Beat Saber
Beat Saber is an exclusively VR experience centered around rhythm gameplay where you use controllers to slash arrowed cubes that represent musical beats. It immerses the player by pulling them into the song, portraying a neon environment where there are two contrasting colored sabers and blocks that evoke natural movements such as leaning, ducking and slicing. Although there are a few limitations and further implications of where Beat Saber can improve, it’s intensely enjoyable.
A writer for Screen Rant, an entertainment website that focuses on film, technology, and video games, “Beat Saber took the physical rhythmic gameplay of Dance Dance Revolution with the mechanics of Beatmania, added a dash of Star Wars, and mixed it together in glorious VR” which is why, according the the article, it sold a million copies within its first few months (Ballestrasse).
Although Beat Saber is available on various VR technology, I will be analyzing my personal experience with the game using a Quest 2.
From initial set up to playing your first song to then getting on the highest player board (which I have not achieved yet, but I’m determined) Beat Saber is simple and intuitive to learn as well as easy to master with a bit of practice and determination.
The two reasons why Beat Saber is so easy to learn is 1. the creators really understood the simplicity of the concept and 2. there are insanely popular games that mimic the similar premise and movements. As discussed in the week 8 lecture of how to design a successful guest experience, it’s a common downfall when creators overcomplicate the experience. However, when first downloading and playing Beat Saber, there is a simple tutorial and a safety disclaimer. Next thing you know, you’re on your way to sabering it out. Additionally, the gameplay leans on common knowledge and movements most people already know. The idea of sabers, or sabres, have been around for centuries and most people understand them to be something you use in a weapon-like manner such as slashing. There also have been immersive games that deal with music and rhythm around for years such as Dance Dance Revolution and Rock Band. The difference for Beat Saber is that it uses arm motion more than anything, however, it encourages full-body motion when players get into the song and start to feel the rhythm. The aspect of mainly focusing on arm motion is much like the popular game Fruit Ninja that used a knife to slice fruit that showed up on the screen. However, unlike DDR, Rock Band, and Fruit Ninja, Beat Saber includes large blocks that show up during gameplay that encourages players to avoid by ducking or leaning their body (described in the tutorial so no one is confused) which physically immerses the player’s whole being into the game and song making it that much more interactive.
As we’ve talked about many times in Audience and Development, a good and successful experience has a low barrier of entry. If it’s too muddled to get started and requires a complex prerequisite of knowledge, more people will become frustrated and give up on the experience. Although minimal knowledge is needed to experience Beat Saber, there is a limitation and that is the player must have access to a compatible VR device. As talked about in class, VR is very new. The Quest 2 is just the very beginning of VR so an exclusive and expensive VR experience such as this is not as accessible to everyone. If there was a mobile version, like the Fruit Ninja concept, where players could slash the colored blocks on their smart tablet or phone, I think this could be an impactful way to make the experience more accessible and persuade users to seek out the VR experience as well if they’ve never experienced VR. This would take on a “foot-in-the-door” persuasion technique. If there was a mobile version for people who don’t have access to VR or don’t know much about it get hooked on the smartphone version and then Beat Saber could target these players with a message along the lines of: “Think this is fun? Try it in VR!”
A huge marketing win for brands has always been when influencers and well-and well-known public figures or celebrities pick up on a company’s product and use it on their platform. Luckily for Beat Saber, this happened closer to the launch of the game where Brie Larson and Jimmy Fallon played Beat Saber on The Tonight Show (Immersive Wire). Although the game is incredibly useful when it comes to physical activity and being progressive in terms of interactivity, this celebrity buzz showed it as “the cool game on the block.” Beat Saber could definitely continue to capitalize on this buzz and encourage more celebrities and influencers to engage and get into the game. This would really allow Beat Saber to stand out among other rhythm games in the market.
Personally, the first time I used a Quest 2, I decided doing the VR rollercoaster was a good idea. SIKE. I got extreme motion sickness after a few short minutes. However, I’ve played Beat Saber for up to 45 minutes straight and I have never felt motion sick during or after gameplay. Interestingly, a few researchers published an investigation of VR aftereffects by examining the “exergaming with beat saber” and found that Beat Saber was well tolerated with no dropouts due to motional sickness(Szpak 2020). Although this research was examined through the scope of Beat Saber, the findings can be applied to the immersive and VR industry as a whole when thinking about aftereffects of experiences.
Another limitation of Beat Saber is the fact that the music available is very “push” heavy meaning Beat Saber has pushed a set music library to the users for them to enjoy. As I learned during the short-form video software skill readings, this is a copyright legality limitation and is not necessarily easy to work around because Beat Saber can’t just take music that someone owns and throw it into their game. However, tech wizards (as I think of them) are illegally loading custom songs with custom environments due to being bored of the music map.
Overall, Beat Saber is such a fun and simple experience it’s almost addicting. I would know for I play it almost every day. It makes users feel good about themselves because it’s physically motivating while also being fun. Although there are few limitations that affect the experience, it’s definitely worth the money, time and energy.
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