Bandai Namco creates new development group to focus on VR, AR and MR. Bandai Namco Amusement Lab Inc. will be dedicated to the company’s immersive LBE arcade experiences.
Bandai Namco has announced it will be forming a new development group. Bandai Namco Amusement Lab Inc. will be dedicated to the development and operation of the company’s range of VR, AR and MR location based entertainment (LBE) facilities.
The new group, which will start operations in October this year, will also be responsible for supporting services – software and hardware development; management; and network development for the facilities. It will be based at the Bandai Namco Studios headquarters in Tokyo, Japan.
LBE VR arcades
Bandai Namco is responsible for LBE arcades such as VR Zone Shinjuku which opened in 2017. The arcade has over 15 VR experiences including Ghost in the Shell, Arise: Stealth Hounds and Mario Kart Arcade GP VR. It also opened J-World Tokyo last year, described as “a new type of entertainment facility”, with more than ten attractions.
Bandai Namco has moved into the UK market where it has opened smaller spin-offs of its VR ZONE Portal. The first opened last autumn in the Hollywood Bowl FEC in London’s O2, followed by a further arcade in Tunbridge Wells, Kent.
Bandai Namco was launched in 1999, as a subsidiary of NAMCO Limited, a multi-billion Yen company which has been involved with amusement machines since 1955. Bandai Namco is now a major coin-op amusement machine distribution company, representing many leading brands in the industry. Last year, Triotech awarded Bandai Namco exclusive UK distribution rights for its Typhoon simulator, the industry’s top-ranking coin-op simulator ride.
https://www.vrfocus.com/2018/07/bandai-namco-amusement-lab-development-group-announced-for-vr-ar-and-mr-experiences/
