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Xbox One Games Arrive On Oculus Rift With New Streaming App (theverge.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the comfort-of-your-couch dept.

Microsoft has released its Xbox One streaming app to the Oculus Store today, allowing Xbox One owners to stream games to their Oculus Rift virtual-reality headset via a Windows 10 PC. The Verge reports: The app itself looks just like the Windows 10 version of Xbox streaming, with the ability to select different consoles on a network before streams are launched. Microsoft has also added the ability to open the Xbox One guide and control the orientation of games in the virtual environment. If you're interested in streaming Xbox One games to the Oculus Rift then you'll need a Windows PC to take advantage of the streaming, and games will be streamed directly from a console that's powered on and not in use. The Xbox streaming app is available immediately in the Oculus Store. The streaming app is a far cry from full VR gaming, but the app will let you simulate playing games on a large screen in a virtual environment. "Whether you're taking on Gears of War 4, Forza Horizon 3, or any other Xbox One game, you'll be able to play in three different environments from the start -- each titled 'Citadel,' 'Retreat,' and 'Dome,'" reports Windows Central.

6 of 16 comments (clear)

  1. Not digging the large screen applications of VR by gameboyhippo · · Score: 1

    I really enjoy VR, but I think these "large screen feel" applications of VR is kinda silly. Because of the screen door effect and the fact that each eye gets half the resolution, the large screen pictures look low-rezed. I think it might be something that's fun once the resolution gets much higher.

    1. Re:Not digging the large screen applications of VR by Dahamma · · Score: 1

      The VR Goldrush is essentially over already, now we just have to wait for the results.

      That is so far from true it's hard to describe.

      AR (most notably Magic Leap), while possibly still a few years out, will eventually make current gen VR obsolete (AR is a superset of VR with somewhat different goals, but at some point that superset will be able to do everything VR does and more).

      And the natural revolutionary leap after that (direct sensory input) will make both of those technologies obsolete.

    2. Re:Not digging the large screen applications of VR by Dahamma · · Score: 1

      The VR Goldrush is essentially over already, now we just have to wait for the results.

      That is so far from true it's hard to describe.

      I know, right? I mean, there's not even one single porn application yet.

      Excellent point. Until that's enabled the industry is just an experiment, of course.

      AR (most notably Magic Leap), while possibly still a few years out, will eventually make current gen VR obsolete

      Uh, aren't they currently teetering on the edge of bankruptcy?

      Are you kidding? They raised over $1B in venture funding, and have never really planned on shipping anything before 2018 range. I have a friend who recently moved from Silicon Valley to Florida to join them - of course he wouldn't provide many details other than that their demos were mind blowing, their tech was absolutely real but still too bulky for consumers. Hearing that from an experienced, somewhat cynical, but very smart engineer I know is enough to convince me they are the real deal...

    3. Re:Not digging the large screen applications of VR by gravewax · · Score: 1

      $1B is not a lot of money in this technology space and would put them well down the list of investments in the tech. Leap are on the verge of being made irrelevant, MS seems to most closely resemble what they are trying to do and given how long hololens has been out I would expect they would be getting close to a Hololens 2 which will likely raise the bar even higher for what they need to achieve in order to not be irrelevant. My bet at this point is they will get bought out for their tech before it ever hits the market as they simply won't be able to deliver a compelling system before they are out of date.

    4. Re:Not digging the large screen applications of VR by Dahamma · · Score: 1

      Are you seriously comparing *Microsoft* development costs to a start up company? If they could reasonably develop everything themselves they wouldn't need to constantly buy other companies who have developed products for much less. Oculus developed their first prototype with $2.4M in Kickstarter funding. $1.2B for a startup without a shipping product is unheard of - most startup companies would shit themselves and be unable to figure out how to spend a fraction of that.

      And seriously, "a fortune in software research"? Software research is mostly paying engineer salaries (even hardware research in early/mid stages is mostly engineer salaries, it only gets expensive once you go to manufacturing). Do the math yourself, $1.2B in funding would employ hundreds of developers for many years, and that's at full salary, not the usual start up lower-salary-plus-stock offer. You have never worked at an early stage start up, have you?

  2. Three environments by manu0601 · · Score: 1

    Whether you're taking on Gears of War 4, Forza Horizon 3, or any other Xbox One game, you'll be able to play in three different environments from the start -- each titled 'Citadel,' 'Retreat,' and 'Dome,

    I cannot even remotely figure what theses "environments" are about. Anyone can enlighten me?