Over 30 Full Games Launching With Oculus Touch This Year

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Oculus announced today that thirty made-for-VR games will launch later this year. That number includes twenty new titles that are designed around the Oculus Touch controllers. No word on when the Oculus Touch controllers will be released nor has a price been set. Here's the trailer that accompanied the announcement.

Launch titles include Oculus Studios games like Insomniac’s Unspoken, Dead & Buried, Rock Band VR from Harmonix, VR Sports Challenge by Sanzaru, Crytek’s The Climb (now Touch enabled), as well as independent games like Serious Sam VR: The Last Hope by Croteam, Pro Fishing Challenge VR by Opus, I Expect You to Die by Schell Games, Luna by Funomena, Giant Cop by Other Ocean, Job Simulator by Owlchemy Labs, and Fantastic Contraption by Northway Games. Oculus Medium will also ship with Touch, which brings the tactile satisfaction of sculpting into the world of VR.
 
I've been reading a lot of hate towards Oculus today for their recent practice of buying exclusivity from these developers. Oculus's outlook is starting to seem pretty bleak the way they're trying to wall themselves off. Open VR is the only way VR can succeed.
 
SBSuperfly said:
Open VR is the only way VR can succeed.
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Not necessarily. Apple would be pretty damn profitable if they owned rectangular glass and touch screen buttons. Oculus is in a pivotal moment here, if they can lock down the industry and provide quality content then they will become immensely successful rather than just moderately successful with an open environment.
 
xbox, nintendo, pc, ps all have exclusives as well. the rift to me fails at being its own ecosystem since its dependent for graphics power on a device. ... however in time it will rock
 
nysmo said:
Not necessarily. Apple would be pretty damn profitable if they owned rectangular glass and touch screen buttons. Oculus is in a pivotal moment here, if they can lock down the industry and provide quality content then they will become immensely successful rather than just moderately successful with an open environment.
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Oculus can't be apple. There have a product that is a niche within a niche. It's a PC peripheral device with a high cost of entry in PC hardware and the VR headset itself. I own a Vive and love it. I think VR has a bright future, but I fear Oculus may screw it up for everyone.
 
SBSuperfly said:
Oculus can't be apple. There have a product that is a niche within a niche. It's a PC peripheral device with a high cost of entry in PC hardware and the VR headset itself. I own a Vive and love it. I think VR has a bright future, but I fear Oculus may screw it up for everyone.
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And on top of that, asking for software developers to go exclusive cuts their potential software sales to about 40% (or less). Game developers can not survive for long on 10k copies at $40. They can't raise the price, because the early experiences are not worth $120+, but they can't have such small unit volume.

The only realistic way for VR to survive is as an open peripheral and industry standard input/output.
 
SBSuperfly said:
There have a product that is a niche within a niche. It's a PC peripheral device with a high cost of entry in PC hardware and the VR headset itself.
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This.

It's too small of a market to support multiple exclusive systems. Plus, too many people have no interest in strapping a device to their head to play a game, especially when you include the significant portion of the population that will have motion sickness problems.
 
People either forget, or are too young to remember the 3D accelerator market of the late 90s. 3DFX held exclusives to all the high-profile games, and Rendition/S3 picked up the scraps. That's how things were for years until a 3rd party without hardware (Microsoft) came up with the Direct3D API and gave all developers a unified target to shoot for.

This is how it's going to be in the VR market for the next 2-4 years at least. It's nothing new. Oculus decided to go in one direction and directly fund development of games in order to gain exclusivity to the title (timed or otherwise) similar to what happens in the console world. Valve went in another direction.
 
TheSmJ said:
People either forget, or are too young to remember the 3D accelerator market of the late 90s. 3DFX held exclusives to all the high-profile games, and Rendition/S3 picked up the scraps. That's how things were for years until a 3rd party without hardware (Microsoft) came up with the Direct3D API and gave all developers a unified target to shoot for.

This is how it's going to be in the VR market for the next 2-4 years at least. It's nothing new. Oculus decided to go in one direction and directly fund development of games in order to gain exclusivity to the title (timed or otherwise) similar to what happens in the console world. Valve went in another direction.
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Yeah.. about 3DFX, it was an Glide Api rendering device. I have owned both the original Voodoo and a Voodoo2 . They where awesome groundbreaking hardware. But the where the first to do "Real 3D" rendering fast. I would not call that monopolising rather pioneering. The Game developers wanted to code for Glide Api and it's speed.

