The only thing nerdier than keeping an old NES hooked up to your TV to play your favourite old games is recreating your favourite old games using virtual reality equipment. That’s exactly what this crew of programmers did recently with Paperboy.
A team of supernerds from the custom video game studio Globacore recently built a fully interactive version of the game Paperboy using an Oculus Rift headset, a Microsoft Kinect, a road bike and a KickR cycling accessory. They call it PaperDude VR. Complicated programming aside, the set-up is actually pretty simple.
First, they built the game in 3D using a program called Unity, and they used Photoshop to smooth out the graphics. Then, they rigged up a stationary bike and connected the rear wheel to the KickR, which was used to gauge how fast the player’s pedalling. The Kinect was set up in front of the rider to register arm movement so that the game could tell when the player threw the papers. And finally the Oculus Rift allowed for 3D visuals in 360 degrees.
The end result is a pretty awesome-looking re-imagining of the NES classic. The graphics are chunky in their own fun 3D, 8-bit way. The papers soar through the air in a believable way. The bike even looks like it handles pretty well. All that’s missing now are some angry dogs and break dancers. [Globacore via TechCrunch]
