No Man's Sky Release Date Announced

Just recently, Hello Games, the creators of the sprawling space exploration game No Man's Sky finally announced the release date at Sony's Paris Game Week, after nearly two years of enthusiastic press. Earlier this year, British studio Hello Games released 18 minutes of game play, tantalizing fans with the innovative, staggering beauty of the open-universe. Since then, the space adventure/survival game has been the favorite topic of conversation, speculation and anticipation for many fans in the gaming community. Come next June, the full game will be available and if the early buzz is any indication, it's going to be an out of this world new title.

It's been speculated that the game's release was significantly delayed in order to sync up with the launch of PlayStation VR, a highly anticipated virtual reality visor-style head set that has been given a vague 2016 release date. The features of PlayStation VR would, in theory, be an incredible way to experience No Man's Sky. With it's expanded field of view, courtesy of the OLED display, it could take an already beautifully designed gaming experience to an intrepid new level. The system's refresh rate, rendered at 120fps, could enhance the seamless feeling of travel from one world to the next as players explore the vast galaxies of No Man's Sky. While PlayStation hasn't formally stated that these two releases have been intentionally synced, it would made a lot of sense considering the market is ready for a high quality virtual reality gaming system and playable game. This could also mean a huge presence at comics and gaming conventions in 2016, where fans could experience the system with a perfectly suited game.

There was also speculation that the release date was delayed to avoid competing with Fallout 4, which was just released this month. Aside from all speculation, it makes perfect sense for any studio to be intentional with their release date, especially for a title as innovative--and potentially groundbreaking--as No Man's Sky. Clearly, every feature should be in excellent working order, particularly if it will be available on PlayStation VR. After all, why would anyone want the initial reviews and user experience of a title with this much behind it to be anything less than stellar?

No Man's Sky was originally announced during Sony's E3 2014, and since then the images, trailers and demos have been intriguing gamers and space enthusiasts alike. And the fascination makes sense--after all, No Man's Sky promises to be truly the first of it's kind. The premise sounds deceivingly simple: you are an explorer colonizing new worlds and survive their individual elements. The map is so large that players might not even see one another for quite some time. Unlike most video games, there really is no prescribed mission. It's about encouraging the spirit of exploration, of creation, and of discovery. The travel is based entirely on user preferences. You can smoothly jet from one planet to the next, or you can leisurely navigate the cosmos, waiting for the perfect terra to form. Each planet has completely original biology, including plants, animals, terrain, weather, and climates, meaning that there are endless options for what may be generated by the game's engine. But players should be wary, because every planet hosts it's own dangers as well, and you must be prepared to fight monsters, plunge deep into dark caverns, or confront other players in combat.

Gamers have been accustomed to unique interfaces for quite some time, but nothing on the market even comes close to the level of revolving newness found in No Man's Sky. They use a 64-bit seed to generate their planets and content (which is also used at times by similar open world platform Minecraft), meaning that the game can process a number up to 64 bits in length. To get a bit more specific, what this actually results in are 18,446,744,073,709,551,616 different possibilities for unique content. If that number doesn't look real, it's because it's so big beyond all belief that it's difficult for our brains to comprehend. The bottom line? No Man's Sky is probably more original and unpredictable than actual outer space (and there are dinosaurs!)

It's interesting to consider if this game might encourage and inspire continued space exploration. With people like Elon Musk founding SpaceX, it's easy to believe that traveling through the galaxy may come from the private sector before NASA launches any sort of galactic tourism. In fact, the public interest in space exploration has only increased over the years. Will games like No Man's Sky feed interest for funding and pursing space travel? It's too soon to tell, but with the amount of detail that has gone into creating this game, it's clear that human beings are still fascinated by the dazzling mysteries beyond the stars, and ready to bravely seek new worlds.

Will you be playing No Man's Sky come June 2016? And will you be playing it on PlayStation VR?