VR in Japan is on a WHOLE NEW LEVEL! #2

In this video I travel all the way to Japan to go from Kyoto to Tokyo to visit multiple VR game studios and VR hardware manufacturers! From The Quest 2 to Index and Pico (or even Shiftall's own Headsets the MeganeX) VR is truly undergoing a pretty crazy revolution right now in terms of VR software and hardware production. So! Come on the journey with me!
Lots more behind the scenes and full interviews on my Patreon!
/ thrillseeker
My links:
Support Content Like this on Patreon:
/ thrillseeker
Discord:
/ discord
Twitter:
/ thrilluwu
Outro Music:
• Magic.
All of the studios and their projects that I visited in this video:
17Bit (Song in the Smoke PSVR2, Quest, Steam):
www.songinthes...
My Dearest (Dyschronia and others):
mydearestvr.co...
Character Bank (Ruins Magus):
character-bank...
Diver X:
www.kickstarte...
Hikky:
www.hikky.co.j...
Shiftall:
en.shiftall.net/
Thanks to VAL Esports for putting this entire trip together and sponsoring this video essentially!

[@ThrillSeekerVR]

This is the 2nd Video of me in Japan! The first: kzbin.info/www/bejne/p6jFnal9jqt6aZI Hope you enjoyed! So many amazing things happening for VR in Japan right now. Share this one around! It's fun. Also I will be giving away a bunch of keys to the games in this video in my discord server Discord.gg/Thrill All you have to do is comment and join the discord and you're eligible! Much Love yall, hope you enjoyed hearing these studio's stories!

[@oggio47-_-46]

hi

[@alex857tgg]

@@oggio47-_-46 bye

[@oggio47-_-46]

@@alex857tgg no

[@jan_Sanku]

yo thrill, how's the stonx review coming along? the crowdfunding is ticking, and you're basically our only hope at hitting the goal...

[@john38825]

I don't have VR or discord but I like winning things so instead of winning a game I will accept a like on this comment lol

[@JoinUsInVR]

So many folks think META is VRs leaders. So many people are simply tricked by marketing money. Glad to see YOU never abandoned your PCVR roots, and Japan is doing legit cool things in PCVR too!

[@JoinUsInVR]

A stand alone SteamVR playing device is the dream HMD I'm holding out to grab next.

[@technolus5742]

​@@JoinUsInVR they are leaders in sales, but not in cutting edge.

[@mikesgamelab6369]

I think at this rate, Meta will be 3rd place if they actually adapt. They’re already being matched or outperformed in both hardware and software, and they’re squandering their advantages of existing users and company size.

[@johnrodgers2171]

Facebook was trying really hard to become a monopoly but that only happens if the technology works and you've bought or destroyed the competition.

[@SaltCan]

Well, 2/3 of steam users that have headsets(and god knows how much more standalone quest users) use meta headsets, i think that considering zucc as a current leader of vr market is fair

[@Zafybaka]

Only a couple minutes in and I can see how much love and quality you put into everything you do. Your heart is a catalyst of VR for this generation, the future of VR is in good hands.

[@ThrillSeekerVR]

AWW THANKS ZAFY!

[@Spudspotato15]

I saw that thrillseeker. You can't hide it.

[@TheVRtist]

So true and there's so much more coming down the line. This is all just the tip of the iceberg!

[@davinadavidson9062]

Nae pressure like lol😂 GJ

[@games4us132]

agree with you

[@Rawi888]

Bro. There’s just something about the way Thrill edits and shares a story that makes believe. He inspires a childlike sense of wonder. I don’t even have a VR headset but I’ve been watching thrill for years now and always click at the drop off a hat if I see a new vid is out on discord. Bro, I ❤ you Thrill. What you do means so much to me and inspires me so much. To also jump at a chance to follow my dreams. I’ll fly through the stars as you do one day soon, I hope that you’ll cheer for me too.

[@ThrillSeekerVR]

Hey Rawi! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!! This comment means so much. I’ll keep working hard to keep improving! Thank you and much love!

