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Retro Rewind: Can VR Revive the Arcades?

Retro Rewind: Can VR Revive the Arcades?

Video game arcades are a thing of the past, now sequestered to the dark corners of movie theatres. But once, a selection of racing, shooting, and puzzle games displayed their bright colors to woo the excited child closer. One parent might remember the days of pumping quarters into the arcade at the local gas station, happily ignoring warnings of pixelated gore. Another might not remember at all, knowing only these flashing lights as expensive hustles for a cheap prize. Nowadays, we can experience the same games at home, often in much better quality. There’s just no point anymore, unless you’re a kid with 20 bucks to burn.

That said, HTC wants to bring VR to the arcades and it might just be enough to bring them back to life. HTC’s plan is seen in quite a few VR arcades already in existence, like China’s Shenzhen HTC Vive VR Café, VR Zone in Japan, Viveland in Taiwan, notionVR in Washington DC, VR Junkies in Utah, and Scene 75 in Ohio. It’s not exactly in every town across the world like the video arcades were, but it’s definitely a longer list than I expected. However, HTC’s project centers around the “Viveport Arcade, designed for offline experience centers.” This will keep developers in mind as well, according to PRNewswire , Viveport Arcade is the “offline counterpart to the PC version of Viveport, which allows Vive developers to reach a… base of avid VR users who haven’t yet bought a Vive for their home. Viveport Arcade will make it much easier for VR arcade operators to legally acquire [topnotch] VR content available… Pilot programs for Viveport Arcade have already been deployed in a number of locations in the last 1-2 months and will soon expand to hundreds of gaming centers, amusement parks and karaoke bars across China and globally.”

HTC certainly makes its program sound very exciting, but I am skeptical. For one, it’s a lot more expensive than your average arcade game. HTC claims it wants to involve a broad audience, but what about the people who would rather relive the old days spending their money on the latest Tekken arcade game? Secondly, who is to say that VR isn’t just another pricey fad, sure to fade away within a year’s time because it’s still too expensive for the average consumer?

I agree that trying out the Vive in one of these arcades is on the expensive side, especially when I managed to try out Samsung’s Gear VR for free. However, I feel that the VR experience is a lot like Cirque du Soleil , you have to find the money to see it at least once or you haven’t lived yet. Since Cirque du Soleil is around the same price ($40 – $50 for a regular ticket), it’s not a bad comparison.

Retro Rewind: Can VR Revive the Arcades?

In addition, I think we can finally say that VR is no longer a fad. Companies have been working on this technology for years and it is finally able to reach the average consumer in an affordable way. Most sets are the same price as a gaming console and some require quite of bit of setup (like the HTC Vive), but it is actually worth it. Not only is the technology there, but so is the content. One of the simplest games I played, Colosse , fed my love for indie games and beautiful polygon-themed art. There are plenty of horror games too, and racing games (a console is nothing without a racing game).

So will this Viveport Arcade be enough to revive those dusty corners in the theatres? Yes, I think so. Everyone should try VR out at least once and the HTC Vive is one of highest quality sets out there. So if these cafes or theme parks hit your town, be sure to save some money and go try it out at least once.

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