Company Profile
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Roland Mack samples the Alpenexpress VR Coaster experience at Europa-Park alongside EU digital commissioner Günther Oettinger (right). Michael Mack can be seen in the seat behind
For the Mack family, building rides for their own
amusement park – Europa-
Park – and many more parks around the world clearly isn’t enough. After starting a small film and music production business last decade, the German industry stalwarts have built up Mack Media into a multi-disciplinary
provider of content and ideas for the attractions industry, from 3D/4D films to the much-talked about VR Coaster concept
Mack Media B
ut why would you want to ride a rollercoaster and, instead of feeling the exhilaration of the wind in your face, strap on a VR headset and shut out the real
world? It’s a question some of us at Park World have been asking ever since Mack Media pioneered its first VR Coaster experiments last year together with Professor Thomas Wagner from Germany’s University of Applied Sciences in Kaiserlautern.
Castle Secret was Mack Media’s first 4D film,
starring Euromaus and his Europa-Park friends
Famous German park family embraces 4D and VR “On a real rollercoaster, you can have real g-forces and
also real zero gravity during airtime hills or drops, which is not possible in a usual simulator or motion ride. These real feelings are amplified in the VR space, and are exactly what makes the VR Coaster so amazing,” says Wagner, who has now entered into a formal partnership with Mack Rides and Mack Media to market the VR Coaster to other parks looking to try something new. “Professor Wagner, who is based not far from us in
Kaiserlautern, was looking for both a park operator and a manufacturer to test his concept, and really there is only one family that can offer both,” recalls Michael Mack, who serves as CEO of both Europa-Park and Mack Media (his “baby”). “It’s difficult to predict the future, but we can’t miss trends.”
Mack Media’s roots go back to 2002, when the
company produced a backstage documentary as DVD for sale at Europa-Park. “Then YouTube came along and we realised we needed to do something else,” notes Mack. “My brother Thomas [member of the executive board at Europa-Park] loves to play the piano, so we made of CD of music for the park. I think Mack Media really took off though when we produced our first 3D/4D film.” After the company partnered with an animation studio (Ambient Entertainment in Hannover), Europa-Park unveiled
42 JANUARY 2016
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