[@vocassen]

It's surprising you only made a single video out of the trip, I'm sure there's a lot more to tell. But damn did this give me some badly needed hope for VR, shows the power that a few passionate people hold. Japan is truly the place for VR right now, makes me want to go back there to work

[@ThrillSeekerVR]

I made two

[@vocassen]

@@ThrillSeekerVR And I even watched it, mb. But still packed episode, maybe I'm just used to content being dragged out.

[@lucasd8864]

I've been living in Japan for 5 months now, and I understand the feelling, or realization really, of where all anime and videogames get their inspiration from, it's such a beautiful country

[@TayoEXE]

I think for me, it's the fact that traveling to many different places is so much simpler. In the U.S., for example, everything is so widespread and spread out, so most people never get to experience all the cool places for inspiration that exist in the country. In Japan, I can travel from Fukuoka to Tokyo in like an hour via plane for example.

[@lucasd8864]

@@TayoEXE Yeah I can understand, I'm from Argentina, so I get what a large country feels like haha, but here in Japan there's also a lot of care for tradition. At least where I'm from I know for a fact that it's not like that at all

[@TayoEXE]

@@lucasd8864 Oh totally. Authentically traditional Japanese things are simply pretty popular sources of inspiration for anime, video games, etc. The most Japanese anime like Demon Slayer or Naruto or Rurouni Kenshin are very popular for a reason. There are major exceptions like One Piece which is definitely more European inspired (Treasure Island, etc.). I can't blame them. Japan has a much longer history than colonial U.S. for example, and lots of interesting legends, Yokai, historical samurai battles, music, periods of war, peace, political intrigue, outside influence, religion, etc.

[@zandertompson2468]

Well, let's hope Japan will do for VR more than Meta did

[@VHTF_]

amen🙌

[@cenciende9401]

Would be awesome, but considering how insanely much the Quest & Quest 2 has done for VR, that is a very very tall order.

[@HTMangaka]

You can fit the entire spending of all VR companies ever into the money zuck spent on horizon worlds TWICE. O_O

[@森里螢一-f3c]

VR in Japan isn't as huge as Thrill hoped, Most of my colleagues &friends here are still so into mobile games such as UMA MUSUME which people from other countries probably never heard of, and while they spend crazy amount of money for GACHA games($1000 to $2000 USD per GACHA) ,they just don't spend that much for hardware, let alone "VR". Yes the community of VR here is growing but it's still relatively small. We had hype about SAO and a few other franchises related marketing stunt from big companies years ago(2016 era), but most those companies just cancelled their VR stuff(For example there was a VR aracde game from BANDAI NAMCO about gundam, they even had people for BETA testing and eventually was ceased). I hope Japan will do more for VR too but right now the US is clearly buring more cash into VR, which is still a quite nascent business for many local firms here.

[@森里螢一-f3c]

@@HTMangaka Zuck himself is so obessed with this idea, no other company ever poured that much of money into this Industry. I wonder how long he can last with this kind of spending coz the Wall Street clearly wanted his company to leave this "Kid's toy/video games" market last year.

[@alexsteinhauser4703]

KZbin is missing more of these types of projects. Sends me back to the younger KZbin days when a ton of effort went into a single video. Well done!

[@TheVirtualRealityShow]

ThrillSeeker-senpai out here dishing the best VR content, fr fr

[@aayushchellani]

fr fr

[@lightswitch8248]

fr fr

[@Harrison.13]

On god

[@Eniac42]

I fill i have to say it, this chennel is the chennel that makes me came back to VR time and time again. Every time I watch one of your videos I'm contagiante by your enthusiasm and want to just hop on VR and play something

[@zatagado]

Seeing these kinds of videos is really inspirational to me. After trying VR in 2017 in high school, I hope that one day I can join the VR industry myself and work on awesome content like these guys are doing

[@rosecity_chris]

Do it! VR is really an amazing medium and it needs more great minds to convince everyone else to get on board so more companies will invest!

[@chrism4324]

Makes me happy to hear there’re studios out there with focus and passion in vr as a community. Great video. Will we be seeing some more Japan videos???

