The Tekken 3 "Virtual Arena" Was Real

In what is practically newly found lost media—and definitely not a false memory—the GameWorks arcade did indeed have a motion-controlled Tekken 3 gaming platform in the late '90s that was literally operated by flailing your fists and feet to get the Tekken characters to punch and kick.

I call it "lost media" because there's only one video on YouTube (uploaded 20 years ago with only 2.8k views) and two other references on the entire internet that I was able to find as proof that this contraption even existed. Two people stood on a platform and punched and kicked the air to get moves to register.

Back in the late '90s/early 2000s, when I was still a very small kid, I remember seeing this machine in a vague, hazy memory. Blue lights, Tekken 3 on the screen, people punching the air, etc.

While it’s such a unique combination of elements between tech and entertainment—making it a core memory for me as a huge admirer of the Tekken franchise, my memory of it was hazy because:

1. I was very young when I saw the machine and never got close to it. I was probably concerned about being in the proximity of a roundhouse kick.

   
   

2. I had never seen or heard anyone talk about the machine ever again.

   
   

This was around the year 2000, way before smartphones, which probably explains the lack of footage. I also remember the machine didn’t work very well; physical actions didn’t always translate on screen.

Motion-controlled inputs for a fighting game seem inherently complicated, and combining them with the profound acrobatics, impossible anatomy and strength required to perform the signature moves of fantasy fighting game characters in Tekken was literally impossible.

I think the game probably lasted only a couple of years in a few locations, utilizing a version of the Sega Activator, the first full-body motion-sensing controller for the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive back in 1993. The Activator was an octagonal ring of sensors meant to control on-screen movement but was notorious for being a poorly made product that only mapped specific movements to buttons on a controller.

It’s plausible that this early '90s tech was revamped years later for the Virtual Arena.

This theory makes sense since GameWorks was originally a collaboration between DreamWorks SKG, Universal Studios, and Sega, with input from Steven Spielberg. The company went through bankruptcy in 2004 and is now under the ownership of EXWorks Capital.

I suspect the Tekken Virtual Arena was released to GameWorks arcades and quietly dissolved after a few years, coinciding with the decline of interest in arcades and motion/VR-related tech. GameWorks was intended to be a massive project when it launched in 1997, with a huge launch party in Seattle featuring appearances by actor Will Smith and Bill Gates to bring attention to the new space.

The staff specifically marketed it as an "entertainment center" rather than just an arcade.

While we know a lot about the GameWorks project that failed to meet its high expectations in 1997, we still know very little about the creation of the Tekken 3 Virtual Arena. I’m thankful for the two videos and the one photo uploaded online; otherwise, it would almost certainly be lost media—a largely forgotten piece of obscure but future-forward technology that, even for those who remember it, would have thought it to be nothing more than a figment of their imagination.