bob cooney
Written by Bob Cooney
It seems like a new trend is emerging. Although it is not virtual reality, it is a type of immersive entertainment that uses some of the core technologies of the VR industry.
An interactive gaming room is a compact, multiplayer, enclosed space with interactive video on the walls and floor. Free-roaming VR technology uses camera systems and sensors to track the player’s movements and interactions with the environment.
Although the technology applied may differ, the experiences all offer the active shoulder-to-shoulder multiplayer gaming that people love.
immersive game box
Immersive Gamebox was the first company to popularize this new field of immersive entertainment. They started offering only a franchise model, but at IAAPA this year they offered “concessions” to FECs and other attractions that wanted to add game rooms to their attraction mix.
Immersive Gamebox includes games based on Ghostbusters, Squid Games, Paw Patrol, and more. Up to six players wear plastic see-through visors with tracking his markers. The player acts like a human joystick, wandering back and forth and side to side in an sometimes futile attempt to control the on-screen character. The system also senses when you touch a wall, allowing you to activate virtual buttons on the screen.
I played the Ghostbusters game at IAAPA and found it tedious to walk back and forth to move the character up and down the screen. It’s completely counterintuitive. I think when you’re drinking and hanging out with friends, goofing around can be part of the fun. However, it wasn’t very immersive as I spent all my time figuring out how to control the avatar on the screen.
cubics
Another entrant into the interactive gaming room market is QBIX from Inowize, a company that found success with the Arkadia VR arena. Similar to the Immersive Gamebox, QBIX is his six-player system where video is projected onto three walls. We also add environmental effects such as wind and vibrating tactile floors for deep immersion. QBIX players use handheld controllers to interact with the game environment. The user controls are a bit reminiscent of Triotech XD Theater, where players follow a colored target reticle on the screen.
QBIX currently offers three games. One is the obligatory zombie shooter, one is an action/puzzle game, and the other is an action maze chaser reminiscent of Pac-Man, though not as much. They are developing his fourth game. It’s a multiplayer cooking game. It looks like a lot of fun.
QBIX is the most compact and affordable attraction in this category. Although advertised as unmanned installations, I spoke to some of the early operators and they say they are setting them up in areas where they can monitor them. Good advice for new platforms.
Dave & Busters Arena
Despite their restaurant background, the new management team is working hard to evolve Dave & Buster’s from a restaurant and arcade to a more sociable, adult entertainment center. CEO Chris Morris isn’t afraid of big changes. One of them is a new purpose-built immersive gaming room called Arena.
Unlike Immersive Gamebox or QBIX, Arena is a low-fidelity, high-activity gaming experience. The player has to race against time in a series of mini-games that last him 2-3 minutes. Think of a high-tech 4D version of Twister. LED floors and walls track the touch of both feet and hands. The arena can be rented in 30-minute increments and can accommodate up to eight players.
The first arena was installed last year in Friendswood, Texas, near Houston. Currently, the company has opened stores in Allentown, Pennsylvania and Columbus, Ohio, and appears to be expanding further, with new stores planned to open in Dallas and Livonia, Michigan.
Valo Arena
Another active, interactive game room comes from ValoMotion, the company that developed the enhanced climbing wall. Valo Arena employs a novel camera usage that projects the player’s entire body onto his two opposing screens. This system tracks the player’s movements, allowing the player to control her on-screen avatar in her 3D environment. This is a much more intuitive experience than Immersive Gamebox. And I realized it was more fun.
Valo Arena allows up to six players to compete in a variety of games. The most popular game is based on The Floor Is Lava, where players run around dodging collapsing tiles and dropping photorealistic avatars into a molten abyss. The latest game is called Money Heist, and it’s a fun and active game where players run around and pick up bags of money while avoiding the traps of the security system.
Valo Arena requires the largest footprint in this category, coming in at approximately 700 square feet. They did a great job of making it unmanned with simple kiosks for player onboarding and clear instructions projected both on the screen and on the floor.
arcade arena
New to the immersive gaming room block is Arcade Arena. It was designed by a Minnesota carrier and is unique in several ways. It can handle up to 10 players at a time, and players play different roles in different games.
The arcade arena comes with a video projection system on three walls and six rear-mounted consoles. The player on the console controls one side of the game, and the player in the arena controls the other side. The game allows players to swap roles, giving everyone a taste of both console and arena play.
It was designed as a 90-minute social gaming experience. They offer seven different games, from silly action to escape room mindbenders. I played a game at his IAAPA where farmers in an arena were running around and trying to corral pigs controlled by a console player.
The hardware kit still looked like a garage shop project, but the games were fun and the system really showed promise.
What to watch out for
This new category is here to stay. With D&B rolling out The Arena and Immersive Gamebox expanding globally through a partnership with Franchise Network and Merlin Entertainment, players will soon be looking for immersive game rooms everywhere.
Every time a new platform emerges, it poses several challenges for game design. I like how QBIX follows the known user paradigm of XD Theater and adds a physical layer. I like how Immersive Gamebox leverages IP, but it comes at a huge cost. I like the very active gameplay of Valo Arena in places where people are expected to run around and be active. And while I like the promise of Arcade Arena, it’s a bit young to recommend.
In most places, QBIX will be the choice. This is the most compact and low-cost solution to date, and it ticks all the boxes that an operator would look for in this category, with the possible exception of IP-based titles. I spoke to at least one studio executive at his IAAPA about this, and they were excited about the possibility of bringing movie IP to the platform. Watch how it unfolds.
Bob Cooney is a global speaker, moderator, and futurist covering augmented reality and the Metaverse. Widely recognized as a leading authority on location-based virtual reality, his mission is to keep the industry informed about upcoming changes as these and other emerging technologies begin to impact every aspect of our business and lives. It is to prepare. As an embodiment of his mission, he runs the VR Arcade Game Summit and VR Collective at Amusement Expo. Follow him at www.bobcoony.com.
