatform game will allow players to travel through space, build their own spacecraft, and explore the cosmos. The game will include virtual reality missions, available on home and mobile devices – and eventually at museums, space centers, and classrooms.

Here’s a rundown of everything happening at VR Con, which begins tonight (Wednesday, July 20) with a preview day, which includes a media reception in the space from 3-6 p.m. PST, allowing international media and blogging communities a first experience of this premiere event. A public preview follows from 6-9 p.m. on Wednesday, and regular days and hours are: Thursday & Friday (July 21-22) 9 a.m.-8 p.m.; Saturday (July 23) 9 a.m.-7 p.m. and Sunday (July 24) 9 a.m.-5 p.m.

– Thursday – Saturday (July 21-23), VRLIVE, the first VR and 360-degree live-action network, will live stream host Mark Kassen’s interviews planned with Randal Kleiser, Director of Grease and Defrost; Guy Shelmerdine, Catatonic Director Tony Kaye, American History X Director; Andrew Shulkind, VR DOP for The Strain’s Comic-Con VR Experience with Headcase VR; and others leaders in the field.

– Thursday (July 21) panel: “Dent the Future VR” – 2-3pm in the San Diego Convention Center Expo Hall Room 23A-B. This panel expands on the Dent team’s “Building the Holodeck” VR/AR panel from last year, with an update titled “State of the Holodeck.” Panelists scheduled include: Tony Christopher (CEO and President, Landmark Entertainment Group), Mary Jesse (Chief Strategy Officer, ‎VRstudios), Julian Reyes (VR Producer, FUSION), Chanel Summers (Co-Founder, Syndicate 17), Michael Licht (Co-Founder and Creative Director, Emblematic Group), and Mark Murphy (Co-Founder and Creative Director, Neil deGrasse Tyson Presents Space Odyssey).

– Friday (July 22) panel: “Creating Your Own Universe” – 7:30-8:30 p.m. at the San Diego Convention Center, Expo Hall Room 5 A-B. Leading creative voices will discuss the development of a multi-platform universe that engages in the VR and AR spaces as well as the traditional animation and gaming markets. Moderated by Len Wien (co-creator of Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Colossus, Swamp Thing and Wolverine), the panel also includes Peter Beagle (creator, The Last Unicorn), Bob Rafei (CEO, Red Button Entertainment), Sinclair Fleming (Director or Engineering/VR, Radiant Images), Russell Naftal (Co-Managing Partner, VR Werx), and Mark Murphy. The event will be live streamed by VRLIVE in partnership with Radiant Images (airing via the Comic Con HQ Channel and YouTube360).

– Saturday (July 23) panel: “Creating Universes” – 11:30am-12:30pm at the Horton Grand Theater. Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson hosts an A-List panel of creators, including Len Wein, and Bill Prady (co-creator, writer, executive producer, The Big Bang Theory) who will discuss how universes are formed with the imagination and with science. Renowned artist Rob Prior (Game of Thrones, Star Wars) will provide a live painting exhibition during the panel. VRLIVE will live stream the event.

In addition to Space Odyssey, other projects and developments on display will include:

– Columbia Memorial Space Center – This Los Angeles-area space learning complex will provide space artifacts to complement Space Odyssey.

– Mars 2030 / NASA – Backed with support from NASA, Fusion Media’s Mars 2030 is underscored by a singular mission: do everything possible to make the player feel like they’re actually on Mars. That includes starting with a massive, detailed recreation of an actual part of the planet’s surface.

– Paranormal Activity: The Lost Soul in VR – VRWERX previews its “scary as hell” VR attraction based on Paramount Pictures’ movie franchise.

– Time Zombies – VRstudios’ gaming and entertainment division, VRcade, takes players through the dark and ominous streets and back alleys of an abandoned English town in 1910, where Zombies lurk in every corner and hiding place ready to attack.

– Tiltbrush – Tiltbrush is one of the truly cool experiences to emerge in the VR space. Some of the top creators in comics and animation will be playing with this unique tool and sharing their creations on site.

– Pure McCartney – Rock out at a concert by the incomparable Sir Paul McCartney, presented by Jaunt.

– Circle of Life 360 Experience / The Lion King on Broadway – Get enveloped in the world of one of Disney’s epics, by “being” on stage of the hit Broadway musical.

