The Game Developers Conference is in full swing folks and as expected, VR is a hot topic this year. One of the earliest to take the stage, HTC introduced some brand new VR titles including one that allows you to play Ping-Pong in virtual reality using the HTC Vive VR headset.
HTC has been having a good run so far at the GDC. The company’s Vive platform was voted as the top development platform for VR after a survey. And indeed, HTC has been working hard to ensure that its platform was home to as many titles as possible,. The company’s efforts are slowly paying off and the Vive now hosts over 1,300 titles.
Coming back to Ping-Pong, well, one of the best things with VR is that it can actually make you get off your butt and exercise somewhat. Ping-Pong for Vive places you in different setting and has you play against the computer in a fierce battle that involves preventing a red ball from falling off the table. It might interest you to know that games like these are so hard to make not because of the graphics (although that ain’t a piece of cake either) but because of the physics. Where does the ball go when you hit it, how does gravity make it fall down and so on and so forth.
In this particular instance, the physics behind the game was provided by Free Range. Meanwhile, the game will launch on the Viveport on March the 14th.
Meanwhile HTC demoed some other games as well, including a first person shooter. Apart from all the frolic, the company also showed off a 3D Modeling tool that allows you to design stuff in virtual reality. You can 3D print you designs later. Quite a place for inventing some cool stuff right? This particular app hits the Viveport near the end of the month.
Meanwhile, brush up those Ping-Pong skills.
