When I was just a little boy….

My first game experience as a child was at an arcade in a mall across the street from my grandparents house.  My first visit there was on Grandma’s dime but she soon cut me off, she was living on an old age pension after all!  The ambitious 8 year old me discovered the (pay to use) shopping carts and soon realized that many people were too busy to return them back for their deposit.  Between this and scouring melting snow piles and errant quarters near the water fountain I was frequently able to muster up enough quarters to be able to spend part of the day playing games like Spy Hunter,  Top Gun, Altered Beast and Street-fighter. 

I miss the traditional Arcades of the past

Arcades have been a go-to place for family fun with children, teenagers, and adults alike. Filled with a variety of video game machines, pinball machines, crane games, skee-ball and other sorts of entertainment, people (including myself and my family) have enjoyed them for years and years upon end.

Video game arcades were especially popular back in the 80-90’s, however, they seem to be harder to find as of late. Mainly due to the popularity of video game consoles, mobile and handhelds arcades are slowly dying out in America, and the days of Pac-Man have mostly come to a close.

The argument in support of the Virtual Reality Arcade

It has always been the dream of many to actually feel immersed in the games they played. Of course, technology limitations up until recently have prevented people from being able to embark on a fully immersive experience.  This has changed with the release of Oculus, and HTC Vive and the upcoming release of Playstation VR.

There are still old-fashioned arcades (Dave and Busters, Chuck E Cheese), but now, the technology of the future has given us a new form of entertainment to experience in both traditional and virtual reality only arcades. These new arcades have been showing up on my radar more often recently, and in the small amount of time people have had to access these new or retrofitted places, they have been quite popular and seem to be breathing new life into location based entertainment. (I have been approached by a few arcade operators asking about content creation which is exciting to say the least.)

With a virtual reality headset, you gain the ability to enjoy an artificial sensory experience that feels just like you are in the actual game. You can throw punches in a fighting game, or fire guns in a shooter. You feel immersed in the game, as if you were actually in the place of the character you control in the world, without actually being in it, in the safety of a confined room with freedom of movement.

That is what virtual reality arcades aim to do: they give you the space and technology to roam around to your heart’s content in an artificial world.

Cost and Space barrier

While you can purchase the required equipment on your own, arcades of this nature are currently a low cost and low barrier way for the general public to try virtual reality.

All it typically takes is a simple sign-up, a payment for a time allotment (much like coin operated machines),  a liability waiver, and then you have access to a the vast virtual worlds that are truly an indescribable experience for most first time participants.  

It is here…..but it is only beginning

There are only a few arcades open to the public right now, but there are many more locations planned. Arcades of note are THE VOID and VRcade in Seattle, Washington. 

Without a doubt, virtual reality arcades are definitely shaping to be a must-visit to experience the wonders of the virtual reality in its true form, and will likely be the first point of entry for many looking to experience VR for the first time.

What do you think?  Will Virtual reality bring back the popularity of the arcade?