Virtual Reality (VR) has become one of the buzzwords in the consumer technology space, and is being viewed in many quarters as the next frontier in entertainment. Tech enthusiasts and industry observers alike believe that Virtual Reality could potentially revolutionize the smart wearables category and redefine what constitutes immersive gaming. Hence, it should not come as a surprise to anyone to see various companies jumping into the fray with hardware and software offerings, as analysts predict an impending boom in the segment. While Samsung has already launched the second iteration of its Gear VR headset based on the Oculus VR platform, Sony has also shown off the “Project Morpheus” headset which promises to offer immersive gaming with PlayStation titles. HTC is also prepping the launch of the much-anticipated Vive headset based on Valve Corporation’s SteamVR, which has already gotten support from the world’s largest game development engine, Unreal Engine 4.
While major multinational consumer electronics companies are hard at work, trying to come up with that killer product which they hope will differentiate them from competition, game developers, big and small, are also burning the midnight oil, developing virtual reality titles. One such optimistic indie game developer is Vertigo Games, a company which seems to be betting heavily on the success of the SteamVR platform. It has now become one of the first companies to announce a title for the HTC Vive headset. The game is a first person shooter (FPS) with a zombie apocalypse theme and is called Arizona Sunshine. While the merits of game itself can only be determined after it’s formally launched, what will be interesting is how VR gaming will change the way we’ve been gaming thus far on our PCs, consoles and handheld devices. The ability to actually get inside the virtual world with the feeling of being surrounded by the undead may in itself be the rush that gamers and adrenaline junkies might be signing up for.
According to the company, “Arizona Sunshine is a VR shooter built and optimized for room-scale VR from the ground up. Step into the midst of a zombie apocalypse as if you were really there, and defend yourself against enemies close enough to touch. A custom-built physical animation system makes striking your undead enemies more thrilling and satisfying than ever before”. While Vertigo Games is yet to declare an official launch date, the company has released recommended PC specifications for the game. With a fourth generation Intel Core i5 4590 CPU, 8 GB of DDR4 RAM and NVIDIA GTX 970 / AMD 290 GPU being listed as recommended minimum requirements, it looks as though you need a fairly new mid to high-end gaming desktop to be able to unlock the title’s full potential. The game will also not support anything under Windows 7 or DirectX 11.
