The Electronic Entertainment Expo is upon us once again, so I’ll be spending this blog exploring what we can expect to see and learn that’s most relevant to the field of game audio from this year’s big convention.
Virtual Reality
The impending releases of three virtual reality systems should make things especially interesting on the E3 show floor, and it will be awesome to see and hear what these systems have to offer. Let’s take a look at what we might expect from the three top VR systems, as well as a possible surprise VR reveal that might happen next week.
Project Morpheus
PlayStation president of worldwide studios Shuhei Yoshida has already announced that several internally developed VR games for the Morpheus headset will be unveiled during E3, and we also learned during the 3D Audio in VR talk at the Shayla Games VR Jam in Denmark that the Morpheus will now incorporate an audio system involving Head-Related Transfer Function (HRTF was discussed in this blog during a previous post about audio in VR). It should be interesting to see if this HRTF system is implemented into the hardware that will be demonstrating on the E3 show floor. The latest model of the Morpheus doesn’t include built-in headphones, as you’ll see in this video demo that TechCrunch released last month. The demo discusses the capabilities of the hardware, including its audio functionality:
Oculus Rift
The newest model of the Oculus Rift, the famous Crescent Bay, offers 3D audio through a set of built-in headphones. Here’s an interview that Oculus CEO Brendan Iribe gave to Gamecrate during the ever-popular Consumer Electronics Show 2015 about the new VR audio features of the Oculus Rift.
HTC Vive
The HTC Vive doesn’t currently offer built-in headphones, but the developer assures us that the final consumer version will offer integrated 3D audio. The current model offers the user the option to connect their own high-end headphones to the Vive. E3 attendees may get to see how aurally immersive that can be by playing Arizona Sunshine, a game designed for the Vive and set in a genre so famous and pervasive that its appearance in the VR world was inevitable: the apocalyptic zombie shooter. The game was announced on May 21st by its developer, Vertigo Games, and it’s a good bet that the game could be showing on the E3 exhibit floor. Here’s a look at a trailer for Arizona Sunshine:
Microsoft VR System
Finally, the rumor mill is swirling around speculation that Microsoft may officially reveal its own virtual reality headset system during this year’s E3.
Audio exhibitors at E3
The Electronic Entertainment Expo is an opportunity for consumer audio hardware manufacturers to show off most of their top products, so let’s take a look at what this year’s exhibitors are offering.
Astro Gaming
- A50 XBox One Edition Headset, 2nd Generation
- A50 Astro Edition Headset & TX, 2nd Generation
- A40 Xbox One Edition Headset + MixAmp M80
- A40 Astro Edition Headset + Mixamp, 2nd Generation
- A40 Astro Edition Headset + Mixamp, 2nd Generation
- A40 PC Edition Headset, 2nd Generation
- A38 Astro Bluetooth Wireless Headset
- MixAmp Pro, 2nd Generation
dreamGEAR
- Prime Wired Headset for PS4
- Universal Elite Wired Headset
Performance Designed Products
- Afterglow Karga Headset for Xbox One
- Afterglow Fener Premium Wireless Headset for PS4
- Afterglow Kral Wireless Headset for PS4
- Afterglow Nur Headset
- Afterglow PS4 Bluetooth Communicator
Plantronics
- RIG Gaming Audio System
- RIG Surround Sound Gaming System
- RIG Flex
- GameCom 788 Gaming Headset
- GameCom 388 Gaming Headset
Polk Audio
- Striker Zx Xbox One Gaming Headset
- Striker P1 Multiplatform Gaming Headset
- N1 Gaming Sound Bar
- 4 Shot Xbox One Gaming Headset
Turtle Beach
- Turtle Beach Elite 800X Gaming Headset for Xbox One
- Turtle Beach Stealth 500X headset for Xbox One
- Turtle Beach XO Seven Pro
- Turtle Beach XO Four Stealth
- Turtle Beach Call of Duty Online PC Gaming Headset