Anyone planning a trip to Japan over the next couple of years, take note: the VR Zone at Shinjuku is open. And while that means you can see people lose their shit at VR horror experiences, it also means you’ll be able to peg bananas and green shells at people in VR.
VR Zone Shinjuku doesn’t officially open until tomorrow, but the centre held an opening ceremony yesterday. That coincided with a whole bunch of in-game footage from each of the zone’s various attractions. The headline attraction is obviously Mario Kart in VR, and it looks pretty rad:
You don’t get a sense of how frightening a blue shell could be, which is a bit of a shame. But it does make the usage of items a hell of a lot more interesting, although until more people get hands on we won’t know whether it’s a full Mario Kart experience or not.
For those who are in Japan, or planning to pay the zone a visit at some stage, here’s how it works. Each admission ticket gives you access to four activities, with activities broken up into four colours: red, blue, yellow and green.
The terms and conditions note that a separate attraction for Ghost in the Shell, termed Futuristic Warfare Arena, won’t open until next month and requires a separate ticket.
The zone will have 12 playable VR activities when it opens later this week, ranging from Gundam VR Daiba Assault, a downhill ski simulator, a winged bicycle experience, Evangelion VR The Throne of Souls, a Dragon Ball experience where you practice your kamehameha, and others.
Here’s some of what you can expect:
The zone will also have three other “activities”, including an escape room style experience called the “Panic Cube” and a seven metre high climbing mall with projection mappings. There’s even a little slide:
Images: VR Zone Shinjuku
VR Zone Shinjuku opens tomorrow, with a single admission ticket costing ¥4,400 (~$50).
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