In an episode of Retro Gamer Podcast, former CEO of Sega of America Tom Kalinske confirmed these issues as major factors in the decision to abandon the project. However, a likely factor in the cancellation was feedback Sega received from the Stanford Research Institute, which warned of headaches, dizziness, and sickness, particularly in younger users and children. Sega’s official reason for cancelling their VR helmet was questionable: they claimed that the experience was so realistic and immersive that it posed a high risk of injury from players moving around while using it. They miraculously hit their $200 target thanks to technology licensed from a start-up company called Ono-Sendai, whose patented tracking solution could be manufactured for just $1. That design was nothing short of revolutionary when Sega officially unveiled the unit to journalists and retailers in 1993, promising to break new ground on the frontier of virtual reality. Could it be done? Well, sort of.Įquipped with a high-frequency inertial measurement unit and two LCD screens, the Sega VR headset shares a lot of fundamental design with today’s VR headsets. Unlike gargantuan virtual reality arcade machines that could cost well into the five figure range, Sega’s home VR product set a target MSRP of just $200. One of these companies was Sega, who sought to create an affordable VR solution as an add-on for their home console, the Sega Genesis. While a few VR products eventually made it to market, many more companies experimented with the technology. In the early ’90s, the potential of Virtual Reality had captured the imagination of the public, with splashy features in newspapers, magazines, TV news channels, and even major motion pictures like The Lawnmower Man. Virtual Reality has gone through several waves of being “the next big thing” that would forever change the landscape of video games. Sega’s unreleased Sega VR helmet, as it appeared in the August/September 1993 edition of Sega Visions magazine.
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