Space Invaders to invade once again in new AR game from Square Enix

In 2015, fans of retro gaming were (dis)graced with the release of Pixels, a thoroughly mediocre action-comedy concerning a band of nerds tasked with protecting the Earth from descending aliens who, for reasons beyond the arcane, had taken on the form of classic arcade icons like Pac-Man and Donkey Kong.

It wasn’t remotely, well, good, but it now seems rather prescient. One scene in particular depicted said nerds gunning down a series of extra-terrestrial Space Invaders enemies, whilst convincing themselves it was all a gigantic augmented-reality simulation. Today, we tick one step closer to Adam Sandler’s vision of the future — for better or worse — courtesy of Square Enix.

As part of their latest Square Enix Presents series of announcements, the company has unveiled a Space Invaders AR project headed to mobile devices. In a tweet posted following the reveal, further information was given; this will be a collaboration between industry giant Square Montreal and the holders of the rights to the original game, Taito Corporation. It promises “innovative Augmented Reality tech” that will be used to “take the series in a brand new direction.”

Check out the post right below.

While no gameplay has been shown as of yet, it isn’t too difficult to picture how this title might look and play, and why, if all goes well, it could be something special. The prospect of whipping out your phone on a commute, or while just out and about, to blast down some 8-bit baddies is certainly an enticing one. Similar tech of this sort has played a large role in making mobile hits like Pokemon Go so popular and immersive, and has been experimented with by AAA developers as far back as Nintendo’s 3DS in 2011.

Though we’ll just have to use our imaginations for now, Square has nonetheless put together a webpage for the game, and a cracking nostalgia-fuelled trailer which you can watch below.

Are you excited by this reveal? Got any Space Invaders memories to share? Just looking forward to defending the Earth? Let us know in the comments!