Visiting Tokyo later this month

[Ian]

I always thought arcades with proper stereo 3d would be cool. And by proper stereo 3d I mean two displays at 90 degrees, with a 50% polarising filter in the middle. Perfect stereo 3d, no flicker, or interlaced rubbish that other setups use. You could also use in mono mode without too much trouble.

Something like
http://www.topoequipos.com/topoequipos2 ... nd-sd2620w

[Bart]

I always thought arcades with proper stereo 3d would be cool. And by proper stereo 3d I mean two displays at 90 degrees, with a 50% polarising filter in the middle. Perfect stereo 3d, no flicker, or interlaced rubbish that other setups use. You could also use in mono mode without too much trouble.

Something like
http://www.topoequipos.com/topoequipos2 ... nd-sd2620w

I think that there are displays that can create stereo 3D effects using a single screen (by emitting images from two different angles)? However, players' tastes have changed and arcades just don't seem feasible. VR Zone was a stark reminder of the arcade business model: short games to maximize player spending. Gaming has come a long way and probably can't go back to that.

Perhaps some sort of hybrid mobile/VR/AR game might be possible someday. There could be an AR component that has you roaming about the city battling others, finding power-ups, or gathering clues and information. Major cities might have location-specific segments with set pieces and props. And maybe some aspect of the game could be enhanced at home with a VR headset (or at an arcade/movie theater), whereas the majority of the game would simply be playable on a mobile phone or console.

A major game design challenge if ever there was one My guess is that this sort of multi-format game play will naturally evolve into some existing popular game that starts its life as a traditional experience.

[Zeasar]

I'm a big believer in the potential of location-based VR after having tried The Void's Ghostbusters experience in New York. I haven't been impressed with home VR yet -- I'm an AR snob. Location-based VR gaming is getting quite a bit of investment here in the US; for example, AMC, our largest movie theater chain, believes that they can draw dwindling audiences back to movie theaters with VR experiences.

Just imagine the scene in all of those Jurassic park movies where the main characters are running with and away from those chasing dinosaurs, now shoot that in those 360 lenses and throw in the VR goggle and watch people piss themselves... and kids coming bk for more.

That or imagine the scene where all the avengers r fighting left right back front and above you....

Economics remain a big problem. VR is highly immersive and the bar is high for creating compelling 3D worlds. This takes $$$. An experience that people are willing to drive to a movie theater and stand in line for had better be AAA quality. But AAA-quality titles take tens of millions of $ to develop. This makes sense because the costs can be recouped through mass distribution. With location-based VR, that's not the case. The number of people able to play the game at any given time will be constrained. I wonder how this problem will be solved or if VR will remain something that's technically feasible, impressive when done right, but frustratingly rare in the wild.

Sometimes companies just need to throw in more money before they can get good returns back. But then sometimes the problem is that, you just cant squeeze anymore juice from an already dried out fruit.