Category: Spicy Tails

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New Trailer and Screenshots Arrive for Spice and Wolf VR 2

Spice and Wolf VR 2

Several weeks ago Japanese studio Spicy Tails announced a sequel to its virtual reality (VR) animation Spice and Wolf VR, continuing the story of Holo and Kraft Lawrence. This week the first teaser trailer has dropped alongside new screenshots, revealing the plotline for the first time.

Spice and Wolf VR 2 does continue the story, with Lawrence ending his travelling merchant lifestyle and settling down with the wolf goddess Holo, opening a bathhouse together. Living an idyllic life they have a daughter Myuri until: “One day, as Lawrence is going about his fur side business to further fill the family’s coffers, a slight incident occurs and Holo saunters in with quite the feast,” the synopsis explains.

Developed in conjunction with Gemdrop Game Studios, Spice and Wolf VR 2 is being built for PlayStation VR, HTC Vive, Oculus Rift and Oculus Go as well as Nintendo Switch. As Spicy Tails previously revealed, the title won’t natively support Oculus Quest due to failing the certification process. It did state, however, that Spice and Wolf VR 2 would still be playable on the standalone headset via Oculus Link for those that have a PC.

If you’ve not seen Spice and Wolf VR yet, the title is based-on Isuna Hasekura’s original novel which sees Lawrence stop in the town of Pasloe where he meets the 600-year-old Holo. She takes the form of a teenage girl – apart from her apparent wolf tail and ears – joining him on his travels.

Currently, there’s no release date for Spice and Wolf VR 2 with Spicy Tails merely saying it’s coming soon. It’ll retail for $24.99 USD when it does. As VRFocus previously noted, that could happen this year simply because new Oculus Go apps won’t be added to the store after 18th December, due to the headset being discontinued.

Check out the new teaser trailer below and for further updates on the VR adaption of the light novel, keep reading VRFocus.

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Spice and Wolf Receives PlayStation VR Launch Date, Sequel Confirmed

Virtual reality (VR) anime Spice and Wolf VR only launched a couple of months ago and now developer Spicy Tails has announced a sequel is in the works. Happening a little sooner, Spice and Wolf VR will be coming to PlayStation VR and Nintendo Switch in September.

Spice and Wolf VR 2

Spicy Tails has merely confirmed that a sequel is in the works, holding off on details such as storyline, platforms and release dates just yet. Work is definitely underway though, as the studio has released several artwork images including a mysterious new character who happens to have a bushy silver tail.

As for the new platforms, Spice and Wolf VR will be appearing on both PlayStation VR and Nintendo Switch on 5th September 2019. An Oculus Quest version is also on the way but it has been delayed. The studio confirmed the delay on Twitter saying: “The Oculus Quest version has a huge application process for Oculus and is expected to be delayed for a while.”

Based-on Isuna Hasekura’s original novel – who also happens to be Spicy Tails scenario writer for the project, Spice and Wolf VR tells the tale of a 25-year-old travelling merchant called Kraft Lawrence. On his journey’s he stops in the town of Pasloe where he comes across a wolf-deity named Holo who is over 600 years old. Taking the form of a 15-year-old girl – except for a wolf’s tail and ears – she wants to join him so she can see the world and eventually return to her homeland.

Spice and Wolf VR 2

To bring the project to life Spicy Tales launch two crowd-funding campaign in 2018, one on Kickstart and the other on Campfire. Both were successful with the Kickstarter managing to raise ¥30,978,009 (approximately £240,000 GBP) while the Campfire campaign achieved its ¥8,000,000 (approximately £61,000) target.

This is Spicy Tails second VR title, the first being Project Lux. As further details regarding Spice and Wolf VR 2 are released, VRFocus will let you know.

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VR Anime Spice and Wolf Delayed Until June

Japanese studio Spicy Tails held two successful crowd-funding campaigns on Kickstarter and Campfire in 2018 for its upcoming virtual reality (AR) anime Spice and Wolf VR. With the release expected to take place in May, the team has recently said that will now be delayed until June. The good news, specific platforms and date have been confirmed.