[@vikingghost117]

This makes me so happy to see how hard others are working on VR. Absolutely love Japan, the language, the culture, the food. Excellent video, 10/10

[@eliastico]

Damn this got me really thinking about getting Song In The Smoke for PSVR2 🤔 looks pretty neat

[@acleverroos]

It's hard to describe, but VR feels both hyper-connected and lonely to me. I'll go through a few weeks of not touching my headset due to this, and then swing right back in. I think the "swinging back in" part typically coincides with new uploads from you. Thanks for having such contagious optimism and enthusiasm for the medium, Thrill. ❤️

[@welxor1685]

Words cannot express how much I appreciate your involvement to make vr known for the common people. Seeing that Japan is as enthusiastic about vr than you is reassuring for the future of this medium. Also, may we hope some more developed interviews with the companies, I hearing their experience on the subject could be a great way to bring some qualified opinion on the genre (: Thank your for your work!

[@NidonocuPoisonBunny]

Great reporting and it's so neat seeing all these people creating new experiences for us all. Its rather awesome seeing these companies also seeing each other as friendly rivals to learn from rather than pure competition. Seeing that spirit of collaboration continue into the indie commercial space from the community space speaks to a healthy attitude for all these developers.

[@guiae]

This video has given me some much needed hope for the future of VR. Thanks Thrill, keep up the great work as always!

[@Slithersy]

I'm so very glad and happy to hear you got to visit Japan. I've never visited Japan myself but I can feel the amazing energy it gives off and I'm really hoping I can visit it one day too! Japan has such cool and unique technology. There's not only lots of VR stuff, but they're building robot maid cafes, like what?! Truly one of the best.

[@Hummelsbusch]

I pre-ordered the PSVR2 and I am very excited. I am a boomer, reaching 50 this year and I love technology and especially VR. A promise made in the early 90s finally coming true... Great video, Thrill, keep on doing what you do!

[@reyluna0]

Aw man i can't begin to describe how happy I am to see this sort of content! I was smiling the entire time, there's so much passion and love for VR and I feel the exact same way

[@jamesyoungerdds7901]

Thanks so much for a great (and optimistic) glimpse into the VR future. You're so right that in "the west" there has been this general sense of frustration and corporate interests, it's so refreshing to see there are people and companies who also care so much about what we as the VR community care about - the genuine potential and the paradigm shift. It's a signal for bright future, and that there are people driving forward the vision 🙏

[@gummydogs]

Omg I did not know there were VR visual novels already. I had been waiting for one of these for so long, time to buy! Great video

[@Aeleas333]

This is so awesome to see. Man, I wish we had this kind of spirit in the States. Things like this make me so much less worried about the future of VR.

[@LaloMartins]

This is especially crazy for me. When you shot this series, I was trying to come to Japan, and bitter that it wasn't working out and I very likely wouldn't be able to. Now I'm living and loving it here, and trying to get into this industry. 💖

[@KryttiKat]

I've been excited for this video forever! Knowing that SAO and lots of Isekai anime are popular in Japan, I'm not surprised to see VR be so popular. But love to see more of it all the same!

[@GiffysChannel]

THIS is the kind of thing that makes me so excited for VR

[@jklappenbach]

100% agree with Kyoto being a transformational experience. That city is absolutely stunning. I've been all over the world, and Kyoto remains one of my favorite experiences.

[@jacobjones5716]

The legend himself, @ThrillSeeker!!! the man that got me into VR 4 years ago and inspired me to to seek what thrills!🔥🔥 Thrill, I got to say I've been watching the content for a while and the videos just keep getting better, keep up the good work!!

[@chardellbrown1821]

Thank you Thrill, an excellent part 2! I hope there are more to come.

[@jaubury]

100% worth it, these are my favourite videos from you Thrill! Definitely going to be checking out these games and developers.

[@stacyspikes]

Fantastic Job! I really learn so much from your channel. This was a great deep dive into the Japanese VR market. VR is such a powerful next step for the birthplace of Anime. Keep up the wonderful work and thanks for the Patreon reminder. Just became a supporter.

[@MrMoney331]

Kyoto was for sure my favorite trip of all time!

[@DesuVR]

Awesome video! It's so cool to see you meet in-person the people behind the stuff you and every other VRKZbinr talk about!

[@ginsu85]

I hope you do one more video of this, I would love to see what else you got up to over there, but this is one of countless reasons I love Japan, not just for the Anime, but the games, the passion they show for them, the culture and so much more, I wish companies here would show this much passion for the VR industry as well.

