Meta Quest owner turns home into “dream come true” VR arcade

A Reddit user has created the home arcade of their dreams thanks to a free-to-play VR arcade gallery experience.

Putting together the retro gaming setup of your dreams can be an expensive process. While emulation is possible, nothing beats having the real thing right in front of you. If you grew up around arcade cabinets in particular, replicating one in your home can be outright impossible. Especially if you’re low on space and low on funds.

One Redditor has discovered a way to capture the nostalgia of the arcades of their childhood, without taking up space in their home. Reddit user BulljiveBots has recreated an arcade straight from the 80s and into their livingroom, by using a Meta Quest VR headset.

“A dream come true for an 80s kid.”

Through footage posted to the r/OculusQuest subreddit, an entire sea of arcade cabinets can be seen lighting up Reddit user BulljiveBots’s home. From Mrs. Pacman, Gryuss, and Tron, the bleeps and bloops of the accurately recreated cabinets are just as loud as the real thing.

The impressive nostalgic display was created not using an official Meta Quest app, but through the mixed-reality version of ‘AGE of Joy’. The “retro arcade gallery experience” is free to download and compatible with the Meta Quest 2 and other VR headsets.

When posting the nostalgic footage to Reddit, BulljiveBots exclaimed, “I’m borderline emotional playing the Gryuss arcade cabinet in my house.”

Fellow r/OculusQuest users commented to share their utter joy at seeing the arcade come to life. User CollegeMiddle6841 explained:

“I am an 80s kid myself, thank you so much for letting me about about this.”

While Reddit user djbxx stated:

“I’m a retro junkie, so this looks very sweet.”

If you want to recreate an arcade in your own home, AGE of Joy doesn’t come bundled with any playable cabinets. Instead, it leaves you to provide your own, with there being a bustling community on Discord supporting the game with fan-made cabinets and extras.