The unique VR movement accessory is now available on Amazon alongside support for new games and apps.
In the early days of modern VR, navigating throughout a virtual environment meant operating a standard joystick located on your motion controller. That is unless you had the extra spending money, not to mention physical space, for an omnidirectional treadmill. Over the past few years we’ve seen several interesting attempts at enhancing VR locomotion through the use of haptic accessories.
One such device is the Cybershoes, a slipper-like accessory that simulates movement in VR by having you shuffle your feet from a seated position, turning games like Half-Life: Alyx, Rec Room, The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners, Skyrim VR, and other compatible software into more physically-engaging immersive experiences.
Let me tell you, playing The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners while wearing Cybershoes is pretty sick, and killing walkers is a lot harder when you’re gasping for air because you’ve been “physically” running around the state of Louisiana trying to survive. No wonder why Rick Grimes always looked so tired!
For a while, you could only purchase Cybershoes through the official Kickstarter campaign. Today, the company announced that U.S. customers are now be able to purchase the latest wireless model of Cybershoes directly through Amazon for $349.
“Launching on Amazon is huge for us because it allows easier access to Cybershoes for Quest gamers who might have been on the fence for our crowdfunding campaigns,” said Michael Bieglmayer, CEO of Cybershoes, in an official press release. “Not to mention that fans will have a variety of fantastic games to choose from as soon as our box shows up on their doorstep! We can’t wait for a whole new audience of VR gamers to experience what Cybershoes are all about.”
To help sweeten the VR pot, Cybershoes also revealed support for a number of new VR games. In addition the previously-mentioned games, you can now run and shuffle your way through the bow-and-arrow action rogue-lite In Death: Unchained as well as The Wizards – Dark Times, the sequel to Carbon Studio’s critically acclaimed VR spellcaster The Wizards.
From the fast-paced gameplay to their heavy reliance on physicality, the above-mentioned titles are a perfect fit for Cybershoes. According to the company, integration and optimization for other popular titles is on the way, including Ancient Dungeon, which is expected to launch in Early Access later this year.
Additionally, Cybershoes and Team Beef have continued to work together to bring natural locomotion to several of the studio’s Quest ports. This includes RTCWQuest, a VR mod of the classic Return To Castle Wolfenstein, and QuestZDoom, a mod that brings VR to classic DOOM games like Ultimate DOOM and DOOM64. Cybershoes integration for both RTCWQuest and QuestZDoom will go live on SideQuest over the next few weeks.
To help show you just how awesome in-game locomotion powered by Cybershoes can be, the company is hosting a tournament in collaboration with the VR Master League (VRML) and the Between Realities podcast on May 29th that will include three teams led by Gamertag VR, Soul Fox Gaming, and ProperD. There’s only one rule: no joysticks! Teams will duke it out in the VR multiplayer shooter Contractors using Cybershoes.
Casting the tournament is VRML’s own Caster Coordinator, TheNightFiree. Those interested in watching the action live can tune in via one of several participating YouTube channels. If you miss it, no worries. The Cybershoes YouTube channel will feature highlights and additional details from the tournament.
Cybershoes are available now on Amazon for $349 and compatible with Oculus Quest and Quest 2 headsets.
If you’re looking to learn more, follow Cybershoes on Twitter. If you’re a developer interested in integrating Cybershoes into your Oculus Quest experience, Cybershoes encourages you to get in touch with them at dev@cybershoes.com.
Feature Image Credit: Cybershoes
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