[@Eunostos]

So i've casually caught a lot of your content, because obviously you're big enough KZbin feeds you heavily to anyone interested in VR. It's been interesting enough, but... this one has actually inspired me. I've a project i had convinced myself was pointless that i am now re-invigorated for. Thank you.

[@RetroBreak]

Congrats on editing all that footage down! The final result was worth it! Really exciting to see all the work being done over in Japan! :D

[@virtualworldaddict301]

While it may be a different kind of video in relation to what this channel usually creates, I absolutely loved it. I come to this channel to see everything new happening in VR and this gave me that and then some. I've been following your channel for a while now and it's obvious you have a passion for this medium. I personally hope you keep making videos like this as it helps spread the word that META doesn't solely control the VR market.

[@Red_Planet]

7:36 Man, I wish physical copies existed for VR games that aren’t PSVR. That would be cool. ̶A̶n̶d̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶’̶d̶ ̶s̶t̶i̶l̶l̶ ̶h̶a̶v̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶m̶ ̶i̶f̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶r̶ ̶F̶a̶c̶e̶b̶o̶o̶k̶ ̶a̶c̶c̶o̶u̶n̶t̶ ̶g̶o̶t̶ ̶n̶u̶k̶e̶d̶…̶

[@dinozorman]

oof i feel that... my fb just got hacked 3 days ago and instabanned... never even had a warning before, still need to message them haha. luckily sold my quest 2 like a year ago and i have a reverb 2 now.

[@wlot28]

Ikr? I was curious about what was in that, even if it was probably just empty

[@TheOuroborosWyrm]

Thanks for the hard work. Wouldn't mind seeing even longer stuff from you. Particularly when you've got all that great footage! edit: clarity

[@retrosoul-]

I was in Japan for a few years about 5 years ago. Truly an awesome place! I never got to visit these studios though!

[@CHEFPKR]

Stuff like this gives me a lot of hope for the industry. Passionate people focused on making quality software and hardware and not necessarily mass market appeal.

[@chrisphillips1492]

Absolutely brilliant stuff! WELL DONE FOR MAKING ORIGINAL CONTENT! So cool to see you in Japan! :)

[@mythrando]

Thank you for this video and all the work you put into it. I was smiling the entire time I was watching. The passion and drive to create good things is very inspiring.

[@Mercgo]

I live vicariously through this channel, I bailed on VR last year

[@rex3840]

I can't wait to see the new games and headsets. I have lost my thrill for vr for many reasons, but I still cant wait to see what's next and to once again want to play all day and night.

[@piperflatline7129]

Crazy, as soon as the video started, I thought "that sounds like Jake", and yup, it was him. We worked together on N64 games back in the 90s. Like him, I've also "seen the light" and have gone all in on VR. My wife and I have been indie since 2000 and we're both each working on our own VR games right now. I've been making games forever and have seen a lot of new tech, but VR is definitely the most exciting thing I've experienced in a long time. Love your videos, Thrill!

[@ThrillSeekerVR]

HECK YEAH! That's super awesome. Glad to have you around! Super good luck on your VR projects!

[@piperflatline7129]

Awesome, thanks!

[@Hypothic]

I had a similar feeling about being connected to everyone when I went to MIT Reality Hack, everyone there was just so passionate and nerdy about building VR, that it was one of the first time I felt like I was in a group with people I felt I belonged with

[@Zafybaka]

Meta can absolutely learn a lot from this, especially about nurturing the audience within the niches that already exist. Instead of artificially building an empire only to burn it down, building for the people that are already here would be the strong and organic foundation that big companies are ignoring.

[@FlippRipp]

Some guys from my dearest visited my work place at the beginning of my internship. Some great people with passion for VR. People like them makes me regain hope for VR after struggling with all the limitations it currently presents.

[@adamzboss]

I’d love to watch this in a hour long documentary with bonus footage

[@scholletech]

Much love thrill seeker to your content hope to see more Japan VR content that would be freakin awesomelistic and preem!

[@TheFoxfiend]

That is so cool! I kinda wish I could go to Japan and check out all these VR companies. Keep living the dream Thrill!

