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As Indians, 8th November is one date that has been etched in our memories since that was the date when Demonetization was announced by PM Modi. Whether the outcome was achieved or not is still an on-going debate 🙂 However, talking about dates, there is another one that can be considered as a game changer in the gaming industry and the date we are talking about is 14th December.

Image Source – Techcrunch

You might be scratching your head hard to recollect the specialty of it, well it was on that particular day when the addictive game of Pokemon Go was announced in India. Pokemon Go can be easily touted as a game that changed the phase of Augmented Reality [AR] gaming. You would have seen gamers going crazy to catch Pokemon’s at any cost and there was a huge amount of stickiness to the game.

Augmented reality [AR] is a live direct or indirect view of a physical, real-world environment whose elements are augmented [or supplemented] by computer-generated sensory input such as sound, video, graphics or GPS data whereas Virtual reality [VR] typically refers to computer technologies that use virtual reality headsets to generate the realistic images, sounds and other sensations that replicate a real environment or create an imaginary setting [Source-1, Source-2]. There was a time when AR/VR was only limited to Video Gaming but it is now being used in different sectors like real-estate, customer service in banking, e-learning, etc. As a matter of fact, more the adoption of these technologies better it is for the AR/VR industry.

As per an industry report,

Over the past few years, AR & VR market has been growing in India on account of increasing penetration of head-mounted displays in entertainment & gaming industry, rising defense spending coupled with surging demand in the country’s healthcare sector. Over the next five years, anticipated growth in the country’s defense budget, and rising demand for AR & VR enabled products for training purposes are expected to emerge as the major factors driving demand for AR & VR products in the defense industry.

AR & VR market is projected to grow at a CAGR of over 55% during 2016 – 2021. Increasing AR usage for enhancing the gaming experience, growing penetration of head-up displays in the automotive sector, rising use of AR in pico-projectors, etc., are driving the AR & VR market in the country [Source – Techsciresearch]. Though there is a steady increase in the adoption of AR/VR, it is still primarily used by gamers since it completely redefines the gaming experience.

Back home, one company that is carrying the baton for utilizing AR & VR technologies for re-defining the gaming landscape is Smaaash Entertainment. Smaaash Entertainment was co-founded in 2009 by serial entrepreneur Shripal Morakhia and counts Sachin Tendulkar as its investor & Brand Ambassador. It is aimed at providing an exceptional gaming experience by combining sports with Augmented Reality & Virtual Reality. Smaaash Entertainment focuses on providing sports simulation technology based cricket, football etc. and other recreational activities, as well as a host of leisure activities including dining.

We visited Smaaash at 1 MG Road Mall in Bengaluru where Gladston Sequeira, Marketing Executive at Smaaash gave us a brief about the AR/VR games that are developed in-house by their R&D team. Apart from the experience, one thing that we really liked about their business model is that other gaming arenas are free to purchase those games from Smaaash which in turn spreads more curiosity about AR/VR !!

Some of the games that we experienced are listed below

Smaaash Cricket

Brett Lee is looking you in the eye. You got to have that shaken not stirred attitude to face off. The fielders will sledge; the crowd will be on your side. Let your bat do the talking at the 360-degree cricket simulator, where real world class bowlers will test your mettle with their genuine actions. You can find more about the behind Smaaash Cricket here.

Walk The Plank

Experience Virtual Reality as it takes the thrill quotient several notches higher. A dizzying 50 feet fall on either side and villainous monsters in your way. The only thing between you and death is a narrow plank. You will make it to the other side only if you can fight fear and vertigo at the same time. You can find more about the technology behind Walk the Plank here.

Finger Coaster

Wondered how designing a roller coaster by yourself would be? What if you could take a ride in one of those too. Your heart will be in your mouth when you ride on our physics-challenging, Oculus-based simulator. The better you design your ride, the more fun you will have. You can find more about the technology behind Finger Coaster here.

Nitro Wheelie

Get down and dirty on the racing track with Nitro Wheelie, a dirt bike game based on a platform boasting of six-degree freedom. Don racing helmets and get on different racing tracks, to puff up some dust. When it comes to dirt racing, nothing comes close to Nitro Wheelie. More details about Nitro Wheelie here.

Smart Arcade

With vintage favorites like Pac-Man, Air Hockey, Deal or No Deal and Simpson’s Soccer, you will never want to leave our time capsule. And if you enjoy more conventional games, there is Connect 4 and Fruit Ninja. More details about Smart Arcade here.

Super Keeper

Experience the drama, excitement, and emotions of a real penalty shootout, as you go one-on-one against our supersonic goalkeeper. At Super Keeper, it takes a lot more than mere skills to strike the ball to the back of the net. More details about Super Keeper here.

X2 Motor Racing Simulator

Bring out the F1 racer in you. At speeds of 200 mph, you got to hold your nerve as the torqued steering tests your driving mettle. Teamed with realistic racing simulation motions you will twist and turn in the 100% formula one car replica. More details about X2 Motor Racing Simulator here.

Some of the photos clicked during the visit are below:

Out of all the games that we played at Smaaash, Smaaash Cricket and Walk the Plank were cut above the rest !! The major difference between Smaaash Cricket and the Cricket that you can play at other malls using the Bowling machine is that in this case, you can actually feel that the actual bowler is bowling to you. They have collected action and speed samples of close to 20+ international bowlers that makes playing Smaaash cricket much more fun and entertaining. For e.g. If a fast bowler like Lasith Malinga bowls a slower ball, you can observe the change in pace. Live cricket commentary in the context of the game pumps the player up at you get a feeling that you are playing in a stadium 🙂 If you are cricket fan then you should definitely try out Smaaash Cricket !!

Walk the Plank is an amazing game that makes the best use of Virtual Reality. The player needs to cross 100 feet tall building on a six inches plank. That sounds a bit scary and the amazing cinematic graphics makes the overall experience even more thrilling.

More details about the games, dining, etc. at Smaaash can be found here & here. A couple of days back RCB skipper Virat Kohli was at Smaaash, Bengaluru and the atmosphere was electrifying. More details about his visit can be found here

This was our review of Smaaash that is located at 1 MG Lido Mall, Bengaluru. In case you have visited Smaaash, please leave your experience in the comments section…