With the reveal of today’s pre-order for the first consumer Gear VR, Oculus has launched the beta version of Arcade, the company’s first-party title currently featuring 21 classic arcade games from Sega, Midway, and Bandai Namco. Oculus Arcade beta is available on all Gear VR units old and new.

Announced at the end of September at Oculus’ developer conference, Oculus Arcade is a collection of classic arcade games that are playable on Samsung’s Gear VR headset (which was made in cooperation with Oculus). Requiring one of three currently supported gamepads (Samsung EI-GP20, Moga Pro, or SteelSeries Android), the game convincingly places you in front of arcade cabinets of years past.

Oculus Arcade is now available on all Gear VR phones and headsets, from the first release (Galaxy Note 4) to the current (Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge) and will be available on the first consumer version of Gear VR which launches later this month (compatible with Galaxy Note 5, S6 Plus, S6, and S6 Edge).

See Also: Samsung Consumer Gear VR Page is Up, Best Buy Pre-Orders Now Live

The following 21 arcade titles are available, and we’re expecting to see more added down the road.

Bandai Namco

  • Pacman (1980)
  • Galaga (1981)

Midway

  • APB (1987)
  • Defender (1981)
  • Joust (1982)
  • Gauntlet (1985)
  • Gauntlet II (1986)
  • Rampage (1986)
  • Root Beer Tapper (1983)
  • Spy Hunter (1983)

Sega

  • Altered Beast (1988)
  • Golden Axe (1989)
  • Phantasy Star II (1989)
  • Shinobi III (1993)
  • Sonic the Hedgehog (1991)
  • Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (1992)
  • Sonic Spinball (1993)
  • Streets of Rage (1991)
  • Streets of Rage 2 (1992)
  • Virtua Fighter 2 (1994)
  • Ecco the Dolphin (1992)

Rather than charge for Oculus Arcade as a whole, the company has gone the in-app purchase route; each arcade title gives you 20 minutes of play time (total), and then asks you to pony up a few bucks to unlock the cabinet for good.

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oculus arcade lobby

The machines are divided into different rooms for each publisher. There’s no locomotion between each, just point-and-click to teleport into the publisher’s room and then up to your desired machine. Each arcade cabinet has unique art on the top and sides. The shape of the cabinets is generic, but the buttons and nobs are designed to match the controls of each game and move in sync with input from your gamepad.

It’s easy to become absorbed in the games and forget you’re even in VR; the peripheral views of the controls and cabinet can at times seem frighteningly real.

No word yet on whether or not Oculus Arcade will support social play, but it does seem like something that would fit well with the setup.

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Ben is the world's most senior professional analyst solely dedicated to the XR industry, having founded Road to VR in 2011—a year before the Oculus Kickstarter sparked a resurgence that led to the modern XR landscape. He has authored more than 3,000 articles chronicling the evolution of the XR industry over more than a decade. With that unique perspective, Ben has been consistently recognized as one of the most influential voices in XR, giving keynotes and joining panel and podcast discussions at key industry events. He is a self-described "journalist and analyst, not evangelist."
  • WyrdestGeek

    Aaand it’s gone. Support page says it’s temporarily unavailable.

    But with no ETA as to when it will be back, it manly as well be permanent.

    I have the sads. :-(

    Anybody know where I could download the .apk?

    https://support.oculus.com/help/oculus/1149166448461605

    • paul ansell

      back up a running as i am play defender

  • Carl Vanderwiel

    Cant play pacman or some of the other games wothout paying is that right??? Says free for 20 minutes ?

  • Dr Blowhole

    useless with asus/nexus gamepad as you are unable to start any games and given this is one of the best there should be some support for it