Photo by Javier Salvalle. Try VR Nation for a full-body, immersive gaming experience!
Bored of smashing baddies on your console at home? Drop your joystick for a full-body gaming experience just off Friedrichstraße: VR Nation, opened in August by Lukas Majowski, a 23-year-old university drop-out and his even younger brother Oskar, offers two immersive adventures developed by a Zurich programmer squad. Their 100sqm space, equipped with Hewlett-Packard VR backpacks, Striker ‘firearms’ and some 35 cameras, is the first VR venue in Germany to offer full-body tracking, which allows you to see both yourself and your teammates in real-time and true to size. Enhancing the real-life sensation further are wind and heat-generators, scent diffusers and a bunch of sensor-equipped objects players must hold, move or carry to ensure their survival. Up to four people at a time can either slay zombies with no less than five different types of weapons in an attempt to locate Patient Zero, or trawl the slightly discomfiting caves of an otherwise lush desert island in search of the Diamond Skull. Although the latter is open to children from the age of 12, the venue’s audience mainly consists of corporate employees sent for team-building, intrepid 55-year-olds and, Majowski says, the odd first date. At €139 for a single 40-minute session, this is one of the pricier forms of escapism the city has to offer, but it’s an electrifying experience that, at least, comes without the morning-after headache.
VR Nation | Leipziger Str. 96, Mitte. Mon-Thu 14-22, Fri 14-0, Sat 12-0, Sun 12-22.
