Arizona Sunshine Launches New VR Arcade Edition

Arizona Sunshine, one of the most popular VR titles in VR Arcades worldwide, now offers ‘Arcade Configurations’ for all out-of-home VR locations

SpringboardVR sat down with John Coleman of Vertigo Games and Vertigo Arcades to learn how this new VR Arcade edition of Arizona Sunshine will benefit VR Arcades around the globe.

Arizona Sunshine & VR Arcades

The out of home (or location-based) VR industry has been growing rapidly over the last two years. VR Arcades are opening up around the world and millions of customers are experiencing VR for the first time at their local mall. One of the biggest challenges for the space has been finding great content that works in a out of home setting.

Enter Arizona Sunshine

Released in 2016 by Vertigo Games, Arizona Sunshine quickly became one of the most talked about and most played consumer virtual reality experiences.

Arizona Sunshine is a first-person shooter built exclusively for VR that immerses you in a post-apocalyptic southwestern America overrun by zombies. Handle weapons with real-life movements, freely explore a post-apocalyptic world, and put your survival skills to the test in VR - putting the undead back to rest is more thrilling than ever before.

For VR Arcades, it was a Perfect Title

VR Arcades need content that can draw in first time players, is simple to play, enjoyable for a variety of customers and keeps them coming back for more. Arizona Sunshine checks all those boxes and quickly shot up the charts.

John Coleman of Vertigo Arcades contributes the success in the VR Arcade space to a couple of reasons. “A zombie shooter is a great genre to be in, in that it’s popular. That helps a lot. The other reason that I’ve seen through [Arcade] feedback is the campaign and having something that feels more like a complete story. It was really, for us, the decision to move away from something that could be called a wave shooter to being able to move through space and story. It just adds more depth to it.”

Arizona Sunshine Encourages Returning Customers

A successful VR Arcade thrives on returning customers, and Arizona Sunshine is the type of game that brings people back in week after week. “At the end of the day, what you really want to accomplish is giving people a reason to come back. If you can hook someone where they’re really engaged, and they like the game, there’s a lot more to come back to. There’s a reason to come back next week and play some more, or, [they say] ‘Oh, I’m just going to stay another half hour and play’.”

Arizona Sunshine – Arcade Edition

Working directly with VR Arcades and understanding their unique needs, the Vertigo Games team created a version of Arizona Sunshine that is tailored specifically for VR Arcades.

With this new version, many of the actual game mechanics have been simplified, completely new features have been added and a variety of options can be customized using the configuration file.

Below are some of the major changes VR Operators can expect to see:

The Biggest Features & Changes:

Simplified “flat” menu. (No more caravan and needing to pick up cartridges.)
Toggle mutilation and blood on/off
Local multiplayer and easier matchmaking
Support for Hyperkin Blaster and PPGun two handed peripherals
Local leaderboards

Complete List of Features:

New easy to use menu for players to select levels
Local leaderboards with print score option
Local multiplayer
Auto start launch option into pre-selected levels and/or multiplayer sessions
Pre-configurable color coded avatars allowing each booth to be the ‘green player,’ ‘red player,’ etc.
Support for Hyperkin Blaster and PPGun two handed peripherals
Horde mode timer
Ability to edit Horde mode player revive timer
Horde mode end screen timer
Auto reload option
Optimized controls for left handed players
Level start invincibility timer
Friendly fire toggle on/off
Self-dame toggle on/off
Invincibility toggle on/off
Infinite ammo toggle on/off
Toggle mutilation and blood on/off
Ability to configure what weapons and how many weapons a player starts with
Ability to edit default language

To dive into all the nitty gritty details of these Arizona Sunshine Arcade configurations, check out the complete Knowledgebase article here!

NOT Available on Steam

Arizona Sunshine - Arcade Edition is NOT available on Steam. The team at Vertigo Games rebuilt Arizona Sunshine Arcade from the ground up FOR location-based VR spaces (aka VR Arcades). John states, “Why did we create a new app? It’s not just the features… this config file and all these feature are only on this app. This app is not publicly available on Steam.” John expands on why this is an advantage for location based VR operators, “We know there are people who are using the at-home version in sort of a pirated approach. This version is something that gives you [VR Operators] a competitive advantage. You’ve got a better product than what that ‘pirate Arcade down the street’ might be doing.”

This version of Arizona Sunshine gives VR Operators more control. Whether you want to host Arizona Sunshine tournaments, make the controls easier for your customers, or even allow your customers to print their high scores, Arizona Sunshine Arcade is a next level game for this community.

How to get Arizona Sunshine - Arcade Edition:

Because Arizona Sunshine - Arcade Edition is not available for purchase through Steam, you will need a VR management software that has access to a marketplace. SpringboardVR has worked closely with the developers at Vertigo Games and makes it incredibly simple to get Arizona Sunshine Arcade at your VR center. To get Arizona Sunshine Arcade running in your VR center, follow these steps:

Login to operator.springboardvr.com
Go to Marketplace, go to Arizona Sunshine - Arcade Edition game, get the new steam keys
Go to each Station, activate key, install game
Add new Arizona Sunshine - Arcade Edition to your Games from the Presets
Remove the existing Arizona Sunshine entry from your Games

For further instructions on configuring Arizona Sunshine - Arcade Edition to your VR center’s liking, reference the configuration file & walkthrough here.

Marketing Assets for VR Arcades

The team at Vertigo Games has supplied us with some awesome marketing assets for VR Arcades to use in both promotion and awareness of Arizona Sunshine - Arcade Edition. These marketing assets are available for you to help promote these new features to your customers. Whether you want to host an Arizona Sunshine Arcade tournament, or promote “infinite ammo all week,” these marketing assets will help you get the word out. Reference the Arizona Sunshine marketing materials below:

Additionally, Arizona Sunshine has provided marketing assets for you to promote the Dead Man DLC, linked below:

Final Word

If you currently operate a VR location, or plan to open one soon, Arizona Sunshine - Arcade Edition is a ‘must have.’ To sign up for a free trial with SpringboardVR and access Arizona Sunshine - Arcade Edition, click here, and we’d be more than happy assist you!