Ode to the Sega VR: To Obsecurity and Beyond!

[Zadoc]

Ode to the Sega VR: To Obsecurity and Beyond!
By me...

In the early 1990’s the world knew what the next big thing in gaming was – or at least that thought they did – it was VR (Virtual Reality).

In Arcades and malls in America, both kids and adults stood in lines and paid $5 or more for a chance to pay a VR game. This experience involved standing on a platform, wearing a helmet that covered the eyes, and holding a joystick.

Whichever way the player looked, a new view would be displayed. This technique is simply know as “movement tracking,” and was thought to provide a total immersive experience to gamers. This was expected to revolutionize gaming and introduce it to adults who never before considered paying 25 cents on an arcade game, let alone $5 on a VR game.

In 1991 Sega announced their very own VR console know as the “Sega VR.” By this point, Sega had some experience with experimenting in the VR arcade world, and were determined to be the first company to bring VR home.

Due to other priority projects, the Sega VR was quietly progressing on the company’s R&D backburner. That is until rival Nintendo released the Virtual Boy – A far less advanced concept that featured only monochromic red vector-esque graphics, and no true VR game play; only pseudo-3D graphics.

The Sega VR console combined full color LCD screens and stereo sound. Weight was distrusted evenly, and the device was reported to be comfortable. Also, unlike the Virtual Boy, it was truly portable, not requiring a cumbersome tripod for enjoyable game play.

The never-to-be-released console made its final public appearance at the 1993 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada. Many gamers reported vastly underwhelming graphics, and even “cybersickness.” Despite these setbacks, the VR was heavily marketed and a 1994 launch date was announced along with four completed games that were advertized as pack-ins with the headset, in order to provide a jumpstart for the initial user base:

• Nuclear Rush: A simulation in which users pilot a hovercraft in a futuristic war.
• Iron Hammer: In this helicopter simulation, gamers pilot a flying gunship a la EA’s popular “Strike” series.
• Matrix Runner: This has noting to do with The Matrix, it was reported to be a “cyberpunk” adventure game inspired by Hideo Kojima’s Snatcher.
• Outlaw Racing: Road Rash meets Rock -n- Roll Racing in this vehicle racing/combat game.

“Nuclear Rush” is believed to be the game showcased in this promotional commercial which featured the Sega VR: http://www.retrojunk.com/details_commercial/2680/

What happened to the Sega VR?

In 1994 the project faded away quietly. At this point Sega has internal strife between their Japanese and US departments. Also, the VR was seen as a distraction to Sega’s next home console, which was being designed at the time, codenamed Saturn.

Obscurity
Due to limited resources, strategic planning, the complete and utter failure of Nintendo’s Virtual Boy, underwhelming graphics and performance, as well as motion sickness, Sega was wise in not bringing this cliché console to the market.

Unfortunately, no ROMs or prototypes have ever surfaced. Most prototypes are thought to have been destroyed. (Can anyone here confirm or deny?)

[Zadoc]

Official Sega Press Release: 1993



Welcome to the Future

From the moment you strap on the headset, you know that your gaming life will never be the same again. The world you see through the twin eye-pieces of the virtual reality (VR) headset responds as if it were another world, one you can explore by moving around without leaving your chair. Turn your head to the left, and the scene changes accordingly, bringing a new part of the virtual world into view. The armored robot that you could only hear a moment ago is now directly in front of you, guns blazing.

You hit the fire button on the controller and your guns come to life, rockets weaving a deadly trajectory toward their mark. Wham! The robot is history. But there's no time to gloat. Dozens of others are waiting to take its place.

You are playing Nuclear Rush, the game that will be bundled with Sega VR, Sega's new virtual reality headset. With its stereo optics, full stereo sound and sophisticated head-tracking technology, Sega VR is sure to take you to The Next Level in gaming. In addition to Nuclear Rush, Sega is planning to release three more VR games to work with Sega VR.

Sega VR works by combining three technologies into one awesome experience. Let's take a closer look.

Stereophonic Sound

We have two ears for a reason, and it isn't because one ear in the middle of your face would look funny. With two ears, you can tell which direction a sound is coming from and so localize it in space. Suppose the sound of an explosion comes form your right. The sound wave traveling toward you will reach your right ear first, then continue on its journey to your left ear. Not only will your right ear hear the sound a split second earlier, but the sound will be slightly louder. Sega VR's built-in stereo headphones make use of the psychology of perception to recreate the three-dimensional world of sound. When you're wearing the Sega VR headset, you will be able to hear sounds from all directions, even those coming from above or below.

Stereo Vision

Your two eyes also help you localize an object in space. When your eyes focus on an object, each eye receives a slightly different image, a phenomenon scientists call binocular parallax. Binocular parallax is the basis of the technology behind 3-D movies, where polarizing lenses cause each eye to receive a slightly different image.