– Defrost – VR series written and directed by Randal Kleiser and featuring Carl Weathers, Bruce Davison and Harry Hamlin. It was shown at the Sundance Film Festival and the Cannes Film Festival in 2016.

– New York Times and other VR stories – Experience war in Syria and life in other places in the world through VR stories filmed by Emblematic Group, whose founder Nonny de la Peña has been named the “Godmother of virtual reality” by the Guardian.

– 360 Portal – A unique, immersive, mind-blowing experience utilizing a globe.

– Visions of China – A fully immersive tour of some of the most beautiful and exotic landscapes and venues of this enchanting nation.

– Heavy Metal – The iconic sci-fi/fantasy anthology magazine is expanding across multiple media platforms including immersive entertainment, and will spotlight their upcoming projects including VR/360.

– Phoenix Rising / Captain Power reboot – The 1980s sci-fi TV series Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future is coming back from the past, with the space drama now titled Phoenix Rising.

– Pokemon Go – VR CON is an official Poke Stop, and will be dropping Poke lures throughout the show.

– VR LIVE Studio – Radiant Images and partner VRLIVE, the first VR and 360-degree live-action network, are setting up VR LIVE STUDIO at VR CON, and will live stream host Mark Kassen’s interviews

– Comic-Con HQ Channel – A live-stream from VR CON will be filmed and appear on this new digital channel from Comic-Con International and Lionsgate Studios.

Sounds like an action-packed event. Better block off a whole day for this one.

Are you planning to hit up VR Con while in San Diego this week? Be sure to let us know!

Geekscape 416: The E3 All Video Games Special!

by JonathanJune 14, 2016

E3 is upon us and there are SO MANY big announcements! And because we are clearly the greatest video game show on the Geekscape network, we’re here to bring you all the biggest details… in half the time it takes “those other guys”! Joining Kenny and I in dissecting all things E3 are Corinne Irizarry and Mike Olivares, because there’s no way we can get through all of this alone! Microsoft announces the super powerful Project Scorpio but how much more expensive will it be than the Xbox One Slim? Will Sony win the Fall with the new PS4, ‘God of War 4’, all that VR and ‘The Last Guardian’? And why does ‘Zelda: Breath of the Wild’ give me chills? It’s all here and SO MUCH MORE!

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Batman Goes Virtual Reality In ‘Batman: Arkham VR’!

by Derek KraneveldtJune 14, 2016

Briefly: Whaaaaaat.

Sony’s E3 presentation was full of surprises, and one of the biggest (and most exciting) moments of the night was the reveal of Batman: Arkham VR.

The marketing for Rocksteady’s Arkham series has been telling you that you can ‘Be The Bat’ for what feels like forever now, and now Arkham VR is about as close as any of us will ever get (lucky for you, you even get to keep your parents).

We don’t know much about the title at this point (aside from the fact that it’s coming to Playstation VR this October), but Rocksteady notes that you’ll “Experience Gotham City through the eyes of the World’s Greatest Detective in an all new Arkham mystery.

Think like Batman. Utilise his legendary gadgets in Virtual Reality to unravel a plot that threatens the lives of Batman’s closest allies.”

Yeah, we’re in.

Take a look at the trailer below, and be sure to let us know if you’ll be picking this one up!

E3 2016: ‘Eagle Flight’ Justifies VR With Fireball Shooting Eagles

by Josh JacksonJune 13, 2016

When tuning in to Ubisoft’s E3 2016 press conference, the last thing I was expecting to wow me was a VR game about the eagles of Paris. Yet, that’s exactly what happened when the company announced Eagle Flight, a VR exclusive dog fighting (?) game where you play as one of four eagles who are competing for territory during a time where humans have long become extinct.

Taking advantage of the unique perspective provided by VR platforms, Eagle Flight promises intuitive gameplay that will have you soaring through the skies and between obstacles with ease. By putting a unique spin on typical multiplayer modes like Capture the Flag and replacing it with being the first to sink your claws into a rabbit, the lighthearted premise is only topped by the absurdity of the whole thing. Because when these eagles need to gain an advantage over their opponents, they can turn the tide by shooting anyone in front of them with fireballs. Wait, they can do that? Maybe we’re on the right track by driving them to near extinction before they become advanced enough to kill us all.

