Happy Groundhog Day – while this story about a T-Rex Safari has nothing to do with groundhogs, seeing it appear in my inbox was as surprising as that critter seeing its shadow today (although I guess it didn’t…I don’t really pay attention to it). Let’s dive in to T-Rex Safari VR Adventure by Raw Thrills, as it’s now releasing.
Background
T-Rex Safari VR Adventure is Raw Thrills fourth released foray into virtual reality, following on from the similar King Kong of Skull Island, its new sequel, and the VR edition of MotoGP. We first reported on it and King Kong of Skull Island II undergoing some location testing last May, but unlike that follow-up, it did not go on to appear on Betson’s booth at IAAPA, nor on Bandai Namco Amusement Europe’s at EAG last month.
Now though, T-Rex Safari has unexpectedly pipped Godzilla to the post, and is releasing to arcades before it this month. King Kong II did make it out first as an upgrade kit in November last year however, and Godzilla isn’t too far off either (current ETA is March/April time), so not before long the three will be fighting it out for sales, in a rare clash between these gargantuan beasts seen only before in spaces like B-movies 😛
Cabinet
Hardware first, as that’s what players will see when they come across this in an FEC. You’ll notice here that T-Rex Safari uses the same kind of design as King Kong, but sporting some different artwork. It still uses the HP Reverb 2 for the headset (with protective armor), a 43″ and a 55″ 4K monitor on the back, motion seats, wind effects, and gesture sensors. Unlike King Kong II, it is NOT available in upgrade kit form, just dedicated.
The Software
T-Rex Safari comes with four levels, where players get to “go back in time to feed, pet and ride prehistoric dinosaurs” and “Fly through the sky and soar on a Quetzalcoatlus, dive into the deep ocean to swim with a Mosasaurus, and race alongside a ravenous T-Rex in the jungle!”. It includes a mixture of action items (swatting at attacking creatures or falling objects) and “whimsical scripted interactive events” such as “feeding dinosaurs, hatching dinosaur eggs, holding baby dinosaurs, and playing with turtles.”
The four levels are: Escape T-Rex; Deep Dive; Soaring Safari; Murky Marsh. They last about 3 1/2 minutes each.
In this sense it sounds much more edutainment than we’ve been accustomed to seeing from Raw Thrills, but perhaps they are also aiming it at dinosaur museums… there are a few here in Utah where this would fit right in.
I don’t have a price on the machine yet, but it is currently listed on Betson’s website; I presume that it will be popping up on other distributor sites here soon.
What do you think about T-Rex Safari VR Adventure?
