Elite Dangerous

The impending threat of alien invasion, or maybe just utter annihilation, looms heavy on the horizon for players of Elite Dangerous. The Thargoids came back to the fore this year and during the keynote speech at Frontier Expo 2017, we found out that this is just the start of the action.

Elite: Dangerous is a space sim sandbox, but after my interview at PAX South, I'm starting to think it might not be as rough on new players as I first thought.

Conventions are all about trying new things, and I did just that at PAX South, sampling for the first time two of the hottest new pieces of tech – software and hardware – that gamers are drooling over: Elite: Dangerous and the Oculus Rift.

Thirty years ago, programmer David Braben created the ground-breaking, but controversial space trading game, Elite, a game that sparked many a debate among computer enthusiasts, and served as a precursor to games like Wing Commander: Privateer and EVE Online. Next Tuesday, Braben's releasing Elite: Dangerous, an ambitious sequel that could very well be the next ground-breaker/debate-maker, and I was fortunate enough last week, to get an early look at it.

At E3 last week, we had the opportunity to take Elite for a test spin. Not only that, but we were given some time with, wait for it… the Oculus Rift version! Garrett and Bill were generous enough to let me take it for a spin since I had never tried the Oculus Rift prior to this, and there is only one word to describe the experience: MIND-BLOWING!

Garrett Fuller and Bill Murphy sat down with David Braben of Frontier fame to talk all about Elite's progress through alpha, the road to beta, and even got some hands-on with flight sticks and the Oculus Rift to take out some AI opponents.