[@watchazyatube]

Seriously, I dream about a game like WOW or guild wars 2 IN VR !!!! This would be …. Amazing. With nice mechanics for spells , attacks, combats, dongeons …. Omg

[@lynnmckenney1987]

This would be nuts!

[@adam_roman]

This didn't show up in my feed until now, but I'm really glad it did. I love your raw enthusiasm for VR as a medium, and this reminded me that while Meta is trying to make VR mainstream by brute force, we're actually still in the early days. It's like the garage-run startup stage of the PC revolution. Meta is IBM, they can make competent products but they lack the vision the smaller guys hold on why VR is so revolutionary.

[@Brictone]

What an amazing trip! You'll remember this one for decades. Such an amazing perspective outside of our localized view. Thanks for sharing this, I may have to check out those patreon extra videos.

[@mzftmorons7266]

ive always wanted to visit japan so badly. Their culture has always been an interest to me even before i became an anime nerd. I also really wanna see a real cherry blossom. in anime and movies they look beautiful but i wanna see it with my own eyes

[@theoc007]

5:55 meters are used for measuring rooms lol, most housing now a days in Japan don't have tatami mats anymore 😅 I do think you nailed the vr industry in japan on the head though, a lot of start ups can be found in every city. I hope you enjoyed Japan スリルシーカー :)

[@letsexplodetogether5667]

He probably just misunderstood an explanation from some1

[@li_tsz_fung]

I think he's right. " In Japan, the size of a room is often measured by the number of tatami mats (-畳, -jō), about 1.653 square meters (for a standard Nagoya size tatami). " en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tatami#size

[@dinozorman]

@@letsexplodetogether5667 haha i think its just a more traditional way that is kept around for heritage reasons, like measuring horses with 'hands'.

[@fireaza]

As someone who lives in Japan and has rented many houses, no, measuring in tatami is still the standard, even if your house doesn't have any actual tatami. Square meters IS used for measuring the total size of the property however.

[@pumpkinhill4570]

Rooms without tatami are still measured in “jou” 畳 It’s actually a much more easily understandable measurement. The difference between a 9 and 12 square meter room can be hard to conceptualize, but everyone can easily picture the difference between a 6 and 8 tatami mat sized room.

[@bainslayer]

Song in Smoke spot light?! that's what I'm talking about. Such an amazing and underrated game.

[@spidermonkeynr1]

VR deserves so much love. The die hard are already playing for 6 years. And triple a games is what is missong the most

[@cyberpunkzombie9461]

1. the work you put into this video shows. 2.. oh no.. 200+hours of footage from having amazing times in Kyoto/etc. Japan.. such a chore.. ;) 3. Keep up the great work!

[@GameTechTalk]

This video was. It is your very best video that you have ever done in my personal opinion. It's inspiring, it's informative. It is visually stunning and captures so many things in such a short amount of time. You have so much talent, and you've grown into it beautifully through your KZbin channel. Thanks for sharing this amazing video.

[@hudsonreynolds4349]

So much respect for Japan, such a great video! So exciting

[@the_alovion]

Japan has a great ability to adapt new tech - can't wait to see what they do for VR.

[@imboredsonowimdirt7049]

One thing that we all agree on: Vr is awesome. The feeling that you get when you first put on a headset and hop into a game is one you can’t replicate.

[@komogo1155]

I really hop to get a chance to meet you one day (VR/IRL) your videos have saved me from so much darkness and negativity and the PLUR mindset just make me hope for so much love in your life. i was one of those poor boy no headset watchers for years and now that i am in it i am so happy. dude your amazing and thank you for all the work you do. Big love dude.

[@couchoclocknews]

If this was an ad for song in the smoke I’m sold

[@ThrillSeekerVR]

Haha, was not an ad, but yes! Def give it a try!

[@spidfirechan5830]

I'm so happy about the sudden change of the vr industry actually giving a fuck about the enthusiasts and 'enthusiastic' people in this scene because i was honestly scared that vr becoming such a mainstream thing is gonna be completely replacing hardcore vr like most of us know and love it.

[@freeeagle2989]

You made me want to go to japan. Inspiring video, thanks for the effort. I was always curious about Japan, i hope i can visit Kyoto like you did one day. I never got back to 2D games after playing VR games.

