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Hands up who remembers Palmer Luckey? The Hawaiian-shirted entrepreneur and founder of Oculus VR who once made a VR headset that would literally kill you if you died in a game was the poster boy of the early re-arrival of VR around 2013.
Luckey launched the Oculus Rift after a successful spell of selling Oculus Dev kits to people like me who were early adopters of the tech and wanted in at stage one.
As the Rift came out companies sprang up with VR gear to enhance your virtual reality experience. Back in the day, all those years ago I remember a company called Virtuix announcing on Kickstarter the Omni. A VR treadmill that allowed you to walk 360 degrees in any direction inside your VR game without crashing into the couch or knocking the houseplants over.
Now, in 2024 it is ready to ship within the next few months and has today announced a 35-title game library that will be playable at launch. Time flies when you are having fun.
Omni One’s launch lineup includes top VR games like Ghostbusters: Rise of the Ghost Lord,  Peaky Blinders: The King’s Ransom, Hubris, and Breachers. Each game has been adapted for movement on Omni One through close collaboration with the game’s developers.
Virtuix CEO Jan Goetgeluk expressed his excitement about Omni One’s upcoming launch, stating,  “The high caliber of our launch games showcases how Omni One will take virtual reality to the next level. We are proud to partner with so many award-winning studios and offer our users an  exceptional selection of games that will redefine their gaming experiences.”
So what is the Omni One?
Well, what it is is definitely something that my wife is not going to let me have in the corner of our lounge that’s what. The 360-degree treadmill allows you to travel more naturally in your VR games, not having to rely on hacky teleporting mechanisms or movement systems that can add to VR sickness.
The unit costs $2,595 and comes with its own PICO VR headset. It can be used with existing VR hear you have, although, here’s the kicker, not the Meta Quest, probably the world’s best-selling VR headset right now – at least in its unlinked format. There is no option to purchase the Omni without the headset, which is a shame, but Virtuix wants to make the experience as seamless as possible for users who are laying out such a large amount of cash.
Pre-orders for the unit will be fulfilled during Q2 with the Omni One finally making general release by the end of Q2, marking the conclusion of a remarkable journey to market.

Complete Game Lineup for Omni One Launch: 

1. AFFECTED: The Manor 
2. Ancient Dungeon 
3. ARK and ADE 
4. Breachers
5. Craft Wars 
6. Crimen – Mercenary Tales 
7. Compound 
8. David Slade Mysteries: Case Files 
9. Dead of the Sea 
10. Dead Zone 
11. Death Horizon: Reloaded 
12. Doctor Who: The Edge of Time 
13. Darksword: Battle Eternity 
14. DYSCHRONIA: Chronos Alternate 
15. Elite Force 
16. Eolia 
17. First Steps 
18. Ghostbusters: Rise of the Ghost Lord 
19. Hubris 
20. Hunt Together 
21. Hyperblast
22. In Death: Unchained 2
23. Ionia 
24. Journey To Foundation 
25. Peaky Blinders: The King’s Ransom 
26. Primal Hunt 
27. RUINSMAGUS 
28. The Exorcist: Legion VR 
29. The Jade Cipher 
30. The Patcher 
31. The Secret Pyramid 
32. The Twilight Zone VR 
33. Titanic: A Space Between 
34. TOTALLY BASEBALL! 
35. Wanderer: The Fragments of Fate 

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The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is set to trial artificial intelligence (AI) within the world of its flagship icon Doctor Who.
The publicly funded broadcaster will be using generative AI to promote the ‘Whoniverse’ collection on the company’s streaming platform iPlayer.
Head of Media Inventory at the BBC, Dan Houston told the Radio Times that “experimentation is at the heart of how we approach marketing at the BBC. Testing and learning on how we let audiences know what BBC content is most relevant to them and we know they might love underpins our digital marketing strategy.”
Doctor Who to use artificial intelligence
The senior BBC executive would continue that there is “a rich variety of content in the Whoniverse collection on iPlayer to test and learn with, and Doctor Who thematically lends itself to AI, which is a bonus.”
With a new season of Doctor Who on the way this tech driven test will be used as a benchmark for future instalments of the Tardis travelling doctor.
Houston said “We’re going to take it one step at a time, starting simple and learning as we go. We have chosen to start with Doctor Who, as it is a joint content priority for both BBC Public Service UK and BBC Studios marketing teams.”
This AI-first will also be taking place at the same time a new pair debuts as the sonic screwdriver-wielding Time Lord is now played by Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson’s Ruby Sunday will be on hand to help as they get into scrapes across time and space.
Showrunner Russel T Davis has told fans that this season will be a “slow burner” and that some of the scenes that introduced Gatwa’s Doctor and Gibson’s Ruby characters to the audience will be revisited.
Gatwa has taken on the mantle of the 15th Doctor from his introduction in the 60th anniversary special and the time-honoured tradition of the Time Lord’s Christmas Special, which was titled ‘The Church on Ruby Road’.

Doctor Who returns to BBC One and BBC iPlayer in May 2024 for the UK and Disney+ for the rest of the world.
As we reported earlier this year, Doctor Who will also be making a debut in the world of Fortnite to possibly coincide with this new series of science fiction adventures, according to well established gaming leakers.
Image: BBC.
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New Helldivers 2 War Bond content is about to drop from Arrowhead Studios this week. The acclaimed bug-blasting game has had fans clamouring for more content and the announcement brings weapons, experimental armor and new emotes to its eager audience.

