The VR game developed for the phantom VR headset 'Sega VR' announced by Sega in 1993 is reproduced
by Video Game History Foundation
In recent years, many VR headsets and VR games have appeared, but there was a time when the development of VR products became active in the early 1990s, and
Sega VR Revived: Emulating an Unreleased Genesis Accessory | Video Game History Foundation
https://gamehistory.org/segavr/
Lost “Sega VR” game unearthed, made playable on modern VR headsets | Ars Technica
https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2020/11/lost-sega-vr-game-unearthed-made-playable-on-modern-vr-headsets/
Sega's canceled VR project from the '90s gets revived by historians
https://mashable.com/article/sega-vr-headset-game-revived-nuclear-rush/
Introduced by Sega in 1993, the Sega VR received a lot of attention when it was unveiled at the 1993 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) . You can see the actual presentation at CES by watching the following movie.
Sega VR-YouTube
The presenter enthusiastically talks about Sega's 'virtual reality.'
The word 'VR' that is displayed on the screen as big.
A man wearing a head-mounted display is playing the game with excitement.
The controller in my hand has the same shape as a general TV game controller, and it seems that the game screen is reproduced in the VR space.
The Sega VR headset is equipped with a high-frequency inertial measurement unit and two LCD screens, and the basic structure was similar to the modern VR headset.
While it was a groundbreaking product at the time, it was priced at just $ 200 (about 22,000 yen at the rate at the time).
The actual Sega VR machine also appeared in the presentation, and there was one act in which the audience actually wore a VR headset, but they never played the game.
Sega VR was about to be commercialized with presentations and announcements of estimated prices, but Sega VR has become a phantom VR headset because Sega has decided to discontinue its release. In addition, Sega at that time explained the reason for the discontinuation of the sale, 'Because it is too immersive and realistic, the player may move around and get injured during use', but in reality it was an early tester. It is believed that the sale was discontinued due to feedback that symptoms such as headache and dizziness appeared.
Since the development of games for Sega VR was underway before the decision to discontinue the release, some games for Sega VR never saw the light of day. VGHF, which was investigating Sega VR, contacted Kenneth Harley, co-founder of Futurescape Productions, the company that developed the title ' Nuclear Rush ', one of the games for Sega VR, and Sega VR I told you that I am interested in games developed for. Mr. Harley, who was contacted by VGHF, unearthed the last updated CD-ROM on August 6, 1994 and handed it to VGHF.
Twenty-six years ago, the CD-ROM had everything except the hardware needed to build the game, including the source code for Nuclear Rush built in C, and
During his work, White House discovered that the Sega VR had a refresh rate of 30Hz and the Nuclear Rush had a frame rate of 15fps. It is possible that this restriction caused symptoms such as headache and dizziness, which are said to be the cause of the discontinuation of sales. In addition, when VGHF talked to the developers of games for Sega VR, it seems that there were many cases where development was done without experiencing the actual Sega VR.
You can see how Mr. White House actually plays Nuclear Rush on HTC Vive using the Sega VR emulator from the following movie.
Unreleased Sega VR Headset Emulated On HTC Vive! --YouTube
The White House is shown at the bottom right of the screen, and the title screen of Nuclear Rush shown on the left eye and right eye displays is displayed in the center.
Mr. White House wears HTC Vive.
When the game starts, you will see a stage that recreates the wilderness.
There is also a scene where something like a fighter crosses the screen.
The limitation of Sega VR is that the screen does not tilt even if you tilt your head sideways.
On the other hand, I look up at the sky ...
It seems that movements such as looking down on the ground are supported, although there are restrictions on the angle.
You can also experience 360-degree vision by turning your face parallel and sideways.
It seems that the game screen projected on the right eye is slightly off, probably because it reproduces human vision.
The Sega VR emulator and the compiled Nuclear Rush build are available on the GitHub page below.
Release DGenSDL-SegaVR 2020/11/01 · DickBlackshack / SegaVR-DGenSDL · GitHub
https://github.com/DickBlackshack/SegaVR-DGenSDL/releases/tag/1.0
Release Pre-built Nuclear Rush ROMs · DickBlackshack / SegaVR-NuclearRush · GitHub
https://github.com/DickBlackshack/SegaVR-NuclearRush/releases/tag/1.0
In fact, overseas media Ars Technica confirmed that the game can be played by executing the build of the emulator and Nuclear Rush on the HP Reverb G2 of the VR headset and the PC with Windows 10. Although the restored game did not provide a 'revolutionary gameplay experience' for modern people, he said the project was made possible with the help of many.
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