GREENSBORO In one room, Deejay Jones fought zombies in the Arizona desert. Next door, Courtney Davis fixed smoothies and teas for impatient customers. Across the hall, Davis Kelton surveyed the view from a seaside boardwalk arcade.
Of course, there were no zombies, customers or boardwalks. But strapped into virtual-reality headsets at Shift VR Arcade, Jones, Davis and Kelton were happy to believe their eyes.
It definitely looks real. It looks like Im on a pier, Kelton said, his eyes hidden behind the black headset as he turned slowly in the middle of a carpeted room the size of a walk-in closet. Over heres a carnival game with some unicorns. The waters cool.
The arcade, which opened July 1 at 1633 Spring Garden St., has four rooms outfitted with HTC Vive virtual-reality headsets, with room to expand to six. Players can reserve booths for $50 per hour to play a selection of around 70 games, ranging from scary (Emily Wants To Play) to silly (Fruit Ninja VR), and everything in between.
A lot of customers are seasoned gamers, according to Cruz Cockman, who co-owns the arcade with Chet Lakhani. But others are video-game newbies who are just curious about the technology, he said.
A lot of people are open to the idea of virtual reality, and they just have to come in and try it out, he said. Weve had a lot of parents come in, either on date night or looking for something to do with their kids. And we have the games to accommodate all of them.
Cockman and Lakhani met while operating businesses across the street from each other (Little Akihabara Anime Shop and Glass City Smoke Shop, respectively). The idea for Shift VR Arcade came after Cockman installed an HTC Vive in his store and saw the technologys wide appeal.
Everyone who came in and tried it had such an amazing response to it, he said. Young people, old people, male, female, everyone had something there for them. We wanted to do that on a larger scale.
The duo decided to take the plunge in May, and got the business up and running within 45 days, doing much of the work by themselves or with the help of friends. For now, the arcade is just for recreational play, though Cockman and Lakhani hope to form leagues and host tournaments for more competitive gamers. Eventually, they also hope to expand to other cities.
This is really the future of gaming, Lakhani said. There arent many businesses like this, but we know the competition will come, so we really want to set the industry standard. We want to be peoples no. 1 option.
Business has increased steadily since opening, thanks largely to word of mouth and social media promotions. Jones, a Kernersville resident, said he spotted a coupon for the arcade on Groupon and thought it would be a fun activity for a date night with Davis.
I was a gamer when I was younger, Jones said. But Ive got kids now so I cant really get my hands on a controller. Because they hog it.
Davis doesnt care for video games, but was intrigued by the concept of virtual reality. She asked Cockman to select games that would be good for a beginner, and spent most of her hour playing Job Simulator, set in a future run by robots who reenact human jobs as a hobby.
I was in the kitchen, burning bacon and breaking wine bottles, she said. It was really fun.
Jones began his session in the jungle, swinging on vines from tree to tree. That didnt go so well.
I felt sick and had to stop. I dont know how monkeys do it, he said. I had to switch games.
The couple said theyd be happy to spend another date night at the arcade on one condition.
I wont be swinging from trees next time, Jones said. But well be back.
Contact Kate Elizabeth Queram at 336-373-7003 and follow @KateElizabethNR on Twitter.
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Virtual reality arcade opens in Greensboro - Greensboro News & Record