The Oculus Rift is releasing in Q1 of 2016, and as seen in the image above, revealed the final version to be released to the public. It will be launching with a wireless Xbox One controller, and will work with Windows 10 natively. This makes sense, as Microsoft isn’t working on their own VR headset. Phil Spencer, Xbox lead, announced that Xbox games can be streamed to Oculus in a theatre mode, where you can sit in a VR theatre and play Xbox games through Windows 10. It looks really dumb, honestly.
Oculus revealed a few games that will launch with the Rift, such as CCP’s first person starfighter Eve Valkyrie and Insomniac’s Edge of Nowhere third person platformer. Oculus is also funding indie development on the Rift, spending ten million dollars on potential indie games to be ported or created exclusively for the Rift.
At the end of the show, Palmer Luckey revealed the Oculus Touch, a new input device that allows for both button presses and hand movements. The controller will also launch with a “Toybox” mode, allowing you to get used to the controls and create your own fun with a set of tools.
Personally, I’m not completely sold on the Rift. There hasn’t been a game that shows how essential the Rift is to its gameplay, but the Touch may change my tune. I’m interested to see how Oculus holds up against Morpheus in the future, but for now, they have only a little bit of my attention.
