Virtual reality - arcade games which provide exercise

Men's Fitness, Dec, 1998 by Michael S. Yessis

Game controls: Connected side-by-side ski "steps" that are angled toward the video screen, forcing you into a tuck. The steps rotate left and right on a central axis, which allows you to edge your skis sharply in either direction. You can also shift the entire control rig more than a foot in each direction to carve big, sweeping turns. Two stationary poles help you maintain balance.

How it plays: Since the skis are short and connected in the tight, parallel position effortlessly employed solely by expert skiers (but not novices or erratic intermediates like me), it took a few games to master the controls. Also, the machine doesn't bounce you around on bumps, though controlling your speed and direction becomes harder.

Rating the thrills: Medium to high. Trees, competing skiers and blinding whiteouts come at you so fast that the entire screen sometimes seems like a blurry kaleidoscope. If you're able to pick out a clear path through the mess, though, jumps are abundant and the hang time feels real.

Station 3: Downhill Bikers

This game, made by Namco, simulates the basic aspects of its sport better than any of its revolutionary brethren. Each of this mountain-biking game's two race courses, a speed hill and a technical run, includes flat spots, jumps and other challenging terrain. And with scores of other racers - both computer-controlled competitors and human opponents - whizzing down the course, it'll piss you off just like that crowded popular trail back home does.

Where's the burn? Everywhere.

Game controls: A stationary, single-geared mountain bike with shock-absorbing powers. To steer: Turn the handlebars or lean left or right - the bike shifts more than a foot in each direction, so you can lay it out hard on turns. If you have to use the brakes, the levers are on the handlebars.

How it plays: The logo-covered bike is light and comfortable, and it handles differently depending on the terrain. Around easy turns, it's nice and grippy. On the bumps, it's less responsive and a little jiggly. On the fiats, where you've got to pedal all-out or your bike will stop cold, it's stable and smooth. Only on tight turns does the bike's responsiveness feel sluggish. That, or maybe all 14 crashes were the result of my pathetic high-speed riding skills.

Rating the thrills: Medium. Though soaring jumps and violent spills abound, the small video screens and weak sound system don't broadcast the virtual thrills as well as some of the other games do.

Station 4: Wave Runner

Sega's personal-watercraft simulator drops you into a race course with nine other jet-set boaters. Water conditions vary, the competition's tough, and jumps are plentiful. Dolphins get involved, too.

Where's the burn? Your quads.

Game controls: A replica of a Yamaha Wave Runner personal watercraft. To steer: Shift your weight left or right, turn the handlebars or do both. The boat leans about a foot to each side. Accelerate by squeezing the throttle above the right-hand grip.

How it plays: If you spray some water on your face and crank up a leaf blower to simulate the triple-digit decibels created by most personal watercraft, you'll swear you're really ripping. Like a real PWC, the replica Yamaha bounces rhythmically on the straights and cuts efficiently on the turns, unless you take one too tight, in which case the tail skips and whips across the water. The craft jerks and shudders in choppy water, too, forcing you to hang on tighter and concentrate a little more.