Hold onto your extendable plastic lightsabers, kiddies, because ILMxLAB and Lucasfilm recently announced a new Star Wars-themed VR experience, Star Wars: Droid Repair Bay — Astro-Mechanic for the Resistance. And for seemingly the exact reason Disney once plastered BB-8 on everything including oranges (read: tone-deaf marketing), they’re planning on bringing the little squeaky droid to a Nissan dealership near you.
As chief astromech technician aboard General Leia’s ship, users are tasked with repairing BB-8 and a number of (less-marketable) droids that are needed for the war effort, according to the Lucasfilm’s Star Wars blog. Developed for HTC Vive and Samsung Gear VR, the experience is coming soon to select Nissan dealerships in the US, Mexico, and Canada.
From the description, it sounds like a neat diversion, similar to Valve’s Portal: Aperture Robot Repair released as an early demo for HTC Vive, but for some reason hocking it in a Nissan dealership feels like a strange misstep by ILMxLab (if it was actually their choice to begin with).
As Lucasfilm’s experimental immersive media wing, ILMxLab has been producing its distinctly Star Wars-flavored brand engagement pieces for VR like Star Wars Trials on Tatooine since it was founded in 2015, which ideally immerse you in the galaxy far far away as a bid to keep you living and breathing Star Wars until they can get you into theaters for the next big franchise movie. And as the next Sisyphean Star Wars hype cycle moves into full swing, I can’t help but think this was whipped out, or re-purposed to fulfill a contractual obligation to provide Nissan with something, anything for its ‘Master The Drive’ sales event.
Given it’s an official VR experience promoting Star Wars: The Last Jedi, it’s also hard to imagine anything more banal than experiencing the Earth-shattering debut of “brand new astromechs with their own unique personalities and original designs” while waiting for the salesman to finalize your Altima lease, but at least it’s sure to be realized in the same high-quality we’ve come to expect from ILMxLab.
It’s uncertain if the latest Star Wars experience also be available for the general public at some point to try out in their own homes where, you know, you don’t have to talk to car salesmen. We’ll of course keep you updated, so check back soon.
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Source: New ‘Star Wars’ VR Experience from ILMxLab to Debut in … Car Dealerships
