Frequently asked questions
HOW MUCH DOES IT COST? General booking prices are $45 per Playing Bay, currently the special price is fixed at $35. Periodically there are discount codes that can be found on our Facebook page, so we recommend you follow us on Facebook or Twitter to receive a monthly updated discount code. HOW MANY PEOPLE CAN PLAY AT ONCE? Each Playing Bay contains only one VR Goggle, so only one player at a time can play in a Playing Bay but if you wish to have multi-player then you can book a second playing bay to group play. CAN I PAY IN-STORE? You definitely can. You are able to make cash payments and soon, we will provide you the ability to make Eftpos/Touchless payments. WHERE IS THE VENUE LOCATED? Ground Floor 281 Springvale Road Springvale VIC 3171, Inside the Telstra Store. The front of the store is ACK Telecom, we are located within this store, so please walk through the Telstra store to find us. There is free parking off the main street being Springvale road for an hour at a time or via the rear car parking area with 114 spots with 2 hours free parking, alternatively the train station at the corner of where we are is free all day. WHAT IF I'M LATE? If you are late then this will cut into your Playing time but also remember if you haven't already done so before, you will still need to check in at front desk and receive a safety briefing. So do not be late. OPERATING HOURS Due to our new temporary location, we are operating on a limited time slot of weekends that can vary so please check the contact page for the latest timings and availability, otherwise the booking process will display available timings. FOOD AND DRINK No food is permitted on the site unless it is purposed for a function or event booking. You may however, have non-alcoholic drinks. We have canned beverages and bottled water for sale on site at $2 a can or $2.5 a bottle. HOW LONG ARE GAME PLAYS? Your booking session is for 50 minutes and no more than this allotted time as there is a turnaround time between your usage and the next booking which requires cleaning in between. Games themselves vary from a few seconds to over an hour, but the majority of games have a turn around time averaging 5 minutes. You can select over 60 games and change games at your own leisure. CAN I EXTEND MY PLAY? Yes. If there are no bookings after your session then you can do so, but before you come you will be able to see whether or not the time slot after you is booked or not. CAN I WEAR MY GLASSES? We recommend that you wear contacts. You can still wear your glasses under the headset but it may be uncomfortable as you’ll be wearing it for 50 minutes. There’s also the risk that the headset might scratch your lenses. CAN ANYBODY PLAY? It is recommended that you or your companions are 13 years and over to play as generally with younger children their heads are a lot smaller than the tightest fit of the goggles so it makes it difficult for them to use. The official age restriction is 13+ with the exception anybody younger than 13 can follow instructions, if not they will be removed as our priority is to ensure safety to the participant and those around them and if a child cannot follow instructions or separate virtual from reality, we must end that individuals session and there are no refunds for the individual but the session is still available for other participants. Some experiences are a seated, however most are standing and require the player to walk around with both hands occupied with controllers and possibly kneeling and crouching. Take this into consideration if you are pregnant or have any adverse medical conditions contrary to these activities. If you have a heart condition please be aware that certain selections of games are intended to frighten you, such as ghosts and zombies, so choose wisely. CAN I GET MOTION SICKNESS FROM VR? A majority of people do not get motion sickness with these state of the art hardware and software with low latency and programming that mitigates motion sickness; however there is that rare chance that you might feel motion sickness. If this is the case then you can mix up your experience and try something different or perhaps seated experiences. Due to our availability of a room scaled experience, there is a very low chance of any form of sickness as your mind will see what your body generally feels. WILL I WALK INTO OBJECTS? The VR system has a built-in safety feature called Chaperone which will have a pre-determined perimeter meaning if you've approached a wall, it will initiate a guide to let you know you are approaching a wall or other objects which are shown as a silhouette in VR to keep you safe. The VR headset will also provision an option to see outside of the virtual space should you need to find a seat to sit down without removing the goggles. We do recommend that you follow the instructions at all times to ensure your own safety. HOW BIG ARE THE PLAYING BAYS? Each playing bay is about 2 m x 1.5 m. In future we will provide other peripherals which will allow you to run extreme distances without moving from a stationary HOW DO I SELECT WHICH GAMES I PLAY? You can select any game that is available in your Playing Bay, there are a list of OVER 100 different title to choose from, you simple go to the 'Dashboard' via the System button which we will show you on your controller, and you can scroll through the menu screen in Virtual Reality to select the next game. It is important to EXIT a game before starting another as this might cause the system to pause and may have to be restarted CAN I TAKE PHOTOS OR VIDEOS? You are more than welcome to film and video yourself and your friends within your Playing Bay, but if you wish to film other people in the area, ensure that you seek consent. BlackSiteVR may wish to photograph or film you for promo purposes but we will always seek your permission first. WILL I BE SHOWN HOW TO USE THE VR SYSTEM? Absolutely, we will provide you a Players Brief when you arrive for general instructions and safety information. If it's your first time and you are unsure, we suggest playing the tutorial in VR where a guide gives you a run down of everything you need to know whilst hands on. WILL I BE TAUGHT HOW TO PLAY THE GAMES? No. Our GamerTech's will float about to provide you general assistance and instructions on how to use the equipment and start the games but they are not there to teach you how to play games. You will find however, that they will most likely guide you through games regardless of their role but we must set an expectation that we cannot instruct you in every little detail. By design the games and experiences are straight forward if you take a logical approach to it, and again our GamerTech's almost always instruct you when asked, however be aware if a game has been designated for 'Hard-Core Gamers', they will NOT provide you any support at all, and this is due to the fact that, if a game is designated as such, it is therefore far too complex to explain to the average user without running a 50 minute lesson on it, which will be no fun to you at all. WHAT ABOUT HYGIENE? We take health and hygiene seriously, considering that shared VR Goggles seat on your face, we view hygiene control as critical to our level of service. We use hygienic leather face masks that is not originally provide by HTC and we swap out face masks after each play. We then sterilise the face masks and after treatment they are cycled back in to play. Our controller devices are also sanitised daily so you can have great confidence in a clean play. WHAT IF I HAVE MORE QUESTIONS? If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact our friendly staff by phone on 03 9028 8667 or by email contact@blacksitevr.com , we are also available via our Facebook page. IS THERE WHEELCHAIR ACCESS? Our new temporary location is on the ground floor which is a lot more accessible than previously however there is no ramp but the small step is easy to negotiate up as it is an old building. WHEN WAS BLACK SITE VR OPENED? We had officially started operating since the 27th of May 2016 and have not looked back since. We appreciate every gamer that come through as we love sharing the VR experience.
Safety
Safety is one of the most important concerns at Black Site VR. Along with enjoying your visit and session at Black Site VR we hope that you do so in comfort and safety. On arrival you will check in at the front desk and be given a safety brief by our VR Operator and given a liability waiver to sign off on before you can step into VR. The waiver is downloadable below if you wish to read it or print it off in advanced. General safety rules are part of our terms and conditions, they are to respect other people and their space on site, maintain a good social conduct, be aware of your own space and surroundings, not be drug or alcohol affected, keep noise to a reasonable level, no smoking on site, be aware of your own medical conditions and familiarise yourself with emergency evacuation points. Room scaled VR is a physical activity so expect to a little exercise involved and any VR on static treadmills such as the Omni or the Virtruix will definitely be physical and more intensive, so take into consideration your clothing choices and hydration. Have tremendous fun!
