Zotac has a portable VR-powering backpack PC, because why the hell not?
Consider this a prediction: It’s only going to get more portable from here on out. Computer hardware manufacturer Zotac has revealed that they’re working on a VR-ready PC. Unlike the weighty desktops that we can expect to be powering the Oculus and HTC Vive, Zotac’s setup puts one of their ZBOX PCs into a backpack. The point is to get users experience mobile virtual reality by removing the cables that could wind up winding you up, right before your newly-tied legs bring you crashing to the ground. While you can see it in action above, we don’t know much else about it. When Zotac will be launching the backpack PC, how much it will cost or exactly which components they’ve selected for the interior – that information will come later.
Source: Zotac (YouTube)
Steam: Not just for games any more – Now you can stream Lionsgate movies
Did you know that you can rent films from gaming platform Steam? You might, they’ve had anime available for a while (but not here in South Africa, sadly). Now, Lionsgate has announced that a selection of their motion pictures will be available on Steam, for the sum of R30 each (on average). For this, you’ll have 48 hours to watch the film once you’ve started it. Lionsgate’s more premium presentations (Kill Bill, The Hunger Games) are available overseas but South Africans seem to be stuck with the Leprechaun series and other less well-known films for the moment. Still, it’s a start, right? Lionsgate intends to release more films to the platform at a later stage so we should see the library being bumped up over time.
Source: Steam
Blackroom, a shooter from John Romero and Adrian Carmack, is on Kickstarter
John Romero was instrumental in turning the first-person shooter genre into the powerhouse it is today. Hearing that he’s getting together with Adrian Carmack (not John) to make a new FPS called Blackroom, funded via Kickstarter, should be enough for some gamers to plonk down their $30 for the digital download (once funded and developed) for the expected-in-2018 release. Or $10,000 for the top-tier Kickstarter reward, which includes level design lessons with John Romero and an invitation to the launch party. Blackroom revolves around a virtual reality technology that lets players play in almost any environment (a plot point which will help modders to get creative) and that technology has gone wrong somehow. It’s up to players, and a large amount of ballistic weaponry (plus rocket-jumps) to set things right. They’ve raised $77,000 of $700,000 so far.
Source: Kickstarter
The Technomancer is looking like a surprise sci-fi hit
Focus Home Interactive have long been a budget game publisher, with the Cities XL series being the jewel in their crown once upon a time. Those that dismiss a company like this have forgotten that Activision and Ubisoft were once dinky little startups and then purveyors of shovelware before they hit it huge. The Technomancer, a science-fiction third-person RPG set on Mars, casts he player as an electricity-wielding soldier of sorts who has access to four different skill trees and a whole lot of moral story-changing. How you approach the game will dictate your results. Catch the gameplay video to see just how detailed The Technomancer is looking. Oddly enough, it puts us in mind of The Witcher II: Assassins of Kings. Expect it at the end of June this year.
Source: Focus Home Interactive
