(ThyBlackMan.com) Half-Life 3 is coming and the game will come bundled with Valve’s new VR headset and ‘Knuckles’ controllers, says a report. Leaked images of a new virtual reality headset appeared on Imgur hinting at the possibility of a new headset developed by Valve. The prototype of the headset shown in the images bears the logo of Valve.
The partnership between HTC and Valve is responsible for the existing HTC Vive VR headsets, but if the reports are correct, Valve will introduce its own hardware in the market. The leaked images show SteamVR sensors, headphones, and a dual camera setup on the rumored Valve VR headset. If that happens, the new headset will certainly feature a higher field of view than the HTC Vive headset. A website UploadVR suggests that its sources have confirmed that the headset will provide a 135-degree field of view.
Reports also claim that Valve is focusing more on increasing field of view for its new VR headset. For a virtual reality headset, developers work on certain elements to make sure that our mind believes what we see in the virtual world. To create a sense of ‘presence’ in the virtual space, these elements, including frame rate, refresh rate, and high resolution, must be mixed in the right way so when you wear the headset, it should trick your mind into believing what you see through the lens. With a higher field of view, users feel more connected to the virtual environment, so it’s clear that Valve is paying more attention to this particular factor than angular resolution.
About the Half-Life 3 release, the sources claim that Valve is working on a Half-Life VR game. It doesn’t necessarily mean that the upcoming game will be the Half-Life 3 everyone is waiting for. It could be anything as simple as a VR version of any of the previously launched games from the series or maybe a completely new experience from Valve. If Valve is planning Half-Life 3 release, the company could take the game in any direction as there’s a lot to tell.
The original Half-Life game which was released on PC in 1998, follows doctor Gordon Freeman, a physicist who attempts to survive and fix the situation as the facility he controls gets under threat of alien invasion. Later, Valve released two more games titled Half-Life 2 and Half-Life 2 Episodes. The latter was released as an episodic series. The first episode came in 2006 and the second one arrived on PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 in 2007. After these releases, Valve announced and canceled many games it was planning to launch and people have been waiting for Half-Life 3 since then.
Details on Half-Life 3 are still a mystery, but there’s so much Valve could easily do to expand the story of the protagonist. Earlier this year, Valve announced that they are making and shipping games again. The company hasn’t released any big games in the last couple of years and fans almost lost the hope for any new games coming directly from Valve.
There are some upcoming games including Artifact, which is slated for release in 2018, but for the Half-Life game series, the studio hasn’t shared anything specific in a long time. During an ask-me-anything session on Reddit, Valve founder Gabe Newell said that the studio is working on new games. These statements have been keeping hopes alive and fans still believe that someday, Half-Life 3 release will become a reality.
It’s been more than a decade since Valve release Half-Life 2 Episodes, and since then, none of the Half-Life 3 rumors circulating have turned out to be true. The video game series is so overhyped that no matter how good Valve tries to make the game, people would not be nice to the game.
That said, the team that worked on the series, most of the developers, writers, and designers no longer work with Valve. The market scenario also plays a major role in determining the success of video games. Today, there are many good games. If it was 2009, attracting new players with a new game wasn’t a big deal for Valve. Only time will tell what Valve is actually working on.
Staff Writer; Corey Shaw
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