Despite attracting tremendous public interest, the Xbox One and Oculus Rift combo might not be available anytime soon, but Microsoft is working closely with Oculus Rift, which shows signs of a promising but possibly long start.
So far, E3 2015 viewers have gathered that players can expect to play in a virtual-reality living room by streaming games through Windows 10 to the Rift. These games include the Xbox One version of Paranormal Activity VR, which is scheduled for release in May 2016. Microsoft will also offer a Windows 10 Minecraft version that's compatible with Oculus Rift.
Eager players are wondering why it's going to take a long time before the virtual reality and console combo comes, and it's not like the Xbox One isn't equipped with the necessary specs to run virtual reality games, not to mention that Samsung is going to release a VR peripheral that can run using a Samsung 2015-model smartphone.
"What we were finding is that it's hard enough to deliver a great experience reliably on Windows, never mind adding OS X and Linux to that, which are different beasts entirely," said Nate Mitchell, vice president of product and co-founder of Oculus, in an interview with Polygon.
The retail version of Oculus Rift is confirmed to have an Xbox One controller, and Microsoft says that Windows 10 will natively support the virtual reality peripheral, calling it the best platform to play games using Oculus Rift. Microsoft also intends to replace Xbox One's operating system with Windows 10, which caused fans to speculate that the Oculus will probably work natively with the console as well. However, Microsoft has put a stop to the circulating rumors.
"We've said that Xbox One will be able to stream games through Windows 10 to the Rift, letting you play Xbox One games in your own virtual reality cinema. This means you can play your favorite Xbox games on a cinema screen in VR - it will be like playing games in your very own theater. We have nothing further to share at this time," says a Microsoft spokesperson.
It seems that Microsoft isn't planning on focusing on the Xbox One and Oculus Rift mix, but the company is working on the virtual reality gear's integration with Windows 10.
Photo: Mack Male | Flickr
