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The best case Sony can make for PlayStation VR, its PlayStation 4-compatible virtual-reality headset, is that it can bring games to the medium that other VR hardware manufacturers can’t. At E3 2016, Sony showed off a bevy of exclusive VR demos for tie-ins to some of gaming’s biggest franchises, including something called the Final Fantasy XV VR Experience, a VR tie-in of sorts for the upcoming action-RPG. Unfortunately for fans, the demo does not offer the adventure or excitement one might hope for from a virtual Final Fantasy.
The Final Fantasy XV VR Experience is not really a game, per se.
Final Fantasy XV: The VR Experience is not really a game, per se. You take control of the pistol-wielding Prompto, a member of the FFXV protagonist Noctis’ group of friends, to fight a Behemoth, a large, horned beast and one of many recurring fixtures of the Final Fantasy multiverse. As Prompto, you back up the rest of the FFXV party by repeatedly firing your pistol at the Behemoth until it dies. Shooting the beast’s head and tail does more damage than hitting its body, so there is an incentive to aim precisely at moving targets. That said, the creature is gigantic, and you can definitely just mash the trigger to victory.
You can warp to specific points around the level, marked with a blue crystal. If the Behemoth comes after you, you may have to use the warp to dodge out of the way of its attacks. In general, however, the experience feels like a facsimile of a video game: It isn’t entirely clear that anything you do would affect how the demo behaves.
With actual mechanics and a firm win-state, instead of an ending, the experience is certainly slightly more game-like than many of technical demos shown to demonstrate the capacity of virtual reality headsets, such as Oculus Rift and HTC Vive. Plus, it’s still possible that FFXV VR may eventually offer something more.
Members of the development team told Digital Trends that this fall, the game will not launch alongside PlayStation VR, which will come out shortly after Final Fantasy XV, and that the E3 demo may not represent the final product.
That said, as a technical showcase, the demo paints a damning picture of the PlayStation VR headset’s ability to compete with its rival headsets. Compared to the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive, the PlayStation VR running off the current PlayStation 4 simply cannot support the resolution to make the experience look real. Though the animation runs smoothly, every character was marred by ragged, pixelated lines reminiscent of a mid-era PlayStation 3 game, far from the cutting edge of VR, or even console gaming.
After the fight, the game asks you if you’d like to take a drive. When you say yes, you’re placed in the passenger seat of a convertible, sitting next to Cindy, Final Fantasy XV‘s female version of Cid, a supporting character who appears in a new form every game. It’s basically an opportunity to test the headset distraction-free. Looking around the car showed the headset’s very capable head-tracking, which allowed for a great sense of space. You could lean back, and look underneath the back seat without the headset losing track of your position. However, the sequence’s implication — that demo-goers would jump at the opportunity to ogle a blonde in a mechanic’s jumper — felt awkward, to say the least.
With the PlayStation VR launch coming in October, the time for tech demos has past. At best, the Final Fantasy XV VR Experience is a neat tidbit for die-hard fans who happen to own a PlayStation VR headset. At worst, it’s a misleading attempt to juice PS VR pre-orders by exploiting our dreams for what a virtual Final Fantasy could be.
Mozilla is giving Firefox’s Smart Window two new tricks. If you haven’t tried it yet, Smart Window is an optional AI mode in Firefox with a built-in chat that helps you get things done while you browse. With this update, it can fill out online forms using details from your tabs and keep an eye on websites for you.
Tired of typing the same details into every form?
The absolutely absurd idea of putting a touchscreen display on a mouse isn't exactly new. Turtle Beach already did it with its Command Series MC7, which features a 2.25-inch control screen. But apparently, even that wasn't ridiculous enough for Arctic Fox Technologies. Its new Super Mouse looks like someone took the chunky old Atari ST mouse, slapped a touchscreen and scroll wheel on it, and called it an upgrade.
The result is a rather unusual-looking mouse that is now on Kickstarter, starting at $199. And as ridiculous as it looks, some of its features are genuinely intriguing.
Apple is less than a day away from launching its highly anticipated OLED MacBook Pro with a touch-sensitive screen. But it appears that the upgrade is going to cost a pretty penny. According to a report by Bloomberg, Apple is reportedly eyeing a starting price of $2,899 for the 14-inch MacBook Pro, while the 16-inch version could start at $3,399 in the US.
"At $2,899, the 14-inch model would mark the highest starting price for a new MacBook Pro model, surpassing the $2,799 Apple charged for a 17-inch version introduced in 2006," says the report. The report claims that Apple is targeting a minimum price hike of $400 for its upcoming redesigned 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models.