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- Vision Pro Gaming Weekly #9 - Can Vision Pro Game?
Vision Pro Gaming Weekly #9 - Can Vision Pro Game?
New Microsoft and PICO MR Headsets, Pinball, Jellyfish, Cats
VisionProGamingGuy
August 22, 2024
šPress Start - Can Vision Pro Game?
This week we start with something new. Just wanted to share with everyone my thoughts on Vision Pro as a gaming platform and my emotional journey to where I am today on it.
Table of Contents
Shattered Dreams or Visionary Future?
Launch Day Madness
February 2, 2024āa day thatās burned into my memory. The Apple Vision Pro was finally launching, and I was so hyped that I flew all the way back from Hong Kong just to make sure I could be there on day one.
Apple Store - Stonestown, San Francisco - Feb 2, 2024
The moment I stepped into the Apple Store, it was like stepping into the future. Everywhere I looked, there were peopleālike, more than 20 of themārocking Vision Pros at the same time. The energy in the room was insane. This wasnāt just another product launch; it felt like THE MOMENT weād all been waiting for in AR/VR.
My First Time using Apple Vision Pro in Public
But hereās the thingāI was MAD. Really MAD. As amazing as it all was, something was eating at me. Despite all the hype, despite the incredible tech, a part of me was burning with disappointment.
The Disappointment
Appleās leap into AR/VR was legendary. The Vision Pro had it allāstunning screens, flawless hand tracking, and that classic Apple polish. But one thing made me furious: it was clear it wasnāt designed for GAMES.
For us gamers? We got Super Fruit Ninja and Game Room. Though these two are very well done and ground breaking MR game, where were the heavy hitter VR game like Batman VR or Half-Life: Alyx? How about more Mixed-Reality games like āI Expect You to Die: Home Sweet Homeā. And no spatial controllers? Seriously? The hand tracking didnāt even match the $500 Meta Quest 3. It felt like a slap in the faceāApple just didnāt care about gaming.
A Spark of Hope: Encounter Dinosaur
Though we were let down by the Vision Proās lack of gaming focus, one app managed to ignite a spark of hope: Encounter Dinosaur. This wasnāt just another VR experienceāit was truly something extraordinary.
Encounter Dinosaur - CHOMP
The dinosaur and its environment were breathtaking. The textures were so sharp, you couldnāt see a single texel. The animation? Absolutely flawless, making every movement feel real. And the spatial audio? It was mind-blowingāyou could feel the dinosaur stomping into your room, as if it was right there with you.
The butterflyās wings, delicate and perfectly fluttering, added a layer of realism that was unmatched. This was realism like weāve never seen before. Quest 3 and Quest Pro had hinted at what MR passthrough might be like, but this was simply astounding. The technology faded into the background, letting you fully immerse yourself in the experience of having a dinosaur in your room!
Suddenly there was hope yet ,that the Apple Vision Pro might be a transformative gaming platform!
Simply Marvel-lous
On May 30, 2024, āWhat Ifā dropped, and it took things to a whole other level. āWhat Ifā seamlessly blended MR and VR, making it feel like you were truly part of the Marvel Universe. Custom hand gestures, that fit the characters and story perfectly, let you open portals and use telekinesisāpure hand-tracking bliss.
But what really set it apart? The epic combo of beloved Marvel characters, a dramatic story, and jaw-dropping tech. This was more than a simple interactive experience ā it was the new bar for what Apple Vision Pro could do.
Wanda and Vision! š
The Vision is Taking Shape
Recently starting to get more quality games. Now this is starting to get FUN! I like to divide the type of games weāre seeing in three categories:
ā¢ VR Ports: DEMEO, Job Simulator, Vacation Simulator, and Eternal Starlight , all beloved HIT VR games weāve seen before on other platforms.
ā¢ Upgraded iPad games: like Warped Kart Racers and Cut the Rope look incredible with stereoscopy and head tracking, letting you dive deeper into the game world. They also are showing aggressive UI adaption for Spatial Computing which puts more and more of the game all around you.
ā¢ Native Passthrough Games: like Super Fruit Ninja, Game Room, and Virtual Pool IRL offer brand-new Spatial Computing experiences happening in your actual world.
Things are really picking up, and especially with the Native Passthrough Games, weāre getting fantastic new experiences never seen before anywhere else!
