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BANDAI NAMCO To open Japan’s LARGEST VR Entertainment Facility “VR ZONE SHINJUKU”

Shadowmask72
Honored Visionary

Press Release:


BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Inc. (HQ: Minato-ku, Tokyo, President & CEO: Satoshi Oshita) will open the largest VR entertainment facility in Japan, “VR ZONE SHINJUKU”, in Shinjuku Kabukicho Tokyo on Friday 14th  July. Reservations will be available from Friday 16th  June, 12:00PM (JST). Building upon the success of its predecessor “VR ZONE Project i Can”, VR ZONE SHINJUKU will house over 15 activities including the following new VR activities utilising IPs:

 

・Dragon Ball VR “Master the Kamehameha”

・Evangelion VR “The Throne of Souls”

・Ghost in the Shell Arise: Stealth Hounds

・MARIO KART ARCADE GP VR

 

VR ZONE SHINJUKU will also include a wide range of new non-IP VR activities where guests will be able to experience exploring a fantasy world on a winged bicycle, a horror-filled dinosaur survival run, and much more. Every activity is designed for the guests to lose themselves in the immersive VR experience. Guests will also be able to enjoy a variety of non VR activities, such as surviving from an expanding giant balloon in a locked cell, purchasing original souvenirs, and enjoy meals and activities in a virtually simulated resort themed dining space, making for a truly well-rounded entertainment experience. In addition, BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Inc. has teamed up with the popular digital art group NAKED to develop projection mapping installations in and out of the facility. The exterior will feature a projection of PAC-MAN among other images, while the inside will feature a ‘Centre Tree’ posing as the interface of the facility which will allow guests to interact with the building itself through touch.

 

Facility Exterior Image

VR ZONE SHINJUKU Logo

Facility Interior Image

 

According to Yoshiyasu Horiuchi, Executive Officer of the Amusement Business Unit for BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Inc., the company plans to install their VR activities in over 20 locations worldwide in order to increase the opportunities for a larger audience to enjoy their VR entertainment. “VR ZONE SHINJUKU will be the flagship location for the next-generation of entertainment,” said Executive Officer Yoshiyasu Horiuchi. “A place where BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Inc. carries out new challenges, delivers excitement and amazement to visitors from across the globe.”

 

Equipment Support: HTC, MSI



System Specs: MSI NVIDIA RTX 4090 , i5 13700K CPU, 32GB DDR 4 RAM, Win 11 64 Bit OS.
26 REPLIES 26

kevinw729
Honored Visionary

If you know anything about my background, before working in the theme park sector I worked in amusement and location-based entertainment development, mainly on the CGi system sales – and we worked very closely with the guys at BattleTech/VWE at the height of their investment.





Much of what we are doing now with the new destination and out-of-home entertainment VR Park projects builds heavily on the lessons learned during the VWE days and touches on the whole themed digital experience that goes far beyond lasertag or a “arcade” setting.





As with the JOYPOLIS and DisneyQuest concepts from the 90’s the market is set to see a rebirth of location-based entertainment venues – and with the initial success of IMAX VR, Zero Latency, and other dedicated spaces – this seems a rich vein to mine.

https://vrawards.aixr.org/ "The Out-of-Home Immersive Entertainment Frontier: Expanding Interactive Boundaries in Leisure Facilities" https://www.amazon.co.uk/Out-Home-Immersive-Entertainment-Frontier/dp/1472426959

kevinw729
Honored Visionary

Morgrum said:

...
The centers just didn't catch on and couldn't pull in enough customers to cover their cost.
The pods are still around however a group bought them refurbished them and they bring them from con to con.
If you like meh warrior and you ever see them at a con check it out because it's worth it.



That’s not entirely true. BattelTech/VWE had 33 facilities internationally at their height generating serious revenue. The factor in their demise was an inability to feed the audience they created and to create a acceptable upgrade path as hardware improved. It took them nearly three years to come up to a replacement to the Mk2 cockpit, and by the time it was ready they still did not have the game software nailed down. 

VWE found it difficult to be a IP owner, facility operator, game and hardware manufacturer and sales operation. As is very common at the moment, one company wanted to do it all so they could dominate the market, and ended up dropping the ball.

We managed to interview the previous founder of VWE for the book and it became clear that rather than the audience abandoning the operation, they made themselves toxic by hyperbole and over promising – sound familiar?

https://vrawards.aixr.org/ "The Out-of-Home Immersive Entertainment Frontier: Expanding Interactive Boundaries in Leisure Facilities" https://www.amazon.co.uk/Out-Home-Immersive-Entertainment-Frontier/dp/1472426959

Morgrum
Expert Trustee

kevinw729 said:

If you know anything about my background, before working in the theme park sector I worked in amusement and location-based entertainment development, mainly on the CGi system sales – and we worked very closely with the guys at BattleTech/VWE at the height of their investment.





Much of what we are doing now with the new destination and out-of-home entertainment VR Park projects builds heavily on the lessons learned during the VWE days and touches on the whole themed digital experience that goes far beyond lasertag or a “arcade” setting.





As with the JOYPOLIS and DisneyQuest concepts from the 90’s the market is set to see a rebirth of location-based entertainment venues – and with the initial success of IMAX VR, Zero Latency, and other dedicated spaces – this seems a rich vein to mine.



I hope your right because I grew up with those centers and I was sad to see them go.
WAAAGH!

