Sony Pictures set up VR gaming experience in Mumbai to promote film

Sony Pictures Entertainment has set up a Virtual Reality (VR) immersive gaming experience for four days here, ahead of the February 3 release of "Resident Evil: The Final Chapter". Actress Sonakshi Sinha will be experiencing it live.

The gaming experience is backed by haptic techonology -- giving a real and tangible feel to virtual objects -- and will enable everyone to experience character Alice's biggest fight against the undead as she races to save the humanity from complete oblivion.

The experience, dubbed 'The Road to Raccoon City', will feature content from the movie, complete with voiceover from Alice -- a role essayed by actress Milla Jovovich. It features the haptic technology to simulate a zombie attack, as users wear VR glasses and a vest that provides vibration and audio feedback while they shoot at zombies projected on-screen with a gun, read a statement.

Flagged off in Japan for a world tour, the immersive gaming experience is a result of cooperation between Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE), video production company Sony PCL, and parent company Sony Corp.

Japanese engineers have been flown down to set it up in Mumbai, in an attempt to offer one of the most innovative marketing stunts for a film.

Vivek Krishnani, Managing Director - Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) India, who has had a first hands-on experience with the game, said: "Since this is the last installment of the 'Resident Evil' series and culmination of Alice's incredible journey, we wanted to make it truly special and extraordinary for fans of the game and the franchise."

"This is a first for India and from my personal experience, I can say, you haven't seen this kind of immersive gaming experience for any other film ever. It takes you and places you right in middle of the movie. This is likely to be a trendsetter for other films to follow in the country."

The game is available for four days at Phoenix Mall (Palladium), Lower Parel from Thursday to Sunday.

--IANS

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