Rumors, Lies and VR Games

Over the last few years, we've seen a plethora of news articles about how virtual reality was about to save the classic arcade. The idea goes that the VR gear is too expensive for home users, therefore it creates an opportunity for operators to pony up the big dollars to purchase it and make their money back by charging a match to play with it.
"While many high-end headsets were released last year that may bring virtual-reality experiences to your living room, adoption of the technology is still in its earliest days to get a lot of reasons--it is still bulky, pricey, and there is not all that much to do once you've got it on your face. More than two million cans were sent worldwide in 2016, according to a quote from market researcher Canalys, yet this figure pales in comparison to the prevalence of, say, video game consoles (earnings of their top one, Sony's PS4, topped six million throughout the 2016 holiday season ). Consumer virtual reality will likely catch on as costs come down and cans improve. Meanwhile, though, a number of businesses are betting that customers may be pleased to pay a much smaller amount to try the technology with their buddies at, say, an arcade, theme park, or even bowling alley."
It's tempting to fall into this snare, but in the operator's perspective VR is a terrible deal. Operators are being requested to pay top dollar for tech that is all but guaranteed to plummet in value over the very short term. Aside from buying a brand-new car and driving it a time, I can't think about a way you could eliminate money quicker between what you pay and what you'll have the ability to get for it down the road.
Another limit for most operators is that while you might have the ability to supply a space for VR people to roam around in now, as fresh VR technology is unveiled, we're likely to find the point expanded from 100 square feet to the entire world. Rather than viewing just the games in your headset, you'll realize the real world with sport play overlayed. Kids can visit the park and relive the knights of the round table or parking garages to take aliens. Since the tech allows more real world areas to be researched, arcadereview.org it is going to earn a cramped arcade look fairly feeble in comparison.
VR is heading for mass market acceptance, but it's demand isn't being driven by gamers who want to pay big buck to play video games, but such as the BETAMAX that came before it, by people who wish to watch porn in their houses.
Even when an operator can make a little bit of money to the upcoming few years, once VR achieves critical mass, then it is going to crush whatever revenue flow that operators're dreaming of. Do not believe me? Just check out what's happening in China.
A year later 22,000 of these have closed.
This is an unbelievable failure rate over such a brief time period and one that should function as a sharp warning to anyone considering investing in the VR games. Perhaps Dave and Busters is able to take losses over the games longer than Chinese startup arcades, however I doubt that most North American operators are going to fare much better with the technology in their match rooms and will just wind up in debt at the close of the day.
The issue essentially boils down to customers not being prepared to pay a premium to the encounter. Tech In Asia, describes the problem perfectly in their own article, on the Chinese VR boom and bust.

"Enterprising shop owners jumped into VR are finding it impossible to bill fees akin to cinemas or bowling alleys to get a VR experience. One VR arcade owner told iHeima he saw eager queues when charging US$1.50 for a 30-minute session, but everyone vanished as it rose to US$5. From that sort of revenue it is impossible to pay the rent."
Even if the match was sold out all day, at $1.50 a half hour they are just earning $30 a day.
The real world information streaming in from China should function as a canary in the quarter plantations of North America. Operators who invest large amounts of money on elaborate VR setups will probably find their small VR rooms being replaced by the entire world as a stage. Since the installations get cheaper, smaller and more mobile, the digital arcades will seem more costly, bulky and limited. I would love to be proven wrong on this one, but I feel the arcade VR fad is more hype than hope.