Back in April VRFocus reported on Square Enix launching Dragon Quest VR at the VR Zone in Shinjuku, Japan. Allowing players to immerse themselves in one of the most famous Japanese role-playing games (JRPG), the virtual reality (VR) experience allows up to four visitors to team up and play. Today, BANDAI NAMCO in collaboration with Vicon and Square Enix have showcased the experience in even more depth thanks to a series of new images.
In the Dragon Quest VR experience players can take on the role of a warrior, priest or mage, with each class of character capable of different attacks. Guests wear a customised HTC Vive headset connected to a backpack PC that grants them complete wireless freedom in an empty 240-square-meter room which has 40 Vicon V5 motion tracking cameras recording their movements.
“After the VR Zone facility launched last year, we’ve been looking at ways to take advantage of the open space, and this space really goes well with the concept of the role-playing game,” said Yukiharu Tamiya of BANDAI NAMCO Amusement Inc., who oversees the facility. “The Dragon Quest games are about adventure, so going into a VR world and being able to walk around can give the players the sense of traveling through an unexplored land.”
Due to the size of the room and the amount of Vicon cameras groups of up to four can compete together on a team, while the room itself can hold up to three groups at a time. This is achieved via the Vicon cameras being able to track up to 150 different objects at 180 fps, ensuring low latency and nearly instantaneous movement recreation in the virtual world.
“To see groups of people yelling, shouting and fighting virtual foes while being lost in the experience was amazing,” said Vicon’s Asia Pacific Sales Manager Alex Muir. “We were there at the beginning of this with Bandai Namco as a technical partner, and to see the realization of being immersed in the game – not the technology – was mind blowing.”
If you just happen to be passing by or heading towards Japan then further details including tickets can be found here. Tickets for Dragon Quest VR cost ¥3,200 (around $29 USD) per session. For further updates on location-based VR keep reading VRFocus.