[@BillardFromSL]

I'm really excited for the future of VR that Japan will be bringing us!

[@isnotkevin]

Insane work to distill 2 terabytes of video down into this. It's encouraging to see all these successful studios out there just trying to make a good product.

[@johnniefujita]

Beatiful cover you've done... watching this i can now realize that japan is probably the most perfect culture for vr and meta to thrive

[@nihwa6691]

This was so cool to see, I was actually getting pretty pesimistic about the vr future - but this definitely lifted my mood! How exciting!

[@wakene426]

Thank you for sharing this with us trill much love ❤️

[@136feral]

Song in the Smoke is an absolute gem.

[@m.ubaidaadam]

hell yeah I've been waiting for this vid to drop! these smaller studios are what will push VR to the next level

[@lawnmowergirl]

Yay!! Good Thriil! (Head!pats) thank you for getting such a wonderful and amazing glimpse into the Japanese VR scene! Again!

[@Electirc]

Im going to be using this video as a shortcut to telling people how much I love VR.

[@RedKingdom09]

Love the content and your one of the people that got me into vr l.

[@SlunkyBoi]

Totally agree with your final thoughts Thrill, very weird how everyone is so focused on getting everyone to adopt VR, including office environments, while leaving the core audience of VR who already love it and are excited about it behind. Regardless the future of VR is bright!

[@sembalo1776]

This is awesome, glad to see there are so many studios like this. Good vid thrill :D

[@Shin3y]

Japan is always ahead of the west when it comes to games. I can't wait to see how they push VR forward!

[@VREmirate]

So cool seeing a random guy on the street wear a VRC t-shirt 😎Japan is so unique.

[@Oobzyrep]

thrill-daddy be out here providing us with the best vr content out there.

[@JohnnyADi]

Thank you, my favorite series.

[@rubenexplains2640]

Thank you so much for sharing your experience in Japan with us! Wearing a VRC T-Shirt would be a great way to get to know more VR fans, I will probably get a couple and start wearing them myself haha.

[@zimmerwerk]

Nice way of presenting us this amazing culture. Thanks.

[@sirkingjamz101]

I would say that passion really makes anything go "mainstream" when you look at Nintendo back then it was a chance they took on a few passionate people about a project, the colourful macs did the same thing to home PCs etc, etc. I believe that Japan and creators like them (because there is so many other places that love and dedicate there time to VR and stuff like it, and this video was more about how close in geographical space being the oddity) will make the VR genre "Ready Player One" levels soon enough. Passion can move mountain's!

[@Glenn-bs5rz]

ThrillSeeker thank you for the great content! I can't thank you enough because you got me into vr and into vr chat ! Thank you so much 💞

[@hehashivemind6111]

Dude, good job on the video! This is fantastic content. I hope we can get some uncut interviews and clips of each studio you went to, maybe highlighting them in individual videos?

[@paolaanimator]

I'm glad to see niche games being developed by passionate VR developers. Plus I want one of those VR shirt the guy in the street has, lol. I had no idea VR Chat is very popular in Japan. Japan just has so many interesting gaming industry history there.

[@N1ghtR1der666]

glad to hear VR is still innovating somewhere

[@arkadyborys5545]

Can't believe this is live!!!! Japan is the dream for every VR lover

[@halbzwilling]

Truly heartwarming and inspiring! 🥰 Thanks for sharing!!

[@luke.perkin.inventor]

You could do one deep dive video on each studio, we love the details!

[@beowulf2772]

Ayooo that's genius. Visual novels are already immersive but turning it into vr is a whole other level of immersion.

[@akitadakid6326]

The production quality of your videos is getting crazy good. I love this video and your work. Keep it up bro

[@jameskirk4692]

Thanks for the awesome content in this video! It's super great! I appreciate your hard work. I hope more of this kind is coming. 😉

[@scottfitzpatrick1939]

Thank you for this video is soooooo nice to see those studios.

[@kingle8172]

because of you I still believe in a bright VR future, thank you for showing us where this medium is being used and developt. Maybe Meta is being a catalyst by doing quantity, but these people are bringing the quality and love. thanks for showing us :D