The Game Developers Conference 2015 was the opportunity for Liminal Games to showcase its new open world RPG to fans and the press. Made with the CryEngine, The Memory of Eldurim is described by its creators as a mix between Skyrim and Dark Souls.

This small team that consists of only three full time developers and is constantly adding more content and pushing almost weekly updates for their game.

As the interested GDC patrons swarmed The Memory of Eldurim part of CryEngine’s floor Liminal Games issued a challenge. The task was to defeat the first boss in one try without dying yourself. There were many challengers but they failed one after another until the chosen one managed on Thursday. Her reward was admiration from the crowd and a free copy of  the game.

This little task was made with the intent to show the Liminal Games’ gameplay direction with The Memory of Eldurim. The plan is to make the game enough challenge for the players that they have to work for it but not frustratingly hard. Hitting the sweet spot between giving a hardcase his pleasure or making people quit is something they are working on. Dying on the first attempt to defeat the boss is expected but successful tactic should become clear before the ragequit phase.

Liminal Games says it is pleased with CryEngine and considers it a perfect platform to deliver their story. They are the first indie company approved by CryTek to use that engine. Unlike the standard RPGs The Memory of Eldurim does not have the usual 1 to 99 leveling formula but uses a system similar to one from The Elder Scrolls series. Doing stuff makes stuff better. Hitting enemies with the sword makes the player better with swords while taking savage beatings hardens him with more health. This design is incorporated into many aspects of the game.

GDC attendants that tried the demo praise the game’s mythical atmosphere, amazing graphics and gameplay itself. They were offered the exploration of a large island with a temple overlooking it from a summit that gives only a glimpse of what can be found in this world.

The Memory of Eldurim is currently available on Steam Early Access for $18.99 as an early alpha game client.

The post GDC Reveals The Memory of Eldurim Demo appeared first on VR World.

Sony (NYSE: SNE) has recently confirmed that the Project Morpheus VR headset will require a wired connection to “ensure high-speed data transfers”.

Speaking with Gamespot at this year’s Game Developers Conference (GDC 2015), President of Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios Shuhei Yoshida had some interesting things to say about the company’s new virtual reality peripheral.

According to Yoshida, Project Morpheus’ internal hardware is “pretty much done”, but the Japanese console-maker will continue to add in “lots of tweaks and improvements” before it’s ready to ship.

Earlier at GDC Sony slated an early 2016 release window for the VR headset, revealing a slew of specs and a brand new prototype to be demoed at the event.

But there’s something the prototype assets seemed to leave out: the required wire that tethers the headset to the PlayStation 4, and an extra box that will basically process the image data directly to the headset.

Although its a prototype model, this press pic doesn’t adequately portray the headset’s required direct-wired connectivity.

During the interview Yoshida state that Sony won’t be releasing a wireless flavor of Project Morpheus, stating that wired HDMI connections were a must to transfer full 1080p HD at refresh rates of 120Hz–which is responsible for that “immersive VR feel”.

Essentially a wired connection is required to maintain the headset’s reduced latency rate (less than 18 milliseconds) to keep that authentic virtual presence. If there’s too much lag, the illusion of VR breaks down entirely.

It’s worth mentioning that all VR headsets, from the Oculus Rift to the newly announced HTC Vive, will be wired to their respective sources.

Since Project Morpheus’ source is the PlayStation 4, that means an extra bit of hardware is needed to ensure the PS4’s only HDMI out slot isn’t taken up by the headset.

Sony will ship the Project Morpheus with an external “Processing Box” that attaches via HDMI and USB, and currently has its own power input, meaning things are going to get even more trip-worthy.

Yoshida says that the 1080p video signals are being sent to the headset, meaning data is being fed from the PS4 through the external processing box and out towards the headset.

Richard Marks, Sony’s Director of Research and Development, explained what the external box actually does in a recent interview with Tested at GDC 2015:

“We call it a PU, and it’s a box that takes the output from the playstation 4 and it splits it, splits it for something for the headset and something for the television.

And it does this conversion of the 120Hz output of a PS4 that something a TV can display, and it doesn’t get warped. That let’s the people in the room that are there to see what you’re seeing.”

According to Digital Foundry, the Processing Box “features a processor that runs the social screen – an external display output that takes one of the stereoscopic views, ‘undistorts’ the image, zooms into the main area of interest and beams it out via HDMI to your HDTV”.

Essentially Morpheus will need to be tethered to the console by way of this external processing box at all times in order to function, which seems to go against the sleek, stylish form factor that Sony tries to depict.

So in order to operate Project Morpheus you’re going to need an ecosystem of PlayStation products: the PlayStation Camera, the PlayStation 4 that powers it, the external processing box, and a DualShock 4 or PlayStation Move controller to interact with it.

