univrs – Augmented & Virtual Reality Confabulation

June 22, 2021

Quest Exclusive ‘Little Witch Academia: VR Broom Racing’ Releasing on PC VR & PSVR July 15th

Little Witch Academia: VR Broom Racing (2020), the Oculus Quest racing game based on the popular anime series, is finally leaving Quest exclusivity next month, with a SteamVR, Rift and PSVR release headed for July 15th.

Initially released on Quest back in October 2020, Little Witch Academia: VR Broom Racing offers up 10 tracks dotted across the anime’s lovingly recreated Luna Nova Magical Academy. The game features both single player campaign, where you race and purify ghosts, and online multiplayer. There’s no word on cross-play yet; we’ve reached out for confirmation and will hopefully update with a reply.

Japan-based indie developers UNIVRS do however say the PC VR versions of the game feature “updated graphics,” which isn’t always the case with Quest to PC VR ports like this. You can already wishlist the game on Steam here.

Directed by Junichi Yamamoto (The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening, Batman Ninja), the game also features sound supervisor Yukio Nagasaki (Love Live!, Arc the Lad), TV series songwriter/composer Yuiko Ohara, and singer YURiKA.

A little backstory: the studio funded the game thanks to its success on crowdfunding platforms CAMPFIRE and Kickstarter, garnering the project over 18 million yen (~$165,000). This was after Studio TRIGGER, creators of the original anime and shows such as Neon Genesis Evangelion, released its second Little Witch Academia film, which also found success on Kickstarter in 2015 by garnering over $625,000.

The post Quest Exclusive ‘Little Witch Academia: VR Broom Racing’ Releasing on PC VR & PSVR July 15th appeared first on Road to VR.

October 12, 2020

Rez Infinite, Little Witch Academia & Space Channel 5 VR Launch a day Early

The biggest virtual reality (VR) hardware launch of 2020 takes place tomorrow with the arrival of Oculus Quest 2. During Facebook Connect last month several videogames were confirmed for launch day with many more coming to the platform before the end of the year. If you own the original headset then head to the store as three titles have dropped early.

Launching ahead of schedule are Rez Infinite, Little Witch Academia: VR Broom Racing and Space Channel 5 VR: Kinda Funky News Flash!, as well as a couple of other editions today; Hatsune Miku VR and Homestar VR: Special Edition.

Rez Infinite is the big name out the bunch, a collaborative effort between Monstars Inc. and Resonair, published by Tetris Effects’ Enhance Games. Initially released for PlayStation VR, this psychedelic shooter is a visceral mix of lighting, neon colours, sound and music featuring reworked levels from the Dreamcast original as well as a dedicated VR level called Area X.

Little Witch Academia: VR Broom Racing is one of a cohort of titles created by Japanese developers, this one from UNIVRS, Inc. A racing videogame set around the Luna Nova Witchcraft Academy, you can across more than 10 stages and customise your broom in single-player with an online multiplayer arriving in a post-launch update. The title will also support PlayStation VR, Oculus Rift and SteamVR in early 2021.

The last of the early arrivals is Space Channel 5 VR: Kinda Funky News Flash!, another musical title from the Dreamcast era. Set in a 25th century space TV station, aliens known as “Morolians” arrive, forcing people to dance. So you have to dance and strike poses to catchy tunes in a bid to score points.

While all the videogames support both Oculus Quest and Oculus Quest 2, they’ve been tweaked to make use of the latter’s improved hardware specifications. For example in Little Witch Academia: VR Broom Racing there will be more objects and additional visual effects to enjoy.

The new Oculus Quest 2 comes in two storage variations, 64GB for £299 GBP or 256GB for £399, always worth considering as the storage isn’t expandable. As more videogames are released for the Quest platform, VRFocus will keep you updated.

May 7, 2020

Little Witch Academia: VR Broom Racing Speeds Towards Oculus Quest in Late 2020

Ever wanted to ride a broomstick like they do in Harry Potter but told your inner child that’s never going to happen? Well thanks to Japanese studio UNIVRS, Inc. and some virtual reality (VR) magic, Little Witch Academia: VR Broom Racing is going to be the closest most people get when the title arrives later this year for Oculus Quest.

Based on the Japanese anime series Little Witch Academia by Studio TRIGGER, the racing videogame puts you in the shoes of a new student at Luna Nova Witchcraft Academy.

Offering a brand new story Little Witch Academia: VR Broom Racing allows you to create your own character and team up with characters Sucy, Akko, Lotte and more from the series. The videogame will feature voice acting in English and Japanese from those who star in the anime.

With 10 tracks spread throughout familiar areas around Luna Nova, in single-player mode, you can complete the races using magical energy to speed up and attack other racers or purify ghosts. In the online multiplayer you can also explore the grounds of Luna Nova to relax.

Little Witch Academia: VR Broom Racing held successful crowd-funding campaigns on Kickstarter and Campfire in 2019, raising over $165,000 in total. A launch was originally scheduled for June 2020, but like many developers around the world UNIVRS, Inc. had to change its plans when adopting protective lockdown measures because of COVID-19.

There’s a veteran team helping make the title including director Junichi Yamamoto who was the opening and ending movie director on The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening. Studio TRIGGER meanwhile was founded by the creators behind iconic anime shows such as Neon Genesis Evangelion. Little Witch Academia has a run of 25-episodes currently available on Netflix.

The studio expects to launch Little Witch Academia: VR Broom Racing for Oculus Quest in late 2020. PlayStation VR and PC VR versions will follow in early 2021. VRFocus will continue its coverage of Little Witch Academia: VR Broom Racing, reporting back with further updates.

May 6, 2020

Little Witch Academia: VR Broom Racing Coming To Quest In Late 2020, PC VR And PSVR 2021

Little Witch Academia VR: Broom Racing is an upcoming VR racing game coming later this year for Oculus Quest that transports you into the colorful world of the titular anime. It will eventually come to PSVR and PC VR headsets afterward in 2021.

The Little Witch Academia VR game is developed by UNIVRS, Inc. and is directly based on the anime created by Studio TRIGGER — it’s available to stream on Netflix if you’re interested. The studio raised over $76,000 on Kickstarter previously to fund the game’s development.

Notably, the director of The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening’s opening and ending movies, Junichi Yamamoto, is leading the game’s story development.

Rather than retreading old ground, as-is common for anime video games, this will tell an all-new story about the students at Luna Nova Witch Academy. That’s big news for fans of the show. Little Witch Academia VR will feature exciting broom races across more than 10 tracks, ghost purification, and exploration around the school’s grounds complete with online multiplayer.

little witch academia vr Sucy World Concept Art_en

little witch academia VR Night Forest Concept Art_en

In the meantime, if you want to try something in VR that resembles Quidditch, but swaps the brooms for zero-G environments instead, then Echo Arena is a great option. It’s out now on PC VR and is in Open Beta on Quest.

Little Witch Academia: VR Broom Racing will release on Oculus Quest in late 2020 and then on PSVR and PC VR headsets in 2021. Let us know what you think of Little Witch Academia VR down in the comments below! And don’t forget to check the official website for more details.

The post Little Witch Academia: VR Broom Racing Coming To Quest In Late 2020, PC VR And PSVR 2021 appeared first on UploadVR.