PC gaming news and reviews

The latest PC gaming news and reviews of gaming PC hardware, software and accessories.

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Logitech's new stylus is built for VR
Architects, product designers and concept artists just got a ground-breaking new tool in their creative arsenals: Logitech's VR Ink Pilot Edition, the world's first VR stylus that draws on both two-dimensional surfaces and in the air in three-dimensional room-scale spaces. Unlike previous iterations of similar technology -- usually unwieldy controllers -- this stylus puts all the power in the designer's fingertips for complete precision and accuracy.
Qualcomm made a headset to remind the world it has an AR chip
Last year, Qualcomm unveiled the Snapdragon XR1 chip just for virtual reality devices, but so far, we haven't seen any headsets built to use it. Now, for Augmented World Expo, the company has released its own "Smart Viewer Reference Design" headset in order to reduce AR and VR headset development time. It looks to hold a lot of potential, packing just about every feature you'd want in a VR/AR wearable.
Trolls swamp unused Twitch category with pirated shows and porn
Twitch just learned first-hand about the challenges of moderating live video. Trolls have hijacked the site's largely unused category for Valve's Artifact (which previously had few if any streamers) to livestream material that most definitely violated Twitch's terms of service. Motherboard noted that it started out with memes, but on Memorial Day weekend included pirated Game of Thrones episodes, porn and in one case video from the Christchurch mass shooting.
HP’s latest VR Backpack swaps gaming for the workplace
HP is still trying to make VR backpacks happen. But its latest offering, unlike its 2017 release, is intended for workplace scenarios such as training and VR development instead of gaming, and packs a powerful punch for tether-free VR creativity.
Sony envisions 'clothes' with haptic feedback for PSVR
Sony might have grander virtual reality ambitions for the PlayStation 5 beyond a headset and traditional controllers to let you play games Ready Player One-style in a body suit. It filed a patent for a VR glove with haptic feedback, and suggested it may even bring the tech to other clothing, meaning you could potentially "touch" an in-game item when you pick it up, feel every blow in Call of Duty or get a sense of what it's like to be sacked in Madden.
'Vader Immortal' is the Star Wars VR game I've been waiting for
Star Wars and virtual reality always seemed like the perfect mix. Long before the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive were released a few years ago, I was eager to slip on a VR headset, hop in a rusty smuggler ship and wield a light saber of my own. While we've seen a few stabs at Star Wars VR experiences, they've either been too simplistic or hard to access. But just as I was about to give up hope, along comes a guy cloaked in black, carrying a red light saber. It turns out, Darth Vader was my Star Wars VR savior.
Valve is making its own version of 'Dota Auto Chess'
Dota 2's hugely popular custom game mode Dota Auto Chess is set to get not one but two standalone spin-offs. Dota 2's publisher Valve made the announcement on its blog this week, noting that its developers loved the mod so much the company invited creators Drodo Studio for a visit to discuss how they could work together.
Now there's a dedicated Steam Chat app for Android and iOS
Last year Valve released Steam Chat for the desktop, and now its messaging service is fully mobile with a dedicated app for Android and iOS. Naturally, it cribs the desktop version's features, including: Friends List - See who's in game or online at a glance. Never miss an opportunity to play. Rich Chat - Your chats get even better with higher fidelity links, videos, tweets, GIFs, Giphy, Steam emoticons, and more. Invite Links - Add new friends on Steam with a link. Generate an invite link you can text or email. Customizable Notifications - Mobile notifications mean you'll never miss a message or game invite. You can customize your notifications per friend, group chat, and chat channel. Group Chats - Get everyone on the same page. Groups make it easier to do things like stay in touch with your communities and organize game night with your best friends. You'll have to try it out to see if that's enough to pull people away from other options like Discord, but at least now there's proper competition and voice chat should be the next feature added. According to Valve, now that Steam Chat has its own app, and Steam Link is available on both mobile platforms, the main Steam Mobile app will see upgrades that focus on security. Expect to see a better Steam Guard soon, with one-touch login, QR codes and the like.
Play 'Doctor Who: The Edge of Time' in VR this September
While you can't warp time to see the twelfth season of Doctor Who any sooner, this September, you'll be able to dive into the show in a new way. BBC Studios is bringing the series to life as a VR video game, Doctor Who: The Edge of Time. This is the second recent VR interpretation of the classic -- earlier this month BBC released The Runaway, a short animated VR film. And it could be yet another consolation for fans who are eagerly awaiting the next season, set to air in early 2020.
Epic Mega Sale loses two pre-order titles on day one
Yesterday, Epic launched a "mega sale," offering games at up to 75 percent off and additional $10 credits for purchases over $14.99. It looked like Epic was preparing to go head-to-head with the Steam Sale, which is scheduled to arrive at the end of June. But by the end of the day, fans noticed two titles mysteriously vanished from the Epic Store, and the price of another seemed to increase.
YouTube VR will be available for Oculus Quest at launch
You won't be lacking in video when the Oculus Quest arrives. YouTube has announced that its VR app will be available for the Quest when the headset debuts on May 21st. There's no mention of technical advantages over the YouTube VR app on the Oculus Go, but that's not really the point -- you don't need six degrees of freedom to watch a National Geographic series. This is more about ensuring that you're a YouTube viewer from day one.
