Overnight Mark Zuckerberg announced Minecraft Gear VR Edition is now available. This means Minecraft is now available in Virtual Reality. While we’ve seen demonstrations of Minecraft on the HoloLens, this is the first AR/VR version that is shipping to consumers.
Everything in VR is more immersive, but one of the real benefits of Minecraft on the Gear VR is the ability to simply move your head to look around the environment and at different objects. This is particularly useful when building, but also fighting off creepers.
Minecraft is loved by kids and the price point of a Gear VR (yes you need a phone as well) is approachable, while other VR solutions remain out of reach for many. It is interesting to consider the parties involved to make this happen. Microsoft own Minecraft, Facebook owns Oculus and Samsung provide hardware. Its not often we see the largest tech companies playing nice together, but in this instance, they’ve been able to ship Minecraft GearVR Edition.
Minecraft GearVR Edition is available now in the Oculus Store and costs A$10.99 which is on the higher end for Oculus games, but cheaper buying Minecraft on some other platforms.
Let us know in the comments what you think ? Are you keen to give it a try or concerned about your kids spending too much time with a phone strapped to their heads?
