Why are so many classic games coming to VR?
Classic games are returning to VR with titles like The 7th Guest and Bulletstorm VR. Is this an invitation to entice more middle-aged flat gamers?
The Meta Quest Gaming Showcase not only dropped big announcements like the great action role-playing game Asgard's Wrath 2, but new editions like The 7th Guest or Bulletstorm VR should bring back pleasant memories, especially for middle-aged gamers. The same goes for the new rhythm game from the Samba De Amigo series, which started back in 1999.
The 7th Guest by Trilobite and Virgin was, along with Myst, one of the first arguments for buying a CD drive on the PC. The memory-intensive, pre-rendered movie scenes of the creepy adventure game were still a novelty in 1993.
Is VR ready for older flat gamers?
The first-person shooter Bulletstorm from 2011 is not quite as old, but fans of classic single-player shooters in particular also rave about the title, which brought more variety to the macabre-creative kills with over-the-top "skillshots."
Original developer People Can Fly owns a competent VR subsidiary studio, Incuvo. The team already made a Quest 2 adaptation of the survival game Green Hell in a technically successful way and also takes care of Bulletstorm VR. Versions for PSVR 2 and PC-VR are also in the works.
But what is behind this nostalgia offensive? Diversification could be the driving force behind The 7th Guest VR from Vertigo Games - as a supplement to the action-heavy program with the new Arizona Sunshine 2.
Plaion's VR subsidiary Vertigo Games has so far enjoyed success primarily with its co-op shooter After The Fall, which made more sales in its first 24 hours than the much older shooter Arizona Sunshine did in a month. The concept of challenging, repetitive "runs" against ever-stronger undead is primarily popular with a younger questing audience.
With the quieter adventure The 7th Guest, Vertigo could be speculating on appealing to an older audience as well. Perhaps those gamers who have been thinking about buying VR headsets for a while now will become aware of the Quest 3 or weaken in the context of the Quest 2 price reduction. There should also still be some old fans of the adventure game among the SteamVR audience, which tends to be older.
Games have grown up, after all. According to the German industry association Game, the average age of the gaming community is continuously increasing to 37.9 years by now (2022).
Carnival on the Quest
This age group might also have good youthful memories of Sega's colorful rhythm game pioneer Samba De Amigo, which already celebrated a comeback on Wii and is getting a Switch spin-off in August. The Dreamcast original used amazingly precise ultrasonic tracking of the maraca rattles with a sensor bar placed on the floor back in 1999.
The Wii controllers couldn't offer that level of precision. The new Quest-exclusive spin-off, however, seems made for the concept. Not only are the rattles reliably detected in space, but the players are also directly transported into the colorful party world.
On a positive note, the VR games industry is still worlds more creative than conventional games for TV and monitors despite nostalgic touches. Demeo developer Resolution Games is currently working on Racket Club, a new sport for VR based on tennis.
Even VR games from well-known brands come up with many new ideas. Stranger Things VR takes you into wild nightmare worlds as the villain Vecna, Ghostbusters: Rise of the Ghost Lord will be a new VR co-op game in San Francisco, and the supernatural stealth kills in Venice in Vampire: The Masquerade - Justice also looked pleasantly fresh.
With so many new impulses, I don't mind the refresh of some oldies, especially since they are also more elaborately polished in VR than many flat remakes. The 7th Guest, for example, features new volumetric shots of the actors, which should look exceptionally lifelike in space.
GTA in VR is a long time coming
On the other hand, the core younger GTA fan community will have to wait even longer for the VR appearance of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. Despite the great interest, there was, unfortunately, no trace of it at the Meta Quest Gaming Showcase.
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