Bandai Namco announced last month that the company would be opening its first VR ZONE arcade in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Promising branded VR content playing on HTC Vive, the now publicly open arcade features some big names like Nintendo’s Mario Kart Arcade GP VR, Dragon Ball VR, and Gundam VR—most of which uses special motion platforms and other ‘4D’ sense-fooling gadgetry to beguile would-be VR first-timers. Here, we take a look at all 12 demos available—including trailers—in the company’s 2-story facility.
Mario Kart Arcade GP VR
4 players: The globally popular Mario Kart Arcade GP has been reborn at the VR ZONE with the kind of thrill-packed action that could only come from a VR activity! Enter the Mario Kart universe you know and love and race to the finish line. The course is filled with the well-known Mario Kart traps and tricks. Dodge giant Piranha Plants and Thwomps, leap over huge ravines, and watch out for Koopa as he tries to get in your way.
Dragon Ball VR
2-4 players: An unprecedented Kamehameha experience! Enter the world of Dragonball with our innovative new VR technology and equipment, and experience firsthand what its really like to generate a Kamehameha. Feel your body shake from the intensity! Train with Goku himself and learn to generate your own Kamehameha! Test your Kamehameha in battle with friends! Generate more power than the others and blow them all away!
Jungle of Despair
4 players: A plane has crash-landed in a forbidden jungle where dinosaurs are said to be still alive. You have been sent to make your way through the darkness and search for survivors. You speed through the jungle, riding on a standing scooter. Shadows lurk everywhere and all around, you can hear your companions screaming. Your battery is running low.
Can you retain your sanity in an abyss of despair and make it back to base in one piece?
Hanechari (Winged Bicycle)
1-4 players: Pedal with your legs and experience the thrill and exhilaration of free-flying through magnificent natural scenery on a winged bicycle! With our specially developed sensory machine, you’ll feel the wind and experience the true thrill of flight. Feel the excitement and tension as you fly over mountain surfaces and plunge through waterfalls, dodging rocky cliffs along the way.
Evangelion VR
1-3 players: Pilot an EVA for the first time in VR history. The future is in your hands. The wonders of VR technology have fully recreated the cockpit, aka “Throne of Souls”, inside the EVA Entry Plug. Board a specialized sensory machine and pilot your EVA in a VR world of massive scale. The 10th Angel is attacking Tokyo-3! Defeat it with the help of two other companions on EVAs, before your operational time limit runs out!
Experience firsthand the thrill of the EVA activation sequence, including LCL immersion, A10 nerve synchronization, and sync ratio measurement, as you prepare for an intense battle with the 10th Angel.
Fishing VR
2 players: Go lure fishing in the wild with this VR activity! There’s wild fish to your right, to your left, some even jumping and wriggling in the air. You’ll feel like you’re really there!
Don’t lose concentration, even for a second, until they’re in your net. How many can you catch? Compete with your friends and enjoy a head-to-head battle of skill with fish in the wild.
VR-AT Simulator
2 players: You too can be the lowest of the low (Votoms)!
The world’s first VR-AT simulator allows you to ride the scopedog and experience a real one-on-one battle. Experience the realism of the cockpit where reckless ‘iron troopers’ commit their bodies.
Argyle Shift
1 player: Enter the cockpit of a giant robot with your android. Take the attacking conspiracy head on! Our specialized sensory machine creates a shockingly realistic sensation allowing you to live out the ambition of riding in a giant robot to fight in battle!
Gundam VR
1 player: Grab hold of Gundam’s hand, and experience the impact of the life-sized mobile suit in battle. You will feel the utter powerlessness of humans. The threat of Zeon attacks the life-sized Gundam in Odaiba! Feel the impact of the two giants colliding, the intense rumblings of the earth, the heat gushing before your eyes! Experience the realness as if you are right there, through multiple sensations created by the specialized sensory machine!
The Big Fear of Heights Experience
2 players: People can’t help turning back midway! It’s an extreme test of courage 200 meters above the ground! Even if you are unable to take even one step out of fear a refund will not be issued.Please be aware that the experience will end as soon as your foot steps off the plank.
Hospital Escape Terror
4 players: In this haunted house, you really get attacked! It’s a horrifying experience unlike ever before pioneered by VR! Escape from this cursed abandoned hospital with your friend! Two to four people can take part at the same time. However, participants may not always be able to take part together. Please be warned there are violent scenes and grotesque expressions included in the experience.
Ski Rodeo
1 player: Ski down the sharp slopes of the vast snowy mountain with its sheer drops at tremendous speed! Fight for control of the wild skis! The specialized sensory machine creates a shockingly real experience with the response of the skis and intense vibrations. There are several different routes that will take you to the goal. Aim to reach it as fast as you can.
Ghost in the Shell: Arise Stealth Hounds
An 8-person VR experience is said to launch sometime in August featuring the Ghost in the Shell IP. The experience is a 4 vs 4 team battle in a room-scale space measuring 20m X 12m featuring a “highly sophisticated multi-person full body tracking system.”
We’ll have our eye on VR ZONE Shinjuku in the coming months to see how one of the world’s biggest VR arcades fares.