Zone Hunter

Last updated
Zone Hunter
Zone Hunter title screen.jpg
Attract title screen
Developer(s) Taito, Virtuality Group
Publisher(s) Taito, Virtuality Group
Designer(s) Andy Smith
Programmer(s) Jason Woodward
Tarique Naseem
Artist(s) Mark Hardisty
Composer(s) Mike Adams
Platform(s) Arcade
Release
Genre(s) First-person shooter, rail shooter
Mode(s) Single-player, multiplayer
Arcade system 2000SU [1]

Zone Hunter [a] is a virtual reality first-person rail shooter video game developed and published in conjunction by Taito and Virtuality Group in 1994 for arcades, though the former is not credited in-game. [2]

Contents

Gameplay

Zone Hunter is a first-person shooter, and was one of the first VR arcade games. [3]

Development and release

Zone Hunter was co-developed by the UK-based virtual reality company Virtuality Group and the Japanese arcade specialist Taito. It was the first title in Virtuality's second generation (2000 series) of products introduced in 1994. [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] It was produced at the same time as Sega's virtual reality Model 1 arcade game TecWar, [b] which was also a joint effort with Virtuality. [10] [11] Taito conceived Zone Hunter and worked alongside Virtuality as a deal to bring the game into Japanese arcade markets under their banner. [2] Due to low sales in the region, Taito terminated the deal between them and Virtuality, with the latter opening their own office in Japan afterwards. [2]

A port for the Atari Jaguar was announced and planned to be released alongside the Jaguar VR headset peripheral at launch. [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] A demo was created for demonstration purposes. [18] [19] [20] However, neither the port nor the peripheral were ever released due to problems between Virtuality and Atari Corporation in their deal. [21] [22]

Reception

Next Generation said that the game was neither as fun or playable as Doom , nor as "good looking" as Virtua Cop . [3] Reviewing the game at Sega World, Sega Pro rated the game eight out of ten and concluded that "Virtuality's hard work and R&D is finally paying off" despite it not having "the final stroke of realism to put you in a Lawnmower Man -esque situation." [24] Brian Osserman of Intelligent Gamer commented, "The game is fun, but it is highly questionable whether it is worth $5 a shot." [25]

Notes

  1. ↑ Japanese: ゾーン ハンター, Hepburn: Zōn Hantā
  2. ↑ Also known as ElectronicBrain. [10]

References

  1. ↑ "Zone Hunter". arcade-history.com. Archived from the original on July 28, 2018. Retrieved September 11, 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 Pedrazzini, Fabrizio; Williams, Kevin. "TAITO - VIRTUALITY - ZONE HUNTER - (VIRTUAL REALITY GAME)". The Strange (and Rare) Videogame Pics Page. Archived from the original on June 30, 2011. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
  3. 1 2 3 Next Generation staff (October 1995). "Finals - Arcade - Zone Hunter". Next Generation . No. 10. Imagine Media. p. 130. ISSN   1078-9693.
  4. ↑ McFerran, Damien (June 2007). "The Rise and Fall of Virtuality". Retro Gamer . No. 38. ImaginePublishing. p. 77. ISSN   1742-3155.
  5. ↑ The Whizz (May 1994). "The Cutting Edge: Taking You into the Technology of Tomorrow". GamePro . No. 58. IDG. p. 18. ISSN   1042-8658.
  6. ↑ EGM staff (May 1995). "Arcade Action: The Ever Expanding World of... VR". EGM2 . No. 11. Sendai Publishing. p. 82. ISSN   1058-918X.
  7. ↑ Play Meter staff (October 1995). "Games at a Glance". Play Meter . Vol. 21, no. 11. Skybird Publishing. p. 95. ISSN   1529-8736.
  8. ↑ Play Meter staff (May 1995). "ACME '95". Play Meter . Vol. 21, no. 6. Skybird Publishing. p. 126. ISSN   1529-8736.
  9. ↑ Hyper staff (October 1994). "News: Hot New Game Technology Alert!". Hyper . No. 9. nextmedia. p. 12. ISSN   1320-7458.
  10. 1 2 Pedrazzini, Fabrizio; Williams, Kevin. "SEGA - TECWAR aka ELECTRONICBRAIN - (VIRTUAL REALITY GAME)". The Strange (and Rare) Videogame Pics Page. Archived from the original on June 30, 2011. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
  11. ↑ Edge staff (December 1994). "News: Coin-ops stay one step ahead". Edge . No. 15. Future plc. p. 12. ISSN   1350-1593.
  12. ↑ "ATARI AND VIRTUALITY PREVIEW FIRST VIRTUAL REALITY GAME SYSTEM FOR THE CONSUMER MARKET AT E3". Nine Lives. May 16, 1995. Archived from the original on July 18, 2018. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
  13. ↑ François, Tommy; Msika, David (June 1995). "Reportage - E3 - Atari - Le Virtuel, Ça Marche" [Report - E3 - Atari - Virtual, It Works]. CD Consoles. No. 8. Pressimage. pp. 42–3. Archived from the original on June 19, 2018. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
  14. ↑ GameFan staff (July 1995). "E3: Jaguar CD". GameFan . Vol. 3, no. 7. DieHard Gamers Club. p. 37. ISSN   1092-7212.
  15. ↑ Game Players staff (August 1995). "Front Page: Jaguar Bites Back With VR Headset". Game Players . No. 55. Imagine Media. p. 16. ISSN   1087-2779.
  16. ↑ Game Informer staff (July 1995). "Home Virtual Reality May Become a Real Reality for Jag Owners by End of Year". Game Informer . No. 27. Sunrise Publications. p. 61. ISSN   1067-6392.
  17. ↑ Cash Box International staff (September 1995). "What's Happening In Consumer Games". Cash Box International. Printrod. p. 47.
  18. ↑ NAVGTR (June 21, 2007). E3 1995 (2min 22sec). YouTube . Archived from the original on December 5, 2015. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
  19. ↑ Vendel, Curt (August 26, 1995). "Payment Schedule for Jaguar games to Developers" (PDF). atarimuseum.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 11, 2014. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
  20. ↑ "CVG News - Connected - A Zone In The Dark". Computer and Video Games . No. 166. Future Publishing. September 1995. p. 12. Archived from the original on August 16, 2018. Retrieved January 5, 2019.
  21. ↑ "Reportaje - La Realidad Virtual entrará en los hogares de la mano de Atari". Hobby Hi-Tech (in Spanish). No. 6. Axel Springer SE. September 1995. pp. 88–9.
  22. ↑ Thompson, Clint. "Jaguar VR - INTERACTIVE VIRTUAL REALITY MULTIMEDIA SYSTEM". JagCube. Atari.org. Archived from the original on April 9, 2018. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
  23. ↑ CVG staff (August 1995). "CVG Arcades - Video Drome: Zone Hunter". Computer and Video Games . No. 165. EMAP. p. 74. ISSN   0261-3697.
  24. 1 2 Sega Pro staff (October 1994). "Tried and Tested: Zone Hunter". Sega Pro . No. 37. Paragon Publishing. p. 9. ISSN   0964-2641.
  25. ↑ Osserman, Brian (June 1996). "Virtual Reality Gaming". Intelligent Gamer . No. 1. Decker Publishing. p. 37. ISSN   1088-6737.
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