Over the years, there has been very little technological breakthroughs to online poker. And then, virtual reality came. In this product profile, TOPGAME‘s Andrei Fantana shows CalvinAyre.com’s Stephanie Raquel the wonders of VR technology.
Taking the game from a live setting to the Internet is arguably one of the greatest innovations to date, as it allows people—even those who has yet to hold a casino chip—to go online and play, say, a game of poker, from the comforts of their own homes.
Over the years, there has been very little technological breakthroughs to online poker. And then, virtual reality came.
Mark Zuckerberg, the man behind social media giant Facebook, has seen the potential of augmented reality and acquired the company Oculus VR—expected to unveil its first VR product in the first quarter of 2016—for a whopping $2 billion last year.
Gaming manufacturers, and even gamers themselves, have been keeping a close eye on Oculus VR’s new hardware. TOPGAME creative director Andrei Fantana said they are already developing games just in time for Oculus’s launch next year.
“The fact is we build our core technology to support all the platforms,” Fantana told CalvinAyre.com. “This is the reason why we could get into this so fast because we said we wanna be able to deliver on all platforms: a tiny phone, a big tablet, a huge screen, 4K TVs. So when [virtual reality] came along, we said, ‘Wait a minute, we already have the technology that’s very versatile. Let’s try to go into this thing and provide a good experience.’”
But aside from video games, this technology also opens a new world for poker players. Imagine sitting across a virtual poker table, where you can face your opponents, look at the board, and even scan the faces of other players to spot a bluff.
Immersive poker is not a new thing. There are already poker sites that dabble in 3D technology and even used webcams to bring a “live” element to the game. But the action in these immersive experiences is far too slow for the more serious players.
With the imminent release of the Oculus VR’s first product, however, players will be able to “enjoy the experience of visiting a ‘brick and mortar’ poker room” without even leaving the bedroom, according to VRWorld.com.
“A fully functioning online VR poker room could be years away in any case,” the report stated. “The Oculus Rift is only available to developers at the moment and no one is saying when the headset will be available to customers.”
Still, it doesn’t hurt to be prepared.
“[VR is] a technology that is not available yet, but we are already developing games for it because we like to be ready ahead of the time. We wanna show how we can take gaming experience further and how we can combine the thrill of a casual game—something that people are used to—[and] take it a bit further,” Fantana said.