I’m kidding, but what’s not a joke is how fun this game looks. Watch the trailer below and see for yourself, then check back with us throughout E3 week for our full hands on impressions once we’re able to check it out for ourselves.

Geekscape Games Podcast: Level 72 – ‘When Doves Cry’

by GeekscapeStaffApril 22, 2016

Join Carlos, Josh, Lee and Shane as they discuss the last week in video games!

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This Week:

Playstation 4.5 docs leaked.

Dark Souls board game Kickstarter funded in under three minutes.

Guile is getting added to Street Fighter V.

Mad Catz pulls out of TGS Capcom Pro Tour.

Batman Arkham HD collection leaked.

AuraVisor is bringing VR Porn Pay-Per-View to Vegas hotel rooms.

Mafia III trailer released.

Mafia III gameplay released.

Metroid Prime: Federation Force coming on August 29th.

Microsoft halting production of Xbox 360.

Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE gets a sweet collector’s edition.

Fairy Fencer F: Advent Dark Force coming on July 26th.

Titanfall 2 reveal June 12.

Dark Souls III.

Firewatch.

Kingdom Hearts Unchained.

Age of Empires II: HD.

CS:GO.

Bravely Second.

Street Fighter V.

Valkyria Chronicles Remastered.

Mission Objective:

“What Anime do you see made into a video game?”

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Daniel Corey’s ‘Moriarty: Endgame’ Goes VR At Wondercon!

by Derek KraneveldtMarch 19, 2016

Briefly: The idea of virtual reality comic books has never even crossed my mind, but it sounds like an incredible idea.

Wondercon attendees will be among the lucky first to experience “one of the first —if not THE first—Virtual Reality comic book experiences” with Moriarty: Endgame.

The Image Comics book, written by Daniel Corey with cover and art by Anthony Diecidue and letters by Dave Lanphear, was first released digitally in February 2015, and “imagined a possible future that saw the Professor battling Sherlock Holmes across a tech-laden, post- apocalyptic landscape.”

It’s an absolutely insane idea, and one that I’m beyond excited to experience myself. I’ve been a big fan of nearly every VR experience that I’ve been able to take part in thus far, and the opportunity to add another level of depth an immersion to one of my favourite forms of media (comic books, duh), is beyond exciting.

The Moriarty: Endgame VR experience has been built by Sydney-based Transmedia Entertainment, who will also be showing off their new Drop In VR technology at the convention. Transmedia Managing Director Joseph Narai notes that “We are thrilled to be working with Daniel to create this demonstration of what Drop In VR can do for storytelling in general, and comic books in particular. This first demo is just a simple example of what we can do with the Drop In VR Platform, and we are looking forward to exploring the possibilities of this new storytelling medium.”

You can take a look at some Moriarty: Endgame screenshots below, and if you’re headed to Wondercon, you can check it out for yourself at DangerKatt Small Press SP-016.

Playstation VR Will Launch In October For $399

by Derek KraneveldtMarch 15, 2016

Briefly: Sony’s Playstation VR is just seven months away.

Playstation president Andrew House took to the official Playstation blog to reveal the peripheral’s new release window, price, as well as the final contents of the Playstation VR retail package.

That doesn't look confusing at all. — That doesn’t look confusing at all.

Playstation VR will launch in October for a cool $399 US (or… $549 Canadian), which puts the cost of the unit and a Playstation 4 well below the price of the Oculus Rift or HTC Vive headsets (when you factor in a compatible computer, of course).

The company also notes that “more than 230 developers are building content for PlayStation VR, from smaller independent teams to larger studios at the industry’s top publishers. We expect to have more than 50 games available from launch in October 2016 until the end of the year. Of course, the full promise of PlayStation VR will continue to grow over time as talented developers create new experiences and new genres that wouldn’t be possible outside of VR.”

Based on the fact that I already own a Playstation 4, and do not have a compatible PC, I think that the Playstation VR headset is going to win by default for me. Which headset (if any) do you plan to pick up? Be sure to let us know in the comments below!

Oculus Rift Launches In March… For $600

by The_aczJanuary 6, 2016

The day a lot of us have been waiting for has finally come.

