"We Won't Be Getting A New 'Virtual On' Game Anytime Soon"

[shamanic_beat]

In sad news, Sega has confirmed that it is unlikely we will be getting a new Virtual On game anytime soon.

As last year marked the 20th anniversary of the release for the original Virtual On (shown below), many thought that we’d get a new game. Especially as former team members claimed that one was planned.

After talking with Mayu Koike at Sega directly, not only did they miss the anniversary but also that no Virtual On games are currently in development.

One piece of good news though is that one of the main figures behind the series, that of Juro Watari, is still at Sega.

As Watari oversaw the development of these games, from direction and production as well as he writing the story, the fact he is still at Sega means that Virtual On may one day live again.

The games still have a following in arcades in Japan too, as players are still sparring on these games after 20 years.

The Virtual On games have a unique set of game mechanics that break 3D movement into fixed length dashes. This subsequently produced a quite strategic action game, as you have to gauge where your opponent might end up as well as the relative firing solutions of your weapons while you are dashing.
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The cherry on the cake among all this, was how these dash mechanics then segued into close combat. Resulting in a complete and coherent package.

Games like Zone of the Enders owe a great debt to the Virtual On series and it’s sad to hear that Sega won’t be doing anything with the franchise for the foreseeable future.

Both the PS3 and 360 held host to some excellent ports of the games, so you should definitely check those out if you are at all interested in these games. With Virtual On Oratorio Tangram still readily available on XBLA.

Source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/olliebarder ... time-soon/

[Porcupine]

Any PC release would be good enough for me, from there someone can hack the game to either improve the graphics, or make an entirely new game using the underlying game engine as a blackbox for physics determinations.

[guarayakha]

I expected this, to be honest. If anything there's more chance of a VO game appearing inside the arcades in the Yakuza series.