Valve releases Steam Link app for iPhone, iPad and Apple TV
PC gaming is ready to meet iOS, now that Valve's Steam Link app is available for Apple's devices. You can even play them on your TV easily via the Apple TV, streamed right from your PC. Apple had blocked its release last year, but evidently that has been worked out -- likely because you can't purchase games with it anymore -- and you can grab it from the App Store now. Valve has also renamed "In-Home Streaming" as simply Remote Play in the latest beta Steam release, so that it's the same whether you're using it at home or beta testing it from further away. As long as the connection is good enough, it will work. When Steam Link launched you needed another PC or dedicated hardware, but apps for iOS, Android and even Raspberry Pi are making it much more widely available. It's not quite cloud-streamed gaming, but anyone with a Steam account full of games, a decent connection and any of those devices suddenly has a lot more options for how they're going to play.
ARM display chip design could lead to better stand-alone VR
Now that stand-alone virtual reality has become more of a... reality, ARM wants to eliminate some of the technology's remaining headaches. It's launching a new display chip design, the Mali-D77, that aims to both fix visual artifacts and improve performance. It can reduce motion sickness by re-projecting scenes (to adjust for the headset's position) and correcting lens artifacts like distortion and chromatic aberration. Your VR headset might also last longer on battery power -- ARM expects a 12 percent power savings and a 40 percent drop in bandwidth.
VR puzzle game 'Moss' gets new missions for the Oculus Quest
To celebrate the release of wireless VR headset Oculus Quest, Polyarc is releasing new content for Moss, the adorable puzzle adventure that's made waves on the VR gaming landscape. Our swashbuckling mouse heroine Quill will now be able to explore the Twilight Garden, a new chapter that unveils vast new chambers, a fresh realm of puzzles, unknown enemies and unique weaponry. The Twilight Garden, along with the rest of Moss, will be available for Oculus Quest when the headset launches on May 21st. Players on other platforms, including PlayStation VR, Oculus Rift/S, HTC Vive and Windows MR will get the update for free in June.
Lenovo launches ThinkReality AR and VR headset for enterprises
Lenovo is continuing its expansion into new, unexpected categories outside of its PC business and today the company announced it's launching a new AR-and-VR system targeted at businesses. It's called ThinkReality, and from the looks and description of the device and platform, it looks like a competitor for Microsoft's HoloLens.
Hugo Barra is no longer in charge of Facebook VR
Facebook's executive shuffle in its VR team continues. The company's vice president of VR, Hugo Barra, is stepping down from the role to take a new position "building a global AR/VR partner ecosystem" within the company. Erick Tseng, Facebook's current product management director, will fill Barra's shoes by assuming the newly created role of head of VR product management. He's the "right person" for the job thanks to his experiences both at Facebook and leading the Android product team at Google, a spokesperson said.
A virtual cave got me excited about the future of social VR
Inside the Future Reality Lab at New York University, there is a cart with 50 headsets on it. It sits by a 10-by-10-foot square that's sometimes used as a motion-capture stage for the lab's offshoot startup Parallux and its ambitious projects in VR and XR (cross reality). The team's latest effort is Cave, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival's Immersive Arcade, and uses what Parallux is calling "a new shared XR technology."
'Hardcore History' host Dan Carlin wants you to relive WW1 in VR
With his hit podcast, Hardcore History, Dan Carlin brought his love for the past to the masses. It was only a matter of time until he wanted to move beyond audio -- but instead of moving into the crowded world of documentaries, he turned to VR. War Remains, his first virtual reality project which debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival this week, puts you right in the trenches of World War I. And it's more than just another VR short: Co-producers MWM Immersive built a massive installation for the experience, allowing you to touch and feel the virtual environments in real life. (Thankfully, without recreating the smells of mud, death and gunfire.)
Oculus Rift S review: Just another tethered VR headset
Who needs the Rift S, really? That's the question I kept asking myself as I tested out the latest PC VR headset from Oculus. It's not a sequel to the original Rift, which helped kick off the modern VR era in a spectacular way. And even calling it an incremental upgrade isn't quite right -- there's some new tech, like built-in sensors, but it's also worse than the Rift in some ways. So while the $399 Rift S could be a good option for a VR newcomer with a gaming PC, it might make more sense just to find a discounted Rift.
Nintendo Labo VR review: Cute, cardboard and kinda boring
Virtual reality devotees scoffed at the introduction of Google Cardboard five years ago: Why would anyone settle for such a limited, feeble-looking piece of paper when "real" headsets were on the horizon? But Cardboard was never about competing with Oculus Rift or HTC Vive. Instead, it was a way to give non-early adopters a low-cost taste of immersive technology. Years later Cardboard has faded into the background as the VR scene has taken off, but Nintendo never forgot about the promise of low-tech VR. Labo VR builds on both the initial ideas of Cardboard and the inaugural Labo sets to create a unique, endearing and most important, playful experience.

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