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Kaiji VR 'Steel Beam Crossing' Launches in Japan on August 28
posted on by Jennifer Sherman
Game developer Solid Sphere announced on Tuesday that Kaiji VR ~Zetsubō no Tekkotsu Watari~ (Kaiji VR ~Steel Beam Crossing of Despair~), its PlayStation VR game based on Nobuyuki Fukumoto's Kaiji manga, will launch in Japan on August 28. Solid Sphere also began streaming a trailer that previews the game's updated visuals.
The game will launch for PlayStation VR via the PlayStation Store and cost 1,800 yen (about US$16).
The developer had announced in May that the game was delayed to July in Japan due to "various circumstances." Solid Sphere initially announced a winter 2016 release date. In its notice about the previous delay, the company said its most recent plan was to release the game in February.
The game will be based on part of the manga's "Despair Castle" arc where contestants attempt to cross four steel beams across skyscrapers, with the beams getting narrower the farther contestants go along. In the story, contestants are encouraged to push each other in an effort to be first. The VR game will also feature famous scenes from the manga.
In the Kodansha Manga Award-winning story of the original 1996-1999 Tobaku Mokushiroku Kaiji series, a consummate gambler named Kaiji bets on games ranging from janken (rock-paper-scissors) and human racing to falling pachinko balls and two-player mahjong.
The story inspired two television anime series and two live-action films with director Tōya Satō (live-action Gokusen, Gatchaman) and main star Tatsuya Fujiwara (Death Note's Light, Battle Royale's Shuya).
[Via Gematsu]
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