Just a few short minutes ago Oculus finally pulled back the curtain on their countdown clock to reveal the release date and price for the Oculus Rift. The VR Headset is set to launch on March 28th. What you don’t want to know though is the price. In order to safely secure yourself a kit, you’ll have to put down a whopping $600 in cold hard cash.

Ok so the machine is pretty pricey, but what do I get with it if I decide to purchase it? Well random person reading this article, I’m glad you asked.

According to their announcement, The full rift set will include built in headphones and a microphone, an Xbox One controller, the Oculus itself (with a free copy of Lucky’s Tale), and the Oculus Remote which let’s you easily navigate the menus on the system. If you’re looking for something even more expensive to pay for, then fear not because Oculus has you covered.

As of right now you can also Pre order a Oculus Ready Bundle that includes an Oculus ready PC along with the headset for an even more insane $1500. How will this compare to Playstation VR and the Microsoft Hololens in the long run? We’ll just have to wait and find out. Will you be picking up the Oculus Rift when it launches?

‘Rock Band VR’ Is Coming To Oculus Next Year!

by Derek KraneveldtDecember 4, 2015

Briefly: Another incredibly unexpected announcement from last night’s The Game Awards.

Harmonix’ Rock Band 4 just launched a couple of months back, and while I’d imagine we’ll see years of support for the title, the developer has already set their sights on the next big paradigm shift in video games: virtual reality.

Yep, Harmonix revealed Rock Band VR as an Oculus exclusive for next year, and it almost looks like a far more cartoony, yet far more interactive take on this year’s (phenomenal) Guitar Hero Live.

I’m already incredibly excited for Oculus to get its consumer release (I swear, it’s going to be the release that finally has me building a gaming PC), and just the idea of playing Rock Band in a virtual reality worlds gets my loins ‘a burnin’.

Take a look at the world premiere video below, and be sure to let us know what you think!

Fan-Made Star Wars VR Will Leave You in Awe

by jake108July 21, 2015

There are countless fans who would love to live in the Star Wars universe, and now we’re one step closer. Rob McLellan, who has directed numerous shorts including Abe, has teamed up with VFX guru Craig Stiff and HammerheadVR to create this beautiful Star Wars VR Tech Demo.

I’ve always wanted to punch Jar-Jar in the face. If this gets me closer to that experience, consider me sold.

The build is was created and is running on Unreal Engine 4. The creators hope a playable build sometime next year when the Oculus Rift launches.

You can check out more of Rob McLellan’s work here.

SDCC 2015: We Experience A Digital Threesome With Naughty America’s VR Experience

by Shane O'HareJuly 15, 2015

You read the title right folks. We were invited by San Diego adult film company, Naughty America, to come check out a demo of their digital threesome VR experience.

THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS EXPLICIT CONTENT AND LANGUAGE

We arrived at the venue that was hosting Naughty America, it was your standard warm affair in San Diego this time of year. We went through the Tivoli bar and into the back bar where the folks from Naughty America were set up. I waited in line and was soon led to a table where four Samsung Gear VR headsets were laid out. I sat down and was handed a Gear and headphones. I put them on and was greeted with the Naughty America logo.

The scene started in a bedroom, with the viewer atop the shoulders of an extremely ripped, tattooed man. Immediately I was thrown out of the experience because frankly, I am the inverse of a ripped tattooed man… Well I’m a MAN, but… you get the point.

The VR environment was a full 180 degrees from the scene. I couldn’t look behind me, but honestly the action was all front and center. Actress Nikki Benz was on the floor in between the legs of the subject. She wished me a happy birthday and that she had planned to make this the best birthday ever. She had a very special surprise for me, and got up and walked to another room. She quickly returned with a friend of hers, actress Jaclyn Taylor.

Since this was a demo of the full scene, available on Naughty America’s website, the scene progressed quickly. Jumping from point to point.

The actresses were in many positions and more and more levels of undress. The scene ended after about five minutes. I took my VR headset off and quickly realized one of the actresses from the film was standing across from me. She asked me if I enjoyed it and wished me a “Happy Birthday”. I walked outside and met up with Derek. I promptly exclaimed to him:

I caught up with the gentleman from Naughty America who was running the booth and asked him a few questions. He said that the owner of the company was immediately on board with the concept of VR porn. They hired an outside consultant to come down and teach them how to film the scenes.

