Chuck E. Cheese Testing Oculus Rift Virtual Ticket Blaster In Three Markets

When Facebook bought Oculus VR, there was an uproar from the community, with serious concerns that the heartless, data-hoarding behemoth run by Mark Zuckerberg would ruin the amazing potential of the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset. Facebook countered by hinting that it had huge plans for the Oculus platform far beyond mere gaming. It’s humorous, then, that one of the first new uses for the virtual reality headset announced since the merger is as a gimmick in a Chuck E. Cheese game.

It will be used in that ticket-grabbing booth thing, called the Virtual Ticket Blaster. Lucky kiddos will don the Rift headset, and a cloud of tickets will blow up around them. In this version of the game, instead of physically grabbing the tickets, they’ll look at the virtualized tickets through the Rift and “blast” them. However many they blast, they can keep and redeem for tchotchkes.


"Kids today have unprecedented access to game consoles and tablets," said Roger Cardinale, president, CEC Entertainment, Inc. in a press release. "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."

Chuck E. Cheese is testing the Oculus Rift addition to its birthday party packages in Dallas, San Diego, and Orlando.