
Unfolding the 8-Bit Era: 8 players, 8 projectors, and one NES [video] - doener
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyU7Fscd2KU
======
zyxley
Get rid of the need to turn your head (e.g. turn it into an extended map with
the active screen still centered), and you could do some interesting things
with this and adventure games like Metroid or Zelda. Imagine playing the
original Metroid but being able to zoom in or out Google Maps style to show
more or less of the world around the current room.

------
drcode
Holy cow, it never occurred to me that old side scrollers could be hacked to
offer compelling VR gameplay (Though I think the brief demo at the end of the
video is still sub optimal)

~~~
PhasmaFelis
Hmm. I think "compelling" might be overselling it. As an installation with
8-player serial co-op, it's awfully cool, but as a single-player VR thing,
it's a mildly interesting gimmick.

As far as home uses of the technology, I'm most intrigued by the potential for
automatically creating screenshot maps like you used to see in Nintendo Power.
:D You'd have to elide the status bar for games that scroll in two dimensions,
but that wouldn't be hard.

------
zaf
That is pretty cool. I suppose the "8-player" does not mean simultanioues
8-players but probably 4-player max what the NES can do and there is some
multiplexing going on (using an Arduino) so you can have more people round the
table for crowd control. Ah, yes, found the setup diagram:

[http://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-
content/uploads/sites/3/2015/1...](http://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-
content/uploads/sites/3/2015/12/unfolding-8bit-architecture.jpg)

~~~
PhasmaFelis
It's described in the video. They're playing single-player games; control
rotates between eight players as the game's scrolling advances. Players have
to coordinate to hand off control as they cross the borders, without the in-
game character hesitating and getting shot or falling into a pit. The
multiplexing is done outside of the actual NES, so its native capabilities
don't matter.

------
carlob
Why not modern side scrollers too? I guess broforce would be great on this.
They should contact the developers and have them support a custom version with
8 rotating players and possibly true support for the trailing screen.

~~~
Tepix
This could also be very cool on games that scroll in all 4 directions where
you explore a landscape...

------
Tepix
Take this idea, but also

• use an untethered GearVR headset,

• emulate the NES on the smartphone inside the GearVR,

• use a bluetooth gamepad

• sit on a swivel chair and - perhaps -

• replace the perpendicular walls with the inside of a large cylinder ...

sounds awesome!

