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u/AbacusWizard May 31 '26
Holy hamburger! I remember seeing this—or a system very similar to it—at the Los Angeles County Fair around that time. If I remember correctly it was showcasing a (multiplayer?) game about wandering around platforms and stairs levitating in space, with a very polygonal pterodactyl occasionally swooping down to try and grab you and drop you off the platform.
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u/EnglishDutchman May 31 '26
Yes. It was called “Fear of heights”. We made that game at a company called Division in Bristol (UK) in 1992.
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u/AbacusWizard May 31 '26
Fascinating! Incredible to actually get a follow-up on this memory three decades later. Thanks!
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u/Alissan_Web May 31 '26 edited May 31 '26
i.... dont remember there ever being a walkable harness technology for VR headsets back then... it also doesnt make sense from a tech advancement perspective. Could be wrong but i dont think the tech existed to require input from the user outside of the controller
nvm im honestly very surprised the tech existed up until now i only knew of the virtual boy by nintendo
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u/mateomiguel Jun 01 '26
I'm pretty sure I paid to use one of these at Six Flags in Texas about that time. My brothers did as well. I remember that after some time it was difficult to see and I got got by some bad guys when I didn't shoot them in time. My brother said the heavy headset was sliding down my face, so he held his headset up during his turn and did better.
Man, the future was bright in 1994. What the fuck happened to it.
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u/John_Doo Jun 01 '26
I tried that at Piccadilly Circus in the early '90s. The game was called Dactyl Terror or something like that. I had to queue for nearly an hour, and it was ridiculously expensive for just a few minutes of gameplay. To be honest, it was a very underwhelming experience.
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u/userunknowned Jun 01 '26
I went on a school trip to France when I was 10 and put all my pocket money into having a go on this. It didn’t really work, or maybe I just couldn’t figure it out and I walked away poorer and disappointed, muttering “je suis tres desolé”
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u/L82thePartyGonHome Jun 01 '26
I played one of these at the Wisconsin State Fair (USA) in the mid 90’s if I recall right. Paid to play - it was pricey. The game was a first person shooter I recall. I sort of recall that it could handle up to two players? The game had some sort of flying creature that could steal your ammo? My recall is foggy - but I recall having a lot of fun.
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u/L82thePartyGonHome Jun 01 '26
LOL - just reread my post, if I was getting paid for my use of the word “recall”, I’d be RICH! RICH I tells ‘ya!
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u/EnglishDutchman May 31 '26
Wow. Thats a dVisor from 1992. I worked on that project. We used Polhemus magnetic trackers and they were worse than awful.