Mario Kart makes the leap to virtual reality at new Tokyo VR entertainment center【Video】

Warm up those throwing arms, because it’ll take more than a button tap to chuck those Koopa shells.

For some time now, video game developer Bandai Namco has been giving us tiny bits of information about its soon-to-open Tokyo virtual reality complex, called VR Zone Shinjuku. Last month, we found out that one of the VR games at the facility will allow players to experience the world of anime Evangelion, but that’s not the only high-profile collaboration Bandai Namco has up its sleeve, since another of the attractions at VR Zone Shinjuku will be a virtual reality Mario Kart game.

While Nintendo usually flies solo in handling its intellectual properties, the Kyoto-based company has teamed up with Bandai Namco before, as in the jointly-developed Pokémon fighting game Pokkén Tournament. Bandai Namco has previously produced three arcade versions of Mario Kart, the most recent having been released in 2013, and now it’s ready to rev its digital engines again with the four-player Mario Kart Arcade Grand Prix VR.

As shown in the preview video, players control the car itself as they did in the non-VR arcade Mario Karts, sitting in frames with a steering wheel, accelerator, and brake pedal. But the head-mounted display and first-person-perspective graphics aren’t the only things that make the new game special. Before the race starts, players strap motion sensors to their wrists, which allow them to make throwing motions to fling weapons, such as Mario Kart’s iconic Koopa shells, at their rivals.

The beginning of the video also shows off the launch sequence and battle from the Evangelion: The Throne of Souls game, which includes seat-rumbling effects for extra dramatic effect.

The video also reveals that VR Zone Shinjuku will begin taking ticket reservations on June 16, ahead of its grand opening on July 14.

Related: VR Zone Shinjuku
Source: Jin, Engadget (1, 2)
Top image: VR Zone Shinjuku
Insert images: YouTube/876TV