What do you get when you mix copious amounts of pizza with in-development virtual reality tech which can trigger motion sickness with prolonged use? A lot of vomit, probably, but also a Chuck E. Cheese Oculus Rift game.
You read correctly: the US 'family entertainment' chain will run a six-week trial of in-store Oculus Rift installations, which will play host to a game based on the franchise's Ticket Blaster stalls. The stalls involve the user grabbing as many tickets as they can within a specified timeframe.
"Kids today have unprecedented access to game consoles and tablets," CEC Entertainment boss Roger Cardinale said in a statement. "Our challenge is to deliver an experience not available at home, and there is no doubt virtual reality does just that. Oculus Rift technology is the next frontier in the gaming industry, and we're thrilled to be able to say it's part of the Chuck E. Cheese's lineup."
The experiment isn't as random as it first appears: Chuck E. Cheese was founded by Atari founder Nolan Bushnell. The chain's Dallas branch will be the first to get the installation, followed by San Diego and Orlando. No date was set for the roll-out, though hopefully they've tested it extensively because things could get… spewy.
The news of CEC's plans will likely to rile critics of Facebook's recent acquisition of Oculus , especially given Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg's projections that the technology has a greater role to play in the social space. Still, the technology has attracted some top talent of late, namely in former Google Glass engineer Adrian Wong and 343 Industries' Kenneth Scott .
[Clarification: There is no indication that Oculus is involved in Chuck E. Cheese's plans. We have reached out to Oculus VR for comment.]
