philip lelyveld The world of entertainment technology

Video: GTA 5 Enters Virtual Reality With This Oculus Rift Mod

[Philip Lelyveld note: Experimentation has already found that you can't just 'turn on' a VR experience in a game.  It requires redesign.  Thankfully, this article mentions that.]

A rudimentary modification to GTA 5 on PC has allowed Oculus Rift owners to view Los Santos in virtual reality for the first time.

Footage published on YouTube shows players stepping into the skin of protagonists Michael, Trevor, and Franklin, using an Oculus Rift DK 2 to simulate the game in first-person mode.

Though developer Rockstar North has not officially provided Oculus Rift support for its latest Grand Theft Auto title, players have found a way around this by using the latest version of VorpX, which is a software program that allows various game builds to be compatible with VR.

For now, the experiment only offers basic VR functionality, in that head movements are used to move the first-person camera. Due to the game's code not being optimised for virtual reality, the results may be unpleasant and uncomfortable for some users.

See the full story here: http://www.gamespot.com/articles/video-gta-5-enters-virtual-reality-with-this-oculu/1100-6426669/