While some may view the coming future of Virtual Reality through a dystopian lens, this new and wonderful realm will offer a multitude of the fantastic in the erstwhile. The Oculus Rift and
Where "VR" is the current trigger word for tech journalists (because it's a game-changer), "fear" has always been a trigger word for psychologists. The fear response is one of the strongest and physically draining emotions set in motion by the brain. I'm not talking about F.E.A.R. or Fear; I'm talking about fear. I'm talking about that split second chain reaction that causes your brain to release chemicals increasing your heart rate, pumps your lungs like a butter churn and kicks off a flight-or-fight response. In that split second we make a decision about our reaction to the situation, usually involuntary. In the world of VR, fear will only serve to enhance game-play and our overall experience. All those brain chemicals include adrenaline and enhance our sensory data centers in the brain. In the case of VR, fear is a beautiful thing.
One could easily argue that climbing Everest or slowly dying, adrift in space may be well served fear triggers, they are adventures that we may only get to experience through VR. As many shock-horror movie directors have proven, fear of the unknown is a great way to engage audiences and deliver a truly scary experience. This is an effective delivery system for fear and offers plenty of creativity to leave us drenched in stinky adrenaline sweat. Yet, fear is never more effective than when paired with familiarity. Hitchcock proved that when he attacked our faces with normally harmless birds. The Twilight Zone proved that when they made us hesitate for a second before opening the window on the plane.
Sure, putting the user in classic psychological thrillers could be a great VR experience. Being in the shower when Norman Bates decides to spread some Hershey Syrup could be crazy fun. Being stalked by Marky Mark is the true essence of fear. Horror is already making its way to your face through VR. While these experiences might help you conquer your fears I am hoping that VR really gets into the psychological effects of oikophobia through classic games. The classic games we've come to adore and love turned against us as we are thrust into environments we thought we knew.
Imagine this: you are in a glowing blue corridor. You can only imagine the twists and turns that lie ahead. You hear something in the distance, it is faint but getting closer. At first it's just one sound, like a fire alarm. Then it is two. Then it is four. You learn against the blue wall and wait. In your peripheral you see colors bouncing off the lit walls surrounded by darkness. Pink, red, blue and purple shapes appear down a side corridor. Fear kicks in. You quickly decide on flight. Death is imminent. As you run down the corridor, collecting pellets, you can sense the bastards on your tail. Then you see something, a blinking, larger pellet. You grab it. Fear is turned to confidence, all you see is blue. You turn around.
Apparently a Pac-Man VR game is in the works but doesn't appear nearly as terrifying as it should be. Turning Pac-Man into a psychological horror game shouldn't be difficult. Change the soundtrack to ominous music and the chase is on. Plus, we can pretend that 1996 version didn't exist. Many classic games could be remade in this fashion. The claustrophobia of Dig-Dug for instance, or the encroaching doom of Centipede. Or standing in the middle of a vault as Tetris blocks drop into place around you, threatening to crush you to death as they speed up.
Alexey Pajitnov, the creator of Tetris believes that the game will come to the VR platform, though he concedes he's not sure how the 2D set-up will work in three dimensions. Oculus Tetris doesn't exactly inspire anything remotely resembling fear. You need to be in the game, not simply playing it. You would think that avoiding certain injury would be exciting, but being the Paperboy is just riding down a road of terror.
Plato once said, "we can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light." Classic arcade games are the light. They are our nostalgia and love for the genre. Turning that love against us as true fear could be the scariest thing we could ever experience. Besides a Marky Mark and The Funky Bunch concert.
