As a true hater of real reality, virtual reality really appeals to me. However, I’m not a big fan of 100 hour AAA games or . I like short interactive experiences that don’t exist anywhere else. Good news for me? The Apple Vision Pro gets a Pretty nifty mixed reality “interactive story” This could herald the emergence of a new form of entertainment that puts people right into their favorite shows or movies.
Marvel and Industrial Light & Magic, the company founded by George Lucas, have just announced an upcoming Apple Vision Pro title based on it What if…?, which just completed its second season. It will be an hour-long experience that utilizes all the technology of Apple’s expensive headset, including the excellent passthrough.
The story is being kept secret, but you won’t be playing as The Watcher, that much is clear. The promotional copy states that players will “learn the mystical arts,” which to me reminds me of Dr. Strange remembers. The companies also promise that “fans will enter breathtaking environments that transport them to new and iconic MCU locations.” Does this mean we can virtually order kebabs with Tony Stark and the gang?
Well, I haven’t played a demo of it, but I have played this and many similar titles and I absolutely love them. It just seems like a natural progression of games and television to merge them together. Give the player the illusion of freedom, but keep them mostly on rails and call it a day.
Director Dave Bushore agrees, calling this title “the next evolution in the way we tell our stories” and that it offers a “glimpse into what I’ve been waiting for my whole life.” Bushore doesn’t have many directing credits, but was the interactive marketing director for Iron Man 3, Captain America: The Winter Soldier And Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, among other MCU films. It is written by David Dong and Phil McCarty, a duo best known for a short film adaptation of an essay by David Sedaris. There are some heavy hitters on the EP side, with people who were involved in it The wonders And Registration for the mixed reality project.
Marvel hasn’t announced any actors returning to reprise their roles, but Jeffrey Wright as The Watcher seems a given. For the uninitiated, What if…? is an anthology series that explores parallel universes and how things could have turned out in the MCU if something had happened differently. The game/experience will be exclusive to Apple Vision Pro and will be released “soon”.
That’s not enough, but come on, it’s a cool sign for the future. Who wouldn’t want to “play” an episode of? The Mandalorian or something similar?