A few months ago, Sega announced that it would release the first three Virtual On games on PS4, but many wondered how it would feel without the iconic twin-stick controls included in the arcade machines. Enter Tanita.
Following the announcement, a medical equipment company named Tanita announced a crowdfunding campaign on Campfire to produce the Tanita Twin-Stick controller for PS4, with an initial goal of 44.6 million yen.
The campaign ended yesterday gathering 86,707,491 yen, which translates into $797,966 provided by 2,018 nostalgic gamers.
This adds to an earlier crowdfunding campaign done for the first batch of controllers. for a total of 136,448,225 yen, which translates into $1,255,729
Today Tanita followed up by announcing that the new batch of controllers will ship in March 2020. They will be compatible with Sega’s PS4 releases Virtual On: Cyber Troopers, Cyber Troopers Virtual-On Oratorio Tangram, and Cyber Troopers Virtual-On Force.
One question remains: will they be compatible with the Virtual-On version playable within Yakuza Kiwami 2? Time will tell.
Incidentally, this isn’t the first time a Japanese company that has nothing to do with gaming steps in to provide control options when traditional manufacturers won’t.
A few years ago, Joetsu Electronic Industries, which normally works on lighting solutions and hydroponic agriculture, created a grip for the PS Vita which provided L2 and R2 triggers for remote play.
