If I could go back, even for a moment, to the mid-90s era of coin-operated arcades, I would seek the closest facsimile to Nosebleed Interactive's arcade that is so perfectly constructed within Arcade Paradise VR. Until a time machine becomes available, I'll settle for putting on my PSVR2 and playing some familiar arcade titles that translate pretty darn well in the VR space, Sense controllers and all.
There is a population of players who have grown up never experiencing the 90s era of coin-operated arcades in the back rooms of coin-op laundromats and bowling alleys. There was something about the smells of pizza, old pine wood, and heated dust from the CRT screens that created this sense of futuristic warmth. When I was a kid, my dad and I would take our family’s dirty laundry to the coin-op laundromat down the street. While waiting for clothes, I would play on my Game Boy or futz around playing Pac-Man or Arkanoid on one of the arcade cabinets in the back next to the detergent dispenser.
As I grow older, the more I’m reminded that the population of the newer players mentioned in the previous paragraph grows in size. They won’t have the fond memories of spending Saturday and Sunday afternoons with a handful of quarters and dropping them into arcade games that would end so dang soon. No more dimly-lit rooms with neon signs and turquoise / pink seats. No more waiting around for your turn on Mortal Kombat.
When I began playing Arcade Paradise VR, I was quickly teleported back to those afternoons spent in the laundromat playing classic video games. And boy, it was a trip.
Arcade Paradise VR is now available for the PSVR2. Its flatscreen title was released on PC in 2022 and ported to the Meta Quest in April of this year. Many players might already be familiar with this game already, so this review will seek to answer the questions of how it fares overall and how it implements VR controls.
Arcade Paradise is a business sim at its core, comprised of a litany of simple minigames that feed into an overarching arcade simulator with a truly thoughtful story. Think of Dave the Diver for a moment – it has a set of minigames in the form of farming, fishing, rhythm, and more all the while having the player maximize profits for a sushi restaurant. Here, maximizing profits is the endgoal, but you forget about it as you stand in front of arcade cabinets and play arcade games late into the night.
I didn’t start out with a full, neon-dipped, and retro arcade, though. Instead, I started Arcade Paradise VR with a humble laundromat that was bequeathed to me by my father, a laundromat magnate that was voiced by none other than The Witcher’s Geralt of Rivia – Doug Cockle! Pops gifted me this laundromat to continue his legacy while also espousing the mantra of hard working yielding big returns and the joys of cleansing linens.
That previous sentence is the weirdest sentence I have ever written, but I digress.
There I went in my little laundromat. Lifting up baskets and placing them in front of empty washing machines. Emptying them and selecting the correct wash setting. Once the wash was done, I moved the laundry to the dryers and selected the appropriate dry setting. All the while this was happening, I had to keep the premises clean. My watch would notify my when the toilet was dirty, giving me the opportunity to play a beat-the-clock minigame to clean the toilet. If I came across trash on the ground, I pointed my finger at it to have it teleport to my hands so I could toss it up and have it magically disappear into my imaginary trash bag. When that trash bag was full, I was to take it outside and shoot it like a basketball into the open dumpster.
This all sounds menial – it was. Open the washing machines. Throw the laundry in. Pick up trash. Shoot it into the dumpster. Vigorously scrub the toilet clean and slam the lever down to flush. Arcade Paradise VR is a game involving multiple minigames, and its first hour is naught more than chores I typically do around my house every week. Once my “day” was done, I left the premises, and my cycle began anew the next morning.
In the back of my dingy little laundromat was a small room with a handful of arcade cabinets that I could play instead of doing the laundry (and making “good money”). Emptying the hoppers (the things that collect the coins) in these machines would give me some money, too. It was here where my character (along with me, Will!) wanted to exist – not washing clothes.
After getting used to the menial routine, my in-game sister sent me a chat message on the computer in the back office (which looked suspiciously like my old-school Windows 95 desktop). She, too, had tried her hand in the laundromat business but had opted for greener pastures in becoming a politician. She was my biggest advocate in expanding my little business into a full arcade, giving me tips on how to acquire more space and purchase additional upgrades that would make my daily maintenance more profitable and less menial.
Off I went, then, cleaning the laundromat and scrounging up as much money as I could so that I could turn my boring laundromat into the arcade paradise (heh) of my dreams and prove Geralt wrong.
Several hours later, my routine had tremendously evolved along with the layout of my property. A jukebox played rock and electronic music while I moved from arcade cabinet to arcade cabinet. I spent the first few minutes of my “day” doing some cleaning and making a few bucks on upkeep. I no longer dealt with the laundry machines unless my PDA had it on my to-do list. Otherwise, I spent time playing games that were ever-so-clearly inspired by several eras of arcade titles – think Pac-Man, Police Trainer, Snake, Whack-a-Mole, Drop7, and Candy Crush. I had a limited amount of time each day to spend in my little laundromat, so I had to use it wisely to maximize the most amount of money I could earn from completing tasks from my PDA while also completing optional tasks that could boost the appeal of my arcade cabinets, which would then increase the profits.
