http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/18/arts/virtual-reality-from-guitar-gods-to-birds-of-prey.html 2016-09-16 20:15:29 Virtual Reality: From Guitar Gods to Birds of Prey The promise of virtual reality is here, with scores of software titles to be released by year’s end. Here’s a look at some of the most intriguing offerings. === Video games can create new and seemingly impossible experiences for their players. We travel to imaginary lands, try on new identities or perform feats of strength and grace that surpass the limits of our bodies. As virtual reality becomes a new aspect of the medium this year, it is delivering on its promise for new kinds of experiences and interactions in ways that are tantalizing yet frustrating. After two years of hype, including Even so, for a novelty-seeker there is nothing as rewarding as virtual reality right now. First-person shooters are When VR works, the sensation that you have been physically transported into another world is uncanny. I’ve found myself crawling on the floor of my home office to evade laser beams and robot sentries in games like Budget Cuts and Unseen Diplomacy. The sense of scale and the vertiginous heights and depths felt when exploring outer space, or the ocean floor, or an icy mountain range, are not comparable to anything on a two-dimensional screen. New hardware with the potential to broaden VR’s appeal beyond its core of true believers is coming this fall. Oculus is expected to release its motion-sensitive Touch controllers, which will give Rift players (like their Vive counterparts) virtual hands that can point and grab — or wield a sword. In October, Scores of VR software titles — 30 for Oculus Touch, 50 for PlayStation, still more for HTC Vive and mobile phones — are expected to be released by the end of the year. Here are a few of the most interesting. ROCK BAND VR EAGLE FLIGHT MEDIUM THE GALLERY: HEART OF THE EMBERSTONE SUPERHYPERCUBE and THUMPER HEADMASTER