Pre-order sales for HTC Vive just exploded. In first ten minutes, more than 15,000 units were sold, making Vive very successful, if you count that VR kit alone costs $800 and that it needs a very powerful PC in order to work as intended. One feature that makes Vive unique is the ability to track your movements around a room, thanks to the number of extra sensors it has.
It looks that VR will be a major thing this year. But the technology is still in its early stages, and we wonder are there enough reasons to buy Vive, especially if you need to upgrade your PC in order to be able to see the VR kit in its full power. Because of that, we’ll present you some of the games that are in development for this VR kit and make you decide if Vive is worth its $800 price point.
Budget Cuts
Budget Cuts is a mix between stealth action games and a famous Portal series. In it, you have to use your teleportation guns in order to sneak past enemies and search levels for clues needed for finishing levels. The game will use Vive’s motion controls and it looks really nice and interesting. The exact release date is still unknown but the game should come out “soon” according to its trailer that you can see below.
Arizona Sunshine
Ok, VR will probably be a new big thing in gaming, and you can’t release a new gaming peripheral without zombies. And that’s exactly what Arizona Sunshine is all about. You’ll not be able to move much in the game, but reloading, aiming and taking ammo magazines is completely controlled by the player. Graphics is great (for a VR game) and action really seems exciting. As with Budget Cuts, we only know that the game will be released this year, the exact release date is still unknown.
Job Simulator: The 2050 Archives
Maybe not so interesting at first, Job Simulator: The 2050 Archives will show you how it is like having a job in a robot-filled future. You can jump in the boots of an office employee, a chef in the kitchen or a store clerk. While not filled with interesting gameplay, great story and fantastic graphics, Job Simulator shows many of Vive’s features in a funny and curious way.
Hover Junkers
Hover Junkers is a multiplayer-only game in which you can choose your ship based on the size of your room, and then walk around it, shoot at people and hide behind your ship’s defenses in order to evade shots fired at you. This game should arrive in April, exclusively on Steam.
Tilt Brush
Maybe the most interesting “game” on this list is Tilt Brush. It’s not actually a game; it’s more of a VR painting app. You can control your brush, walk around the paintings you made, make any change you want, and all that using Vive’s motion controls in real time. The best thing about it is that your works of art are in 3D, giving your works a new perspective. This is the feature that can make Tilt Brush an evolution in art. You have to see it for yourself in order to understand how cool this looks. And you can do that by watching Tilt Brush trailer below.
As you can see, VR gaming is still in its early stages, but from what we saw it looks that it could have a bright future. Aside from these games that are specifically made for a VR experience, there are many more games that will use the features of HTC Vive, or Oculus Rift, but will be also available for regular platforms, like Elite: Dangerous or EVE: Valkyrie. The only problem we see now is the pricing. Oculus Rift cost $600, HTC Vive $800, and you still need a beefy PC in order for them working properly. We just hope that prices will drop, allowing VR gaming to become a mainstream gaming trend. After that happens, only sky will be the limit.
