Google & ‘Space Invaders’ Maker Blast Off With Reinvented, More Immersive Game
Space Invaders was first released in 1978 by Taito and became one of the earliest video games that took arcades by storm. Each player was tasked with defending the world from an army of alien invaders from reaching the “ground”—or the bottom of the screen. It was a fixed shooter game with just a single cannon that could be moved horizontally along the base of the screen to aim at the enemies.
Now, it’s moving into a new dimension and using Earth as its shooting ground. Google and Taito are re-releasing the game, now titled Space Invaders: World Defense, in an augmented-reality format where fans can use their cameras to turn real-world locations into battlegrounds against the aliens.
🎉 Just announced at #GoogleIO!
— Google AR & VR (@GoogleARVR) May 10, 2023
👾 Google and @TAITO are partnering to launch SPACE INVADERS: World Defense, 45 years after the original game’s release → https://t.co/802MOp7EMb
Launching later this summer, this immersive AR game transforms your city into a virtual playground! pic.twitter.com/RuYocQESzI
The game uses the ARCore AR platform and Geospatial Creator, a new tool announced at the I/O 2023. According to the trailer, it will adapt to your environment, presumably considering weather, timing, and nearby locations. The short video demonstrated the alien lurking around the Taito Station in Akihabara, Tokyo, and Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Not much else is known about how the game will be played. However, it is set to be released later this summer.
[via Tech Space News and Taito, screenshot via Google]
