Arctic Sun VR — Attraction in Fairbanks

The kids love coming here (they don't know we have VR coming for Christmas, plus we tried this to endure we (wife and I) were ok with getting the PSVR. My issues: Never staffed with enough people to keep things moving efficiently. One person to do the orientation, briefing, set up, cash register and responding to "issues". This I'll cover in a moment. You are issued a 55 min block of time, if seen it typically takes 10-15 minutes to get a group through, including the constant running back and forth of the representative helping with questions or configuration issues. By the time things are moving you are typically 8 to 10+ minutes into your time. Now back to the "issues" I've been there 3 times now. Every single time there has been computer or software issues. I've heard the "software update" excuse, "license didn't transfer" excuse and "huh, that's new/weird, just keep trying and let me know if it doesn't work" the arcade isn't open all morning, until around 3pm weekdays, I've worked in IT and can say that by now, they should have had these issues resolved, but as Fairbanks is known for... "Where else are you going to go?"

I've gone enough to give the kids a giggle and compared it to the PSVR. We purchased the PSVR, and recently the equipment they use (HTC Vive/Vive Pro) have dropped so much in price, we may be getting a Vive as well (Christmas). On our last visit I REALLY wanted to do Beat saber with larger song selection, but the one we had on our PSVR seems to be better. They could have downloaded a larger library but are coasting on the fact that they are the only trick pony in town.

I will agree that their hardware is "better" than the PSVR, but I've only noticed the difference in how well the "lighthouses" for the Vive work for tracking and maybe the image quality. But when in doing my Jedi training (Beat saber), Job Simulator or Gran Turismo VR I don't notice a significant difference.

So, in summary. They need at a minimum, 2 people at the counter art ALL times and need to get their hardware...

Update to my last review!! The amount of things added, since the last time we were here is absolutely amazing! The arena option was by far my favorite addition. It made it so my kids were able to play the same game at the same time working together with each other! It was more of a team experience, then a one on one virtual headset experience. Owen was fantastic at Explaining all the new stuff That was added since our last visit. As well as explaining to my kids, how to get the best bang for their buck! The reward system they have in place is the best I’ve seen for anything kid related in Fairbanks and they make it super easy to earn a free pass or free passes in very little time! In my opinion, the price was perfect for three boys to enjoy an hour doing something outside of school and home. It was worth every penny!

We had a great time tonight! The staff was absolutely awesome at helping the kids (6 of them) and catering to their needs! Most of the kids aren’t able to read yet and the young men working were so willing, helpful, understanding and able to meet each kiddos needs. One staff member (I wish I would have gotten his name) was extremely helpful and asked questions about their individual needs in order to get a better understanding and make their VR experience the best possible! They were very thorough when cleaning and setting up for us and quick to get each kid set up and going. 1 hour was perfect for the group 2 would be best with only a few. (Parents prospective) We went for my son’s birthday party but didn’t get the party package. We totally should’ve but it all worked out! All in all it was perfect! I’m glad we decided to go! Thank you guys for a fun evening and a special thanks to the young man who helped each kiddo gave fun! You were awesome! (Friday...

Arctic Sun VR offered free passes to Big Brothers Big Sisters - a community based organization that sets up volunteer mentors with a young person. My Little Sister LOVES her computer games, so I went with her, for her. The staff member who helped us was friendly, knowledgable about fitting the VR gear onto kiddos and awkward adults, and had great social skills in being able to talk with 42 yo me and my 10 yo companion. To see the look on Flora's face when she put the VR goggles on was priceless!!! Flora played a few of the games, and ended up loving the paint-art game. I figured out that I fail Jeddi Knight school, that I suck at jumping back and forth to stop a moving wall from hitting....however, to my surprise, I just freaking LOVED the boxing training game. I got to punch big punching bags, the little punching bags that come flying at you the harder you hit them (remember to use your legs!), and dummies. Covered in sweat....it was satisfying for me. Even though we were each having our own experience, it was definitely a shared experienced. We could also see on screens what the other was doing/playing with/creating. We could hear each other gasp and squeal and giggle. Overall, I highly recommend...