Imagine Whatās Next?
With VisionOS 2 weāve seen Apple responding to the game community with new features that seemingly were DIRECTLY to make gaming better:
improved hand tracking, including a predictive mode so objects stayed locked on your hands.
new features to allow you to walk all around your room in Immersive Mode
Metal shader support in Passthrogh allowing Unity3D made games to more easily be ported to passthrough mode
Spatial personaās in FaceTime Apps
Letās even look a bit further out and guess a bit at whats coming around the corner!
Imagineā¦Vision Air in 2025 with over 4 million units sold the first year and growing.
Imagineā¦.Top VR games coming like I Am Cat and Batman VR.
Imagineā¦Unreal Engine 5 optimized for Vision Pro
Imagineā¦Vision Pro 2 with a Pro or Max level chip
Imagineā¦Apple releasing a Spatial Controller
One more factor, lots of people arenāt thinking about and thatās the MR industry is clearly going to explode over the next two years. Not only do we have Meta working hard to compete with Apple at the lower end, we now have TikTok/Pico releasing their new MR headset, Microsoft has announced they are working on a headset. We know Samsung and Google are working on a headset together. The addressable market for MR game developers is very quickly going to reach a critical mass and I fully expect Apple Vision Pro to offer the best experience, similar to iPhones and Androids.
Could we see a spatial Gacha from MiHoYo? A spatial Death Stranding from Kojima? The possibilities are endless.
So headset on, subscribe, and letās enjoy the ride together. The world of Apple Vision Pro Gaming is just getting started.
ā Vision Pro Gaming Guy
š New Games!
Pinball Nation(App Store)
Looks like a cool way to get a virtual Pinball Machine in your room to play. Anyone try it out yet?
JellySphere (App Store)
Another decorative Shared Space app that is quite pretty. Itās free so check it out.
Whiskers: AR Cat Companion (App Store)
This app is very cool and very high quality! You can invite a bunch of a virtual cat to your room and they are quite interactive and the graphics are very nice. Keep an eye on this app and developer as he continues to update this apps!
This app also shows me that the virtual pet space is waiting for a HIT Apple Vision Pro game for someone to make.
Spatial Dream UPDATED (App Store)
This passthrough game has been updated and now with a few puzzles to try. Itās currently FREE so worth a try.
šļøNews
Surreal Touch shows off Contractor Showdown (X.com)
Surreal continues to show off its Vision Pro controllers, this time player shooter Contractor Showdown over ALVR.
Schell Games and MR (YouTube)
Schell Games has been one of the industry leaders in AR/VR experiences for a long time now and their CEO Jesse Schell gave and update saying they have a bunch of MR games coming soon and to be announced in the next few months! Come on Jesse! What a tease! GIMME GIMME GIMME!
This new developer just raised a substantial amount of money to make MR games! We canāt see what this team will be doing!
š ļøHardware Zone
Microsoft competitor inbound (windows central)
Microsoft is reportedly developing a new mixed reality headset with a focus on content consumption, such as gaming and movies. The headset will reportedly use micro-OLED displays and may run on Android, with a cloud-based solution allowing users to run full desktop Windows apps.
Bring on the competition!
Pico, the XR arm of ByteDance, the owner of TIkTok just announced its new MR headset! It looks poisoned between Meta Quest 3 and Apple Vision Pro. It might be a real killer device for gaming since it has controllers and even offers FOOT trackers so you can have full body tracking!
Weāll have an in-depth look at this device next week!
PICO Motion Tracker and @VRChat have joined forces! On the launch day of PICO Motion Tracker, get ready to immerse yourself in the VRChat universe with full-body motion capture. Unleash your creativity, express yourself like never before. #PICOMotionTracker#VRChat#VRRevolution
ā PICO XR (@PICOXR)
8:00 AM ā¢ Aug 20, 2024
š§āš»Developer Corner
Portal App and Tutorial (YouTube)
Sarang with another great tutorial this week! This time showing off Portal on Vison Pro!
Thatās it for this week! More Vision Pro Gaming news next week! Game on!
Contact us at [email protected] for anything you may need, or to just to say hi!
If youāre a developer that needs feedback or distribution feel free to contact us and drop us a link or promo code š Promise to try your game and give feedback!
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