This spring, Six Flags introduced VR on nine coasters. Some of them included a light gaming element, where riders could take "target practice" by firing as the coasters went up their initial lifts. But there was no score keeping and the interaction amounted to little more than a way to distract riders and kill time during an otherwise relatively inactive part of the ride.
On "Rage of the Gargoyles," riders wearing Six Flags' wearing Samsung Gear VR headsets will get to play a more engaging game experience. The scenario will be pretty much the same as the "The New Revolution" VR experience currently in place on six coasters. From Six Flags' press release:
[Riders are] seated in the cockpit of an Apache-style helicopter. With a devastated cityscape as the backdrop, a fleet of choppers prepares to battle an army of terrorizing, winged creatures. The action-packed adventure begins when riders ascend up the coaster’s lift hill as the blood-thirsty gargoyles mercilessly attack the copter’s fragile glass barrier. The epic on-screen conflict quickly accelerates as the high-definition imagery synchs perfectly to the coaster’s movements sending riders twisting, turning and diving through the hazardous city streets - flying over battered skyscrapers, plunging underneath twisted bridges and dodging falling debris, all while shooting to repel these lethal demons and conquer the vicious master gargoyle.
Unlike on the current installation, riders will not need to tap the side of their headsets to fire. Instead, on Rage of the Gargoyles, firing will happen automatically and be targeted by riders' head movement.
Rage of the Gargoyles will replace The New Revolution on five coasters:
In addition, it will go on three additional coasters:
There's no mention in today's announcement of the current VR installations on The New Revolution at Six Flags Magic Mountain or of the three Superman VR installations at Six Flags New England, Six Flags Fiesta Texas, and Six Flags America.
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Of course, that requires redesigning load platforms and adding one or two employee positions to staff the preshow area, but failure to spend that money imperils the success of what could be a highly lucrative attraction. It's this penny-wise/pound-foolish operational thinking that drives me nuts.
EDIT: I just read elsewhere that this is coming in September for Fright Fest, not for 2017. The rides not listed will supposedly continue to operate with their current VR program for the remainder of 2016, and Six Flags has yet to make a final decision on which rides will feature the VR equipment next season.
I just want to get on the ride, feel the air in my face, the g force in my gut, and start laughing as a result. Is that really too much to ask?
My biggest gripe about VR is I feel it is giving some SF parks (My home GA park included) excuses and reasons to avoid adding an actual new coaster. SFoG is celebrating their 50th birthday next season and I'm afraid we are getting an off-the shelf clone of Justice League BFM as our anniversary gift. Great ride don't get me wrong, but do we have to wait another 50 years for an anniversary significant enough for a new (physical - not VR) coaster? Our coaster drought continues....
VR makes it even less appealing because since I can't see the loops (the rough areas on demon) I wouldn't know when to hold my head as steady as possible. They must be putting it on crappy coasters because the line is shortest.
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