filename : Zun15c.pdf entry : conference : 12th European Conference on Visual Media Production pages : 9:1--9:10 year : 2015 month : 11 title : Unfolding the 8-Bit Era subtitle : author : Fabio Zünd, Pascal Bérard, Alexandre Chapiro, Stefan Schmid, Mattia Ryffel, Markus Gross, Amit H. Bermano, Robert W. Sumner booktitle : Proceedings of the 12th European Conference on Visual Media Production ISSN/ISBN : 978-1-4503-3560-7 editor : publisher : ACM publ.place : New York, NY, USA volume : issue : language : EN keywords : games, panoramic stitching, virtual reality abstract : We propose a hardware and software system that transforms 8-bit side-scrolling console video games into immersive multiplayer experiences. We enhance a classic video game console with custom hardware that time-multiplexes eight gamepad inputs to automatically hand off control from one gamepad to the next. Because control transfers quickly, people at a large event can frequently step in and out of a game and naturally call to their peers to join any time a gamepad is vacant. Video from the game console is captured and processed by a vision algorithm that stitches it into a continuous, expanding panoramic texture, which is displayed in real time on a 360 degree projection system at a large event space. With this system, side-scrolling games unfold across the walls of the room to encircle a large party, giving the feeling that the entire party is taking place inside of the game's world. When such a display system is not available, we also provide a virtual reality recreation of the experience. We show results of our system for a number of classic console games tested at a large live event. Results indicate that our work provides a successful recipe to create immersive, multiplayer, interactive experiences that leverage the nostalgic appeal of 8-bit games.