SEGA Entertainment and virtual reality (VR) solutions provider StarVR today announced its collaboration to bring StarVR arcade experiences to existing SEGA Game Center locations throughout Japan. StarVR will work with SEGA Entertainment to roll out its VR arcade experiences across the country, at three SEGA arcade locations by March 2018 and at more than ten locations by the end of the year.
The two companies today unveiled the first StarVR-powered VR arcade installation in the flagship SEGA Game Center Shinjuku Kabukicho branch located in Tokyo, and will welcome consumers starting on 22nd December 2017. Tickets for the experiences will be priced at 1,200 Japanese yen. At launch, Japanese consumers will be able to experience John Wick Chronicles and The Mummy Prodigium Strike developed by Starbreeze Studios, while more titles will be introduced gradually.
“Continuing our commitment to providing the best arcade experiences in Japan, we’re now bringing world-class VR to SEGA Game Centers with StarVR,” said Tadashi Kawaguchi, Senior Vice President of SEGA Entertainment. “With StarVR’s industry-leading visuals, immersive haptics and premium content, we’re stepping up the game and redefining the arcade experience.”
“We’re especially excited to bring StarVR arcade experiences to Japan, as it has the world’s most sophisticated arcade industry and culture,” said Jerry Kao, Vice Chairman of StarVR Corporation. “Collaborating with SEGA Entertainment, the leader in the local market, we’re confident that we can make truly immersive and premium VR experiences widely available to Japanese consumers soon.”
With nearly 200 branches nationwide, SEGA Game Center is one of the leading arcade chains in Japan. Managed and operated by SEGA Entertainment, the arcades currently provide a range of entertainment choices including Prize Games where customers can win a range of unique items; rhythm action experiences; the latest game consoles; “Purikura” which are photo sticker booths where in some stores costumes can be rented; and Medal Games where friends challenge each other to win as many tokens possible.
The StarVR HMD is a VR head-mounted display (HMD) built from the ground-up for enterprise and professional entertainment use. The HMD features a 5K resolution and 210-degree field of view, with the potential to offer experiences above and beyond home environment setups.
Purchased by Starbeeze Studios back in 2015, StarVR has since received significant investment from Acer. The StarVR HMD is targeting location-based VR specifically, and so is the perfect partner for SEGA Entertainment’s planned expansion. VRFocus will keep you updated with all the latest moves on the VR scene from SEGA Entertainment, as well as any new StarVR installations.
The hopes for greater pixel density on future iterations of consumer VR head-sets are placed into stark comparison with the development in the planetarium business with the latest 8K projection systems. Industry leaders such as E&S, 
IMAX Corporations investment in VR has moved beyond using it as mere Pop-up promotion or ‘Lobby Entertainment’, the company board has invested heavily to develop their own estimations of what is needed create a chain of VR Arcade properties based on their movie experience – seen as a possible companion to the cinema visit, hoping to cement their future movie business. The first IMAX VR “pilot VR center” concept was opened in Los Angeles at the end of 2016, and based on initial reactions (with a reported some 20,000 visitations since the sites opening) has ramped-up development. Their second VR center opening in New York at the end of May, part of the exiting AMC Kips Bay 15 cinema, with a schedule to open additional sites in Manchester, UK, Shanghai and Japan. The concept visualized as an additional revenue component to an established cinema site, a rethinking of the traditional “arcade room” once seen at theaters.
With their movie industry clout, IMAX has been able to establish partnerships with leading movie studios towards creating exclusive content that will populate the high-end VR establishment. IMAX recently announcing an agreement with Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, a co-financing and production agreement to develop and release three premium, interactive VR experiences based in Warner’s upcoming movie properties. The first announced being ‘Justice League VR’ – debuting exclusively at IMAX VR centers, before consideration of a ported to consumer VR hardware. This movie cross-over investment also seen with the StarBreeze Studio developed promotional VR game experience 
Other major cinema chain operators have started their own moves in this direction – much of the investment seen coming from the vast Chinese cinema sector, the conglomerate Dalian Wanda having developed their Wanda VR concept placing the latest Chinese DOE VR hardware in their own ‘Lobby Entertainment’ presentation. A move that is expected to be replicated across their growing movie theatre empire, building on the 2016 announcement that Odeon and UCI Cinema Group had been acquired by AMC Entertainment group (part of the Dalian Wanda operation) for an estimated $1.2bn.
