THE AMERICAN DREAM
DEVELOPER SAMURAI PUNK PRICE TBA samuraipunk.com/
For context, at PAX in 2013, in virtual reality, I was a griffin. Flying nearly made me fall over in a way that prompted people to laugh and the designer try to catch me. In 2015, I played a cylindrical platformer which I was probably enjoying, because I felt super weird when I rejoined actual reality. My kids’ one experience with VR was at Sydney’s Museum of Contemporary Art. One drowned. The other got stuck in a rainbow. It was traumatic for all of us. But, this year, there were a lot of VR games in PAX Rising. It was time I got my fragile head around them and learned how to fly. So, I played a few. Many were explorational, relaxing and gentle. Or shooters. One involved surviving against waves of dinosaurs. Is there much difference between playing these kinds of things in a 2D or 3D space? I’d have argued maybe not, interface aside, until I saw Depth VR. (Last year I wrote up the original people versus sharks, asymmetrical, multiplayer experience through frightened tears.) Further, I noticed The American Dream, which transcends porting semiexisting genres to VR. Instead, physical space and interface inspire design and produce an original idea.
What is the premise? Your hands are guns. Unlike when you stop playing games, you don’t put them down. Instead, a 1950’s, World of Tomorrow ride teaches you to navigate your daily life with guns. In the demo, I had to shoot the door to call for my mother, then “point” to her flashcards with bullets. I had to catch food in my mouth and order my lunch by shooting a menu. As I was shooting stale bagels off a conveyor belt, I realised this is what VR could be. Social commentary and highly platform specific. I like that possibility.