‘Rogue One: Recon’ is a 360-degree prologue to next month’s Star Wars movie

By Brad Jones November 14, 2016

verizon samsung gear vr rogue one recon 360 degree experience star wars

We’re just a matter of weeks away from the release of Rogue One the next cinematic Star Wars release — and, as a result, the film’s mammoth marketing campaign is starting to get underway in earnest. Starting today, fans will be able to immerse themselves in the cockpit of an X-Wing thanks to a Verizon promotion.

Since November 10, visitors to Verizon stores have been able to experience Rogue One: Recon, a special 360-degree experience designed for Samsung Gear VR hardware. The clip will still be shown in stores until November 25, but starting today it will also be available via the company’s Facebook page.

Of course, you’ll need a Samsung Gear VR headset to enjoy the experience. Recon places viewers at the controls of a starfighter, and allows them to move their head around freely to take in all the action that’s playing out around them.

The clip follows a scout who stumbles upon the Death Star while out on a recon mission with another pilot, according to a report from Upload VR. Given that Rogue One is all about a plot to steal plans for the superweapon, it’s easy to see how Recon will link up with the upcoming blockbuster.

This year has seen an avalanche of Star Wars content released for VR headsets. Between Trials on Tatooine, the PlayStation VR X-Wing mission for Star Wars Battlefront, and now Recon, there’s been no shortage of opportunities for fans to step into a galaxy far, far away.

While the Star Wars VR content that has been produced so far has largely been short-form, there’s every chance that we’ll see something more substantial in the future. ILMxLAB seems to have been building up its familiarity with the various different headsets on the market, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see the studio produce even bigger projects going forward.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Contributor

Brad is an English-born writer currently splitting his time between Edinburgh and Pennsylvania. You can find him on Twitter…

Computing

Intel thinks your next CPU needs an AI processor — here’s why

intel meteor lake vpu computex 2023

Intel thinks your next processor upgrade should include a dedicated AI processor and its upcoming Meteor Lake chips conveniently fill that gap. The company detailed how it suspects its Vision Processing Units (VPUs) will be leveraged at Computex 2023, and it's including these processors stock on every Meteor Lake chip.

The VPU isn't new. Intel introduced this dedicated AI processor with its 13th-gen Raptor Lake processors, but only on a select few models. The company says they'll come on all Meteor Lake chips, which are slated to launch at the end of 2023.

Computing

This 27-inch Sony gaming monitor just got a rare price cut

The Sony InZone M3 Gaming Monitor with a game on the screen.

Searching for a new gaming monitor? You can't go wrong with the 27-inch Sony InZone M3 gaming monitor, especially since it's currently available with a 12% discount from Amazon. Price cuts for this gaming monitor are rare as it was only released earlier this year, but you can currently get it for $468 instead of $530 for $62 in savings. It's highly recommended that you complete the purchase as soon as possible though, because monitor deals like this usually don't last long.

Why you should buy the 27-inch Sony InZone M3 gaming monitor
The Sony InZone M3 gaming monitor was launched in January as the more affordable version of the Sony InZone M9 gaming monitor. Instead of 4K resolution, you'll only get Full HD resolution on its 27-inch screen, but the Sony InZone M3 makes up for that with a much higher 240Hz refresh rate for extremely smooth movements, as well as support for a variable refresh rate between 24Hz and 240Hz and Nvidia's G-Sync to eliminate screen tearing and stuttering. The gaming monitor also offers a 1ms GtG response time, which our computer monitor buying guide explains as how fast the display shows image transitions.

Deals

This bundle deal saves you $420 on two 17-inch HP laptops

Two HP Envy laptops against a white background.

It isn’t often you can grab two laptops bundled together for a great low price, but today that’s exactly what HP is offering. You can get two HP Envy 17-inch laptops with some pretty impressive specs for a total price of $880. Purchasing two of these together would normally cost $1,300, which makes this deal worth a savings of $420. HP is including free shipping with a purchase as well. This is a great bundle for anyone with a household that needs computers, or anyone looking for primary and backup laptops.

Why you should buy the HP Envy 17-inch laptop bundle
The HP brand has been around for a long time, and the name is almost synonymous with quality laptops. And like all of the best laptops, the HP Envy 17-inch laptop brings a speedy, responsive, and immersive computing experience to your digital life. As spec’d for this deal, it has all of the power most users could ever need, as it comes with an Intel 12-core i7 processor that’s clocked at up to 4.7GHz. It also has 16GB of system RAM and Intel Iris Xe graphics. Also included is 512GB of solid state storage, a speedy option with plenty of space for all of your software and apps.