GamesBeat roundup: VR breaks out with Google Daydream, PSVR, and Oculus

Welcome to another GamesBeat weekly roundup! Google and Oculus kept us busy with their virtual reality announcements, and we also got to review the anticipated shooter Gears of War 4.

Happy reading, and have a great weekend!

Pieces of flair and opinion

• The DeanBeat: How Oculus’ Mike Abrash took my mind off Palmer Luckey
• How PlayStation VR is worse than HTC Vive and Oculus Rift
• How PlayStation VR is better than HTC Vive and Oculus Rift
• PlayStation VR is almost useless without the camera
• PlayStation VR has a 10-foot problem
• Nintendo’s history with 3D goes far beyond the 3DS

Above: Oculus wireless standalone Santa Cruz prototype.

Image Credit: Oculus

News

• Plants vs Zombies creator George Fan creates zany new title Octogeddon
• Everything Oculus announced today: Touch controller launch date, social VR, the VR web, and more
• Palmer Luckey a no-show at Oculus Connect keynote as Facebook takes the lead
• Disney is coming to Oculus Rift
• Metro: Last Light devs shoot into VR with Arktika.1
• Oculus shows off $500 PC as prices start coming down for VR
• Oculus will pay royalty fees for Rift games using Epic’s Unreal Engine
• Oculus Touch launches December 6 for $200
• Facebook and Oculus promise millions in funding for diverse apps, education, and more for VR
• Oculus shows off Avatars, Parties, and virtual reality Rooms
• Oculus is working on a standalone VR headset
• Oculus Touch controllers will ship by end of 2016
• Universal Pictures gets rights to make Gears of War film
• Ubisoft relaunches Uplay Store in time for Watch Dogs 2
• Washington state tells Valve to ‘stop facilitating gambling’
• VR guru John Carmack offers his candid opinions on virtual reality apps
• Blizzard, Infinity Ward vets raise $5 million to make VR games
• Kerbal Space Program will live on as key staff leave the rocket simulator behind
• Blizzard claims director never said World of Warcraft has 10.1 million subscribers
• Heroes of the Storm follows Hearthstone, Overwatch with a Hero Brawl mode
• Juniper Research: VR hardware market will hit $50 billion by 2021
• Pokémon Sun and Moon demo coming on October 18
• SteelSeries promises ‘flagship-level’ comfort, mic, and sound in its Arctis gaming headsets
• PlayStation Network is down intermittently for some on PS4
• Bing boosts esports support, starting with Counter-Strike and League of Legends
• Xbox Live Arena brings daily tournaments to Xbox One preview
• PlayStation Home developer will launch a game with PlayStation VR
• Fans will be able to 3D print custom Skylanders characters

Mobile and social

• Mobile advertisers are spreading their ad budgets to Android
• ‘The Walking Dead’ is getting mobile game from the Game of Thrones: Ascent studio
• Skillz claims adding esports to mobile games boosts revenue
• Gree International buys mobile role-playing game Dragon Soul
• Toca Boca unveils Toca TV video streaming service for kids in 150 countries
• Pop ’til you drop with Wooga’s Bubble Island 2: World Tour
• Ex-Runescape devs announce Lightseekers, an ambitious-but-risky take on Skylanders (update)
• Newzoo: Mobile games will make 82% of global app revenues this year
• NYU students take you into a clockmaker’s workshop with mobile game Cognition
• Level Ex lets doctors practice virtual surgery in a mobile app
• Pokémon Go reclaims top-grossing spot on iPhone
• From Stanford roots, Omlet Arcade has become a fast-growing mobile social network for gamers
• Google’s Daydream will have a J.K. Rowling Fantastic Beasts VR app
• Google reveals its Daydream VR headset, which launches in November for $79
• Words With Friends downloads grew 74% on iPhone after launching on the App Store for iMessage
• Al Jazeera English’s #Hacked mobile game takes you inside the Syrian cyberwar

Above: Squad firefight in Gears of War 4.

Image Credit: Microsoft

Previews, reviews, and interviews

• Oculus exec explains the thinking behind the standalone Rift prototype
• Hands-on with the Oculus Santa Cruz standalone VR prototype
• Watch us play with Sony’s PlayStation VR
• Funomena’s Robin Hunicke believes in games with intentional play
• Epic Games’ Robo Recall is an intense and funny action VR game
• Gears of War 4’s Horde mode is more intense than ever before
• Gears of War 4 could build a new generation of fans for chainsaw bayonets
• PlayStation VR is the headset that most people should buy (impressions)
• Watch us play Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Remastered