Even a grandpa can have fun in the world of virtual reality.

I recently experienced this truth, despite my misgivings about anything virtual reality related, as a first-time player in the Wilderness Resorts new CYvrSPACE Virtual Arena.

The latest in a handful of virtual reality (also known as VR) attractions to open in the Dells-Delton area in recent months, CYvrSPACE brings the fastest tracking of any virtual reality game system ever produced according to the Wilderness news release heralding the attractions unveiling July 4 weekend.

Of course, a local gaming arena could feature the slowest tracking of any VR game on the planet, and I would not know the difference. As someone whose gaming skills date back to the virtual Dark Ages of Donkey Kong and Asteroids, I was a little nervous about venturing into this virtual world.

Sure, I had tried my hand at Halo and Area 51 when my sons were teenagers more than a decade ago, but I had found out quickly what a veteran teen gamer could do at least virtually to a slow-fingered, digitally challenged geezer like me.

Joe Eck, general manager of the Wilderness and a driving force in bringing the CYvrSPACE experience to the resort, assured me ahead of time I would enjoy the new gaming experience, no matter what my skills or lack thereof.

For one, I would be the sole player in my virtual realm, because thats how the new attraction was designed. It would be man vs. machine, with no teenagers in sight, at least within my virtual realm.

Secondly, as Ecks Wilderness colleague and resort Attraction Director Chris Ebben put it:CYvrSPACE players dont have to be gamers with mad twitch controller skills. In CYvrSPACE, a participants body is the controller.

These facts tempered my trepidation somewhat as I arrived at the Wilderness one recent morning and proceeded toward the indoor resort area that formerly housed Wild Buccaneer mini golf, as did my brief warm-up chat with Eck a few minutes before we both ventured over to the CYvrSPACE check-in area.

Greeting the expectant gamer next to the arena entrance is a glass-enclosed gaming pod, which allows passersby and anyone else interested to watch while a giant flat-screen monitor high on one wall displays everything the gamer himself is seeing in his virtual world.

Before entering the glass-enclosed cube or one of the arenas six other pods which together comprise what creator Ben Davenport calls one of the largest free-roam, tether-less VR systems in the world the gamer must enter a darkened staging area and suit up with a backpack and controllers.

A sound system and another giant monitor continue to set the mood of impending battle while dispensing instructions, with a few able-bodied humanoid employees also on hand to answer questions and offer tips on how to use the dual hand-held controllers.

Once inside my VR pod I donned the headset, and suddenly I was transported to a futuristic control room, perhaps aboard a space station or some other intergalactic habitat, complete with a couple of zombie style robots slowly creeping toward me with menace in their eyes.

Within seconds, Id figured out how to fend off those zombies by pulling the triggers of my two virtual weapons as well as how to move around the room quickly with the only other button at my disposal.

Because I had the honor of playing inside the glass enclosure, my exploits were witnessed, and photographed, by a spectator or two, but I was not distracted by their presence because I could not see them, fully absorbed as I was with taking care of those pesky robo-zombies.

By the time my session had concluded approximately 20 minutes later, I had held off successively larger zombie hordes, even though I was pronounced virtually dead at their hands a couple of times. I also had learned to crouch behind various, virtual obstacles inside the room, and to dart hither and yon, out of the attackers grasp, with the touch of that third button.

I even worked up a bit of a sweat.

Back in the staging area, as I decompressed from my turn as a cyber-warrior, Mr. Eck returned from his latest session as well, reporting a similarly rigorous effort plus a score exponentially greater than mine.

But he reassured me my scores would pile up quickly the more I played the game.

Thanks to another one of the new arenas features, I could pick up right where I left off the next time I happen to be staying at the resort perhaps with the aforementioned four grandsons safely ensconced at a nearby pool or at the brand-new Timberland Playhouse, located conveniently within a toddlers walking distance from the CYvrSPACE arena.

Perhaps Ill progress enough that Ill make my way into one of the other 49 levels of game progression" CYvrSPACE offers, accompanied by a host of new worlds and new enemies, bosses and challenges, according to the Wilderness news release.

The new attraction, open only to resort guests, costs $20 for the half-hour experience and is recommended for children ages 8 and up, according to the resort. Reservations are recommended and can be made by calling 608-253-9729, extension 40812.

Follow Ed Legge on Twitter @DellsEd. Contact him at 608-432-6591.

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Dells Wilderness unveils virtual reality arena - WiscNews