VR news of the week: Vampires, mice with swords, and virtual keyboards

VR information of the weekAs a part of a model new collection, Android Central Senior Editors Michael Hicks and Nick Sutrich are rounding up the entire information on {hardware}, sport bulletins, leaks, and funky updates associated to the Meta Quest 3, Oculus Quest 2, and different VR headsets. September is shaping as much as be one of many largest months ever for VR and that each one hinges across the Meta Connect convention on the finish of the month. Until then, although, the regular movement of Quest 3 leaks continues and Meta is lastly beginning to ship on guarantees made way back.While final week’s VR information recap targeted lots on the trade at giant, this week is nearly solely targeted on new video games and new options for Meta Quest headsets. We acquired a preview of one of many big-name video games popping out this November and the builders of Moss stealth-launched a model new sport in early entry totally free for everybody to strive proper now.Here’s what’s occurring on this planet of VR as of the week of September 1, 2023.Legs and fingers(Image credit score: Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central)I turned on my Meta Quest Pro this week to play some new VR video games, appeared within the mirror, and acquired a shock! Lo and behold, my common floating avatar was now standing by itself two legs, even together with pants that matched my outfit. Sure sufficient, Meta has lastly begun to roll out legs to Quest avatars as of firmware v57.Meta avatars will now have legs in Horizon Home — that is the house surroundings that hundreds up once you put your headset on — in addition to the corporate’s social VR app, Horizon Worlds. This traces up with the information this week that the Horizon Worlds cellular beta has formally begun, launching the corporate’s digital social house onto bigger platforms.In addition to legs, a participant’s fingers at the moment are each extra responsive in headset and work concurrently controllers. Firmware v56 laid the groundwork for this characteristic and Meta has begun rolling it out to avid gamers piecemeal over the previous week.Long story quick, hand monitoring is now as much as 75% sooner than earlier than and you may see your fingers grabbing these controllers in apps and video games that enable the characteristic. On a system degree, this implies switching between hand and controller monitoring is now on the spot, eradicating the ultimate barrier between extra pure hand interactions and extra correct controller actions.(Image credit score: Mark Zuckerberg)And Quest headset wearers trying to get a bit extra productiveness out of their headsets can quickly begin to use their fingers to sort on a keyboard sitting invisibly on their desk or desk.As you possibly can see within the above picture (or in motion on Mark Zuckerberg’s Instagram submit), the Quest 2 shows a digital keyboard on a desk that lets customers sort as in the event that they had been utilizing a bodily keyboard.Both Zuckerberg and Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth declare they will sort over 100 phrases per minute utilizing this technique which implies the aforementioned hand monitoring enhancements should work rather well for this particular sort of implementation!Getting a style of latest video games(Image credit score: Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central)This Fall, there are a number of upcoming Quest video games to sit up for, however few names ring as loudly in avid gamers’ ears than Vampire: The Masquerade. The legendary collection is coming to the Quest by veteran VR builders Fast Travel Games, and we acquired our hands-on with the sport this week.Set in Venice, gamers will embark on a journey to retrieve an vital misplaced artifact, dispatching unhealthy guys and consuming as a lot blood as they’d like alongside the best way. It’s a full RPG full with branching dialog timber, very good voice appearing, and gameplay polish that we count on from Fast Travel Games.Speaking of veteran VR builders, the builders of the Moss collection have stealth-launched a model new spin-off that is utterly free. Available on App Lab proper now, Glassbreakers: Champions of Moss is a singular 1v1 technique battler that pits your squad towards one different participant’s squad.And the builders of Gorilla Tag confirmed off their very own rendition of the famed Echo Arena to its Discord followers this week. The fast 11-second video for “Project A2” seems to be a bit as if Echo Arena and Gorilla Tag had a child. Familiar grab-and-fling mechanics are blended with zero-gravity projectiles and weight, giving us very excessive hopes that Echo Arena will reside on in a brand new kind.Walkabout Mini Golf’s new DLC has additionally been introduced, happening within the Land of Elves. This new fantasy-themed course pack is certain to blow our minds but once more when it lands later this month, taking us to far-off lands to see how the immortal Elves thought mini golf ought to work.But, ahead of that, Quest+ subscribers now have entry to Red Matter and A Fisherman’s Tale, two traditional VR titles that every have an award-winning sequel in case you like the unique. As a reminder, Meta Quest+ is a subscription service that prices $8 per thirty days (or $60 per yr) and consists of two free video games every month. You can subscribe right here.Quest 3 leaks and the top of the Oculus Rift(Image credit score: Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central)Meta sundown the Oculus Rift {hardware} a while in the past, and now the corporate seems to be to have began sunsetting apps and video games within the Rift retailer, as effectively. Youtuber Brad Lynch posted a memo from the Among Us VR builders noting that Among Us VR will now not be supported on Rift headsets beginning October 4, 2023.Rift customers who’re nonetheless utilizing the official Oculus Rift retailer on a PC may discover different titles shedding assist for the getting older VR headset across the similar date. In addition to that, a number of titles that was on the Rift retailer appear to have gone darkish, indicating that Meta might very effectively utterly shutter its PC market for good.If this occurs, PCVR avid gamers will, after all, nonetheless be capable to entry SteamVR for all their VR wants.The apparent purpose for that’s the upcoming Quest 3 and Meta persevering with to make its enterprise mannequin extra environment friendly. The firm will not be supporting something older than the Quest 2 after the top of this yr, so it is smart for a few of this to go away.And talking of the Quest 3, we’ll wrap this up with one more leak by Nya_VR_ on Threads who continues to take aside the most recent Quest software program updates and discover Quest 3 goodies.It seems to be like Meta is trying to enable Quest avid gamers to play offline in even higher methods than earlier than with a newfangled airplane mode. Plus, the Quest 3 might have an “extended battery mode” that does precisely what it says on the tin. We haven’t any further particulars past the apparent, so keep tuned to Meta Connect later this month to see what occurs there.