Design Ideas for VR Arcades

In the past couple of week’s I’ve been asked for ideas about the design of a VR arcade on three different occasions. One of my number one secrets for having topics for your blog is “answer your frequently asked questions”. So without further adieu, allow me to present some of my favorite designs I’ve seen. And please, feel free to share a link to your arcade of pix of your arcade in the comments.

The Original 10 VR Arcade Design Ideas

This first one has a special place in my heart. If Josh and McKay didn’t create this, they wouldn’t have made the software to run it and I likely wouldn’t be sharing about VR Arcade design. So, hat tip to the newly renovated VR Junkies in Orem, Utah.

I don’t know how to pronounce Isimu and to make matters worse, I’m not even sure what the word means. It could mean, cool looking VR arcade in Duluth, GA.

Straight out of CSI — Isimu VR Arcade Duluth, GA

VR1 of Idaho originally appeared on my radar while I was looking at VR Arcades on YouTube. I enjoyed their video and added it to the playlist. I think this is a nice clean look for a VR arcade and I like how they went with table and chairs as opposed to couches.

Hey- Who turned ON the lights? — VR1 in Idaho

VRKade certainly has a unique that is befitting of their name. This design in quite interesting and MIGHT spook me out a bit if I was playing a haunted experience here. LOL

It's a little scary — VRKade – Calgary, Alberta Canada

Upward VR has a very clean look and the graphics let you know what kind of experience you’re in for. They also do a nice job showcasing their social media right there on the welcome side. I mean, like seriously, you can see it from here.

Ignite VR has a very clear design and you know exactly what is going on behind closed doors. You know…cuz they’re glass and you can see through them. I’m curious as to how this works with the lighthouses??

I see what you're doing there... — Ignite VR- Singapore

Here is the first location of Cntrl-V. Actually, this isn’t my favorite picture of theirs. Go to Google, type in Cntrl-V, select images and take a look. They’ve got some cool stuff to show for sure.

Looks really cool from the entrance — Cntrl V – Waterloo, Ontario Canada

I believe this is more of a rendering than a real world photo. I know, the silhouettes do give it away. But we’re talking about design IDEAS and this looks like a really good idea to me.

These May Be Out of a Dream

Not sure if real... — IMAX VR – Los Angeles

A great looking entry from NZ, this VR arcade booth has Pink AND Purple. Yes, I’m a fairly manly man…except when it comes to colors I like. I think this place looks extra fun.

Like your space a bit more industrious? Maybe not as bright and fun as the one above, but certainly fitting. Especially when you consider the amount of shooters and the amount of post apocalyptic experiences in VR.

Industrial — Sphere VR Arcade – Lima, OH

Additional Design Ideas

After sharing this post in a few places I received some additional photos. Yes this post mentioned 10 ideas, but isn’t more better? In this instance it totally is!

Here you will see our first open room multi-player environment. Have to remember that not every VR arcade requires walls. After all, you take care of room setup and that imaginary cage will protect these people, right?

30 meters sq — Holocafe Troisdorf – Germany

This has a cool vibe about it. Not overly done by any stretch, but the circuitry art under the screens make it seem to fit. As an added bonus, VR Territory has one of my favorite VR company logos.

Kind of casual design — VR Territory – Los Angeles

And last and certainly first, this entry from Leke VR in China is just amazing. They did such a great job with it.

This is such great design — Leke VR Technologies – Bejing, China

What Else Should You Know?

So there are some of my favorite designs. Wondering how to get them? You have choices…find a local farbricator and ask them what they can create for you.

If you’re really thinking about setting up a VR Arcade, will you be looking for games? We can help. In fact, we have over 60 games that we are licensing right now.

You might find out “VR Arcade business in a box” offering fits your needs too. And while you’re looking at other things, don’t forget to check out our software that helps you run your VR arcade.

July 13, 2017September 1, 2017

VR Arcade Commercially Licensed Games

How Can We License VR Arcade Games?

One common question we often see is what games are available for our VR arcade. It’s a great question. The fact that people are looking at how to license these games legally makes it even better.

Over 70 Games

You can simply click HERE to learn more about the games. That link will take you to a page with images for each title. Whether you’re on a computer or mobile device you can click each image to learn more about the game. There is a quick paragraph describing each game as well as a video of the game itself. Note: Remember to X out of the description as opposed to hitting the back button. You will find the X in the upper right hand corner. There are also some specifics on each of the games that are very helpful because they allow you to:

Select Your Games Based on Categories

Number of players- Is it single player, co-op or multi-player? The majority of games are single or co-op and we just added a new multi-player.

