Oculus and Microsoft are heading towards future together

Free ASP.NET hosting for 60 days - SmarterASP.NET

oculus-rift-8-1

Microsoft is ready to jump into the future with Oculus keeping virtual reality hand-in-hand. Oculus CEO Brendan Iribe today announced that the Rift will be packaged with a wireless Xbox One controller, native support on Windows 10 and the ability to play Xbox One games inside the headset itself, in a sort of virtual cinema, via Xbox-to-Windows streaming. Microsoft’s Head of Xbox Phil Spencer took to the Oculus stage to lay out his plans for the Rift and Windows gaming going forward — and there’s a reason he looked so happy while doing so. In fact, there are a few reasons the Microsoft-Oculus deal should be gangbusters for both companies.

123123

The immersive virtual reality headset, has potentially innovative uses in a number of genres and disciplines, but gamers are the first community to engage with it in a concentrated way. And Rift is Microsoft’s answer to Sony’s Project Morpheus. The Oculus Rift is ready-made, has super-high brand recognition and is poised to offer a finely tuned VR experience to a horde of anxious, hungry gaming fans. Morpheus could very well walk into a similar situation when it launches, but there’s one major difference between the two systems: Sony has to finish developing and then continually support Morpheus on PlayStation 4; Microsoft has to trust Oculus to handle most of that work.

oculus_rift_consumer-6-600x337

Of course Microsoft will have to deal with compatibility and software issues on its own end, but the company doesn’t have to build and maintain a VR headset for itself — Oculus is doing that. Handing off hardware production is a calculated risk on Microsoft’s end, considering Oculus has a solid track record of producing stellar, industry-standard VR experiences, plus it has the financial backing of Facebook. As far as trusting a VR company, Oculus is a good bet.

OculusRift3

And then there’s the gamepad. Shipping the Rift with an Xbox One controller puts Xbox at the forefront of VR developers’ minds. Even after years of production without a consumer release, Oculus remains the highest-profile VR headset in the industry — and now it’s linked directly to the Xbox One. Microsoft suffered a blow to its gaming cred with the bungled announcement of the Xbox One in 2013, heightened by corporate backpedaling and the console’s top-of-the-market price point. All the while, Sony emphasized games — indie games, AAA games, free games and discounted games.

oculus-rift-pre-e30033

Oculus’ $10 million initiative to help indie developers make games for the Rift is a great start. This is all well and good for Microsoft, but what does Oculus get out of this deal? Simple: The Xbox One controller. Plenty of gaming hardware companies have tried, and failed spectacularly, to create the perfect traditional gamepad. Oculus has its own, two-hand controller system that might be great — but if it isn’t, the Xbox One gamepad is something that most players already know and love.

 

 

Zaid is a technology enthusiast who is interested in covering the latest tits and bits happening around.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *