VR/MR Review

Posted on January 21, 2020 by Ernest Ong

Regarding VR headsets, Oculus and VIVE are the more well-known headsets out there. While the idea of VR dates back as early as the 1860s and that the first head-mounted display being made in 1968, it was not till 2010 that VR truly starts to gain widespread public attention.

While VR has its application in fields such as medical and military, it was in the gaming sector, where it truly stands out. Based on this train of thought, it made sense to create VR devices that caters to gaming instead of other fields.

Oculus being one of the frontrunner in the VR gaming sector meant that there is a lot of support available for it be it game titles or profits from selling its device. Additional revenue meant that there is a better ability to come up with better versions of VR headsets.

While I do not have a specific favorite VR Headset to say, Oculus Quest is likely to be the head set I will be purchasing if I decided to get start with VR now. Asides from the wide plethora of gaming titles available for Oculus products and being wide priced relative to its capabilities and utilities, there are certain specifications that made Oculus Quest stands out from the rest of the headsets.

The first and foremost would be that it is a standalone VR headset. This meant that it is wireless and users do not have to risk tripping over the wires while using the device.

The second standout function it having 6 Degrees of Freedom and that is a pretty big plus. The problem with 3 Degrees of Freedom headsets is that it can only track your head orientation and does not track the position of the headset. Having 6 Degrees of Freedom, Occulus Quest can provide a more immersive experience by giving the feeling that you are actively in the VR world rather than being stuck to a fixed spot only being able to rotate your head and limited to the movements of the controllers.

However, what the Oculus Quest lacks is built in earphones. This meant that there is a need for a additional earpiece or headphone to be plugged in the Oculus Quest itself.

In this aspect based purely on technical specs alone, HTC VIVE FOCUS would be a better device given that it has built in microphone and speakers and also have the functions mentioned above. The downer to this device is that it has a relative high price. Since earpieces are pretty common nowadays, not having built in headphones is not necessarily a negative.

Image result for hololens 2 — Person wearing Microsoft HoloLens 2

Mixed Reality is a relatively new concept, where the first time I have heard of it was in the 1st lecture itself. While there are a number of MR headsets out there, HoloLens 2 stands out compared to the rest of the crowd.

One of the more standout features is the futuristic feel to the headset. In Sci-Fi shows, movies and stories, we have heard from time to time that people can just interact with holograms out of thin air and the HoloLens 2 is basically that except for the need of having the headset of course.

The headset is proclaimed to be pretty comfortable even for people wearing spectacles. It would be pretty hard to be immersed in the experience if you are constantly being annoyed with the headset itself.

Favourite VR and MR headsets

Posted on January 21, 2020 by Yuan Cai

Favourite VR headset: Valve Index

My favourite VR headset is the Valve Index. Priced at $1000, it costs more than twice as much as an Oculus Rift or an HTC Vive, but it does come with some pretty cool specs. It has a resolution of 1440×1600 per eye with a 120Hz refresh rate (higher than the average 90Hz in many headsets). It also features an estimated 130 degree field of view.

While the display specs are good, I am most excited about its unique controllers! They are able to track even individual finger movements! With these controllers, it’s fully possible to reach out and grab an object in virtual reality instead of relying on abstractions that do the grabbing for you. You can watch the finger tracking in action in this YouTube video.

The second thing that I quite like about the Valve Index is the audio system. Instead of headphones that rest over the ears, there is a pair of speakers that sit some distance from the ears. I personally prefer listening to music and game audio on speakers because it’s more comfortable for me, so this is another feature of the Valve Index that would compel me to buy it.

The speakers on the Valve Index rest a distance from the ears. No direct contact is made.

Favourite MR headset: HoloLens 2

The HoloLens 2 is one of the most advanced Mixed Reality headsets available now. It is also a rather expensive device, with each unit costing $3,500! At that price tag, it is clear that the HoloLens 2 is targeted at companies and professionals.

Based on reviews written by people who have actually tried out the HoloLens 2, it provides an immersive experience in mixed reality for the wearer. Interaction with virtual objects is seamless, and the objects respond as if they are real objects.

The HoloLens 2 has a visor that can be flipped up when the wearer wants to exit from the mixed reality. The visor has an ergonomic design aimed to promote comfort when wearing the device. It even slides over prescription eyeglasses, making it possible for myopic people to use the HoloLens 2 without having to be blind as a bat. As someone who wears eyeglasses, I appreciate Microsoft’s effort in designing the headset to allow us to comfortably keep our eyeglasses on.

The HoloLens 2 visor can go over prescription eyeglasses comfortably.

VR/MR Headset Review

Posted on January 21, 2020 by Anne

The Oculus Quest headset is my preferred VR headset in the market currently as it includes many desirable features. Firstly, It is a standalone product which allows ease of movement and no need for connecting wires. It has the ability to rival PC powered VR experience but is less expensive because of the lack of additional gadgets and wireds needed to be connect to the equipment.

Since there are two motion controllers, the Quest offers six degrees of freedom tracking. This implies that the user is able to walk around, crouch or bend comfortably in the VR environment. The user comfort has also been rated to be extremely high for this device as it is quite light on the head and has foam inner lining around the goggles. In terms of resolution, it is also superior to many other headsets (1,440 by 1,600 per eye).

My favorite MR headset would be the Magic Leap One headset. The main selling point of this device is that it uses Light Field technology. This makes it extremely usable and comfortable which also means that it may be more useful in integrating the technology into commercial and real life usage ( incorporating the real world is one of the aspects of MR that is very important to me). The device uses advanced eye tracking and even uses blinks as a control function for the user. Magic Leap One uses Interchangable components which allows greater user comfort experience. There is a lot of funding, around 2 billion, for this product which my allow it to develop faster than other products on the market.

resources:

https://www.techradar.com/sg/reviews/oculus-quest-review

The 9 best mixed reality headsets of 2019

Review of VR/AR/MR Headsets

Posted on January 21, 2020 by mohdaslam

VR/AR/MR is still in its relative infancy. While significant strides have been made in terms of technological improvements and availability of content, it is still seen as a niche.

I’ve only tried two VR/AR/MR headsets, namely Microsoft Hololens 1 and Google Cardboard (doesn’t really count, I don’t think but works well enough for a small introduction to VR, if you can’t afford a full-scale headset.)

But enough about me, here are my thoughts on the VR/AR/MR scene.

Latest Devices on the Market (not exhaustive)

HTC Vive Pro
Steam Index
Oculus Rift S
Oculus Quest
Sony Playstation VR
Microsoft Hololens 2
Samsung Odyssey+
HP Reverb Pro
Pimax 5K Plus

Preferred Devices

For VR: Oculus Rift S

This is a subjective opinion, but I personally prefer the Oculus Rift S. I haven’t actually tried any VR headset, so my opinion might be invalid, and is based on research and watching others use the headsets on YouTube. I feel that to have an informed opinion, you got to try them out yourself in person. The Oculus Rift S is affordable, which is big if you want to mass market it to consumers and bring it out of the niche it’s currently in. It is a well-rounded headset, in terms of having better lenses, better controllers and better tracking for the price point. It also doesn’t rely on base stations, which dramatically increases portability.

Having cutting edge features is not going to help the scene if no one’s buying headsets, and so I believe lower cost headsets with features that are just good enough for immersion is the gateway for VR to become more popular. So while other headsets might feature higher FoV/framerates or better displays, it’s wise to be price conscious because VR is a fast moving field and the devices of today might be obsolete really quick because of rapid innovations in VR tech, and so that is why I elected to go with the Oculus Rift S.

For AR/MR: Microsoft Hololens 2

I consider Hololens 2 to be the world’s most pre-eminent MR headset. The problem with AR/MR today, similar to VR — is the ubiquity and accessibility of devices to the masses. Make no mistake, the Hololens 2 is not a consumer-grade device, but targeted towards developers instead, priced accordingly.

Since I’ve only personally ever used the Hololens 1, I cannot accurately say how the experience of Hololens 2 would be. One of my issues with Hololens 1 was it’s fairly limited field of view, which is addressed by Hololens 2 with its larger field of view.

The headset is accurate in tracking the real world. The virtual objects placed in the environment seems like they’re really there, and there’s no drifts or deviations in placement. I remember playing a game (a tech demo really) and they had robot drones flying all around the mapped room, and clinging onto the walls, firing at you. I thought that was pretty cool. You can also do random things like putting up YouTube videos on a wall in your office, or open a browser.

MR has a ton of potential use cases, for consumers and enterprises alike and Microsoft is well-placed to be the driving force and catalyst to propel innovation and generate interest in the field with its Hololens 2 offerings.

Conclusion

It’s an exciting time for VR/MR/AR, and maybe 2020 will be the year it all breaks out and becomes the next big thing, and maybe we’ll see VR/MR/AR be common place just like the smartphone revolution, and to a smaller extent — the smartwatch revolution.

The future is nigh.

My idealisation of VR and XR

Posted on January 21, 2020 by AikPeng

Admittedly, my experience with VR, AR, and XR is rather limited – I have only tried VR and AR once or twice, and I have not had the opportunity to experience XR yet. Therefore, it is really difficult to dictate any device as a ‘favourite’ without having experienced them all. That said, I still have my own ideas and perceptions of what I desire with these devices. Hence what I write here will be a subjective analysis of the products based on my understanding of the devices and the ideas/technologies they represent.

Favourite VR Device

To me, the outstanding feature of a VR device is not necessarily how well the virtual world can be presented to the user – truth to be told, I think a good monitor(s) can really help with immersion. Instead, when I think of innovation in VR, I think of the controller. VR allows users the capabilities of 3-Dimensional inputs, with movements no longer restricted to just 2 dimensions. So what is the next step?

Image result for valve index controllers

Presenting the Valve Index and its unique controllers! Unlike most of the controllers on the market right now, these controllers do not just track your movements, but they track your fingers too! This allows for much more sophisticated controls – you can now pick up a ball just like in real life, instead of just pressing down on a button. With the controller straps, you could also go hands-free allowing actions users to ‘throw’ objects around naturally. While there has definitely been progress in hand-tracking technologies (such as with the Oculus Quest), I feel that the controller coupled with the hand tracking would allow for seamless transitions in gameplay/interactions between moving a character and performing hand gestures. Lest you end up with weird control schemes like in the Xbox Kinect, where users could use arm gestures naturally, but had to resort to doing weird actions with their bodies to move around (see: Star Wars Kinect).

While I have many thoughts about the other VR devices in the market, I think a short and concise summary of the product and my thoughts should suffice. Ranking from my favourite (after the Valve Index) to least favourite, they are:

Oculus Quest: A standalone VR headset with a relatively cheap price can go a long way in making VR very accessible. Even its short battery life has a silver lining – it is important to rest your eyes once in a while! Also, hand tracking!

PlayStation VR: Another accessible VR headset, that is if you already own a PlayStation 4 console. As the power of the hardware is limited by the PS4, it means that all the software that you buy can be played without any performance issues from having a weak CPU. With the support of Sony, the PlayStation VR also feature an extensive collection of high-quality games to play.

Oculus Rift S: The ‘OG’ VR headset is still quite decent, but the other options either have something unique, or are just more accessible. It also features a cable that helps to provide more power to the headset, but I can see that being a hinderance when users are trying to use the device.

Nintendo Switch VR Kit: While I am a big fan of the creative approach that Nintendo used to enter the VR market, the fact that you have to physically hold the ‘headset’ to your face the entire time looks really, really tiring. It also doesn’t help that it has a very limited library of games. Despite the ability to play older games with a new perspective (ie. The Legend Of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Super Mario Odyssey), it is hard to really judge how influential the new perspective can be without trying it out myself.

Favourite XR Device

On to XR, however, I am much less uninformed about the technology here. I wish I have had a chance to try out one of these products at least once, but I haven’t had the luck. To me, I think XR should be a device that one can use to enhance their daily lives, and I think the demo for Microsoft’s HoloLens 2 really sold it for me. Featuring hand-tracking (which I have already mentioned how much of a gamechanger it could be above), eye-tracking and voice-commands, it seems as though there are many different ways to control and enhance whatever the user is doing. Best of all (not really, but still pretty significant), it features a flip-visor, so that users can easily switch between the mixed reality and… reality without the hassle of removing the headset. Of course, the price is pretty steep, but if we’re looking at my favourite XR headset, this is pretty much what I want XR to be and more.

Once again, here are the other noteworthy XR devices ranked (after the Microsoft HoloLens 2) as follows:

Oculus Quest: I like it because it can do both VR AND XR, which really gives the user a lot of flexibility on how they want to use the device. Once again, my bias of hand-tracking is still present and swaying my opinions, especially for XR devices, since the user’s own body should be part of the mixed reality.

Magic Leap 1: Despite the lack of hand-tracking, the Magic Leap 1 does feature eye-tracking and voice commands, which still goes a long way in helping users interact with the virtual elements around them. Moreover, the Magic Leap 1 is also available with prescription lenses, which can prove to be helpful to someone like myself. However, the lower field of view compared to the HoloLens 2 seems to play a big part in ruining one’s immersion.

RealWear HMT-1: The RealWear HMT-1 is clearly designed for industrial workers, and while I can definitely see its use and impact, it is simply not what I am looking for in a XR headset. That said, I have to say that aesthetics and functionality wise, I love how the headset is part of a safety helmet, further emphasising what it is for.

Review of Dark Souls 3, the Game Referred to by Journalists as “The Hardest Game Ever”

Posted on January 21, 2020 by Tanama Roby

Intro

After more than 500 hours of playtime in this game, I can safely say that Dark Souls 3 is my favorite game.

Game description

It is an action role-playing video game from a third-person perspective. The game focuses heavily on high-intensity combat with the ability to dodge, block, parry, and stamina management as each action costs stamina which adds a certain challenge to the game.

The screenshot of the game UI. This is the first boss that you will face in the game and it is surprisingly difficult for a first boss.

Action screenshot from the same boss.

Link to the YouTube gameplay

Content (Graphics)

To start, the game looks amazing visually for a game released in early 2016. The art style is inspired by culture from the late middle ages (1500 – 1600) and the amazing, slightly surreal gothic architecture adds to the unique aesthetics of the game. The music and art style really immersed me in the game and gives a certain dark and gloomy personality to the game which fits the main story.

Content (Gameplay)

The combat in this game is nothing short of a masterpiece. It is extremely fast-paced where I need to be aware of your enemies and surroundings at all time as a few hits are enough to kill my character. Not only that, there is a stamina bar which gets depleted every time you do an action (attack, dodge, run) and thus, it requires me to pay attention to stamina management too on top of the difficult, action-packed combat. While this overwhelmed me in the first few hours, it wasn’t long before I got used to it and started to really enjoy the fast-paced combat system. The difficulty of the combat keeps me on my toes at all time while playing the game which prevents the game from being boring/too easy near the end where most games would start to die down in terms of excitement or challenge (Card 38, The Lens of Challenge).

Despite the game being really-difficult, it is still very fair to the player. The enemies have well telegraphed attack animation with incredibly-accurate hit boxes which can be countered by dodging or parrying at the right timing. This is a skill than can be acquired through practice and it is not unfair to the players as experienced players can even complete the whole game without being hit once by paying attention to the enemies’ attacks. Moreover, the game starts of easy and gets progressively more difficult later-on which gives time to the players to get better at the game as the game progresses. I can really feel myself improving as I continue playing the game and it shows in the decreasing rate of my character dying (Card 39, The Lens of Skill).

The difficulty level is also mitigated by the appropriately-designed reward system. This game rewards players that are willing to take risks by exploring the harder areas early-on to get really-good weapons and armors that can carry them for a good chunk of the game. While playing this game, every reward that I got, be it item or weapon or armor, still give me a sense of pride and accomplishment as all the rewards require you to defeat a hard boss or reach a hard-to-reach areas. Moreover, each reward is always worth the effort it takes to get them where the harder it is to obtain the reward, the better it is. This amazing reward system is what made me want to keep playing the game as I feel like I am getting significantly-stronger after every reward that I get (Card 46, The Lens of Reward).

The game world is completely explorable and there is no explicit direction pointing towards the next checkpoint or goal. As such, you are free to explore the game without being forced to proceed in a certain way. While this may not be everyone’s cup of tea as this could possibly cause some players to get stuck and unable to proceed, I still find it to be enjoyable. By not having a clear direction, I feel truly immersed in the game as every direction is point my character to is completely based on my own decision and not influenced by the game’s storytelling or guidelines. This gives me a sense of freedom in gameplay as it allows me to choose what I want to explore in the game (Card 79, The Lens of Freedom).

The game’s story is not based on expositions or dialogue but more on the world-building. There is rarely any interaction or dialogue and the expositions are extremely cryptic. However, the game world is rich with unspoken stories. For example, a certain cursed area of the map shows signs of decay and the enemies gets more and more distorted as my character slowly fight his way to the center of the curse. As you progress through, more and more information about the curse slowly gets revealed before the climactic fight with the boss of the area. There was no dialogue throughout this whole section, but I still managed to get what the story is and how it happened. Moreover, each item in the game has a backstory to it (even objects like a candle) and this allows me to understand the story even more. This unique approach to story-telling really hooked me in as the lack of exposition is mitigated by not only the story-rich game world but also my imagination as to how things could have happened (Card 78, The Lens of Story).

Referring to The Elemental Tetrad

Amazing gothic aesthetics that fits the game’s dark tone and gloomy atmosphere which is complemented by the somber story of the game. The incredibly-accurate hit boxes of every single enemy in the game and the main character really shows how incredible the game’s technology is and the graphics is quite amazing for a 2016 game.

The combat mechanics are where the game really shine where the fluid, fast-paced, and action-packed combat managed to keep the me engaged throughout the whole game. Usually a game feels stale when approaching the ending of the game, but this game still managed to keep me on my toes the whole time even until the 2^nd time I played it. The need to manage my stamina, while at the same time avoiding enemy attacks, and the fluid player attack animation makes every enemy encounter exciting.

Overall, this is a very solid game with fluid combat and awesome art style. Despite the game being almost 4 years old, it still has an active community playing which shows just how amazing this game is. I would give it a 10/10.

Overcooked 2 Review

Posted on January 21, 2020 by seanlowjk

Image result for overcooked 2 story — Poster for Overcooked 2.

Introduction

Just as the saying goes: “Too many cooks spoil the broth “. Who would think that creating a cooking game for a party of 4 bring about so much chaos in terms of swearing and screaming! Overcooked 2 is a 2v2 Versus / Local Co-Op 1-4 players party game where you try to manage the chaos in your kitchen while serving dishes on time.

Imagine trying to serve a plate of French fries, your friend trying to find an extinguisher to put out the fire, your friend fell into a trap: this chaos and catastrophe perfectly sums up a simple level in Overcooked.

Lens 78: The Lens of Story

You and your friends become cooks to save the Onion Kingdom through venturing different maps to cook and serve food to save the day! Throughout the game, you get to experience different rounds depending on the progress of the storyline and face different scenarios and obstacles which you will need to overcome.

The story was well-thoughted as it really makes you feel like a cook, doing your best to save the day by trying to manage the challenge with your friends in order not to burn something or overcook something which you need to serve. But honestly, it feels like a series of rounds and levels patched together with a thin layer of plot which had little to no significance to whatever you are doing in the game itself.

Honestly, the game did not need a story as I did not really watch the cutscenes and wanted to skip them in order to play the main game. What could have been done better is that the game could have added elements or decision trees during the rounds which affects the future levels and the story which you are going through.

Lens 38: The Lens of Challenge

Image result for overcooked 2 fire — Cooks trying to put out the fire in their kitchen!

Levels do not get progressively difficult. However, there is an interesting twist to this: you get to experience a huge variety of different kinds of maps with different challenging obstacles. For example, you would have to make sure you do not go too fast on the icy levels where you might slip and fall or navigating through the platforms in the space levels. It gets exciting the first few times you play it as you get to enjoy different levels with your friends. However, as you play it again and again, you might find it a bit too repetitive.

Despite this, in the co-op 2v2 mode, your opponent become your biggest challenge. Your opponent can steal your food or sabotage your ingredients as you try to gain more points by serving dishes on time. There is a huge element of sabotage and conflict, which is the driving factor for many party games. As a result, the challenge gets increased significantly, due to the element of opponent and conflict.

Lens 45: The Lens of Competition vs. Collaboration

Image result for overcooked 2 versus mode

Well, the story mode is an 8 as cooperation is key in order to passing the level. You and your 3 other friends will need to help each other to cook, wash the dishes, and put out any fire hazard which someone might have caused. If not, you would need to replay the level until you pass the level. Of course, you can troll your friends by holding onto the dish, but you might get hurled with vulgarities.

For the Versus mode, it is a 5 out of 10 as you feel competitive and want to sabotage the other team to gain an advantage. However, you still need to work with your partner to get the dishes served in time and make sure you get enough points to win that round.

Referring to The Elemental Tetrad

The Aesthetics: It is lively and joyful most of the time and the music selected really suits the map in which the players are in. After all, you would not want to have moody scenes 24/7 when playing a party game. Not only that, visual feedback through music and visuals is good as it would occasionally warn you when you are about to miss an order or reach the end of the time limit.

The Story: Not Significant, would rather not have a story and just play the story mode without the cutscenes itself, which might be annoying at times.

Image result for overcooked 2 controls — Easy to Learn controls based on the Xbox version of Overcooked 2

The Mechanics: They are simple enough as you just need to walk, pick up items and ensure that your kitchen is in order. Perfect for a party game as you can pick up the game easily and play it with a couple of friends who might not have great gaming skills.

Overall, I would give this a 9. It would be a 10 out of 10 if only the story was more interactive and decision trees would affect the story and endings.

My Preferred VR/MR headset

Posted on January 21, 2020 by boo

For me, when it comes to VR, the most important aspects which I looked into are resolution, frame rates, connections as well as price. I want something which looks good and is smooth as a VR unit with high latency can worsen the experience. Also, since VR is unlike conventional gaming, I would need to move my head a lot, that would mean the fewer the cables, the better. Last but not least, the price must fit into my budget.

I’ve research on a few competitive VR set on the market currently and these are the specs.

VR headset	Resolution	Frame rates (Hz)	Connections	Price (USD$)
Valve Index	1440×1600 RGB LCDs	120 to 144 (experimental)	5m tether, 1m breakaway trident connector. USB 3.0 DisplayPort 1.2, 12V power	500 for just the headset
Oculus Quest	1440 x 1600	72	Wireless	399 (64GB) 499 (128GB)
PlayStation VR	1920 x RGB x 1080	120	HDMI, USB	299.99
Oculus Rift S	2560 x 1440	80	USB 3.0, DisplayPort	399

Image result for oculus quest — Oculus Quest

After careful consideration, I believe the Oculus Quest is the VR headset I am looking for. Compared to other popular VR headset on the market, the Oculus Quest is the jack of all trade. What I like about it compared to another headset is,

It does not need a cable, fully standalone. This allow for greater manoeuvrability.
It does not require a high spec gaming PC, which is a huge cost saving factor.
Not the most affordable VR headset but the price is reasonable.

