Six Flags announced today they are expanding their collection of virtual reality roller coasters. Last year Six Flags introduced virtual reality to roller coasters at nine different parks using Samsung Gear VR Headsets and partnering with VR Coaster. The rides had one of two different VR experiences that sometimes involved some limited interactivity. Now the park is introducing a new virtual reality experience with more interactivity called Rage of the Gargoyles. VR will be added to three Six Flags coasters that have not had, while updating five existing VR to Rage of the Gargoyles.
The new Rage of the Gargoyles VR coming to Six Flags!
The eight Rage of the Gargoyles VR Coasters are below, the top three being the new VR Coasters:
- Demon at Six Flags Great America near Chicago;
- Skull Mountain at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, New Jersey;
- Kong at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom near San Francisco;
- Shock Wave at Six Flags Over Texas in Arlington;
- Dare Devil Dive at Six Flags Over Georgia outside of Atlanta;
- Goliath at La Ronde in Montreal;
- Ninja at Six Flags St. Louis in Eureka; and
- Steamin’ Demon at The Great Escape in Lake George, New York.
The ride experience and plot sounds similar to the story of the New Revolution VR, with riders being placed in the cockpit of a helicopter. In this case riders will “battle an army of terrorizing, winged creatures.”
The biggest difference compared to the previous is that guests will be able to fire weapons during the length of the ride. in New Revolution guests could fire the helicopters guns only during the lift sequence by tapping the side of the headset, but now Six Flags says “the mounted Gatling guns on the helicopters are controlled through head movements and as soon as an attacker is targeted the weapon automatically fires.”
A couple of other interesting notes: Kong at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom will be the first inverted coaster to receive a VR addition, while Skull Mountain is the first indoor coaster getting the VR overlay. The new experience also looks to be tied to the upcoming Fright Fests at Six Flags as Don McCoy, Six Flags Discovery Kingdom’s President, said, “In Rage of the Gargoyles, the experience is immersive and terrifying as riders shoot at the demons throughout the entire ride ‒ the perfect addition to our Fright Fest line-up.”
I’m very curious how the VR headsets will feel on a notoriously rough SLC like Kong. The ride is getting new restraints and some track enhancements before it opens with VR, although it slated to only be closed from the end of August to it’s reopening on September 24th for Fright Fest.
Kong is one of the new coasters getting the virtual reality treatment. The first Six Flags inverted coaster to get one (along with new restraints and track enhancements). Courtesy Six Flags Discovery Kingdom
We rode the New Revolution with it’s VR overlay when it opened and were big fans. It’ll be interesting to see if some of our minor complaints, like the so-so graphics, are improved upon for Rage of the Gargoyles. Hopefully the capacity issues that have hampered the current installs (and kept me from riding New Revolution again after the preview day) are resolved as well. This does answer our questions about the ability of Six Flags to constantly be updating the virtual reality “show” on rides, which means we could keep seeing new VR experiences every year if they remain a success. Finally, the addition of a more fully interactive also speaks to our thoughts earlier this year on the growing overlap of rides and video games, I’m very curious when we’ll start to see more licensed VR attractions at parks.
For more info on the announcement and all the coasters getting updated, check out the Six Flags announcement page here. Let us know how you feel about the additional commitment of Six Flags to Virtual Reality, and like/follow us on Facebook and Twitter for all of our latest updates!
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