THE FUSE

Video game and theme park design are two very different disciplines, but they have a lot in common. They share similar approaches to building worlds and turning narratives into interactive experiences, using environments to tell stories as much as dialogue, and both have embraced virtual reality in search of immersion—to similarly mixed results. Sometimes, though, a theme park ride is just straight-up a video game, albeit one you might physically move through; think the mini-games of Toy Story Midway Mania, or the lackluster Spider-Man ride at Disney California Adventure, or the many shooting-gallery dark rides that replace physical targets with screens.