XR = eXtended Reality (everything VR, AR, MR)

🥳 But there’s more:

More Mixed Reality games are coming.

CES Las Vegas saw some new XR devices launched (from Sony, Samsung and others), including a VR… monitor?

enVISION your gaming (see what I did there?):

Welcome to XR Gamer Digest #3

XR Games

🤩 Discounts: Don’t forget you can get up to 25% discounts when you buy a game from the Meta Quest store. Go here and look for your game (we’re not affiliated with the website, but it’s a great tool).

 🧱 For some reason or another, I just found 2 reviews for Lego Bricktales. I love the game for its Mixed Reality and you might as well (review 1 and review 2)

😇 Townsmen VR is the first Quest 3 only game. It’s a strategic city-building with ‘god-sim’ elements (if you played games a long time, Black and White is your comparison one).

🏎️ Micro Machines are coming to your device! Micro Machines: Mini Challenge Mayhem is the official game for Hasbro’s… Micro Machines 😁 Here’s the trailer.

🚗 There’s a similar title called Track Craft on App Lab, in case you want to test something that’s really well reviewed by users.

🔉 For all the music people out-there, especially for those that grew up with Winamp visualizations, Effex is the app for you. It brings the visualizations into your own space and it does it in style. Here’s a trailer to get an idea.

🔋 Tech tip: I’m sure I’m not the only one that had to stop a gaming session on my Quest 3 because of low battery. Here are some tips on how to extend the battery life.

⏬ And don’t forget! If you have the Meta Quest+ subscription, you can download the games for January 2024: Nock: Bow + Arrow Football and Richie's Plank Experience.

Apple’s Vision Pro

🥽 Since Apple just announced the launch date (Feb 2) of the REALLY expensive Vision Pro ($3,499 and more), here’s some more info on it:

▶️ Did you see the really good ad for Vision Pro? (it’s Apple, after all, right?). “Get ready!” on YouTube

🕹️ Every AR/VR confirmed game for Vision Pro so far. Among them Demeo, What the Golf (potentially an MR version) and Just Hoops.

🥽🥽I didn’t expect this: there’s already a cheap Chinese Vision Pro Knockoff. And someone actually tested it.

🖱️ Safari browsing apparently works amazing on the Vision Pro, according to a leaked video. The video was removed from X already, so here’s another one.

🔎 Finally, once you forked at least $3,499 for your Vision Pro, you might need to add at least $149 if you wear prescription lenses.

XR Industry News

🍾 CES is going strong and there are some more XR devices launched that might deserve a little bit of attention:

• Air 2 Ultra AR Glasses from Xreal

• Sony reveals standalone MR Headset (for industrial use, apparently, not PlayStation games)

• Samsung revealed a… monitor to play VR games (I’m truly confused).

💰 Even though they are popular, VR games still have difficulties being profitable. Eye of the Temple managed that only when launched on Quest, while Revolution Games had to rely on amazing quality to be profitable. And Journey to Foundation developer confirmed some layoffs.

🤑 On the other hand, hardware is still interesting. Rokid raised $70M for spatial computing (the fancy way of saying Mixed Reality).

📈 And there’s still good potential news and opportunities in the space since a study says XR revenue might reach $70 billion by 2027.

Until next time, enjoy your other reality gaming!

Bobby Voicu