Pong’s Inventor Wants to Bring Virtual Reality to Arcades

Megalith

Megalith

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Arcades practically died out after PCs and consoles became capable of providing the same gaming experiences at home, but Pong’s inventor, Nolan Bushnell, thinks virtual reality has what it takes to bring them back to life. While VR is already achievable in the home, it is arguably hampered by factors such as price and room space. Bushnell’s venture, Modal VR, tackles both by providing experiences in spaces as big as 900,000 feet at low prices. Will this idea actually take off? Maybe, as it will be offered at malls, theaters, and similar places that attract people who are easily suckered by novelties.

Bushnell’s latest venture is a company called Modal VR, which is building its own wireless virtual-reality headsets and games that it plans to roll out in places like arcades, malls, and movie theaters in the coming months. On a recent Saturday in San Francisco, Bushnell—now a grizzled guy in his mid-70s sporting a Patagonia pullover and black Modal VR hat—sat quietly in the audience as a line of people of all ages shuffled through a classroom-size open space. In pairs, they donned a prototype bulky black headset and played Pong in virtual reality, running from side to side to control the game’s simple white paddles. It was fitting, considering “we’re at the Pong stage of VR,” Bushnell said with a smile.
 
I don't know, I seem to recall there being VR machines sharing space with arcades when I was a youngster (I remember a game that involved a robotic bird or something and untextured polygons). I think if it does take off, it will be on life support, as the home consoles and PC will be able to replicate the experience handily enough. And if there's enough demand for VR, it won't take long.

I think a better avenue would be looking at bringing AR into the 'lazer tag' category. Combining the laser guns with a AR helmet that could popup a HUD, enemies, napalm grenades, team scores would add a new dimension to the lazer tag experience.
 
Last year at the NW Pinball and Arcade Show I had the chance to hear him talk and had him sign an Atari game!
He actually mentioned this "business venture" during his speech and I thought it is a neat idea to bring VR to the masses.
 
The game was only about two minutes, and the graphics were not much more advanced than on the original Pong, but both came away impressed.
Click to expand...

If they have only made it to pong-level graphics, then they have a loooong way to go before they have any hope of catching up to the home systems.

They made the mistake of assuming that, because other companies were now selling VR, VR had magically become trivially easy do do.

They should have partnered with one of the existing VR companies, and looked into ways of extending an existing system to fit an arcade, instead of trying to reinvent the wheel on their own.
 
SeymourGore said:
I don't know, I seem to recall there being VR machines sharing space with arcades when I was a youngster (I remember a game that involved a robotic bird or something and untextured polygons). I think if it does take off, it will be on life support, as the home consoles and PC will be able to replicate the experience handily enough. And if there's enough demand for VR, it won't take long.

I think a better avenue would be looking at bringing AR into the 'lazer tag' category. Combining the laser guns with a AR helmet that could popup a HUD, enemies, napalm grenades, team scores would add a new dimension to the lazer tag experience.
Click to expand...
Yes, I'd guess in the early 90's I remember paying $5 for about a 2 minute VR experience that consisted of polygons moving around. It was a total rip off and was not impressive at all.
Not sure how well it would do in public. Your LazerCraze idea seems pretty good. I think there is a company near Salt Lake City that offers a 30 minute VR experience - I wouldn't mind checking it out someday soon.
 
First, get them in D&B or GameZone, see if they work there. Then try and bring back the arcade.
 
The first place I want to be wearing a sensory deprivation headset is in a sleazy arcade.

When you're done you've traded your wallet for head lice! WOO!
 
Damn I miss arcades. But I don't ever see them coming back short of being a home for some kind of competitive VR sport.
 
There is only a narrow window of opportunity here. Arcades were initially successful because the experience couldn't be duplicated at home. VR in the home is still not quite there to the degree your normal video game experience is.
 
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