This VR is a whole other story, a story of profit for the One who pays off devs to let a title be Oculus exclusive. Heck there ære wrappers for making Oculus Games Work on Vive, and other HMD's so try as hard as yo can Oculus... Open VR is what it's supposed to be.
 
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Got my CV1 today...its still in the box.....debating on putting it up on Ebay as I have a Vive inbound and room scaling sounds like a real game changer to me.
 
MrAhlefeld said:
Yeah.. about 3DFX, it was an Glide Api rendering device. I have owned both the original Voodoo and a Voodoo2 . They where awesome groundbreaking hardware. But the where the first to do "Real 3D" rendering fast. I would not call that monopolising rather pioneering.
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3DFX did it because they had the clout and $$$ to back it up. Oculus is doing the same.

l88bastard said:
Got my CV1 today...its still in the box.....debating on putting it up on Ebay as I have a Vive inbound and room scaling sounds like a real game changer to me.
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If you need room scale + hand controllers *TODAY*, get the Vive. If you are willing to wait until the end of the year for Touch (my money is on October) keep the Rift.
 
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TheSmJ said:
3DFX did it because they had the clout and $$$ to back it up. Oculus is doing the same.



If you need room scale + hand controllers *TODAY*, get the Vive. If you are willing to wait until the end of the year for Touch (my money is on October) keep the Rift.
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I almost wish STEAM would stop letting RIFT (and only rift) not use their software, since thats what Rift is doing to the vive :p
 
TheSmJ said:
3DFX did it because they had the clout and $$$ to back it up. Oculus is doing the same.



If you need room scale + hand controllers *TODAY*, get the Vive. If you are willing to wait until the end of the year for Touch (my money is on October) keep the Rift.
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It is my understanding that even with the Touch controllers the CV1 will not have the same capabilities for room scale like the Vive does.
 
Steve said:
Job Simulator by Owlchemy Labs, and Fantastic Contraption by Northway Games
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Two titles which were bundled with the Vive and which supported its motion controllers at launch in April? Good job, Oculus!
 
Axehandler said:
I almost wish STEAM would stop letting RIFT (and only rift) not use their software, since thats what Rift is doing to the vive :p
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Oculus isn't letting any headset use their store at the moment. Vive is only one of them.

l88bastard said:
It is my understanding that even with the Touch controllers the CV1 will not have the same capabilities for room scale like the Vive does.
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Developers have posted videos testing Touch's room scale abilities to reddit a few times and have said they perform pretty much the same provided the sensors are places at opposing corners of the room.
 
It would be bad for Valve to shut Oculus off of Steam, for they are a store that's vendor neutral. There's a separation to them and to HTC's Vive company (even if they work very closely)
I honestly despise this turn of events. The sudden about-turn by CEO Palmer makes me think too much of the Zuck. It's pathetic that here I am making my purchasing decision out of mere technical competence of the VR devices in question, but here we are.

(I've gone and gotten myself the Vive. Roomscale is not a gimmick. This is unbeatable. PS: The Japanese hentai porn game makers have really shown why roomscale is a must)
 
All that investment, and Facebook flushed it down the toilet with the exclusivity. Oh, and the price tag doesn't help neither.
 
Notice they don't show any shots of the guy actually moving with the game to any degree. That's the major issue to solve with VR, in not looking a total dick using it while your buddies laugh their asses off.
 
daglesj said:
Notice they don't show any shots of the guy actually moving with the game to any degree. That's the major issue to solve with VR, in not looking a total dick using it while your buddies laugh their asses off.
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Baby steps....find a problem, solve it...move onto the next. This is the first time in VR history where they not only have fairly good pixel density and refresh but have done significant work to manage the motion sickness issue often associated with high performance VR. Movement is definitely next on the block to get chopped.
 
Trepidati0n said:
Movement is definitely next on the block to get chopped.
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And in doing so kind of removes 50% of the experience?

The only way VR will NOT be hilarious or embarrassing is doing it on your own or, all your friends have to wear a set or be blindfolded.