Zenbane
MVP
MVP

kevinw729 said:





I always wonder about those that say arcade is dead, but will not comment on the success of Dave & Buster’s 



Places like Dave & Buster's rely on "food and alcohol" to keep their business sustainable. It's not just a straight arcade, because arcades get old and boring very quickly. VR Arcades might do well in the beginning, but if all they have to offer are video games (no matter the layout), then Repeat Business will start to fall which forces companies to rely on new customers. That is not sustainable and the primary reason Arcades and Theme Parks alike shut down over time.

I have not seen anything from the VR Facility sector that shows how they will avoid the pitfalls common to arcades. Instead, they seem to simply rely on the newness of Virtual Reality. Yet as anyone who has owned a Vive or Rift for a year can attest to... the brain becomes acclimated to VR over time, and VR loses the luster/magic it had in the beginning. It's still fun, but it doesn't feel the same (i.e. the Honeymoon ends).

VR Facilities will face this, and many other challenges. Yet nothing I read coming from that sector even acknowledges the roadblocks they must overcome. If anything, places like Dave & Buster's show why a VR Arcade will likely fail - as it is not practical for a VR Arcade to adopt the D&B Model (e.g. let someone take a few shots of whiskey before strapping on a VR helmet? Terrible idea).

kevinw729
Honored Visionary

Morgrum said:
...I hope your right because I grew up with those centers and I was sad to see them go.

I agree.
No matter how the “fan”atics try and justify their long rants regarding the viability of this sector, the reality is that as the Road To VR article stated:


In many ways, the out-of-home VR industry has done a much better job of fulfilling the early potential and expectations of what virtual reality as a technology can offer, than home systems. With no restrictions on hardware customisation and the freedom to eschew out-of-the box tracking technologies for current generation VR headsets, startups like The Void and VRCade have shown what pure virtual reality attractions can offer right now.




No matter the vested interests of the out-of-work armchair profits – we are seeing an explosion in interest to develop, and with the likes of BANDAI entering the Western market with this platform – momentum is going to keep pace.




https://vrawards.aixr.org/ "The Out-of-Home Immersive Entertainment Frontier: Expanding Interactive Boundaries in Leisure Facilities" https://www.amazon.co.uk/Out-Home-Immersive-Entertainment-Frontier/dp/1472426959

CrashFu
Consultant
Ah, well that explains that other thread about the Mario Kart game  (if Namco are the ones in charge if this entire arcade)

It's too bad few of us will ever have an opportunity to visit that place ourselves, I'm sure it'll be awesome...   Although, I hope they've invested in disposable face-guards for the Vives on those arcade machines.  c.c;;    I mean, would YOU want to strap into any HMD immediately after three other nerds sweated it up? Ew.

Then again this is being built in a country where sharing ear-buds is like... a normal, socially-acceptable thing people do? Maybe they just aren't shy about sweat, either.  Me, I like to avoid other peoples' bodily substances. :grimace:

P.S.  If you like barcades, I recommend seeing if there's a KDB in your area. I went to a 'Kitchen Den Bar' at a mall not too far from me, once, and it was a pretty cool place.  And yes, the drinks were good, although I got one of those on my way out :tongue:  (and went straight to the movie theater also in that mall.  Good times.)
It's hard being the voice of reason when you're surrounded by unreasonable people.

Zenbane
MVP
MVP

CrashFu said:
Then again this is being built in a country where sharing ear-buds is like... a normal, socially-acceptable thing people do? Maybe they just aren't shy about sweat, either.  Me, I like to avoid other peoples' bodily substances. :grimace:



There's about 10,000 things done in that country that are not done here as a common practice. Putting day-old exposed garbage next to fish, meat, and poultry intended for public consumption is one example that comes to mind.

kevinw729
Honored Visionary

CrashFu said:

Ah, well that explains that other thread about the Mario Kart game  (if Namco are the ones in charge if this entire arcade)

It's too bad few of us will ever have an opportunity to visit that place ourselves, I'm sure it'll be awesome...   Although, I hope they've invested in disposable face-guards for the Vives on those arcade machines. 
......

P.S.  If you like barcades, I recommend seeing if there's a KDB in your area. I went to a 'Kitchen Den Bar' at a mall not too far from me, once, and it was a pretty cool place.  And yes, the drinks were good, although I got one of those on my way out :tongue:  (and went straight to the movie theater also in that mall.  Good times.)

Yes, BANDAI NAMCO own the operation, and have thought on what you alluded too:


Edit - found a better illustration of the system used.

P.S. Yes we know of Kitchen Den - but also the original NY BARCADE chain are great places with some real classic games. The Bar-taiment scene is strong hospitality brand in the States and is evening turning up in Europe.
https://vrawards.aixr.org/ "The Out-of-Home Immersive Entertainment Frontier: Expanding Interactive Boundaries in Leisure Facilities" https://www.amazon.co.uk/Out-Home-Immersive-Entertainment-Frontier/dp/1472426959



Yeah, after visiting Japan it's kind of sad what happened in the US. Over there they have huge multi-floor arcades, people playing tourneys while smoking cigs like it was the old days. 


Ah, the yellow ceiling we had when i was a lad!



Big PC, all the headsets, now using Quest 3

kevinw729
Honored Visionary


Ah, the yellow ceiling we had when i was a lad!




The good-old-bad-old days of the arcade scene make me cringe. Part
of the reason I work so hard on addressing the needs for a better presentation
for immersive entertainment away from the nostalgic perception of the industry.



From this:



 



To this:



 



And now with the new immersive platforms (not just VR but the new
tech), there is a strong possibility for the sector to grow.

https://vrawards.aixr.org/ "The Out-of-Home Immersive Entertainment Frontier: Expanding Interactive Boundaries in Leisure Facilities" https://www.amazon.co.uk/Out-Home-Immersive-Entertainment-Frontier/dp/1472426959