From: [email-masked] (James Britt)
Date: Wed, 8 Jan 92 06:45:34 PST

Well, I just got back from a brief vacation in London, and am happy to say 
that while there I played my first VR video game!   At The Rock Garden,
in Covent Garden, they have a video game billed as "cyberspace" and
"virtuality".  For those of you who saw the 20/20 tv show which featured
a segmnt on VR, this is the game where you are a gunfighter in a
fairly sparse network of paths and stairs, where dragon-like birds
can swoop down and knock you into freefall.
The resolution is pretty basic: block structures and polygon people
in simple shading.  I half expaected the Bizarro Superman to come by.

The game is 3 minutes for 3 pounds ( $6.00).  Not cheap, but worth
a try once just for the experience.  A helmet is mounted on your head
which gives you the 3-d eye-phones.  The view is much like looking thru
binoculars.  Moving your head in any direction allows you to look
anywhere you like.  A bulky belt is strapped around your waist, and
a single hand control with 2 buttons allows to move in the direction
you are looking and to fire a gun.  Keeping your hand up at about
shoulder height puts your hand into view for aiming.

I must sI id rather poorly; this takes some getting used to.
But the sensation, despite the simplistic quality, was amazing.
You turn and twist trying to spot dragons and gunfighters while
tring to keep on a  narrow pathway.  Quite fun!

Anyone who gets a chance to visit London should give this a shot.
:w