This 80’s inspired VR arcade is coming free to SteamVR with a planned multiplayer version to follow.
If you’re like us and get really excited about 80’s and early 90’s arcade games, then you may have heard about NewRetroArcade from the developers at Digital Cybercherries.
The Oculus Rift supported game is a product of the Digital Cybercherries team growing up in a neon-drenched time, letting you stand in a room full of arcade machines tucked away in a dingy room next to the local bowling alley. Walls are covered with classic movie posters and a boombox bumps 80’s music.
You can stroll the aisles of arcade games and play whatever you want without having to worry about spare change in your pocket. It’s an immersive world and a fan favorite – you can even try your hand at bowling, darts or bust out your classic Gameboy to change things up.
Vive Support
NewRetroArcade has always been an impressively detailed game but was controlled using a keyboard and mouse or an Xbox controller. As the HTC Vive continues to make its way into the home of consumers, Digital Cybercherries has decided that it was about time to take advantage of the HTC Vive’s room-scale motion tracking and release an updated version of NewRetroArcade with Vive support through Steam for free.
“Adding basic Vive support isn’t quite as simple as basic Oculus support,” said Joe Henson, community manager at Digital Cybercherries, “but having experienced what it’s like to be as connected to a virtual environment as the Vive makes you, we felt it was worth the effort.”
Everything is more fun with friends.
Multiplayer Support
On top of the much requested Vive support, there has always been one more popular feature request from the community – multiplayer support.
Speaking with Henson, Digital Cybercherries has revealed they will be creating an enhanced version of the arcade that they are calling NewRetroArcade: Neon. The plan is to sell the version through Steam with new features and a “huge amount of new content.” It will also have multiplayer support. “We’ve been trying out a lot of different approaches to pull it off and we’re convinced that we’ve landed on a solid means to achieve it – but doing so is going to take considerable effort,” shared Henson.
When asked about timing, Henson shared that the free-updated version for Vive is “really not that far away” but that NewRetroArcade: Neon will “depend heavily on how long it takes us to get Vive and the motion controllers properly supported and polished.”
The team at Digital Cybercherries is not afraid to take their time when it comes to necessary feature updates, giving themselves the freedom to invest as much time as required to get details just right. And if the details for the Rift version is any testament to their commitment, then we’ll try and be as patient as possible waiting for these new updates!
