Six Flags Wants You To Wear A VR Headset On Its Roller Coaster Next Weekend
By Gwendolyn Purdom in Arts & Entertainment on Aug 5, 2016 7:14PM
Knowing we attention-deficient young people couldn't possibly be stimulated by only the dull twists and turns and drops and loops of an actual roller coaster, Six Flags Great America is adding on an extra Millennial-friendly incentive to one of its stalwart coasters next weekend: virtual reality headsets.
The Demon at the Gurnee theme park, along with seven other coasters at Six Flags parks across the country, will debut the new "Rage of the Gargoyles" interactive gaming experience on Saturday, Aug. 13, according to a press release. Using Samsung's Gear VR headsets powered by Oculus, the "VR coaster" aims to make riders wearing the headsets feel like they're helicopter pilots fighting off monsters while they ride Demon. The program's imagery syncs up with the coaster's 1,250 feet of track.
When Six Flags initially announced that virtual reality coasters were in the works at Great America in June, park officials said they planned to add the technology to Raging Bull, a much larger, faster and newer ride than the 40-year-old Demon, according to the Daily Herald.
“Innovation is part of Six Flags’ DNA, and this revolutionary VR technology will transform this classic, fan favorite into a cutting-edge thrill,” park president Hank Salami said in the release.
Six Flags' Season Pass holders and Samsung phone owners will get a special preview of the feature Friday, Aug. 12, while it opens to the public Aug. 13. If we've learned anything from Pokemon Go's insane explosion in the past few weeks, it may be that combining video gaming with real world excursions has unexpected amounts of potential. Clearly, Six Flags is following Pikachu's lead.