Sega’s Canceled VR Project From The ‘90s Gets A Second Life Via An Emulator
Image via Game History
In the ‘90s, Sega was set to release a virtual reality headset for its Genesis console, but the launch never came to fruition… until now.
A joint collaboration between the Video Game History Foundation’s Rich Whitehouse and Gaming Alexandria’s Dylan Mansfield has rebirth the video game Nuclear Rush, which was developed to play on the Sega VR.
Mansfield reached out to developer Kenneth Hurley, who discovered a CD-ROM of Nuclear Rush and set out on an adventure to recreate the emulated version of the long-lost game.
Now, the team has created a modern version of the game playable on HTV Vive Cosmos. Whitehouse detailed the process of working through the game’s code for bugs, running several tests, and editing the language to make it playable.
He also looked through the clues from the game’s code that hinted at drivers to create an emulator that would be able to run it. This ultimately led to the Vive becoming a Sega VR headset, without it being actually physical.
Back in the ‘90s, Sega had announced the VR project in its own magazine and even displayed it at the 1993 Summer Consumer Electronics Show. However, the plans fell through as the company felt that the technology was way too realistic, possibly affecting the player’s safety and health.
A report in 2004 denounced the gadget, as it could allegedly cause headaches and motion sickness, prompting Sega to leave the product back on the shelf.
Watch the reminiscent of the Sega VR headset below.
[via Mashable, cover image via Game History]
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