Likewise, Sega VR will create the impression that you are exploring an alternate reality. As your eyes shift focus from one object to the next, the binocular parallax constantly changes to give you the impression of a three-dimensional world.

Head Tracking

3-D glasses are convincing only if you keep your head still. If you have ever tried ducking to avoid a 3-D "object," you know that the illusion fails as soon as you move your head. This is because the 3-D effect is the same wherever you happen to be in the theater, so that moving your head left or right (or up or down) has little effect on the image. The boxing glove of the jet of water will still be coming straight toward you.

To make the virtual reality experience more true to life, Sega VR uses head-tracking technology to modify the image as you move your head. Turn your head to the left, and the scene changes accordingly, bringing another part of the virtual world into view. Tilt your head up, and you can see the mother ship gliding by overhead.

Sega's revolutionary technology works by monitoring head movement through special sensors embedded in the headset. To make sure the system responds rapidly, the sensors monitor head movement more than 100 times each second. Move your head, and the screen responds almost immediately.

The combination of stereo sound, stereo vision and head tracking can create the impression of a virtual world. And you won't be limited to just one virtual world -- with four different games under development, Sega VR will be your passport to alternate realities.

Welcome to the NEXT WORLD

Nuclear Rush

Welcome to the year 2032. Get ready for a cataclysmic trek into a post-nuclear gold rush, where low-level nuclear waste is bartered as an energy source. You are posing as a nuclear pirate, piloting a hovercraft through radioactive wastelands guarded by heavily armed robots and drones.

Iron Hammer

Pilot an armed skimmer gunship on a high-speed search-and-destroy mission in this game of interplanetary warfare. Skim over water, ice, grassy planes and rocky terrain through 30 levels of dusk-to-dawn alien combat zones.

Matrix Runner

Play an elite superhacker in this unique cyberspace voyage. You have to explore the dark, winding databanks of the Matrix to solve the mysterious disappearance of your colleagues, knowing that you might be the next victim. In your travels, you will collide with strange semi-humans and vulture-like beings.

Outlaw Racing

Take on 20 other cars in this crush of dirt-track combat. Crash and smash into walls and flip end-over-end in a mud-filled fight to the finish line. The stereo sound will engulf you in the roar of engines and the screeching of tearing metal as you speed for the flag.

[Zadoc]

Another interesting Sega VR article:




Out-of-house experiences - virtual-reality video arcades
Omni, Dec, 1993 by Gregg Keizer

Some fun you just can't get at home. Some fun takes a pile of coins and a trip in the car.

That trip can be as short as a quick drive to the nearest mega-mall or as long as a cross-country quest in search of the wirehead's answer to an amusement park. No matter what the gas bill, the journey's worthwhile to electronic entertainment junkies, because stuff like this just ain't gonna make it into the home before your kids are grown and graduated.

Traditional video arcades are the easiest source for out-of-house entertainment. Though many of the best stand-up games eventually migrate to home videogame machines - check out Acclaim's Mortal Kombat for the Super Nintendo and Capcom's Street Fighter II Special Champion Edition for the Genesis - not all can shrink enough to fit inside a cartridge and your television screen. Nor do you get the steering wheels and cockpits of the arcade's sitdown racing games, satisfactory side-by-side play, or hydraulically controlled seating in front of your television set.

One of the best reasons to hit the mall is Virtua Racing, a multiplayer driving game created by Sega. Virtua Racing posts people at a long, counterlike panel where each player stares at a large display showing a windshield view. As you drive, your chair rocks and rolls, simulating the road's bumps and bruises. it may not be as dangerous as NASCAR, but this Formula One-style race is a hoot if only because you're head-to-head with real players, not computerized drones.

Another excuse to drop dollars at the arcade is Virtuality's Dactyl Nightmare, one of the few games that really relies on virtual-reality (VR) technology. After donning a VR helmet that tracks your head movement and shows you the game on its built-in goggles, you stand in a small enclosure to compete in a firefight with a just-as-goofy-looking opponent connected to your machine. You'll find Dactyl Nightmare in a few of the biggest arcades in cities like New York, Chicago, St. Louis, Dallas, and Seattle. VR isn't cheap - Dactyl runs $4 to $5 for a four-minute run - but as a novelty, it's worth the bucks.

Even further removed from home entertainment are things like the Virtual World Entertainment Centers, which have recently multiplied beyond an original Chicago-based digital theme park. You crawl inside networked pods, close the hatch, and in the dim light of displays and dials, digitally duke it out. In Chicago, the Center sports two games: BattleTech, where you control a humanoid fighting machine in a weapons-happy tag-team competition, and Red Planet, a hover-craft racing game that takes place in the mining canals of Mars. It's expensive fun - $7 to $9 a pop - and as in Virtua Racing, the joy is in the chase of carbon-based opponents, not some silicon simpleton. Virtual World has big plans - a Center in the San Francisco Bay area is already open, another in San Diego should debut by the end of the year, and sites in New York City and Los Angeles are on the boards.

