LIMA — If you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to swim with a blue whale or take on a horde of zombies, Sphere Virtual Reality Arcade has you covered.
Sphere celebrated its grand opening Tuesday with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at its location on 2815 Elida Road in Lima, the same building that houses Rapid Fired Pizza and Cartridge Gaming.
The Virtual Reality Arcade is the first in Ohio and one of only a handful in the entire world, Sphere co-owner Jayson Paglow said.
“A lot of times people say that Lima needs more things to do, so we thought, ‘Let’s take one of the coolest things the world has to offer right now and put it right here in town,’” said Paglow, who owns the arcade with Stephen Tucker, both of whom are Shawnee High School graduates. “We feel like this is the perfect opportunity to experience something most people never have.”
For $19.99, individuals can rent a virtual reality station for a 30-minute session. For another $10, players can book a 60-minute session in one of the eight stations the arcade has to offer. Paglow said the space can be shared by multiple people, though he recommends sharing with two to four individuals.
Customers may call the arcade to reserve a session, and soon they will be able to book a spot online. Once a time is reserved, gamers simply show up at the arcade, put on a VR headset and grab the two hand controllers that are used to operate the game. Sphere currently offers 20 games and experiences.
“The beautiful thing is it’s for everyone,” Paglow said. “It doesn’t matter if you’re 8 or 80, when we put the headset on someone’s head, they can easily learn it. Everyone says it’s one of the coolest things they’ve ever done.”
Sphere uses the HTC Vive virtual reality system, with games that range from first-person shooters to bowling, mini-golf and archery. For those wanting more of an experience as opposed to actual gameplay, there are underwater adventures where players simply move around a sunken ship to view underwater wildlife.
“Any kind of casual or extreme experience you can think of, we have something that resembles it,” Paglow said. “It really is like being transported into another world.”
Paglow’s grandmother, Louise Paglow, was one of the first people to experience the virtual reality arcade. She said she had never played a video game — virtual reality or otherwise — until Tuesday.
“I had never done anything like that before, but it was really fun and exciting,” she said. “I enjoyed it.”
Another customer, Andrew Bales, said he’s never had a gaming experience that compares to virtual reality.
“It’s a great experience,” he said. “It’s like the whole outside world is shut off and you’re just in your own little world. It’s kind of a weird experience, but it’s fun.”
Vincent Rudy said putting on the VR headset for the first time is best described as “shock and awe.”
“You get to jump into the video game world,” he said. “You are the character, you are the controller. It’s really indescribable.”
For the first two weeks, Sphere will be open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. After Nov. 14, it will be open from 3:30 to 8 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. to midnight on the weekends. Sphere is open to parties and reservations at all hours. For corporate events, fundraisers and large parties, Paglow recommends booking a session before 3:30 p.m.
For details, visit spherearcade.com, call 419-989-6353, or email [email protected].
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