The mid-to-late game of Arcade Paradise VR is one of a typical management sim, but with a greater emphasis on time management more than all else. Think of how Dave the Diver breaks up your “day” into sections – the first two segments are often spent diving for fish while the evenings are spent serving sushi. Here, there are no segments, instead opting for a sandbox of arcade cabinets that the player can choose to play and maintain as much as they wished until they chose to end the day.
Once I hit that rhythm of managing my arcade, I found the overall gameplay loop far more enjoyable. Of course, there were some small side missions that were a drag that may have forced me into playing a less-fun minigame for several real-life minutes or get a seemingly-unreasonable high score; these side-missions changed every day and I wasn’t punished for opting to leave them incomplete. Having the freedom to play whatever I wanted and get small rewards for keeping the place clean were enough to keep me going.
This is why Arcade Paradise VR is so engaging. It features a wealth of rewards for those who’re open to a slightly-evolving gameplay loop while also leaving those who truly want a sandbox experience left alone to their own devices. All the while this is happening, a thoughtful narrative told through environmental storytelling and voicemails from a familiar voice pushes the player forward into figuring out what a work-life balance can, and potentially should, be.
In my own life, I’ve felt the need to differentiate between the work I do to keep myself entertained and the work I do to make ends meet. I’m fortunate in that 90% of the work I do keeps me entertained while, outside of playing games, I get to pay my bills doing things with my degree I never thought would be possible. Arcade Paradise VR brought forth a paradigm in which I was to decide where I should focus in my little sim: Should I prove my in-game father wrong about the value of gaming, or should I stick to the tried-and-true means of working to survive so that I can put food on the table and invest in my future?
Arcade Paradise VR might bring that narrative to the forefront of your mind, too. It might not. But the fact remains that it is endlessly replayable because of the day-to-day loop of managing an arcade while also creating moments of excitement in adding a new arcade to your growing collection of cabinets in your little business.
I know that I’ve spent almost 1500 words so far talking about the base game that is Arcade Paradise…but how does it translate over into the VR space? I know that it’s been on the Meta Quest since April, but now it’s on the PSVR2 and PCVR.
How does it hold up?
Topline: It’s a mess of fun, and the aspect of adding arcade titles that utilize VR-controls makes Arcade Paradise VR a must-play, especially for those who’re fans of arcade games.
Motion controls are well-incorporated into Arcade Paradise VR, making the environments feel interactive and arcade titles feel fully realized. The laundry minigame involves pulling/pushing motions to interact with the doors and press the buttons. The toilet minigame involves vigorous scrubbing. The 12 arcade games, however, are where the VR elements shine. Whack-a-mole involves actually bringing down the hammer while the Shooting game involves aiming at the screen and pulling the adaptive triggers of the Sense controllers.
Arcade Paradise VR incorporates a wide array of movements and input that showcases the breadth of things VR gameplay can do, which I just love. Thanks to the variety of activities, especially the arcade machines, I was able to relive some of my most nostalgic memories playing games and feeling a similar haptic experience thanks to the Sense controllers. Sure, some of the inputs aren’t the most accurate, but that comes with the territory of VR and emulating the arcade games of our childhoods. The shooting games with the plastic gun attached the cabinet were notorious for having finicky connections to the gun and such.
Is it the most innovative with its implementation of VR inputs? Not really. Arcade Paradise VR doesn’t seek to reinvent the VR wheel and go all in on crazy haptics and showboating the potential of what VR can do. Instead, it takes a more meaningful and thoughtful approach to keeping things as consistent as possible with classic arcades. Arcade Paradise VR oozes with nostalgia, and I live for it.
Let’s say you’re an existing owner of Arcade Paradise and are on the fence about whether or not it’s worth replaying. To you I say, unless you have a nostalgic itch to have a trip down memory lane in an arcade of your own design that’s also fully realized in a VR space, you’re better off passing it up. There’s only so long one can spend playing the same set of simplistic arcade games, and I would imagine that you’ve seen the game through to the end.
If you’re unfamiliar with 2022’s Arcade Paradise, then the VR trip is worth it alone. It’s so dang engaging and full of good nostalgia that will keep you wanting to pick up your headset for the sake of hitting those positive memories of your childhood.
If I could go back, even for a moment, to the mid-90s era of coin-operated arcades, I would seek the closest facsimile to Nosebleed Interactive’s arcade that is so perfectly constructed within Arcade Paradise VR. Until a time machine becomes available, I’ll settle for putting on my PSVR2 and playing some familiar arcade titles that translate pretty darn well in the VR space, Sense controllers and all.