Movement- Does the game require low, medium or high amounts of movement. Always good to make sure your customers know how much energy they’ll exert.

Difficulty- This rates whether there is a low, medium or high amount of difficulty. We offer a nice blend of low and medium difficulty experiences. We have about 10 that score in the “High Difficulty” category.

AZ Sunshine High Difficulty Extreme Intensity

Intensity: This looks at how involved the game is. Intensity is scored on low, medium, high and extreme. It can change based on several factors like: gory, adult content, language and whether or not math is involved.

Age Group: We have broken down the experiences into different age ranges. The lowest age range is 5+ and we have over 15 titles for this age group. We have almost 30 titles in the 10+ category. We have 10 in the 14+ category and 1 in the 18+ category but it’s not what you’re thinking.

Min Play Time: We have titles that are set to a minimum play time of 5 minutes all the way up to 20 minutes. Some games are designed to played as long as people want. Others are experiences that generally take a specific amount of time to get through.

Great Per Minute Rates

At the time of writing, Private Label VR and our sister company, VR Junkies have more VR Arcade locations than any other group in the United States. As a result, we have a compelling story for game developers and they are generally eager to work with us. We can take our great rates with them and share with you. Obviously rates vary by title, but what we are seeing across all of our headsets is between $.07-$.12 per minute. Compared to other VR Arcade licensing platforms this saves you between 25-50% for every minute of play.

What else can Private Label VR do for you?

Our Software Helps Manage Your VR Arcade

Having awesome experiences for your VR Arcade customers is just the beginning of what we do for you. We’ve put together a most comprehensive VR Arcade Management Software to help you manage your business. We are continually adding new features to further automate the processes. Some of the highlights for today’s version include:

In Goggle Game Selection- This makes it super easy for your customers to choose their next experience. It also eliminates the need for an employee to manage this simple task.

Game Play Tracking- We show you exactly how many minutes were played on each title. This is great for knowing which titles are worth keeping and which aren’t. Two things that really make this feature exquisite: 1. We collect data from over 15 different locations (as of 7/13/2017) and can really give guidance as to which experiences are winners and which are less so. 2. We use these numbers to calculate your monthly payments to the game developers and invoice you then pay them directly. This feature is not only great for you, it’s also imperative for our industry. Turns out the creative folks behind these experiences like getting paid too.

Setting Up Your VR Arcade

Don’t have a VR Arcade yet? Even better. Allow us to utilize our expertise in getting you setup and ready to rock. We take care of everything. We will help you with everything from space planning and VR Arcade design to equipment procurement to actual install on your site. Oh yes and we can take of training your team to provide optimal customer experience. For a deeper dive, check out our “VR Arcade Business in a Box” offering.

Our PLVR Club Helps You Grow Your VR Arcade

Don’t think we get you setup and then leave you alone. No way! The install is just the beginning of our relationship. Once you’re setup and ready to take in customers you become a member of the PLVR Club. This is where all of the magic happens. Consider this your one stop support group. We offer technical support. We provide operational support. There is even marketing support. If you need support, this is the place for it. As an added bonus, you will be in a group with other VR Arcade owners and operators who will share best practices, tremendous wins and even some things to avoid.

If you’re interested in learning more, shoot us an e-mail and we will be happy to answer any additional questions.

June 14, 2017

Difference in VR headsets

Today we talk about VR headsets.

It drives me nuts that what someone experiences while wearing a Google Cardboard or a Samsung GearVR is called the same thing as if they were wearing an HTC Vive.

Newsflash people, they’re not even in the same league.

This is the Chevy Impala of Virtual Reality.

To point out the differences I employ a pair of “boats”, a Saturn Vue and a Maserati. You might be able to see where this is going already. In any respect give the video a quick look:

Once you’ve tried the HTC Vive (and it’s likely true for the Oculus Rift, I haven’t experienced it yet) it’s hard to go back to phone driven VR. In fact, can’t we all agree that we have to stop calling bone phone driven and computer driven VR? So not the same thing.

This is when a blog post turns into a mild rant.

Tucks soapbox neatly under the desk and returns you to your previous activities.