Fallout 4 In Virtual Reality Will Blow Minds At E3 2017
And lo, it has begun. E3 2017, this year's edition of North America's biggest video game trade show, is still three months away, and yet publishers and developers are already starting to talk about the event. First aboard the hype train is Bethesda Game Studios, which recently told Hip Hop Gamer that a virtual reality incarnation of Fallout 4 will appear at the show, and it will "blow your mind."
The announcement comes via Bethesda Softworks vice president Pete Hines, who can't play virtual reality games himself thanks to motion sickness, but passed on some choice words from Fallout 4 game director Todd Howard. "Fallout 4 VR is the most incredible thing you've ever seen in your life," Hines quotes Howard. "You can't even imagine what it's like, playing in VR and how realistic it looks and everywhere you turn your head... It is the craziest thing you've ever seen."
Currently, Fallout 4 VR is scheduled for release on the HTC Vive, and it should be out sometime this year. Bethesda has yet to say whether or not the game will come to competing virtual reality platforms like the Oculus Rift and Sony's PlayStation VR. If so, E3 is probably the right place to make that announcement. After all, the Fallout 4 VR project (as well as a virtual reality port of the 2016 DOOM reboot) was first mentioned last year at the annual trade show.
Later in the interview, Hines seemed optimistic about the chances for virtual reality in the marketplace, but admitted that VR probably won't overtake or replace traditional gaming. "I personally don't believe it's ever going to be a thing where, 'Oh I don't play other things; I only play on VR,'" Hines said, while arguing that the more social aspects of gaming (especially spectating and couch-based multiplayer) might make VR a hard sell for some consumers.
Other than the fact that it's coming, we currently don't know much about Fallout 4 VR. It sure sounds like it's going to be the full Fallout 4 experience (except, y'know, in virtual reality), but we'll have to wait until E3 to learn more. Hopefully, the VR conversion will just be the first of many. There are many retro games that we'd love to see get the VR treatment, if developers are willing and able.