And, of course, the VR headset itself.

One of Sony’s major tenets with Project Morpheus is a “user friendly design”, but instead of focusing on environments outside of VR, they just ensure the headset is physically comfortable to wear.

Good news is the controllers will be wireless, but they’re a modified version of the PlayStation Move free-hand peripherals which are basically Sony’s answer to the Wiimote. The DualShock 4 is also compatible with the headset if you prefer a more direct gamepad approach.

Bear in mind the recent photos of the Project Morpheus are prototypes, and they’re not finalized, so that’s probably why we aren’t seeing the dangling HDMI cord or the extra processing box in any of the photos.

While this isn’t something that will necessarily inhibit your experience with Sony’s VR hardware, it can help you better understand the logistics of the device and how to weigh your expectations before 2016.

Yoshida also had something to say about Project Morpheus’ games library. It looks like Sony is having a hard time winning over publishers to the new hardware, as AAA has its thriving home base centered on the current console and PC platforms.

The Project Morpheus looks quite sleek in this state, but it’s non-operable. The reality resembles something a little different.

“Large publishers tend to wait until there’s enough of an install base,” he said, discussing how VR is still an early gambit for most big-name publishers. To help resolve the gap, Yoshida affirms that Sony’s first-party studios are making VR-ready games for the platform.

In any case, let this be a reminder that it might be too soon to get super excited about virtual reality.

Thing are going to be messy, and there are going to be cables and peripherals everywhere–look at the Vive’s ecosystem that’s comprised of the SteamVR Lighthouse, Vive Controller, the VR headset, and the fact that you’ll need to wire it up to a PC.

And it’s likely going to be expensive, too. So tamper your expectations and save your cash, and we’ll do our best to point you in the right direction.

The post Sony: Project Morpheus VR Headset Won’t Be Wireless appeared first on VR World.

At GDC 2015 Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) took the stage to announce the Nvidia Shield console, the “world’s first 4K Android TV” set-top boxwith a beefy emphasis on gaming.

Set in a sleek and angular form, the Nvidia Shield console takes aim at the consumer’s living room space by providing 4K-ready TV streaming as well as high-performance gaming. Essentially it aims to marry the best of both worlds with 4K HD video and “PC-like” game performance all at a reasonable cost.

While the new box does multimedia streaming, Nvidia makes it clear that it’s primarily aimed at gamers.

At the GDC reveal Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang outright claimed that the new Shield console is “35 times more powerful than the next set top box”, and even goes as far as to say it delivers twice the performance of an Xbox 360.

Harnessing the power of its new Nvidia Tegra X1 “mobile superchip”, the Nvidia Shield will run a number of demanding Android-ported games like Crysis 3, Doom 3: BFG, and the Borderlands: Pre-Sequel, Metal Gear Solid: Revengeance and more.

Huang affirmed that over 50 games would be available upon launch.

The Tegra X1 is only half of the equation, though; the other half leverages the power of the clouds via the supercomputer that runs Nvidia’s new GRID subscription-based game streaming service.

What’s unique about the GRID service is that subscribers can remote play games that are streamed from a faraway supercomputer. It’s bit like the PlayStation 4’s Remote Play with the PS Vita handheld, only on a bigger and much more powerful scale.

And the GRID service will have major AAA games like The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Batman: Arkham Knight, Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes and many, many more.

Nvidia has strongly affirmed that the Shield microconsole will be the portal that leads to the “next generation of Android gaming”, promising “PC-quality graphics” and fluid performance.

For those who prefer marathon gaming sessions, Huang promised that the Shield’s controllers would have at least 30 hours of life–which is a nice touch to be sure.

As for video streaming, the set top box comes with a nifty remote with a built-in microphone for easy hands-free searching. As far as 4K TV goes, the Shield can stream local and internet-based 4K video from a Gigabit Ethernet connection through HDMI.

It’s light on internal memory, with just 16GB on board, but it’s expandable via microSD and sports two USB 3.0 outlets for extra HDD’s. Considering how big 4K video files are you’re going to need every bit of extra space you can get.

With a number of peripherals all vying for control of the living room, it’s interesting to see Nvidia embrace a kind of Xbox One-style approach to the next generation of Android TV microconsoles.

As far as power, performance and functionality, the Nvidia Shield console is attempting to find that sweet spot between gaming consoles and PC’s, but only time will tell if it hits the mark or not.

The Shield console is slated to release in May 2015 for a price point of $200, and will come with the set-top box and a controller, plus all the applicable cords and hook-ups.

Below we have a full spec sheet as well as compatibility and other features.