Spice and Wolf VR - girl

On its Twitter account, Spicy Tails states that HTC Vive, Oculus Rift and Oculus Go will be the first to see Spice and Wolf VR launch, now dated for 3rd June. The studio has previously said that PlayStation VR and Oculus Quest will also get versions but hasn’t mentioned a date, simply Summer 2019.

According to Siliconera Spicy Tails’ Isuna Hasekura has said that the delay was merely down to quality, with the team making sure its as polished as possible.

Spice and Wolf VR follows the original novel’s story involving a 25-year-old travelling merchant called Kraft Lawrence. When he stops in the town of Pasloe, he comes across a wolf-deity named Holo who is over 600 years old. Taking the form of a 15-year-old girl – except for a wolf’s tail and ears – she wants to join him so she can see the world and eventually return to her homeland.

Spice and Wolf VR duo

The Kickstarter campaign aimed to raise ¥8,000,000 Yen (£55,194 GBP) over 40 days, easily achieving that within 24 hours. Eventually, Spicy Tails manage to raise ¥30,978,009 from Kickstarter alone, with over 1,600 people backing the project.

Hasekura is the original series’ author and the projects scenario writer. Novel illustrator Ju Ayakura is in charge of character design. Both Ami Koshimizu (Holo) and Jun Fukuyama (Kraft Lawrence) will be reprising their roles as the voice actors. Spice and Wolf was first published in 2006 and it has been over ten years since its anime was broadcast in Japan.

In VR circles Spicy Tails is probably best known for Project Lux which came to HTC Vive at the start of 2018. The narrative takes place across five ‘episodes’ during a court trial set in a future where most humans have cyberbrains. VRFocus will continue its coverage of Spice and Wolf, reporting back with any further updates.

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VR Anime ‘Spice & Wolf’ Launching on Quest, PSVR & Nintendo Labo VR This Summer

SpicyTails, the Japan-based studio behind VR anime experience Project LUX (2018), celebrated a successful Kickstarter earlier this year focusing on their next VR project that aims to bring the manga/anime Spice & Wolf to VR. Now, the studio says not only will users on Rift, Vive and Go be able to experience the game this June, but at some point afterwards it will be expanding to Quest, PSVR, and Nintendo Switch.

Update (May 27th, 2019): As reported by Gematsu, SpicyTails has announced that they’re expanding their target platforms to include Oculus Quest, PSVR, and Nintendo Switch. ‘Spice & Wolf VR’ is slated to be available on both PS4 and PSVR.

SpicyTails also reveals that the Nintendo Switch version is slated to support the Nintendo Labo Toy-Con VR Kit as well.

Its initial launch on Rift, Vive and Go will take place on June 3rd, while the platforms mentioned above will follow at some point this summer.

The original article announcing its launch follows below.

Original Article (April 7th, 2019): The launch date was originally slated for May 2019, promising support for Rift, Vive, Go, PSVR and eventually Quest. SpicyTails however announced in a tweet that Rift, Vive, and Go support would be launching on June 3rd, making no mention of PSVR or Quest. Both Quest and PSVR support were stretch goals for the Kickstarter campaign.

Spice & Wolf VR managed to get an eye-watering ¥41,479,064 (~$370,000) on Japanese crowdfunding platform Campfire; through its international Kickstarter, the project garnered an equally impressive ¥30,978,009 (~$275,000), bringing the total to over $645,000 to create the game.

Spice & Wolf VR includes original series author Isuna Hasekura, the anime’s original Japanese voice actors, and production staff such as original author Tsukasa Okura, character design by Ju Ayakura, 3D modeling and motion by Keisuke Sakakibara, and voice actors Ami Koshimizu (Holo) and Jun Fukuyama (Kraft).

Here’s a quick peek into just how far along the game has come:

The post VR Anime ‘Spice & Wolf’ Launching on Quest, PSVR & Nintendo Labo VR This Summer appeared first on Road to VR.

