Since its initial release in 2010 on the iPhone, Fruit Ninja has continued to evolve and expand onto newer platforms, including the Meta Quest. Now, it is also launching on Apple Vision Pro.
Apple Vision Pro is arriving in just two weeks. In the meantime, we’ve seen the introduction of a few games on the platform, including Fruit Ninja. However, how does the game fare on a device without controllers?
Fruit Ninja from Halfbrick Studios has previously been available on VR headsets. Fruit Ninja VR debuted on SteamVR in 2016 and later extended its reach to other platforms such as Meta Quest and PSVR2. However, all these headsets relied on controllers and were designed exclusively for a Virtual Reality experience, not Mixed Reality. Knowing that, there is a question in the air – How does the game function without controllers?
In a profile featured by Apple, Samantha Turner, a lead gameplay programmer for the game, mentioned that they explored various hand motions and weapons during development. However, they ultimately opted for a simpler approach – using just hands. Therefore, when playing the game, instead of wielding a virtual katana or other weapon, you simply slice fruits with your own hands.
“Slice and dice pineapples and watermelons by jabbing with your hands. Send bombs away by pushing them to a far wall, where they harmlessly explode at a distance. Fire shuriken into floating fruit by brushing your palms in an outward direction” – Says Samantha Turner about the hand-tracking solution.
As can be seen from the images, the game uses a Mixed Reality setup instead of a Virtual Reality solution. Although complete immersion in the game is not ruled out, Mixed Reality (Passthrough version) will likely be a heavy focus of the game. This is based on the studio’s description of their efforts to ensure the game works seamlessly within your environment.
“We started with, OK, you have a couple meters square in front of you. What will the playspace look like? What if there’s a chair or a table in the way? How do we work around different scenarios for people in their office or living room or kitchen?” To find their answers, Halfbrick built RealityKit prototypes. “Just being able to see those opened up the possibilities.” The answer? A set of cannons, arranged in a semicircle at the optimal distance for efficient slashing.
Apple Vision Pro will be available for pre-order starting today at 5 AM Pacific Time and is set to ship on February 2, exclusively in the U.S. With just two weeks left until the device’s official launch, we can expect to see more news about games and apps coming to the Vision Pro in the upcoming weeks or days.
