Commentary

Amusement kiosks carve a niche in the unattended VR space

Upright kiosks provide a versatile format for competition in VR enhanced immersive games.

VRsenal has introduced its shooter "Zombiland: Headshot Fever." Photo provided by VRsenal.

February 13, 2023 by Kevin Williams

The development of the "unattended" VR amusement platforms continues apace, having gathered momentum over the last few months as a popular platform for amusement deployment.

VRsenal has grabbed the spotlight of late with its new slimline Monolith platform. Gone is the VR headset retention system, and it now offers a new sturdy headset cable which the company has specially developed in cooperation with HTC towards surviving the abuse of amusement deployment without the expensive retention system, as with previous designs. The company is also looking to sell the cable system to existing operators of current HTC based VR amusement systems to address this point of failure.

On the small footprint VR kiosk, which includes a 4k LED monitor on the front, VRsenal has also introduced its shooter "Zombiland: Headshot Fever." Developed in partnership with Sony Pictures, the game offers two players the ability to navigate the world of the popular movie series — shooting hordes of approaching zombies and scoring high for accuracy to progress through the game's stages.

The game incorporates the gun mounted onto the VR headset so the player is able to use the headset as a viewer for easier use. Players take on the role of a survivor being trained by characters for the "Zombieland Invitational," the zombie-killing racecourse. Players fight their way onto the leaderboard in this new post-apocalyptic racing sport. It's the ultimate head-popping, clock-stopping, zombie-killing arcade action!

Another game available on the VRsenal platform is "Synth Riders Arcade" — a beat music rhythm game, hoping to fill the vacuum left by the removal of "Beat Saber" from the commercial entertainment scene.

Removing "Beat Saber Arcade" eliminated one of the few universal strong-earning VR titles. In response, the VR sector was being filled by companies releasing "clones" of the music game to fill this vacuum.

Momentum grows

Another entrant to the unattended VR kiosk scene comes with the latest version of the partnership between BoxBlaster and Benchmark Games, with the new version of "Gold and Mace." The unattended VR kiosk has the HTC Vive Pro headset and controller tethered to the cabinet for players to be able to jump straight into the fun cartoon experience, configured as a VR redemption game.

This is a new version of the concept, having abandoned the original headset and controls retention system for a simpler design, still representing one of the first ticket redemption VR games.

VRPark — known for its seasonal VR ride experience "Santa's Sleigh" allowing riders to enjoy a flight through a snowy Christmas wonderland — launched its "VRPark Gaming Station" — a unique kiosk that allows two VR headsets to be connected to a simple base-station.

The tethered HTC VR headsets are connected to a platform that offers some 400 games on demand, with titles such as "Fruit Ninja" and "Angry Birds" available.

VRLEO USA, proclaimed as the "World's First Self-Service VR Kiosk" features a retracting mechanism for the VR headset, now supporting the ThreeGlasses VR headset, as well as a built-in UV disinfecting process when retracted.

Towers rise

The Portalx VR tower, a collaboration between SynthesisVR, XR Immersive Tech and VirtuaWerks, incorporates over 20 years of experience developing commercial systems and aims at reinventing the classic arcade experience for virtual reality.

Harnessing the power of the SynthesisVR platform and its extensive content library, the VR tower has a modular interface, allowing multiple game play modes, the latest VR headset in HTC Focus 3, custom video playback, online statistics and leader board visualizations with optional player profile support, along with other features.

Creative Works, meanwhile, has partnered with VRstudios presenting its "Fury: Solo" VR kiosk running "Football Frenzy." The company's fast-paced American football game runs on the VRsenal Monolith cabinet. The game is the latest in the sports-themed VR experiences developed for the Fury platform that can also be installed on other VR kiosks.

The game incorporates a strong tournament element and competition is supported through VRstudios' AMP management platform. This is a game that is easy to pick up, and it appeals to a large part of the player base, with the company working on the e-sports element of the game.

VAR Live, the Korean kiosk developer has also partnered with Creative Works on the "Var Box" upright kiosk that hosts a selection of tournament-based games supported by a smart app with the new version of the VR kiosk now employing the Pico Neo 3 VR headset.

The platform's association with the "VR Collective," representing Bob Cooney, Trainertainment, Shaffer Distribution and AVS, will continue, focusing on educating operators on the opportunities in deploying VR in their entertainment mix.

The unattended VR sector has clearly staked its claim in the expanding immersive entertainment industry.

(Editor's note: Extracts from this blog are from recent coverage in The Stinger Report, published by Spider Entertainment and its director, Kevin Williams, the leading interactive out-of-home entertainment news service covering the immersive frontier and beyond.)

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About Kevin Williams

Along with advisory positions with other entrants into the market he is founder and publisher of the Stinger Report, “a-must-read” e-zine for those working or investing in the amusement, attractions and entertainment industry. He is a prolific writer and provides regular news columns for main trade publications. He also travels the globe as a keynote speaker, moderator and panelist at numerous industry conferences and events. Author of “The Out-of-Home Immersive Entertainment Frontier: Expanding Interactive Boundaries in Leisure Facilities,” the only book on this aspect of the market, with the second edition scheduled for a 2023 release.

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