One gaming theme that never fails to gain positive attention in the amusement business belongs to dinosaurs. People of all ages are fascinated by the creatures, although the main property where they get attention both on the silver screen and among arcade cabinets is Jurassic Park.
2015 saw the release of Raw Thrills’ Jurassic Park Arcade, a game that still is one of the top earners on the market three years later. With the IP turning towards Jurassic World in recent times, and the upcoming arrival of Jurassic World 2 to theaters, you might have been wondering if anyone in the amusement business might be dabbling with it. The answer, as the headline to this post reveals, is yes.
I had been hearing from some Dave & Busters employees about the upcoming arrival of “some kind of Jurassic World VR game” since April. They were not sure who it was that was making it however as even with units appearing at locations this week, there wasn’t an indication of who was involved.
UPDATE: Dave & Busters has posted a new trailer for the game:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VM9pteOF4gQ
Today, The Virtual Reality Company (VRC) pulled the curtain back on Jurassic World VR Expedition to reveal that it is their brainchild. Let’s just copy & paste from the website in regards to a description of this motion simulator VR experience:
Jurassic World VR Expedition™ is an interactive cinematic virtual reality (VR) game that transports players to the visually stunning prehistoric jungles of Isla Nublar, where fans will engage in a film-inspired Jurassic World epic rescue adventure. Jurassic World VR Expedition makes its debut today at more than 100 Dave & Buster’s family entertainment centers, making it the biggest location-based VR launch to date. The VR game launches ahead of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom™, which arrives in theaters on June 22, 2018.
The VRC development team includes several Academy Award-winning and nominated animators, visual effects artists and technicians. Written and directed by James Lima, a multi-Emmy Award nominated visual effects artist, Jurassic World VR Expedition boasts a new approach to VR. Participants will be transported into the Jurassic World environment for a five-minute suspenseful, terror-filled expedition to rescue the dinosaurs who were freely roaming the island at the end of the 2015 Jurassic World film.
From the demo photo, they are using HTC Vive headset. It does have a light-gun element to it, so it is interactive. I should emphasize that this is not related to the 2015 Jurassic Park game, it’s it’s own, licensed thing. When I first saw a picture of the incomplete setup at a D&B, I thought that it might have been a project by CJ 4DPLEX (formerly Simuline) but that does not appear to be the case. They had the Valkyrie motion ride which probably would work out well for something like this but that ride only received a zombie shooter game and nothing else (as far as I am aware).
An attendant is required for these to operate but we’ll have to wait and see how it’ll be for those who use it. This will be available for other locations to grab, Dave & Busters is serving as the release gate for it. Such a wide launch does make this one of the biggest VR amusement product launches we’ll have seen to date.