Some countries get all the coolest tech ahead of everyone else, and one of those at the forefront of gaming nirvana is Japan. In June Bandai Namco announced the upcoming opening of a dedicated virtual reality (VR) facility in Tokyo, called VR Zone Shinjuku. Home to VR experiences like Mario Kart Arcade GP using HTC Vive’s, Bandai Namco has announced the next big attraction, Ghost in the Shell: Arise Stealth Hounds, due to open next month.
Ghost in the Shell: Arise Stealth Hounds is a multiplayer, team-based shooter designed for eight players split into groups of four. Set in a large dedicated 20m X 12m arena, players don specialised HTC Vive headsets connected to MSI backpack PC’s, as well as VR markers on their shins and arms to complete the full body tracking system – similar to Wargaming.net and VRTech’s location-based system.
Players maybe running around trying to shoot each other in a wide open arena, however in the virtual world they’ll be navigating narrow corridors as a rookie of the special forces team created by Major Motoko Kusanagi, joining the fight against a terrorist organization.
While players will be able to use in-game cover to protect themselves, strategically working out ways of flanking their opponents, lets not forget this is the future after all so there are some interesting toys to play with. The main one most fans of Ghost in the Shell will be familiar with is Kusanagi’s camouflage. Yes, that means players can disappear from sight, waiting for that choice moment to strike, only revealing themselves when they make a sound (so no stealth camping). Other abilities include cyberbrain, prosthetic body and more.
So if you happen to be in Tokyo next month you might want to check out VR Zone Shinjuku. Ghost in the Shell: Arise Stealth Hounds opens on 9th December and you can reserve your tickets now.
For those in the UK you’ve always got the IMAX VR Experience Centre that’s just opened up this week in Manchester, offering exclusive runs of Ubisoft’s Star Trek: Bridge Crew Rescue at Perseph and the newly launched Justice League, an IMAX VR exclusive from Warner Bros.
For the latest VR Zone Shinjuku experiences, keep reading VRFocus.