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‘Spice & Wolf VR’ Kickstarter Doubles Funding Goal, Coming to Rift, Vive, Go, PSVR & Quest

SpicyTails, the studio behind VR anime experience Project LUX (2018), recently launched a Kickstarter for their latest VR project, Spice & Wolf VR. After having reached their initial funding goal of ¥8,000,000 (~$70,800) in the Kickstarter’s first 24 hours, the campaign has now hit the 200% fulfillment mark.

While the project tripled its funding goal on Japanese crowdfunding platform Campfire in relatively short order, it wasn’t certain if Spice & Wolf VR would see the same level of success outside of Japan at the onset. It seems the manga and anime’s Western fan base has spoken, and they definitely want Spice & Wolf in VR.

At the time of this writing, the Spice & Wolf VR Kickstarter has garnered ¥16,157,000 (~$143,686), an excellent result for a campaign that went live only 9 days ago; the campaign will come to an end on January 12th, 2019.

Image courtesy SpicyTails

The lowest funding tier at ¥3,000 (~$27) gets you a download key for the platform of your choice: Oculus Rift, Oculus Go, HTC Vive, PSVR, or Oculus Quest. The game is estimated to arrive sometime in May 2019 for Rift, Go, and Vive.

Since the addition of PSVR and Quest support was the result of a Campfire stretch goal, SpicyTails says that those users will likely see their copies “months later.”

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SpicyTails says scenarios in Spice & Wolf VR will be written by original series author Isuna Hasekura, and will include the anime’s original Japanese voice actors. The production staff includes original author Tsukasa Okura, character design by Ju Ayakura, 3D modeling and motion by Keisuke Sakakibara, and voice actors Ami Koshimizu (Holo) and Jun Fukuyama (Kraft).

Check out the Kickstarter here for the full list of funding tiers.

The post ‘Spice & Wolf VR’ Kickstarter Doubles Funding Goal, Coming to Rift, Vive, Go, PSVR & Quest appeared first on Road to VR.

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Spice and Wolf VR Animation Breezes Past its Kickstarter Goal in 24 Hours

Virtual reality (VR) animation has come a long way since early shorts like Lost. Titles such as Crow: The Legend by Baobab Studios and Axis Studios’ The Bond have learnt from years of experimentation, providing richly immersive experiences that are only possible in VR. So when Japanese studio Spicy Tails announced that it would be making a VR version of novel series Spice and Wolf it caught peoples attention. So much so that Spice and Wolf VR’s Kickstarter campaign raised the required amount in one day.

Spice and Wolf VR - girl

Spicy Tails looked to secure ¥8,000,000 Yen (£55,194 GBP) over 40 days and has so far rocketed past that to ¥11,259,550  (£77,683) in just 24 hours. 

Backing tiers start from ¥3,000 (about £21), which will net you a copy of the title – in either VR or non-VR if you don’t own a headset – plus an original desktop wallpaper. As with any Kickstarter campaign the more you pay the more goodies you’ll get. The funding tiers are quite extensive for Spice and Wolf VR with the highest retailing for ¥400,000 (about £2,760). For that much cash you’d expect something pretty special and Spicy Tails do have something original in mind. Alongside everything from previous tiers, this top pledge will allow the backer to ask Wolf Holo one question, to which they’ll get a response via an original short movie.

As with all the funding tiers, Spicy Tails expects to be able to fulfil and ship pledges in May 2019.

The original Spice and Wolf story follows a 25-year-old travelling merchant called Kraft Lawrence. After stopping in the town of Pasloe, he comes across a wolf-deity named Holo who is over 600 years old. Taking the form of a 15-year-old girl – except for a wolf’s tail and ears – she wants to join him so she can see the world and eventually return to her homeland.