However, what is lacking in this headset is that the refresh rate is lower compared to other unit, and since it is a fully standalone unit, it would mean that the number of games playable is limited. All in all, it is still a competitive unit and being wireless and reasonably priced is the largest selling point for me.

Once again, the most important aspects which I am looking for in a MR headset is more or less similar to that of VR. However, MR and VR differs a little, where MR have cameras which is able to capture user’s environment and display it onto the headset. Thus, for a more immersive experience, I look into Field of View (FOV) as well. Human has a vision span of approximately , therefore, I believe the experience will be better if the headset’s FOV is close to .

MR headset	Resolution	Refresh rate (Hz)	Connections	FOV (degree)	Price (USD$)
Samsung Odyssey	1440 x 1600	60 to 90	HDMI 2.0, USB 3.0	110	499
HP VR1000-127il	1440 x 1440	60 to 90	HDMI	95	Approximately 382.99
Asus HC102	1440 x 1440	Up to 90	HDMI 2.0and USB 3.0	95	429
Acer AH101-D8EY	2880 x 1440	60 to 90	HDMI 2.0and USB 3.0	100	399

Acer AH101 Windows Mixed Reality Headset — Acer AH101-D8EY

From the list, my preferred MR headset would be the Acer AH101-D8EY. As compared to other MR headset, it

Has higher resolution
Has wide FOV
Is affordable.

However, the Acer AH101-D8EY is far from being a perfect MR headset. If we dive deeper into reliability, the Samsung Odyssey can easily took over the Acer AH101-D8EY. It seems that the Acer MR headset has buggy SteamVR compatibility, and camera-based position tracking isn’t as responsive as sensor/beacon based tracking. However, overall the specs are competitive and most importantly, it fit my budget, otherwise I would have easily chosen the Samsung Odyssey.

My Favourite VR & MR Headsets

Posted on January 21, 2020 by e0053670

My favourite VR headset is Oculus Quest which is revolutionising on-the-go virtual reality gaming. I like it because there is no need to hook up to a PC, or have those pesky wires tethering you like a ball on a string. As a stand-alone unit, this VR headset packs a punch, allowing you to pick-up and play from just about anywhere. With its internal tracking system. Oculus Quest has also removed the need for external base stations. Many have complained about the starting price of $399, with the optional upgrade in hard drive turning into $499, but it is important to realise that we’re purchasing the entire system for that price. The headset is like the one-stop-shop for a VR gaming experience, placing the price pretty on par with other VR gaming options.

On the other hand, my favourite MR set is Samsung HMD Odyssey+ which has a very high resolution and also good sound quality. Controllers use bluetooth that runs off the headset, not the PC, so it isn’t an issue if you lack a bluetooth adapter on your PC. Compared to the older Samsung HMD Odyssey, one additional improvement that should have been a no-brainer is a “flashlight” function with the controller. These headsets have cameras built into them. When you use the flashlight function, you access the cameras and can look around you to make sure you don’t hit anything, which is way too common with other products. And lastly, it is easy to set up and use daily – once you have set up your perimeter, you just need to put on the headset, look to the sides and then at the ground, and it should load your setup and you’re good to go.

Dead Cells

Posted on January 21, 2020 by Kyzure

Description
What lies inside a prison is a corpse, or in fact, many corpses, which one of it is the protagonist, where the player plays as a decapitated head of green goo controlling this dead body, only to die and restart all over again with another corpse, repeating this insanity till what seems to be the end.

Dead Cells is an indie, Metroidvania rogue-like dungeon crawler with procedurally generated maps with different routes, making each and every run a whole different experience. In each run, the player will try to kill the King of the kingdom, but only to have the King explode, causing the player to return as the green blob, and restart again.

