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First Look at Virtual Reality Minecraft At Xbox Showcase

First look at virtual reality Minecraft at Xbox showcase Dave Lee North America technology reporter



1 March 2016



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Millions of gamers enjoy Minecraft. Microsoft now shows us how virtual reality can be created.



Microsoft bought the block-building phenomenon in 2014 for $2.5bn (PS1.8bn) This was an incredible deal that left players worried about its future.



The US firm said it would not harm its well-known formula, but instead invest in Minecraft.



The Xbox division showcased the virtual reality version of Minecraft at a San Francisco event.



Palmer Luckey, creator and designer of Oculus Rift VR headset said that it makes you feel like you are in Minecraft.



It's similar to many VR experiences. It's completely immersive. For those who are enthralled by Minecraft's addictive build process, it's a huge step up from watching it on a regular screen.



For a game that's played by youngsters, there's a price that might worry parents that is $1,500.



That's the suggested amount they'll need if they want to buy an Oculus Rift headset as well as an operating system that can power it.



It's surely too expensive, so I suggested to Mr Luckey.



He replied, "It isn’t."



"I mean, it is expensive relative to everything else in the world but if you look at it compared to a mobile phone or television, you're getting a lot more technology.



"It's not as if this is a simple piece of hardware and the cost is going to fall in time."



It's going to need to be taken down pretty sharp-ish for it to be adopted by the mass media in the near future.



I am expecting a small revival of the arcade games. It is a place where people can go to play high-end video games that they can't afford to buy for themselves.



Big titles



Oculus Minecraft was just one of several games that were on display at the Xbox Spring Showcase. This gave journalists (and some YouTube stars) the opportunity to play a few of tomorrow's blockbusters.



I lost an hour within the enthralling world of Quantum Break. It's a video game in which you play Jack Joyce, an uncooperative action hero who acquires the ability to manipulate time after an experiment that went wrong.



It may sound like a similar game however the game's mechanics make it unique.



Also, make sure you go to Tom Clancy's The Division -- set in a meticulously accurate-to-life Manhattan.



Many of the titles on show were also being pushed as being great for play on PCs, thanks to Microsoft's Windows 10 operating system.



"If you look at the figures, PC gaming is the fastest-growing segment of gaming out there," said head of Xbox Phil Spencer.



"It's normal to focus on gaming on Windows."



Virtual plans



In the realm of virtual reality, Microsoft has opted not to create its own headset - although it is working on the augmented reality-focused Hololens - but is instead working to make itself compatible with the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive.



In the debate over price, Mr Spencer declared that he believed that virtual reality will follow the model of high-definition televisions which are a luxury item to begin with, but hard to resist once you've experienced it.



He said, "The early adopters of VR will be there to spur the industry."



I asked Microsoft if it might make its own VR headset considering that Sony's PlayStation 4 will soon get its own VR headset.



"I definitely think it could be a part of our roadmap," he said. But he stressed the current focus was on creating Windows 10 fully-compatible with high-end VR games.
MINECRAFT SKINS


'Not hacked'



New games aren't worth anything in the absence of players who can play them online. This has been a challenge.



Poor reliability on Xbox Live - the service Xbox gamers use to play each other over the internet has resulted in the stressing of thousands.



Snoop Dogg is one of the fans who are disgruntled. He has pleaded with Bill Gates to fix the problem, or he would change to PlayStation.



Mr. Spencer apologized for the issues.



"It's evidently always regrettable," he said.



"This last outage was a concern, we learned from it. We knew exactly what was at issue, it just took a little more time that we would like."



He denied that the company was the victim of hacking and claimed that even though its network was constantly under attack it wasn't, as was claimed, destroyed by an organized effort to cause gamers to be disconnected.



The risk of losing Snoop Dogg: "Snoop's been an avid player for a long time, and a loyal patron of Xbox.



"I understand when people are upset. I view it as an expression of the love and devotion people have to what we are as a game platform."



Follow Dave Lee on Twitter @DaveLeeBBC and on Facebook



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