The Kickstarter also reveals the additional headset support Spicy Tails plans on adding. Previously only confirming Oculus Rift and HTC Vive, the studio has now added PlayStation VR, Oculus Go, and Oculus Quest to the roster. The studio does note that download codes for Oculus Rift, Oculus Go and HTC Vive will take priority, with the PlayStation VR and Oculus Quest versions taking a lot longer. As further updates are released for Spice and Wolf VR, VRFocus will keep you updated.

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Spice and Wolf VR To Begin Crowd Funding Later this Month

Back in July Japanese studio, Spicy Tails announced work on a virtual reality (VR) project called Spice and Wolf VR,  adapting the light novel series Spice & Wolf for headsets. The team have now released further details, revealing that two crowd-funding campaigns will be arriving towards the end of November.

Spicy Tails will launch a Campfire and Kickstarter campaign on 25th November to help fund Spice and Wolf VR, although there are no details regarding how much the studio is seeking. Backing tiers will feature ‘limited goods’, which sounds like you’ll get more than just the videogame for your money – t-shirts and screensavers are quite common, plus actual character models for more expensive tiers are also a possibility.

Since this summers first announcement Spicy Tails has added a couple of images and short videos showcasing the development of Spice and Wolf VR, keeping with traditional 2D comic book imagery rather than going for a 3D look.

The original story follows a 25-year-old travelling merchant called Kraft Lawrence. After stopping in the town of Pasloe, he comes across a wolf-deity named Holo who is over 600 years old. Taking the form of a 15-year-old girl – except for a wolf’s tail and ears – she wants to join him so she can see the world and eventually return to her homeland.

Spice & Wolf VR will support HTC Vive, Oculus Rift and other headsets when it arrives in early 2019. Original series author Isuna Hasekura will be involved with the new project as well as anime voice actors Jun Fukuyama (Kraft) and Ami Koshimizu (Holo).

Spicy Tails is best known for its VR title Project Lux which came to HTC Vive at the beginning of the year. It takes place across five ‘episodes’ during a court trial set in a future where most humans have cyberbrains.

For another example of 2D animation brought to VR, then there’s always Square Enix’s Tales of Wedding Rings VR for Oculus Rift. As more comic book style adaptions are brought to VR, VRFocus will let you know.

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Spice & Wolf VR Coming in 2019 from Project LUX Creator

There have been a few virtual reality (VR) visual novels produced, such as Square Enix’s Tales of Wedding Rings VR, the recently announced Tokyo Chronos, and Project LUX. The latter was the work of Japanese studio SpicyTails which has just revealed its next project, Spice & Wolf VR.

Spotted by MoguraVR, the new VR project is based on a Japanese light novel series called Spice & Wolf, which then saw mange and anime adaptions. Details on the actual experience haven’t been released as yet but the original story follows a 25-year-old traveling merchant called Kraft Lawrence. After stopping in the town of Pasloe, he comes across a wolf-deity named Holo who is over 600 years old. Taking the form of a 15-year-old girl – except for a wolf’s tail and ears – she wants to join him so she can see the world and eventually return to her homeland.

Original series author Isuna Hasekura will be involved with the new project as well as anime voice actors Jun Fukuyama (Kraft) and Ami Koshimizu (Holo).

Currently, SpicyTails has confirmed that Spice & Wolf VR will support HTC Vive, Oculus Rift and other headsets (most likely PlayStation VR) when it arrives in early 2019.

Project Lux

To see what’s instore then it’s best to check out Project LUX. Designed as a new adventure specifically for VR, the experience takes place during a court trial set in a future where most humans have cyberbrains. On trial is an agent who coordinates with artists to create data for cyberbrains which can interact with people’s emotions. The victim is a girl artist named Lux, and the jury has to investigate what really happened by reliving the memory data of the defendant.

As production has just begun on Spice and Wolf VR, when SpicyTails reveal further details on the project, VRFocus will keep you updated.

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‘Spice & Wolf VR’ Funding Campaign Reaches Goal in 2 Hours, Kickstarter Coming “next week”

SpicyTails, the studio behind the popular VR visual novel experience Project LUX (2018), have something to celebrate. Spice & Wolf VR, the studio’s next VR project, has smashed its goal on Japanese crowdfunding platform Campfire. Residents outside of Japan will be able pitch in too when the Kickstarter campaign goes live in early December.

