News::Steam is ready to play all your games in VR

Not too long ago Valve announced that it had a way to play all of your Steam games in virtual reality, rather than just those built solely for the medium. Well, it's officially out in beta form and if you're one of the lucky folks who already has an Oculus Rift or Vive Pre, you can take it for a spin right this moment. Valve says that any game that supports Steam Broadcast should work with Desktop Game Theater, but you might have to fiddle with graphics settings on a per-game basis to get everything working properly. Consider it the modern analog of jiggling the handle to get the giant virtual screen working in your VR cave.

Source: Steam Community

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News::Facebook Messenger has a hidden basketball game

March Madness is upon us, bringing dunks and layups galore as 68 college teams vie for the national championship. It's easy to get swept up in the hype, but if you're anything like me a trip to the court only ends in disappointment, rather than any spectacular recreation of a trick shot or buzzer beater. Instead, we recommend checking out Messenger Madness, a hidden game built into Facebook's chat app. Just send a basketball emoji to some friends and you can face off in a swipe-based shooting contest.

Source: Messenger (iOS), (Android)

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News::'Below' is hiding more mysteries than you think

Capybara Games made a classic mistake in the middle of developing its latest game: announcing the release date too early. Capy unveiled Below, a moody and mysterious exploration experience, back in 2013. A year later, the team revealed plans to release it in 2015 on Xbox One and PC.

And then, 2015 came and went.

"Microsoft gave us a really good opportunity to show it for the first time a long time ago," Capy Creative Director Kris Piotrowski explained during GDC this week. "Then we went home and kind of realized the game was like 100 times bigger and more complex than we anticipated."

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News::The Sulon Q has insane mixed reality ambitions

Earlier this week, Sulon Technologies unveiled the Sulon Q, which it claims is the world's first tether-free all-in-one headset that combines AR, VR and spatial computing in a single device. That means that instead of attaching it to a computer, like the Oculus Rift or the HTC Vive, or relying on a smartphone, like the Gear VR, the Q is a computer in and of itself -- it even has a battery pack attached. Think of it as wearing a computer on your face. On top of that, it also has a multitude of sensors that promise real-time hand-tracking and environment mapping. It all seems a little far-fetched, which could explain why Sulon released a "Magic Beans" video to demo the tech (see below). We also took the opportunity to speak to Sulon CEO Dhan Balachand here at GDC 2016 and tried the (non-working) headset on our heads.

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News::Head of Xbox Phil Spencer apologizes for sexist GDC party

The technology and video game industries have been unwelcoming to women in a variety of ways for years now, with the "booth babe" at big events being a prime example. Despite an ongoing backlash against such exclusionary tactics, Microsoft seemed to think it was appropriate to have a party last night at GCD featuring scantily-clad women as some form of entertainment, and the backlash has been swift -- so much so that head of Xbox Phil Spencer just released a statement apologizing for the event.

Via: The Verge, Crave

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News::Sony is reportedly developing a 'PlayStation 4.5' for 4K gaming

Microsoft isn't the only company considering a minor console refresh: Sony is also reportedly working on a slightly faster PlayStation 4 to deliver 4K gaming, Kotaku reports. Several developer sources have caught wind of the project, which they're unofficially calling the "PlayStation 4.5." Naturally, it's said to pack in more graphical horsepower, which it'll need to spit out games in 4K. And of course, that'll make it even more useful for PlayStation VR, which is currently limited by the PS4's aging hardware (and is facing stiff competition from the PC-powered Oculus Rift and HTC Vive).

Source: Kotaku

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News::How HTC and Valve built the Vive

Long before the Vive was born, both software developer Valve and phone manufacturer HTC were separately looking into virtual reality.

In 2012, VR was beginning to creep back into the public imagination. It started in May of that year, when id Software's John Carmack demoed a modified Oculus Rift running Doom 3. The following month, he took the Rift to a wider audience at the E3 games convention. By August, Palmer Luckey launched the Oculus Kickstarter campaign, and it broke records. Almost overnight, the Rift went from an intriguing prototype to a truly exciting reality. But while all of this was happening, Valve was already at work on its own solution.

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News::The world of weird video games at Alt.Ctrl.GDC

Video games aren't all about fancy graphics on HD televisions and high-end PCs. Back in the day, innovation relied partially on building better cabinets, ramps, buttons, joysticks and all manner of arcade-based hardware. This aspect of the industry hasn't disappeared -- the third-annual Alt.Ctrl.GDC exhibition at the Game Developers Conference is packed with outlandish new games that use wild, wacky and weird input methods.

We tried out a few of the games on display, such as Crank Tank, a two-person base-race game where each player controls a vehicle with a giant, wooden crank machine. There's also Hello, Operator!, which takes place at the helm of a refurbished telephone switchboard from the 1930s, and Please Stand By, a game that exists inside of a 1951 Capehart television, bunny-ear antennae and all.

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News::ICYMI: Spinal Cancer solution, self-lacing Nikes and more

Today on In Case You Missed It: Nike will sell widely-available self-lacing shoes by the Holiday season, though we have no idea how much they will cost. Researchers at the Mayo Institute developed a polymer that will let bone regrow on it after a spinal surgery. And Playstation VR will come to the masses in October, for $400.It's been a big week in tech news with SXSW and GDC. And of course, Apple has an announcement next Monday, so be prepared with our story, here. As always, please share any great tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @mskerryd.

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News::Fox Sports will broadcast FIFA's Interactive World Cup finale

Fox Sports announced on Thursday that it will televise the FIFA Interactive World Cup 2016. The E-sport tournament pits 32 "Grand Finalists" against one another in a three-day contest that will eventually crown the official FIWC 2016 world champion. Fox has made significant efforts lately to integrate modern technology into its sports coverage. The company announced earlier this year that it will record the Big East Men's Basketball Tournament -- as well as the Daytona 500 -- in virtual reality.

Source: Fox Sports

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News::Microsoft reveals gradient-hued 'Shadow' Xbox controllers

Special edition Xbox controllers aren't exactly breaking news, but Microsoft unveiled a pair that are pretty unique. The shadow design models come in "Copper Shadow" and "Dusk Shadow" hues that fade to black toward the bottom. They also have a faux-metallic finish, judging by a pair of videos tweeted out by Major Nelson (below). Otherwise, they're the same as regular controllers, but at $70 each, are $10 more expensive. In North and South America, you can get get both later this month at Microsoft's Store, or find the Copper Shadow model at Gamestop and Dusk Shadow variant at Best Buy. It'll hit the rest of the world in April.

Source: Microsoft

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