"Iron Legion", HoloLens, HoloGame idea

[Osvir]

I showed the HoloLens E3 demonstration to some friends, and we started going on about "Augmented Boardgames" (We were playing Dead of Winter), and then spun it further. Eventually we came to the conclusion how awesome a Marvel inspired XCOM game would be with AR (when it comes out).

"Iron Legion", concept: control Tony Stark or your own equivalent leader from First Person through the eyes of a HoloLens or AR device, controlling and managing the Iron Legion (the arsenal of Ironman suits/drones), with all buttons and controls around you, instead of mouse and keyboard you'd use hands, fingers, movement.

 

 

Buttons.

Upgrades, Deployment, Construction, Research, Manufacture

 

 

 

Off-Topic/HoloLens Specific: Home use?

 

 

 

 

HoloLens
1. The machine

2. Promotional image

3. Promotional image

 

 

 

The basic idea:

X-COM base gameplay, Xenonauts turn-based combat gameplay (other inspirations: Battle Brothers, Invisible Inc, NEO Scavenger, Valkyria Chronicles, Mordheim), but Iron Legion and Tony Stark.

 

In simplest conceptual form: This. Or this. With the Iron Legion :D

[ktchong]

Microsoft needs to realize gadgets do not sell consoles.  Exclusives do.

 

And I'm not talking about "fake" exclusives - i.e., "timed" exclusives, "console" exclusives (that are also on the PC), or exclusive "DLC" or "contents".  Seriously, people who are playing games on another platform are NOT going to buy a console to for a "timed" exclusive or exclusive "DLC".

 

Funny that you mentioned XCOM... because XCOM 2 is not even announced for any Xbox.

Edited July 6, 2015 by ktchong

[Fardragon]

X-Com 2 has been confirmed as PC only. But I expect the OP knew that, and was simply using it as an example of the type of gameplay they where thinking of.

 

Selling gadgets has worked pretty well for Apple.

[Osvir]

Minecraft HoloLens E3 (YouTube, 2.4 mil views) for more reference.

Or for more reading (Motley Fool). Or just click here (Google News) and pick your read.

This is a whole new way to interact and meet physical and digital. HoloLens is just the first machine, but I bet that a lot of other companies are going to make similar machines, copies, clones and so on and forth (and maybe even "better" companies, based on your opinions).

Imagine strategy games with a HoloLens (or equivalent AR technology), Ender's Game, pretty much. That's what I'm talking about.

Imagine an XCOM-ish game (But Iron Legion instead of Anti-Xeno Earth Force/EDF~, Marvel Universe, Upgrades/Research/Manufacture and all that) with Ender's Game/Minority Report controls! I think it'd be epic.

Oh, and the HoloLens* AR (Augmented Reality) will "revolutionize" (I believe) a lot of things in both the physical and digital. The possibilities are endless. It will innovate the construction industry, design industry, home industry, office industry, news, window shopping will get a whole new meaning (Go into a digital furniture store, place the furniture in your apartment, digitally, before you decide to buy it etc.).

Why buy a television that takes up so much space, when you can buy an AR device (in the future) and you can create digital screens that floats mid-air, and have more than 1 and resize them to your liking? Why have a 60 inch TV or Computer Screen, when you could create your own virtual cinema screen? ;D

*Google Glass was the beginning, but they're marketing strategy was horrible (meant for public use), whilst the HoloLens is meant for home use or professional use. Like the article from Motley Fool says, "Reinventing Personal Computing". HoloLens is a step further, and another company or business will probably take it further or better hardware/software, eventually (because these things develop all the time). Lots of people want to get their hands on a HoloLens as well, because it's easy to do 3D modelling, and you can 3D print what you create.

Regardless, that was a bit of a tangent. What I want to see as a gamer is a HoloGame that gives the player the command as the "Commander" (in the scenario I portrayed in the OP, from the perspective of Tony Stark, and having your base, intel, research and everything in front of you in screens floating around you, and you being able to interact with them similar to Ender's Game or Minority Report, or why not like this? Or this?)

Edited July 6, 2015 by Osvir

[Fardragon]

I expect it will come. I just want something more sophisticated than e-Pen to mark exam papers with at the moment though!

[Osvir]

Microsoft needs to realize gadgets do not sell consoles.  Exclusives do.

 

And I'm not talking about "fake" exclusives - i.e., "timed" exclusives, "console" exclusives (that are also on the PC), or exclusive "DLC" or "contents".  Seriously, people who are playing games on another platform are NOT going to buy a console to for a "timed" exclusive or exclusive "DLC".

 

Funny that you mentioned XCOM... because XCOM 2 is not even announced for any Xbox.

The HoloLens is a computer. Stand-alone device. Mobile. Untethered. It doesn't have anything to do with PC or XBOX. It is its own "IP", for the lack of a better term.

[Fardragon]

I would say the advantage of AR over VR is it's easier to add actual player movement into games. For example, you could run around the garden fighting monsters without having to worry about falling into the pond.

 

Running as a stand alone device rather than a peripheral probably adds about +1K to the price, which would make it more of a rich person's toy, and hence make the software available more limited, than the mass market VR headsets that require a computer or console to run.

 

It may get used more for serious medical applications, or for some kind of arcade type entertainment. Add better VFX to laser tag for example.

Edited July 7, 2015 by Fardragon

[Osvir]

Last I read, the HoloLens device was speculated to go for "up to" $900. Well spent money (about the same price as a decent flat screen TV), if Microsoft can fix the peripheral issue (The screen on HoloLens is criticized to be about the size of an iPhone screen). Otherwise it's just going to be money pretty much "donated" to Microsoft so that they can develop HoloLens 2.0.

Or some other company will take it apart, learn from it, and create a better machine.

 

I also think that AR has more advantage over VR, with the controls and all. But when Emotiv or future EEG devices have caught up, that's when fun times begins, and I do think that VR has the advantage in combination with EEG. Although, further speculation and... in theory an AR device could play "VR" by occupying the entire screen space with pictures/information etc..

So... in other words:

AR > VR

Because AR can be VR, but VR can't be AR.