HoloLens SDK will be released on March 30, including games and applications – update

Microsoft has started taking pre-orders for the developer version of its HoloLens. According to Fortune, the augmented reality glasses should be released on March 30. It costs 3000 dollars, converted about 2750 euros, and comes with various games and applications.

Fortune explains each of the games and applications in an article that has since been taken offline. The same article claims that the augmented reality glasses will be released on March 30. According to the reports, Kudo Tsunoda, vice president of Microsoft, explains all the included applications of the HoloLens on a blog. For example, Microsoft’s glasses would be released with three games: Fragments, Young Conker, and RoboRaid. To help developers, the HoloLens would come with programs like HoloStudio. Furthermore, the glasses are equipped with HoloTour and a special version of Skype.

Young Conker harks back to Rare’s popular squirrel Conker, known for games like Conker’s Bad Fur Day, and places him in the real world with the HoloLens. The augmented reality game adapts to the environment the player is in. According to Tsunoda, basing levels on the player’s environment is a good way to reduce the focus on environments during development. Instead, the emphasis can be placed on the gameplay.

Fragments is a crime game where players can inspect clues and solve crimes. The story is told by talking to characters who are sitting on the couch by means of augmented reality. This makes the living room the environment of the crime game.

RoboRaid is the new name for Project X-Ray, a game that was playable during E3 2015. It is a first-person shooter where aliens come through the walls. By using the unannounced Clicker, the player can defend himself. The Clicker can supposedly be connected to the HoloLens via bluetooth and is used in a video showing the start menu of the glasses. RoboRaid uses sound to let the player know where the next attack is coming from. Tsunoda says the game highlights how actions can be linked to gestures, eye movements and voice commands.

HoloStudio is an application with which 3d programs can be developed. This makes it a bit like the program of Epic Games with which virtual reality can be built in the virtual world. The program would teach developers how to implement interactions through the HoloLens in games and other applications.

Furthermore, the glasses come with a special edition of Skype, which allows people to communicate through a Windows device in what Microsoft calls the “holographic world.” The last application is the HoloLens HoloTour. The application places the user in places like Rome and Machu Picchu. After that, the user can walk around the offered locations.

In the summer, Microsoft will release a new application: Actiongram. Tsunoda says it’s a holographic narrative medium for the platform that allows developers to mix holographic content with the real world. For now, the HoloLens is only available to developers in the United States and Canada who are enrolled in the Windows Insider program.

Update 15.20: The blog from which Fortune got its information is now online on Microsoft’s website. The delivery date as well as all mentioned games and applications will be confirmed therein. It also talks about more support for developers through documents and videos. This will also include information on how to develop a holographic app for Microsoft’s Universal Windows Platform, which will allow development for both Windows 10 and Xbox One.