Every morning, I wake up to Fuji TV’s Tokudane! news program while I prepare my articles for the day. The Japanese show covers a variety of topics ranging from everyday news to viral videos and other public interest stories. Today, I got a wonderful surprise from the show as it started talking about the new capabilities of VR and the Oculus Rift.
Sadly, they picked a very poor way to sell it to the mainstream audience, and it resulted in the possible loss of an expensive headset unit.
The segment’s reporter invited popular female presenter Rei Kikukawa up to give the Oculus Rift a try. The experience she received was not a game in any sense, but rather a simple Japanese horror setting with nothing by a creepy well in the middle, just begging to be gazed into.
Anyone with a knowledge of Japanese horror knows that looking into a creepy well can’t possibly end on a good note, and sadly, it was the Rift itself that fell victim to the horrors within. Kikukawa, not realizing that the device should be strapped to her head, quickly threw the device to the ground in a fit of panic, breaking off a few pieces on live television.
To be fair, the reporter straight up tells her she doesn’t have to use the strap.
Well, that’s 94,600 yen (~$838.00!) that Fuji TV has to cough up to replace the broken Rift. Next time, use the safety strap. It’s there for a reason, though, I’m sure she won’t be using VR ever again after that experience. It takes her several minutes to regain any sort of professional composure.
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