The Tobacco Dock in London, UK is an unusual place to have a big show like EGX Rezzed. The videogame event – which is primarily geared towards PC gaming – has been held there for a number of years, providing a much more intimate feel than its bigger brother EGX (normally held at the National Exhibition Centre (NEC) in Birmingham). The small rooms allow studios to create a shop front feel to their displays, for a very British style of gaming event. There was just one problem when it came to VRFocus attending, the notable lack of virtual reality (VR).
That’s not to say there wasn’t any but it was a shame to wander around and really have to search for any hint of a VR experience when the UK has some of the best developers in the world creating awesome content. A good example was the fact that PlayStation was there in all its blue glory but not a PlayStation VR was in sight. On demonstration was Media Molecule’s Dreams – which will get VR support – but April’s Early Access release doesn’t include it.
The ever-popular Coatsink Software – purveyors of fine VR titles like Augmented Empire, Esper, Esper 2, A Night Sky and They Suspect Nothing – was also there but alas no VR, not even a hint of newly revealed Shadow Point.
However, it wasn’t all doom and gloom as VRFocus not only found some VR, it’s also worth trying out if you have the chance. The centrepiece was most certainly at the Porsche stand with racing simulator specialist Vesaro displaying one of its Commercial VR simulators with full pneumatics and Oculus Rift headset – which has a retail price starting from £20,000 GBP – where players could race on Project CARS Pro title Porsche 911 VR-Racing Experience built specifically for the car manufacturer by Slightly Mad Studios.
Continuing with that sense of adrenaline is London-based studio Blackwall Labs which was demoing its recently announced title NYC Bungee. Using an HTC Vive the core of the experience is being able to bungee jump off the statue of liberty – something you couldn’t do in real life. Other parts to the title include being able to climb the statue, take a zip wire from the top of the statue, or for something a little more tranquil there’s a balloon ride to the top.
Primarily designed for VR arcades, NYC Bungee will eventually come to Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and Windows Mixed Reality home users as well.
Next to Blackwall Labs was Spillage Games with its title A Dragon’s Tale, where player’s are the dragon, having to hold the HTC Vive controllers out like wings to flap them to gain height. Once aloft you could then soar around the landscape, learning how to breathe fire and deal with monsters.
The last on the list was located in the Unreal Engine area, with indie developer Ben Lunato demoing his videogame A Ton of Feathers. It’s about chasing down a serial killer through a series of novellas that he’s anonymously published online whilst trying to discover his identity.
Tomorrow is the last day of EGX Rezzed 2019 with some tickets still available. For the latest events featuring VR, keep reading VRFocus.