Final Thoughts

It was a very, interesting, experience to say the least. I think my eyes just aren’t cut out for VR, because of all the attractions I tried over the weekend they all seemed blurry. I was told that the edges were meant to be blurry, to trick your brain into thinking it was just your peripheral vision, but I’m not sure. I tend to look with my eyes moreso than my head, and at all the VR setups there was always something taking me OUT of the experience.

The VR porn though, was certainly something. VR has a tendency to trick your brain a lot, and make you react in the real world. When one of the actress mounted the character in the film, and placed her breasts in your face, I actually leaned back in my chair.

I believe that everyone who is even remotely interested in the concept of VR porn, or VR films for that matter, to give it a try. As headsets evolve and get more advanced, there is will more and more opportunities for content creators to push the envelope. Pornography always seems to be at the forefront of entertainment innovation, and frankly the future is now.

You can get your hands on both versions of the scene, male and female, FOR FREE!

Valve Announces ‘Source 2’ And First Party Hardware At GDC

by Shane O'HareMarch 3, 2015

This year’s GDC was going to be an exciting one. With Valve making a very large up front announcement that they were going to be having a press conference full of content (It was today, 3/3/2015. I guess they CAN count to three.). Well we have an official press release from the company that outlines some VERY exciting products from Valve. The most exciting (for me anyway) is the announcement of the Source 2 engine!

Source 2 is going to be HUGE for games going forward. The source engine is in desperate need of an update. It had a “partial” update with the release of Counterstrike: Global Offensive (think of it like source 1.5), but a complete version upgrade is needed to keep the platform competitive. With products like Unreal Engine 4 recently being released for FREE, Valve couldn’t compete with it’s physics engine alone.

The Source 2 release comes on the heels of HTC announcing their partnership with Valve on the Vive VR project, which looks like it is going to give the folks over at Oculus and Sony a run for their fucking money.

Valve also touched on their first party hardware releases. Announcing more Steam Machine units and availability, as well as giving a launch date for their controller (November 2015).

The most interesting of the hardware products has to be the Steam Link product. A small small streaming device ready to broadcast your Steam library from your beefy gaming PC, to your TV in the living room.

This is probably the most compelling product they’ve announced. The concept of the Steam Machines being a living room replacement for your gaming PC is great, but the individual units haven’t really been competitively priced for a comparable gaming PC. This takes that concept, and puts it into a small form factor and lets you stream from your existing hardware WITHOUT limiting you with the Steam OS.

All and all I am very happy with Valve’s announcements. The future of Valve Software looks bright with Source 2…and hopefully we’ll see the rise of Half-Life 3!

Watch Out Oculus! Sony Announces VR Headset! Checkout ‘Project Morpheus’

by Shane O'HareMarch 18, 2014

It’s been rumored, officially teased and now finally unveiled at Sony’s GDC press conference, their foray into the VR Headset field with Project Morpheus. Not to be confused the NASA Project Morpheus, Sony’s Project Morpheus has it’s sights set on the home user.

Speaking of sight, Sony outlined their definitions of what makes a good VR setup. Sight being the driving factor, Project Morpheus relies HEAVILY on the power of the PS4, and promises to give the user total spacial awareness. Second is sound, and Sony has been no slouch when it comes to high quality portable sound. They are focusing a lot of energy into spacial and directional sound. Lastly they want ease of use to perform a vital role in the home VR experience. Project Morpheus mimics the Dual Shock controller and the Move in terms of communication ease.

They listed a group of partners that are already onboard with Project Morpheus, those include:

Havok Engine
Epic Games
Crytek
Bitsquad
CriWare
Autodesk
Silicon Studio
Unity Engine
Fmod
Wwise
DDD
Gigantic

The stats of the device themselves are not to shabby. They include a 1080P screen for each eye, 90 degrees field of view, both an accelerometer and gyroscope and can interface via a USB and HDMI cable.

No release date has been announced.

I personally don’t find VR to be TOO appealing, but Sony really has come out guns blazing. Coupled with the new Move controller and the very power PS4, I don’t think Project Morpheus is going to be a shabby product.

Be sure to check out more GDC coverage right HERE at Geekscape!