Koei Tecmo, the Japan-based publisher that brought you Dynasty Warriors, Dead or Alive and Ninja Gaiden series, have today unveiled a VR arcade cabinet that is more than just an enclosure for a PlayStation VR headset. Called VR Sense, the cabinet is said to embody a few technologies including a motion-simulating seat, a scent function, a wind function, a thermal function, a touch function, and a mist function.
Reported by Japanese publication Game Watch, Koei Tecmo’s VR Sense doesn’t have a specific launch date or sale price attached yet, but is however confirmed to arrive with three titles; a VR Dynasty Warriors game, a horse racing game called GI Jockey Sense, and a Resident Evil-style game called Horror Sense.
Koei Tecmo says VR Sense is scheduled be released this summer, and that they’ll initially begin selling the cabinet to amusement facilities, however they’re not only interested in games, stating the possibility of creating 360 sightseeing experiences for use in nursing homes and hospitals. It’s unclear if the sense-tickling cabinet will ever land outside of Japan where traditional arcades are apparently still alive and well.
Only Horror Sense and GI Jockey Sense were on show at today’s press conference. Game Watch says however the sense-stimulating unit itself was “hardly in operation” for both demos and that the unit is still undergoing testing. Demos were conducted with both DualShock 4 and PlayStation Move controllers.
Not much else is known about the Dynasty Warriors game unfortunately it seems, as it’s still in pre-production. On the VR Sense website the company however promises the cabinet’s rendition of Dynasty Warriors will offer “new experiences surrounding the battlefield,” and “realistic reproduction of hot flames.”
The cabinet’s “touch function” supposedly can recreate the feeling that creepy crawlies like insects and rats have landed on your head, although the company did not concretely clarify how this is supposed to function, reports Game Watch. The VR Sense website maintains the touch function will be featured in the studio’s Horror Sense game.
While it’s likely the cabinet will require personnel to run, Koei Tecmo maintains the unit could eventually be operated completely unmanned, and that they could hypothetically integrate a luggage locker in the cabinet so the user doesn’t have to worry about would-be thieves taking advantage of them while blinded to the outside world.
The company will be showing the unit at the Japan Amusement Expo 2017 (JAEPO) at Makuhari Messe in Chiba starting February 10th.