Update (November 29th, 2018): Spice & Wolf VR has exceeded its ¥8,000,000 (~$70,000) funding goal within two hours of the Campfire campaign launch on Sunday. At the time of this writing, the project has garnered over ¥21,000,000 (~$185,000) through the Japan-only campaign.

SpicyTails originally planned to release their Kickstarter for non-Japan residents on November 25th, although due to some unforeseen circumstances the company has pushed it back to an early December release, or what SpicyTails says will be “next week.”

We’ll update with the relevant link when the Kickstarter goes live.

Original Article (July 16th, 2018): As first reported by Japanese VR publication MoguraVR, the project is based on the manga and anime series Spice and Wolf.

SpicyTails, an indie studio which involves original series author Isuna Hasekura, says their newest VR project will also include the anime’s original Japanese voice actors. The production staff includes original author Tsukasa Okura, character design by Ju Ayakura, 3D modeling and motion by Keisuke Sakakibara, and voice actors Ami Koshimizu (Holo) and Jun Fukuyama (Kraft).

SpicyTails say the VR experience will support Vive, Rift, and “others”, and launch sometime in 2019.

While not much else is known about the project so far, the creators say it will be like Project LUX, which could mean it follows the latter’s multi-ending style.

Project LUX, which is available for HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, and Windows VR, boasts 65 minutes of total story, and includes localization for Japanese, English, and Chinese. Project LUX currently sits at a healthy 89% positive rating on Steam and a near [4.6/5] stars on the Oculus Store.

Take a look at the teaser below to get an idea of what SpicyTails could have planned for their upcoming Spice & Wolf VR visual novel.

The post ‘Spice & Wolf VR’ Funding Campaign Reaches Goal in 2 Hours, Kickstarter Coming “next week” appeared first on Road to VR.

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Between The Virtual And Reality, Project LUX’s PlayStation VR Trailer Asks What The Truth Is

2018 is looking pretty rosy for virtual reality (VR) fans and especially so if you’re an owner of a PlayStation VR. Earlier this month at Playstation Experience 2017 (PSX) the Sony made headset popped up several times with new updates and announcements. And there’s already a growing number of videogames for PlayStation VR owners to look forward to.

Those include previously PC based first-person shooter (FPS) Killing Floor: Incursion, also adding PSVR to its supported headsets is Owlchemy Labs’ madcap team-up with Adult Swim Games, Rick And Morty: Virtual Rick-ality. Both underwater adventure Jupiter & Mars and First Contact Entertainment’s tactical FPS Firewall Zero Hour were revealed at PSX along with the confirmation that Wipeout Omega Collection would be getting a VR update in 2018. Other titles to look forward to include Smash Hit Plunder, sci-fi dinosaur adventure Eden Tomorrow and even the delayed mousey adventures of Moss.

One other title making the leap to PlayStation VR is Spicy Tails’ Project LUX. Initially an Early Access release on Steam in March earlier this year, the visual novel designed specifically for the VR medium and published Sekai Project originally supported just the HTC Vive on PC. However, as we reported earlier this week, Project LUX is indeed also now coming to console VR thanks in part to the positive response from that initial release.

Set in a futuristic civilisation where humanity has effectively ‘upgraded’ themselves, the story follows an artist called Lux who is the apparent victim of an agent who works with ‘cyber artists’ like Lux in creating experiences for those with augmented brains. Experiences that can affect your very emotions. But what is the truth? Truth is in the eye of the beholder – so you’ll have to delve into the memories of both Lux and the defendant in order to find it.

In line with the PlayStation VR announcement there’s also a trailer for the title, which you can see below.

There are five episodes of Project LUX but at this current time how they will be released on PlayStation VR is not known. When we have any further updates regarding this, or the PC version currently on Steam, VRFocus will update you.