Developer Digital Cybercherries has launched the New Retro Arcade Tech Demo on Steam for the HTC Vive. The tech demo is functionally identical to the game seen previously on the Oculus Rift, but now with support for the Vive’s roomscale capabilities and motion controllers, as well as support for the consumer version of the Oculus Rift.
New Retro Arcade is hard not to love; inside you’ll find your own personal arcade with an array of classic arcade cabinets. In that prior release, the cabinets played fully functional titles from the era; in the Tech Demo, they are dressed with copyright-friendly faux artwork and don’t house games by default (save for one in the corner which plays a Flappy Bird (2013) knockoff which is just as frustrating as ever), but you’ll be able to plug in your own ROMs and artwork as desired.
Despite making its debut back in 2014, the New Retro Arcade Tech Demo still a gorgeously-rendered throwback to the era of dingy arcades which we called “a must-play homage to video game culture old and new,” for it’s unique mix of classic gaming and the latest in VR technology.
Ever since the HTC Vive made an entrance into the VR space, we’ve been eyeing New Retro Arcade as a perfect fit for the system’s roomscale capabilities and motion controllers—with the game’s seemingly prophetic inclusion of basketball, darts, and bowling, and an environment laden with nostalgic items from eras past.
Developer Digital Cybercherries teased a few months back that they would be bringing a Vive-compatible version of New Retro Arcade to Steam, and that’s exactly what the New Retro Arcade Tech Demo is, now available.
But the studio is also going several major steps further with a revamped version of their nostalgia-trap called New Retro Arcade: Neon which will bring massively requested multiplayer functionality to the arcade space, along with “a huge amount of new content.”
On that front, while there’s not yet an official release date, the studio tells us that New Retro Arcade: Neon will support up to six simultaneous players and leaderboards in some form or another.