This trend toward smaller, localized amusement centers specializing in high-tech gadgets may run counter to the all-in-one approach, but it makes so much sense that other companies are joining in. Sega, for instance, wants to take its AS1 capsule - an eight-passenger combination theme-park ride and videogame - to the heartland by building as many as 50 miniature theme parks across the United States in the next few years. Players sit in the capsule, which, as in Virtua Racing, bucks like a bronco, and shoot at enemy spaceships.


Some of this technology will make it home, of course, at least in scaled-down fashion. Sega's Virtua Racing will appear on its Genesis videogame machine, sans the shaky seat. Virtual-reality-style gear will also trickle down to home entertainment; Sega's $200 headgear, Sega VR, should be on the shelves by the end of this year. And multiplayer games, long the domain of arcades, are available via two- and even four-player videogames, as well as through online entertainment from services such as the Sierra Network and Prodigy.

Even so, don't count on staying home all the time. Cutting-edge technology isn't cheap, and only by serving the masses can it turn a profit. Nor can the social aspects of entertainment be overlooked, for there's no way, in the family den, to mimic the crowded, friend-filled atmosphere of an arcade. The movie watched on the home VCR may show the same frames as one seen on the big screen, but there is a difference in the experience. Ditto with at-home and out-of-house electronic entertainment.

Sometimes - now and in the future - you've just gotta get outta the house.

COPYRIGHT 1993 Omni Publications International Ltd.



I guess they were wrong about that release date, eh?




Another excuse to drop dollars at the arcade is Virtuality's Dactyl Nightmare, one of the few games that really relies on virtual-reality (VR) technology. After donning a VR helmet that tracks your head movement and shows you the game on its built-in goggles, you stand in a small enclosure to compete in a firefight with a just-as-goofy-looking opponent connected to your machine. You'll find Dactyl Nightmare in a few of the biggest arcades in cities like New York, Chicago, St. Louis, Dallas, and Seattle. VR isn't cheap - Dactyl runs $4 to $5 for a four-minute run - but as a novelty, it's worth the bucks.



Fucking ghey! I always waited in line at Incredible Universe to play this, and they only let you play for 3 minutes at a time. It was dumb as hell, anyways.

[Zadoc]

Finally, an excellent interview about the Sega VR with one of the engineers at Sega-16!

http://www.sega-16.com/Interview-%20Bandit.php

[wallydawg]

Wow, I didn't even know Sega tried at a VR machine. I remember Atari trying to make one, and some kind of Virtual Reality sphere that I think was made by 3DO. I'll dig up my Next Generation mag tomorrow and have a read.

[Nicola]

Unfortunately, no ROMs or prototypes have ever surfaced. Most prototypes are thought to have been destroyed. (Can anyone here confirm or deny?)

Deny.

Iron Hammer and Nuclear Rush are still alive. And, judging by the AD, they are very very similar.

[Ed Oscuro]

Obstetrician-curity? Well...

[Jorpho]

Remember the Jaguar VR thing? I saw that in a couple of rental places back in the day.

I rather wish Sega hadn't given up on its hologram technology; surely much of its failure could be blamed on the somewhat lackluster software released for it?

[Snapple]

It's hard to describe to kids these days how fascinated the gaming industry was with "virtual reality" back in the day.

VR was supposed to be te direction that all games were taking, and the true utopia, the true pinnacle of gaming, was imagined to be the day where you'd put on a pair of glasses, and maybe some gloves, and you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between video game and reality.

And now kids just see the VirtualBoy, and the VR movement looks like a joke.

[Zadoc]

Remember the Jaguar VR thing? I saw that in a couple of rental places back in the day.




Huh? Are you sure you didn't see ads for it in rental places? I am pretty sure it was never released.

[Zadoc]

Deny.

Iron Hammer and Nuclear Rush are still alive. And, judging by the AD, they are very very similar.

Are there any roms?

[Nicola]

Are there any roms?

No roms on the net, just prototypes unleaked.
Iron Hammer can be played with standard controller and has no 3D visual effects. It's a sort of fps with sprite graphics.
I can't find the pictures unluckly.

[Jorpho]

Huh? Are you sure you didn't see ads for it in rental places? I am pretty sure it was never released.

Oh, it was real, all right. It wasn't actually for "rental", though; it was just on display. (Someone managed to get it for the high school science fair for some reason once.)

[Melf]

Finally, an excellent interview about the Sega VR with one of the engineers at Sega-16!

http://www.sega-16.com/Interview-%20Bandit.php


Don't forget the article (http://www.sega-16.com/Sega%20VR-%20Great%20Idea%20or%20Wishful%20Thinking.php) that goes with it!

[DreamTR]

Nuclear Rush and Iron Hammer were discovered about 6 years ago (at least), but are not released on the net. (just verifying what Nicola was saying)