By Derrik J. Lang, Entertainment Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) --After spending time with the recently released consumer editions of the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive virtual reality systems, here are the 10 best VR titles out now:
— "Adr1ft": If the film "Gravity" was a video game, it would be "Adr1ft." The weightless saga for Oculus casts players as an astronaut struggling to survive while exploring a shattered space station.
— "Elite: Dangerous": While the open-world space simulator "Elite: Dangerous" has been out for two years, a VR edition adds another level of immersion by placing players in the cockpit of their spaceship.
— "EVE: Valkyrie": This sci-fi dogfighter — one of the first full-fledged games to be created for modern-day VR — convincingly pits online gamers against each other in out-of-this-world locales.
— "Fantastic Contraption": In this physics-based puzzler, there's a wacky frenzy as players are tasked with constructing virtual inventions to navigate a glowing pink blob across increasingly more complex levels.
— "Hover Junkers": Duck! The controllers for the Vive are transformed into a gun and a hovercraft's throttle, in this addictive multiplayer shooter that implores players to use their whole body.
— "Job Simulator": This could be the first-ever VR sitcom. "Futurama" meets "Portal" in Owlchemy Labs' quirky game where players take orders from robots in such roles as line cook and store clerk.
— "Space Pirate Trainer": For those gamers who've ever wanted to dodge bullets with their whole body like Keanu Reeves in "The Matrix," this arcade-like game will have them muttering, "Whoa."
— "The Lab": Valve didn't release a new "Half-Life" game alongside the Vive, but they did create a dynamic "Portal"-themed mini-game collection boasting high-fidelity archery and realistic VR vistas.
— "Tilt Brush": One of the most impressive VR experiences isn't a game at all. Google basically designed a 360-degree version of Photoshop where users can craft sculptures with everything from paint to rainbows.
— "Vanishing Realms": In this clunky but captivating fantasy game, players are cast adventurers who must wield swords, shields, bows and magical wands as they navigate dungeons and fight skeletons.
Google Opens Its Defense In Antitrust Case Alleging Monopoly Over Online Ad Technology
Google opened its defense against allegations that it holds an illegal monopoly on online advertising technology Friday with witness testimony saying the industry is vastly more complex and competitive than portrayed by the federal government.
"The industry has been exceptionally fluid over the last 18 years," said Scott Sheffer, a vice president for global partnerships at Google, the company's first witness at its antitrust trial in federal court in Alexandria.
The Justice Department and a coalition of states contend that Google built and maintained an illegal monopoly over the technology that facilitates the buying and selling of online ads seen by consumers.
Google counters that the government's case improperly focuses on a narrow type of online ads — essentially the rectangular ones that appear on the top and on the right-hand side of a webpage. In its opening statement, Google's lawyers said the Supreme Court has warned judges against taking action when dealing with rapidly emerging technology like what Sheffer described because of the risk of error or unintended consequences.
Google says defining the market so narrowly ignores the competition it faces from social media companies, Amazon, streaming TV providers and others who offer advertisers the means to reach online consumers.
Justice Department lawyers called witnesses to testify for two weeks before resting their case Friday afternoon, detailing the ways that automated ad exchanges conduct auctions in a matter of milliseconds to determine which ads are placed in front of which consumers and how much they cost.
The department contends the auctions are finessed in subtle ways that benefit Google to the exclusion of would-be competitors and in ways that prevent... Read More