Arcade2TV-XR review: Meta Quest controller brings the arcade to your living room in VR
Meta Quest compatible kit lets you create your own virtual arcade, no change machine required.
From the synthwave and chiptune influences on Tyler The Creator and The Weeknd, to the rise of barcades across the country, to the reports of a Sydney Sweeney-starring Michael Bay movie based on all-time classic Sega racer Outrun – it’s clear that the golden era of arcade games is experiencing a full-throttle comeback in today’s pop culture.
Re-living those rose tinted visits to the seaside or your local video shop to bash away at the likes of Golden Axe or R-Type has become big business, as demonstrated by the growing popularity of retro gaming handhelds made by the likes of Anbernic and Retroid Pocket. But what if you want the full size experience at home?
Gaming hardware makers Xgaming’s somewhat unique solution is the Arcade2TV-XR — an arcade-style gaming controller that can be paired with a Meta Quest VR headset, allowing you to create your very own virtual games room packed with 80s and 90s coin-ops while still maintaining a tactile feel when playing.
As is often the case with VR experiences, seeing is believing, and it can be a little difficult to get across the experience without trying it out for yourself. This sizzle reel from Xgaming gives you an idea of what to expect:
Arcade2TV-XR: In short...
- VR-compatible controller creates a virtual arcade with classic controls and a trackball.
- Mixed reality enables placing virtual arcade cabinets within your physical room.
- The setup involves self-assembly of the pedestal and pairing with Meta Quest virtual reality headsets.
- The system requires users to source their own ROM files for games.
- While immersive, the Arcade Ranger app may experience occasional bugs.
- The unit's size and non-folding design present a notable space challenge.
- Available now, priced £299
Xgaming has a long history of making arcade-style controllers for retro play, but this dual-stick unit takes things up a notch. The reassuringly robust device features an array of classic-style buttons and a pair of clicky ball-top joysticks, along with dedicated mounts for Meta Quest controllers — more on those later.
It’s not just shoot ‘em up and fighting games like Space Invaders and Street Fighter that are catered for either. The controller also boasts a trackball built into the centre of the unit, allowing you to play the likes of palm-mashing classics like Marble Madness, Missile Command and Golden Tee Golf just as the makers originally intended.
The main unit can also be attached to an optional height-adjustable metal pedestal which features a suitably showy led-lit panel.
If you want to use the controller in a more conventional way rather than with a VR headset, the device can also be connected to a PC, Mac, PlayStation, Switch or Xbox — though some consoles require additional adaptors which are sold separately.
D.I.Y before P.L.A.Y
Setting things up takes a bit of work. The pedestal is self-assembly and its construction is a tad more fiddly than your average IKEA flatpack, though the controller itself pairs nice and easily with a Meta Quest via a small included dongle which plugs into the headset’s USB-C port.
The Arcade2TV-XR comes with a number of bundled apps that need to be downloaded onto your Meta Quest — the key one being Arcade Ranger.
Developed by Xgaming alongside Pumpkin VR, Arcade Ranger lets you create your own personalised virtual reality game room, complete with working cabinets, 80s-themed furniture, old school posters and a working jukebox.
The app cleverly uses the positioning of the Meta Quest controllers in the Arcade2TV-XR’s holes to correctly map its sticks and buttons to the correct height of your virtual arcade cabinet, creating a genuinely convincing effect that bridges the physical unit nicely with the arcade machines that appear in your headset.
You can also place virtual coin-ops in your actual living room using the app’s mixed reality mode, allowing you to plonk a full size Double Dragon machine next to your sofa should you so wish.
The app lets you install several open source emulators — software that mimics the original arcade machine or console’s hardware — but it doesn’t ship with any games. That means you’ll need to source your own ROM files (digital copies of the original game’s data, taken from the arcade machine’s storage chips), something that remains a well-documented legal grey area.
If you’re able to get past that hurdle, then Arcade Ranger offers up an immersive, if at times buggy approximation of the arcade experience. I regularly ran into issues with the app incorrectly mapping the location of the controller, but when things clicked, the experience was a wonderful trip down memory lane.
The also bundled Pinball FX VR is thankfully a bit more polished, allowing you to play strikingly accurate, fully licensed versions of classic tables such as Knight Rider and Star Trek: The Next Generation alongside more current machines.
Like Arcade Ranger, it uses the positioning of the Meta Quest controllers mounted on top of the for Arcade2TV-XR’s tracking, but uses the unit’s two side buttons to operate the flippers. The app comes with three free tables, with others available via in-app purchases.
Virtual gaming, real-world space
While offering an undeniably authentic experience, the Arcade2TV-XR nevertheless runs into the same key issue that prevents many gamers from owning a real-life arcade cab – space. It might not be a hulking lump of wood like an actual arcade machine, but with the pedestal attached it takes up the same sort of footprint.
That frame is also pretty hefty, meaning moving it around your house is a somewhat cumbersome endeavour. I can see many owners opting to use the controller detached and placed on a table instead. You’re also left wondering why Xgaming didn’t opt for a more versatile design that could also fold down for storage when not in use.
Despite these criticisms, I still really enjoyed putting the Arcade2TV-XR through its paces. It’s an ingenious use of VR that really transports you back to those dimly lit rooms where time and your pocket money slipped away.
XGaming’s recent release of an optional spinner controller add-on for games like Tempest and Arkanoid meanwhile suggests they’re committed to improving what it offers, giving hope that they might iron out the bugs with using the controller with Arcade Ranger at some point.
It’s far from a plug-and-play experience, but if you’ve ever dreamed of having your own games room and happen to have a Meta Quest lying around, the Arcade2TV-XR will get you remarkably close — all without the hassle of maintaining those bulky old CRT displays.
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