Well that’s our bubble burst. We were all gearing up for Microsoft’s big Project Scorpio reveal at E3 tomorrow, when just a few days ago the company confirmed it wasn’t going to share details about the refreshed Xbox One’s VR support. E3 just got significantly less interesting for the VR industry, it seems.
This is just the latest example of Microsoft throwing a wrench into our Scorpio VR predictions. A year ago when the console was first announced we’d have put money on a partnership with Oculus to bring the Rift to the console. Then, when Microsoft introduced its mixed reality PC headsets later that year, we were sure these would be the devices we would one day play Halo in VR with. With those headsets gearing up for launch, E3 seemed like a perfect time to flaunt their features. Well, apparently not, and there’s yet another mystery to decipher now.
It makes perfect sense for Microsoft to throw down the gauntlet to Sony’s PlayStation VR (PSVR) at this year’s show and exhibit its flashy new VR support for all the world to see. Instead they’d rather spoil our E3 predictions and give us another hint that will have us asking questions for the rest of the year. Speaking to Polygon, the company’s Alex Kipman noted that Microsoft’s vision of VR on console was wireless.
The problem is, all of its new mixed reality headsets have wires.
Does that mean we’ve got yet another headset on the way? It certainly seems like it at this time. Microsoft clearly has faith in the growing movement of headsets that connect to powerful machines over wifi, which can currently be seen with kits like TPCast’s Vive upgrade and others. Is the company developing its own proprietary system for this? Or is it partnering with others like it has done with its PC headsets. It’s speculation on our part, but AMD is powering the new Scorpio with customised parts, and earlier this year it bought up wireless VR company Nitero; we could easily see the two teaming up once more to offer a speedy wireless solution for Scorpio.
If that is the case and the Scorpio headset can also offer reliable inside-out tracking then that means big things for VR on Xbox One. We haven’t been overly impressed with the MR headsets we’ve got our hands on so far but if Microsoft was to assemble a more premium device that we could play games like Fallout 4 VR on, then it might just be one of the most definitive and excellent VR platforms yet. The only question is cost; if Scorpio is going to be a premium console, how many customers will be willing to go the extra mile and lay down even more money for a VR headset too? That’s not a question unique to Microsoft, of course.
There are plenty of other questions we need to answer alongside these. Will Microsoft’s new six degrees of freedom controllers (6DOF) support the device or is there yet another new form of input on the way? Will it have a resolution bump over current headsets? What games will support it and how will it mix with Windows 10 VR?
We feel like we’re back to square one with Scorpio’s VR support. While the promise of wireless VR is an exciting one, we’re getting a little impatient waiting to see what’s under the curtain. Maybe next E3 we’ll finally find out.