 
Oculus can get bent! Screw their (inferior) VR "platform" and screw them trying to make their own walled gardens! The Vive is going to EAT THEIR LUNCH! Not only do they have a superior offering (Room Scale, VR controllers), but they are FAR more consumer friendly and don't screw over the entire INDUSTRY by adding hardware checking DRM! Oh, and if you order a Vive, you get it in 2-3 days, while Oculus will ship your headset ordered today in AUGUST! Yeah, good luck gaining significant market share with crappy policies, an "always online" requirement for your software, and an inability to ship your customers product in a reasonable amount of time!
 
daglesj said:
And in doing so kind of removes 50% of the experience?

The only way VR will NOT be hilarious or embarrassing is doing it on your own or, all your friends have to wear a set or be blindfolded.

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Unless you are playing a VR porno, it's not an issue. My brothers and I are having a BLAST with the Vive! If you are still skeptical, go find a store that's offering a demo...once you try it yourself, you will see!
 
Axehandler said:
I almost wish STEAM would stop letting RIFT (and only rift) not use their software, since thats what Rift is doing to the vive :p
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Valve is more interested in seeing VR take off than in walling off their store. They don't want to introduce artificial roadblocks that will do nothing but keep potential customers on the sidelines.
 
jnemesh said:
Oculus can get bent! Screw their (inferior) VR "platform" and screw them trying to make their own walled gardens! The Vive is going to EAT THEIR LUNCH! Not only do they have a superior offering (Room Scale, VR controllers), but they are FAR more consumer friendly and don't screw over the entire INDUSTRY by adding hardware checking DRM! Oh, and if you order a Vive, you get it in 2-3 days, while Oculus will ship your headset ordered today in AUGUST! Yeah, good luck gaining significant market share with crappy policies, an "always online" requirement for your software, and an inability to ship your customers product in a reasonable amount of time!
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The nerd rage is strong with this one!
 
jnemesh said:
Oculus can get bent! Screw their (inferior) VR "platform" and screw them trying to make their own walled gardens! The Vive is going to EAT THEIR LUNCH! Not only do they have a superior offering (Room Scale, VR controllers), but they are FAR more consumer friendly and don't screw over the entire INDUSTRY by adding hardware checking DRM! Oh, and if you order a Vive, you get it in 2-3 days, while Oculus will ship your headset ordered today in AUGUST! Yeah, good luck gaining significant market share with crappy policies, an "always online" requirement for your software, and an inability to ship your customers product in a reasonable amount of time!
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47d3e180cfe792d2e07bb072aa810d80.jpg
 
Gabe Newell says VR exclusives are not a “good idea”

"We don’t think exclusives are a good idea for customers or developers.

“There’s a separate issue which is risk. On any given project, you need to think about how much risk to take on. There are a lot of different forms of risk—financial risk, design risk, schedule risk, organizational risk, IP risk, etc… A lot of the interesting VR work is being done by new developers. That is a triple-risk whammy – a new developer creating new game mechanics on a new platform. We’re in a much better position to absorb financial risk than a new VR developer, so we are happy to offset that giving developers development funds (essentially pre-paid Steam revenue). However there are no strings attached to those funds—they can develop for the Rift or PlayStation VR or whatever the developer thinks are the right target VR systems. Our hope is that by providing that funding that developers will be less likely to take on deals that require them to be exclusive. “...

I've sent Gabe Newell an email asking for Valve's position on exclusivity on the Vive. Here is his response • /r/Vive
 
SBSuperfly said:
Why would anyone expect not to have to pay it back?
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Well, that's the rub. Oculus gives the dev money and in return they keep it exclusive for a few months. Valve gives you money and you have to pay it back.

It isn't like Valve is just giving money away for "the good of the VR industry". It's a loan. Just like Oculus has the option to loan the resulting software for a few months.
 
TheSmJ said:
Well, that's the rub. Oculus gives the dev money and in return they keep it exclusive for a few months. Valve gives you money and you have to pay it back.

It isn't like Valve is just giving money away for "the good of the VR industry". It's a loan. Just like Oculus has the option to loan the resulting software for a few months.
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There is a massive difference here. Buying exclusivity rights is totally different than loaning a small company capital at little or no interest to secure their product development. Valve is taking a lot of risk giving money to unproven devs, and only gets paid back it the product succeeds. Oculus is buying finished products just so steam can't sell then to Vive users.
 
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