Gaming Features

SHIELD controller compatible
NVIDIA GameStream
NVIDIA Share
NVIDIA GRID game streaming serviceSoftware UpdatesSHIELD software upgrades directly from NVIDIAPower40W power adapter

Weight and Size: Weight: 23oz / 654g, Height: 5.1in / 130mm Width: 8.3in / 210mm, Depth: 1.0in / 25mm

Operating System: Android TV™, Google Cast™ Ready

Included Apps: PLEX

The post Nvidia’s New Shield Console Leads The Charge In Next-Gen Android Gaming appeared first on VR World.

Unity 5 is now available across the globe, and for the first time ever users can download the game engine for free.

The news comes straight from this year’s Game Developers Conference (GDC 2015), where the developers showcased the brand new engine as well as revealed a new pricing structure to make Unity 5 more accessible to developers.

For starters the Unity 5 Personal Edition will be free of charge, but you won’t be able to earn royalties.

The Professional Edition is priced at $75 per month or $1500 lifetime, and comes with a license to Unity Cloud Build, a new addition that lets users “leverage the power of cloud computing”.

With Unity Cloud Build, “users can automate the creation and distribution” of their builds by “monitoring your team’s source control, and when changes are detected, it builds your project for multiple platforms in the cloud”.

Essentially it’s a tool that can automatically update and optimize projects for specific platforms without needing to be changed directly, and is tailored for convenience and ease of use across a team of developers.

To showcase Unity 5’s new capabilities, the team released The Blacksmith, a video entirely comprised of in-game footage that highlights everything from graphical fidelity, lighting and shading, physic engines, and more.

As for specifics, the footage shows off a variety of new features including, enhanced and rather eye-catching high-resolution real-time shadows renders and custom shaders for realistic hair and beard renders.

As for lighting, the video showcased the new real-time global illumination system for immersive indirect lighting, custom color-grading to make the scenes more dynamic, and a variety of customized motion blurs that create the illusion of movement in an easily recognizable way.

Below we also have a few other videos that demo Unity 5’s new capabilities, including the Architectural Visualization featurette and the Viking Village walkthrough.

Key features of Unity 5 include the following updates:

• New artistic toolset
• Physically-based standard shader
• Real-time global illumination
• HDR reflection probes
• New editor featuring PhysX 3.3 and an updated animator
• New Audio Mixer
  New Physics engine
• Updated animator with new features like adding State Machine Behaviors and a new Asset Creation API
• Deployment to 21 different platforms
• Web GL Preview
• Upcoming Oculus Rift Support
• iOS Metal Rendering Support
• Unity Cloud Build Toolset

Click here for a complete list of patch notes for Unity 5.

The post Unity 5 Engine Available For Free, Gets Demoed At GDC 2015 appeared first on VR World.

UPDATE: IGN has revealed that the PC version of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain will release on September 15, 2015 whereas the console flavors will release on the previously revealed Sept. 1 date.

Also to make the sting more pronounced, PC gamers won’t be getting physical copies or the handsome MGSV: TPP collector’s edition, which is featured above.

Finally we have the video interview that IGN accidentally leaked yesterday, where Hideo Kojima sheds more light on the entirety of the series and how it was created. It’s an interesting look at the heart of Metal Gear and it adds more depth to our excitement for The Phantom Pain.

Original story is as follows.

Thanks to a premature video upload that was spotted by NeoGAF users, IGN has accidentally leaked the release date of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain to the world just a bit ago.

According to the footage, fans can expect to play Snake’s new tactical espionage adventure on Sept. 1, 2015 worldwide across consoles, and Sept. 15 on PC. Yes, PC gamers have to wait a full two weeks for their port. Yikes.

The video has been taken down, but not before GAF’ers were able to slice it up and extract pieces of it to the internet.

Oddly enough it looks like a Snake won’t break his role as the strong silent type even though there’s been big hype surrounding Keifer Sutherland taking the VA helm.

MGS franchise creator Hideo Kojima had this to say about Snake’s vocal personality, saying that the tough-as-nails assassin “won’t really speak much at all” and that the “characters around him” will pretty much move the story forward.

“As much as possible, Snake will act based on the player rather than doing things like making spontaneous comments or flirting with women.

“In fact. this time, Snake won’t really speak much at all. MGS5 is an open world game focused on giving freedom to the player who will drive Snake’s action. Snake himself will be more of a silent protagonist similar to Mad Max in Mad Max 2.

“It’s the characters around him who will expand the story.”

Since Snake will be so quiet, many fans are questioning why Konami chose to go with Keifer Sutherland rather than keep David Hayter–who’s voiced the renown character since he had a voice–in his iconic role. I mean…why switch things up when Snake barely says anything anyway?

Since it was a premature leak we don’t have any new screenshots or video to show you, so take a quick look at last year’s TGS 2014 gameplay trailer and know come September, you’ll be able to do the very same things.

Source: NeoGAF 

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