Info:
Official Website: https://dead-cells.com/
Gameplay Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lu5LSwznZKs

Lens #7: Elemental Tetrad

Mechanics:
The combat system of Dead Cells is relatively simple. The player is able to move bi-directionally and equip 2 different weapons and skills. As they progress along, the player becomes stronger by finding powerups by either defeating enemies or picking them off the ground.

With these functionalities, the player is to traverse a multi-biome map, defeating enemies which get progressively powerful. All in all, their goal is to simply defeat the King and “complete” the game.

However, each time the player finishes a run without dying, they can start a new run, but with increased difficulty and items. At the 4^thdefeat of the final boss, the player will be able to reach the true ending.

Story:
In this world, a spreadable disease known as the Malaise, has gloom across the kingdom, infecting and killing citizens. The King locks up and kills infected suspects, slowly losing his humanity. The protagonist plays as a single green blob to control a corpse and defeat this King.

What is truly amazing is how the game tells its story. Even though the developers did not really intend for a story for Dead Cells, they slid in areas and conversations in the game that tells the whole story instead of having forced, linear lore.

Aesthetics:
With each different biome, comes with a different background and environment, which changes the ambiance and how the player feels about the current place they are in. Using pixelated art rotoscoped over 3D models, they managed to create smooth and fluid animations, making the game feel extremely responsive.

Technology:
Dead Cells was made in Heaps and runs on, Linux, macOS, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, iOS, and Android.

Lens #18: Flow

Hand of the King – Final Boss from 0BC – 4BC

With the flickering number of enemies and each of their difficulty, the player will experience a surge of anxiety followed by relaxedness. In Dead Cells, the player will slowly defeat weaker enemies in the earlier biomes, which gradually becomes more difficult as the game reaches closer to the end, allowing the player to experience a constant flow.

There are two situations in which this form of excitement and tension mostly comes from. One is fighting a boss, and the other is opening a Cursed Chest. A Cursed Chest curses the player to instantly die upon getting hit by anything but provides a large form of reward that is simply impassable. Both situations will result in the player’s anxiety to rise, which causes their flow channel to constantly fluctuate, but enough so that they do not be overly stressed.

Lens #27, #31: Skill
How Dead Cells exploits the interest of people is by simply providing an extremely difficult challenge, rewarding those with talented mechanics and skills.

One of these skills required is mainly known as the “Hand-Eye Coordination”. Enemies in this game attack relentlessly, but they always form of indication to the player before their attacks, challenging the player’s ability to react at the correct time.

This single mechanic is what rules throughout the game, but as the game progresses, the player will be required to get better at it for the difficulty will be tinkered to a higher level.

Lens #33, #40, #41: Triangularity, Reward & Punishment

Dead Cells heavily incentives the risk that the players make. Here are two common situations where a large risk comes with strong punishment.

Cursed Chest: As stated, they cause instant death, but rewards hitless runs with powerups, ending the curse after defeating a set of enemies.

Powerups: Even the powerups have some form of risky take to them. One can either opt for more damage or health at a diminishing returns when going all out for either one. At this point, freedom is given to the player to choose whether they want survivability, or risk their small health to simply hit harder.

Although Dead Cells supports the idea of being risky, not all situations have a risk that comes with a reward. Sometimes, risk comes simply as a mechanism to complete the game itself. Like most rogue-like games, each time you lose, you only start back from the beginning, losing “almost” everything you have since your previous run.

It may seem unfair or even plain frustrating to reach the final boss, only to die to him and restart all over. But what dead cells do is that you gain more flexibility and power after each run. After each biome, the player can spend one of their currency, known as cells, to unlock new items, or improve every equipment in the game. This provides width and depth for the next run, ensuring the player will have something different to go with the next time they repeat. Hence death itself is actually a form of punishment for your current self, and a reward for your future self.

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