Either Steven Spielberg just accidentally revealed a history-making collaboration between two of gaming’s biggest rivals, or he needs a quick refresher on a who’s-who of the industry.
Much to everyone’s surprise, the Ready Player One director recently claimed he’d played Mario in VR on a PlayStation, implying that Nintendo’s mascot is soon to appear on Sony’s PSVR headset. When asked if he’d actually used current VR systems during a Japanese interview for his latest movie, the director replied: “I played Mario and so on on the PlayStation. The first time I tried it I didn’t want to take the goggles off.”
This is a surprising statement given that Mario is a Nintendo-owned property and only appears on the company’s own systems. A Mario game on PSVR would a first not just for the VR industry but for gaming as a whole. Not even in our wildest dreams would we have seen this one coming.
Rather than running with the speculation, though, let’s just note that it’s almost for certain that Spielberg is just getting a bit mixed up, either in the software or hardware department. Chances are he’s actually played something very similar to a Mario game on a VR headset; perhaps Robo Rescue from Playroom VR on PSVR or Lucky’s Tale on the Oculus Rift. Or perhaps he was even lucky enough to visit Tokyo’s VR arcade which features Mario Kart running on the HTC Vive.
Either way, we can easily forgive Spielberg’s mix up even if he is the man behind a $500 million-grossing blockbuster all about VR. He has more important things to be concerned about.
