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

Zone Hunter
Attract title screen
Developer(s)Taito, Virtuality
Publisher(s)Taito, Virtuality
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 (up to two players)
Arcade system2000SU[1]

Gameplay

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

Development and release

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Zone Hunter was developed at the same time as Sega's virtual reality Model 1 arcade game TecWar,[b] which was also developed by Virtuality.[4] Taito, who conceived the project 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 offices 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,[5][6][7] with a demo created for demonstration purposes,[8][9][10] but both the port and the peripheral were never released due to problems between Virtuality and Atari Corporation in their deal.[11][12]

Reception

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Next Generation said that the game was neither as fun or playable as Doom, nor as "good looking" as Virtua Cop.[3]

Notes

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  1. ^ Japanese: ゾーン ハンター, Hepburn: Zōn Hantā
  2. ^ Also known as ElectronicBrain.[4]

References

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  1. ^ "Zone Hunter". arcade-history.com. Archived from the original on 2018-07-28. Retrieved 2018-09-11.
  2. ^ a b c Pedrazzini, Fabrizio; Williams, Kevin. "TAITO - VIRTUALITY - ZONE HUNTER - (VIRTUAL REALITY GAME)". The Strange (and Rare) Videogame Pics Page. Archived from the original on 2011-06-30. Retrieved 2018-08-16.
  3. ^ a b c "Finals - Arcade - Zone Hunter". Next Generation. No. 10. Imagine Media. October 1995. p. 130.
  4. ^ a b Pedrazzini, Fabrizio; Williams, Kevin. "SEGA - TECWAR aka ELECTRONICBRAIN - (VIRTUAL REALITY GAME)". The Strange (and Rare) Videogame Pics Page. Archived from the original on 2011-06-30. Retrieved 2018-08-16.
  5. ^ "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 2018-07-18. Retrieved 2018-08-16.
  6. ^ François, Tommy; Msika, David (June 1995). "Reportage - E3 - Atari - Le Virtuel, Ça Marche". CD Consoles. No. 8. Pressimage. pp. 42–43. Archived from the original on 2018-06-19. Retrieved 2018-08-16.
  7. ^ "E-3 The Biggest And Best Electronic Entertainment Show Ever! - Atari Debuts Jaguar Virtual Reality At E3". GameFan. Vol. 3, no. 7. Shinno Media. July 1995. p. 37.
  8. ^ NAVGTR (June 21, 2007). E3 1995 (2min 22sec). YouTube. Archived from the original on 2015-12-05. Retrieved 2018-08-16.
  9. ^ Vendel, Curt (August 26, 1995). "Payment Schedule for Jaguar games to Developers" (PDF). atarimuseum.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-12-11. Retrieved 2018-08-16.
  10. ^ "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 2018-08-16. Retrieved 2019-01-05.
  11. ^ "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. 88–89.
  12. ^ Thompson, Clint. "Jaguar VR - INTERACTIVE VIRTUAL REALITY MULTIMEDIA SYSTEM". JagCube. Atari.org. Archived from the original on 2018-04-09. Retrieved 2018-08-16.
  13. ^ "CVG Arcades - Video Drome: Zone Hunter". Computer and Video Games. No. 165. EMAP. August 1995. p. 74.
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