VIRTUAL
REALITY BAR
EXPANDS
INTO MASSIVE
DUMBO
SPACE
Doddi’s emporium offers 30 different games
and experiences for beginner, intermediate, and
advanced skill levels, including stepping into the
vivid world of a Van Gogh painting or demolishing
your friends in a game of digital dodgeball.
The entrepreneur debuted the arcade in Carroll
Gardens with three stations in early 2017, before
moving to a prior Dumbo location next door to his
current spot about a year ago.
The new 5,000 square-foot space is more than
twice the size of its previous Dumbo location,
where Doddi offers virtual reality experiences at
a rate of $14 for 15 minutes — although the game
master offers a much needed two-minute tutorial
free of charge.
In the interest of journalism, this reporter leapt
at Doddi’s offer to try his virtual reality games
firsthand, and the arcade owner suggested a nice
drawing game to help me get acquainted with the
weird world of cyberspace.
That’s when Brooklyn Paper Deputy Editor
Colin Mixson, who was on hand with crack
freelance photographer Caroline Ourso, insisted
Doddi jack me into the most intense experience
available, likely part of some maniacal bid to
scramble my brain, or possibly to obtain good
shots for the article. The next thing I know, I’m
standing 20 stories above the ground, peering
into the abyss atop a wooden plank jutting pirate
ship-style from the side of a skyscraper! Who
makes these games!?
Doddi says I’m free to leap off the plank if I so
choose, and, for some crazy reason, I take the
fateful step into thin air — and literally fall over
— as the simulated plummet tricks my brain, and
my body follows suite.
Fortunately, Doddi is there to catch me, as
the cackles of my editor echo from somewhere
beyond my bulbous VR visor.
Seeking vengeance, I challenge Mixson to a
game of virtual dodgeball — and I’m immediately
bested — as my editor, leaning on his past
experience from covering the arcade’s Cobble
Hill debut, trounces me 5–0.
But I’m a fast learner — the memory of Mixson’s
shouts of dispair as I dominate him 5–1 will keep
me warm during my next winter stakeout.
Doddi’s fun zone doesn’t end with video
games, and the entrepreneur is in the process
of obtaining a full liquor license for his adult
customers.
But he doesn’t want patrons to get too tipsy
before they plug his video games directly into
their brain.
“If you’re too drunk to drive, you’re too drunk
to do VR,” he said. “We’ll be extra cognizant of
that.”
About half of his patrons are between eight
and 13 years old so the actual bar at VR Bar will
suit parents who want to have a drink, while their
kids frolic in cyberspace, according to Doddi.
The game master is also looking to partner
with real estate firms by offering customers
virtual tours of properties on the market, and
he recently met with developers CIM Group who
— along with Livwrk — are erecting the mega-development
dubbed “Front and York” nearby.
By Kevin Duggan
This article was first published
by the Brooklyn Paper. Talk about an expansion pack!
Face off: Reporter Kevin Duggan (left) and editor Colin Mixson
(right, crouching) faced off in a dodge ball battle to the digital
death. Photo by Caroline Ourso.
A Brooklyn virtual reality arcade
has moved into a massive new
venue in Dumbo, just down the road
from the New York City College of
Technology, giving twice as many
players the chance to jack into cyberspace as
before.
The newest integration of VR Bar on Jay
Street boasts 12 virtual reality stations and
one upcoming virtual arena, which will give
up to four people a chance to duke it out in
challenges that will have them questioning
reality, according to its founder.
“It’s a much more immersive experience,”
said Kishore Doddi.
Game on: The recently-opened Vrbar on Jay Street in Dumbo offers
12 stations to delve into cyberspace, with games and experiences
suitable for young and old. Photo by Caroline Ourso.