Let’s get one thing straight here before I explain what’s going on. This is not an actual representation of the game due to it being in the pre-alpha stage (in other words, it still needs alpha, beta, other testing, then final testing to be considered done) as well as it was marketed in such a way so as to attract attention and hopefully receive funding (which it got a lot of so, don’t worry anime fans). Ready? Here we go!

Two months ago, a trailer came out for what is known as "Sword Art Online: The Beginning." With the trailer, it had a bunch of flashy animations and text from the popular anime/manga series of the same name. To give some context, "Sword Art Online" is the story of a virtual reality game that was recently released and the main characters are trapped inside due to the workings of a madman. The catch to being stuck in the game is that if anyone is to be forcibly removed from the game by taking off their headset, they would die. Also, if they are to die in the game, they die for real. It’s a common trope in shows based on games (and it gets boring fast in my opinion), but this new trailer from IBM had people excited. Here is where language barriers and slanting of words comes into play. With the new trailer, IBM asked for 200 applicants to try out the alpha stages of "SAO: The Beginning".

(screenshot of the market place)

(not the smoothest looking, but this is Alpha footage, so expect some quirks)

Everyone from around the world (me included) didn’t stop to process what they were actually asking for and what their product actually was. When IBM said that they were creating an alpha stage product, they literally meant that. What is coming out instead is a 20-minute demo for people to try out the NerveGear headset and other peripherals.

The show is based in the year 2022 and IBM said that in five years time, they hope to achieve such a reality (minus the whole murder brain melting part). The pictures and video released so far are intriguing to say the least, but people need to understand that this demo is to only show the capabilities of such equipment and not the actual MMO virtual reality game everyone has been expecting. In due time, this will come to be though!

(One of the boss monsters encountered in the demo)

(The NerveGear headset)

There is some good news from this experiment! The Alpha demo did have sessions of volunteers “playing” and walking around the world of SAO. Though very choppy and not fluid at all, the concept of having such an experience near us in our time is astounding and makes the five-year prediction wait almost unbearable in the mind of a gamer. As I said before, what is happening now is just a 20-minute demo that showcases what IBM is currently working on and hoping to spread to other video game developers in the future so that gamers and casual people alike can experience fighting a dragon or flying through the stars all from the comfort of their couch.(some alpha footage of a fight scene. Again, alpha footage, so this is a work in progress!)