Helldivers 2 content drop
The announcement video shows off the new armor sets and primary weapons in action against the automatons and insects that threaten Super Earth.
“Helldivers… we need your help. The brainiacs in Super Earth Research & Development have some cool experimental armor ready to be field-tested. This is where you come in, you’re just the right people for the job,” says the Sony blog post.
The EX series of prototype armor is supposedly the “end result of several billion Super Credits and 12 years of research into creating “the Soldier of Tomorrow.” Three suits of this superior experimental armor can be donned by players from March 14 as well as three stylish new capes to billow behind the backs of heroic Helldivers.
These come with a matching color scheme, player card and three new emotes to show your appreciation for Managed Democracy.
An assortment of weapons will be coming alongside the stylistic changes, showing “R&D didn’t stop at armor” and will be “rolling out a new series of alien-splitting weapons with electrifying perks!”
The LAS-16 Sickle, SG-8P Punisher Plasma, and ARC-12 Blitzer will all be available after the drop and will feature three types of ammunition and damage in energy, plasma, and arc-lightning respectively.
A new stun grenade to halt enemies in their tracks, the G-23 Stun, and the LAS-7 Dagger pistol will also be part of the release.
Arrowhead has been vocal about adding new content to the game after a roaring success set the title back with overloaded servers and the game had to contend with scammers trying to pawn off illicit Steam listings to con gamers.
This new content drop comes off the back of a massive update patch that brought fire tornadoes and meteors to the co-op shooter, as well as stabilization and balancing fixes. The duty of care the developers have shown for Sony’s biggest-ever Steam launch has impressed the gaming community and it shows as the studio launched its accolades trailer to show this wave of appreciation:

Super Earth approves these messages.
The HELLDIVERS need YOU. Join the cause and help bring Managed Democracy to the galaxy on PlayStation 5 & PC.PS5: https://t.co/U6Kmi8LciUSteam: https://t.co/bkbHdXMQwEhttps://t.co/R5JX02iIs4
— HELLDIVERS 2 (@helldivers2) March 13, 2024

Johan Pilestedt, the ever-vocal CEO and Creative Director of Arrowhead has dropped further hints about new content coming in the shape of “flying bugs” on X, showing that there is plenty more to come from the well-received shooter:

I’ve heard rumors of flying bugs in @helldivers2. I want to officially refute such preposterous claims.
Everyone knows that “Bugs can’t fly”.
And I’m not alone in thinking this. The Ministry of Truth agrees that this is propaganda from bug sympathizers that want to brainwash…
— Pilestedt (@Pilestedt) March 12, 2024

Image: Sony.
 
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There’s a big patch incoming for EAFC 24, probably the last before it gets put out to pasture and we have to begin all over again in the Fall.
The Spring Update will be the 11th patch since the game launched last year and seems to be rolling out as we speak.
Legendary AI difficulty will be changed up considerably and animations have been tweaked and added to.. When it comes to players we are also told that EA Sports has:

Updated some messages, button callouts, celebrations, balls, gloves, celebrations, boots, kits, badges, banners, flags, scarves, and tifos.
Added 86 star heads and updated 9, they will become visible in-game following a Server Release.

EAFC24 is not shy of leakers and data miners so social media will be full of images of the changes before too long we expect.
EAFC 24 Spring Update Highlights
You can check out EA Sports’ Trello Board here to see the full details of everything that has changed, along with other info about how things will play out
Based on the patch notes provided, here are the most important updates grouped into categories for clarity. These changes are likely to significantly impact gameplay, strategy, and player experience:
Gameplay Adjustments

Tiki Taka & Pinged Pass Changes: Adjustments to first-time pass accuracy and driven passes to balance play styles.
Jockey & Press Proven Modifications: Reduced sprint jockey speed and adjusted shielding effectiveness, making defensive play more nuanced.
Power Header & Dead Ball: Changes to ball speed from headers and reduced set piece preview line length to challenge precision in set pieces.
Significant PlayStyle Adjustments: Notable changes to Power Header+, Relentless, and Power Shot, reducing effectiveness in specific areas to encourage varied play.

Gameplay Overhauls

New Animations and AI Behavior: Introduction of new clearance and shooting animations, alongside adjustments to CPU AI, particularly for Legendary difficulty, to diversify gameplay.
Trickster PlayStyle Update: Replacement of the unique ball roll animation with a new one, indicating an emphasis on enhancing and diversifying player moves.

Ultimate Team Updates

Difficulty & Competitor Mode: Legendary difficulty in Squad Battles and single-player Ultimate Team Draft no longer uses Competitor Mode, potentially altering the challenge level.
Addressed Issues: Fixes to stadium lighting issues, UI display problems, and a stability issue related to viewing the Player Bio on Loan Items, aiming to improve the overall game experience.

General, Audio, and Visual Enhancements

Content Updates: Addition of new star heads, celebrations, balls, gloves, and more, enhancing the visual and interactive quality of the game.
Stability and UI Improvements: Efforts to address stability issues and incorrect or placeholder texts to improve game reliability and user interface clarity.

All of this and more should be with us by the time the server next updates.

The EA SPORTS FC 24 Spring Update (Title Update #11) is now available all versions of EA SPORTS FC 24 and includes the changes below.
Full TU notes have been posted to the EASFC Tracker. https://t.co/vWVX6WvRZe
— EA SPORTS FC Direct Communication (@EASFCDirect) March 13, 2024

 
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