Videogames, VR media and fiction

Abstract

Owing to the development and successful commercial release of VR headsets such as PlayStation VR and the HTC Vive, virtual reality headsets are beginning to have a real influence on videogaming. A handy illustration of the potential of videogame virtual media is The London Heist (2016) a demo game included in the PlayStation VR Worlds bundle. Thematically, The London Heist draws on recent British crime cinema tropes and the gameplay contains some genuine surprises for the initiate to virtual reality. A striking feature in the game is the imposing presence of the characters one encounters in the gameworld: standing menacingly before you with a blowtorch in hand, it is hard not to feel threatened by one particularly muscular, tattooed, and cockney-accented fellow. The experience of interacting with the world is similarly impressive: in one sequence a virtual cell phone rings, and it is natural to reach for the phone in virtual space, answer it and put it to your ear. And because the PlayStation 4 camera tracks the position of the controller and places sound sources within the virtual world, equally startling is that you will hear the voice on the other end as coming from the virtual mobile phone in your hand.