A new redemption attraction machine is set to roll out at 29 Chuck E Cheese locations where players grab and collect ‘virtual’ tickets using the Rift head-mounted display developed by Ocuus VR Technology. Since Facebook purchased Oculus VR in March for $2 billion, this is the first reported consumer use of the Oculus technology. There are currently 80,000 virtual reality goggles sold, the majority as development kits, to companies throughout the world to develop more uses for the head sets.
As reported in the coin-op industry, this marks the first time that a location has developed a game from a new technology. It was noted by Vending Times that a CEC official stated that ‘The initial investment in the game was relatively modest with the purchase of 30 sets of the goggles and software development.”
What this could mean
Congratulations to Chuck E Cheese for developing this new game. Our industry originally established itself and grew during the video boom because the public knew that new games and new technologies always were introduced to coin-op before they went to consumer. Those days ended and our industry has been on the decline ever since.
Chuck E Cheese has shown us that it is sometimes not that difficult to adopt a new technology to coin-op. Virtual reality headsets have not made it in coin-op in the past but when a new technology is being shown off, it makes sense that children will be curious to try it out. Obviously Facebook believes that adults will not have a problem using the virtual reality headset in their homes.
It has not been determined if Chuck E Cheese will make the game available to the coin-op industry or keep it as a proprietary game. Either way, it is refreshing to have a new technology introduced into coin-op. It is a good thing for the entire industry. It is a good thing for the public to notice.
