Now Testing In Japan: Transparent Screen Sniping Game “GUNDOG”

The Western world is gearing up for Christmas or New Years as the year comes to a close. In Japan, they are prepping to eat a lot of KFC (yep) but also testing out innovative new arcade games. That game is called GUNDOG by Konami.

Taking the Silent Scope idea that did so well around the world, Konami is shaking things up with Gundog. Unfortunately I have not been able to find any media of it so far, which means they have done a great job at keeping cameras clamped down for now. But from the descriptions of the game it uses :

-A transparent LCD touchscreen that sits in front of a standard LCD monitor

-Wind effects

-“Intense” 3D sound

-“Real recoil”

-Players apparently sit down to use the sniper rifle instead of standing as they did on Silent Scope

According to AM-Net: “Touch screen on the front, LCD monitor is located at the back. Also in scope in LCD monitor have. Find the enemy and shoot your sighting”. Also Ariesu got a chance to play it and has shared a description of how it works.

Black Out Videmption game by Adrenaline Amusements

While the idea of transparent LCDs is not exactly brand new, I thought when we started seeing some videmption concepts of the technology being used, that someone could certainly create some innovative and very unique video amusement only concepts with it. Most possibilities I can imagine would involve a dual screen interface with the transparent one overlaying the solid. I wonder how 3D parallax would look in such a manner but there is more that could be done with it than that. It’s also a sure-fire way to create a unique out-of-home experience – I just don’t foresee transparent screen tech going mainstream at home any time soon. Much less multi-monitor transparent/solid hybrid tech. That just screams arcade use.

That said, its too bad that this will probably be a) super-expensive for operators b) pretty much restricted to Japan anyways because its Konami. If it was Sega or Namco I’d think there would be a better chance. The company hasn’t officially released any titles out West since DDRX2 a few years back, they didn’t bother to try with DDRX3. While that doesn’t stop occasional imports, the lack of support means it will be a challenge to find them (although Round 1 USA seems pretty good at getting their hands on the games). However, Silent Scope is one of the last series that did really well for Konami in the West, aside from DDR. You can still find the game in use in many locations and players will recognize it easily. With the tech update it sounds even more exciting to play so we will have to wait and see.