Oculus Rift Is More Than Just a Game — It’s a Whole New Virtual World

A lot has been written about the Oculus Rift and its virtual reality (VR) experience and what it means for the future of gaming and, after using the latest prototype, dubbed Crystal Cove, I can see why. Putting on the Oculus Rift helmet didn’t just take me into a new game experience; it took me into an entirely new world.

OculusVR, the company behind the Oculus Rift, has raised nearly $100 million towards its efforts in bringing VR to the living room. What the team has managed to achieve since launching its demo (apparently held together with duct tape) at CES 2013 is nothing short of spectacular. Over 50,000 developers have ordered $300 developer kits and are building games, demos and experiences around the head-mounted display (HMD), edging closer to a commercial release.

The most impressive game demo I played was for EVE: Valkyrie, a multiplayer dogfight shooter that is set in the EVE role-playing universe. The developer of the game, CCP, originally built it as a demo for E3. It turned out, however, that there is a lot more to the game than just a demo, and the company says it’s “coming in 2014.”

The game puts the player in the cockpit of a space fighter, replete with missiles and a full dashboard. The goggles of the VR headset work really well to create the sense-of-view of a cockpit. Moving up or down, as well as turning behind you, creates an incredibly realistic virtual world.

This is the sort of game that could truly revolutionize flight sims, first-person shooters and strategy games. That’s not was has me so excited about the Oculus Rift, however. In the time I spent with the Rift — and in the days after — it struck me that this type of technology could be used to create not just incredible new games, but full-blown interactive experiences.

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