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First Person Shooters (Games) Entertainment Games

Video Games Hit The Big Screen 220

Posted by timothy from the why-waste-the-real-estate dept.
Anonymous Coward writes "A movie theatre owner in Logan, Utah is hoping to start a new trend by bringing video games (Halo in this case) to the big screen. The local newspaper in Logan, The Herald Journal has a nice write-up about the success they had. Does anyone else think this could catch on to be successful, especially in college towns?"
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Video Games Hit The Big Screen More

Video Games Hit The Big Screen

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  • hold up. (Score:5, Funny)

    by crtfdgk ( 807485 ) * on Saturday August 28, 2004 @09:39PM (#10100339) Journal
    waitaminute. who actually has time to leave the house to go game somewhere else? why on earth would you leave the safety and security of your 100% sunlight free cave of an apartment or bedroom to game somewhere else, and pay extra, and possibly *shudder* socialize and the real world? isn't the point of gaming just to ensure that geeks everywhere never see the outside world? or did i just miss something?

    • Re:hold up. (Score:5, Funny)

      by PetoskeyGuy ( 648788 ) on Saturday August 28, 2004 @10:53PM (#10100651)
      Don't worry, they thought of that. The games don't start until midnight. Plenty of time to leave the house to play for hours and come back without any chance of a tan.

    • Re:hold up. (Score:4, Interesting)

      by Pharmboy ( 216950 ) on Saturday August 28, 2004 @11:19PM (#10100738) Journal
      This is exactly why I play on two screens at my own house: a 51" projection TV, and an 80" projector against a white wall, both on computers. The colors are not as good as a monitor, but load up Doom 3 and start walking around the complex, and 80" of screen will make you poop your pants when something pops out and starts shooting you. The surround sound system helps, too.

      I'm already using the computer on the system for a media center anyway, playing games was the next logical step, and no P2/XBox needed.

      The theatre idea is perfect if you don't have the funds to buy your own or like to be more social with your gaming. I can see this being the next reason that people actually leave their homes and interact with other people, rather than go to bars and risk a DWI/DUI.

      • Re:hold up. (Score:3, Interesting)

        by mayotte ( 686049 )
        About 10 years ago I worked for a tradeshow company. I was in the (not so) grand ballroom of a Silicon Valley hotel converging a projector that was setup on a 9'x12' screen and needed a computer video source to test it.

        So I brought in my old MacIIfx and fired up PacMan of all games. Let me tell you that PacMan on a 9x12 screen in a dark room with a set of Bose 402s was amazing.

        PacMan suddenly got a whole lot cooler. But it was all for testing purposes of course ;-)

    • Re:hold up. (Score:2, Insightful)

      by AndroidCat ( 229562 )
      And you think that going to a movie theater and either playing or watching other people play video games is socialiizing? (There might be a 12-step program for this, you know.)

    • Re:hold up. (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward
      I don't really like to pay $8.50 to see a two hour movie, I definately don't want to pay that much to watch some geek play one of the most repetitive games of the modern era in public. Other than splitscreen, it's not like you can really do multiplayer. Then, the quality would be abhorent with the low resolutions.

    • Re:hold up. (Score:5, Insightful)

      by jackbird ( 721605 ) on Sunday August 29, 2004 @12:41AM (#10100991)
      Um, once upon a time there were these things called "arcades." They were very very sunlight free, often filled with smoke, and, while crowded, had very little socializing going on. They were pretty cool.

    • Two words (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Krunch ( 704330 )
      LAN party

  • Dupe (Score:1, Flamebait)

    by Rie Beam ( 632299 )
    Isn't this a dupe? Just need to find the link...

  • The possibilities! (Score:5, Funny)

    by miscellaneous_havoc ( 621991 ) on Saturday August 28, 2004 @09:40PM (#10100347) Homepage
    If they let me play Dead or Alive Beach Volleyball on the big screen... I'd live there!

    • Hahah. I and my friend actually once got banned on an exhibition when we continuously played DoA Xtreme Beach Volleyball. The staff though somebody else should have the opportunity to try the game. Then once we had been driven away, the staff of the exhibition took over the gaming. That was pretty funny.

    • Forget that, just imagine what you could with porn on a big screen like that!

      Oh, I guess they've done that already...

  • Hmm... (Score:1, Redundant)

    by ProppaT ( 557551 )
    DOA Volleyball on the big screen.... ::drools::

  • Uhhh... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by agraupe ( 769778 ) on Saturday August 28, 2004 @09:41PM (#10100349) Journal
    I'm not sure if it's ever been something you can pay for, but the local Famous Players (big Canadian theatre chain) was advertising a Halo 2 fest with ten friends if you entered and won some sort of contest. That being said, I'd be more likely to pay 8.00 for a massive two-hour Halo deathmatch than a boring movie.

    • Re:Uhhh... (Score:5, Interesting)

      by Pxtl ( 151020 ) on Saturday August 28, 2004 @11:42PM (#10100821) Homepage
      Well, one unfortunate fact about Halo that other games do better (such as the aforementioned DoA games) is the splitscreen. Its more fun watching a single game than multiple small screen games split up out of one big screen. A multiplayer single-screen brawl game such as Bomberman, Super Smash Bros, or PowerStone II would be best, imho. Fast enough to run a tournament that way too, and let the whole audience play.
    • That being said, I'd be more likely to pay 8.00 for a massive two-hour Halo deathmatch than a boring movie.

      I'd be more likely to pay $8 for for a boring movie than sit and watch someone masturgame for two hours, even for free. Movies are designed to provide passive entertainment, and even the worst ones offer opportunities for entertainment criticising the acting, plot, dialog, etc. But games are designed to entertain only the player, which makes the rows and rows of seats in the theater pretty pointles

  • IMAX (Score:4, Interesting)

    by wackysootroom ( 243310 ) on Saturday August 28, 2004 @09:42PM (#10100354) Homepage
    Put Doom3 or Halo in an IMAX and you won't have any trouble getting $50 out of my wallet.

  • But... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by bburton ( 778244 ) on Saturday August 28, 2004 @09:44PM (#10100362)
    Is the theater really going to make more money doing this than showing a movie?

    It says that "There is a $3 charge for spectators to watch the games.", but that's a far cry from the $7+ they would charge for a movie.

    Who here would actually participate, either player or spectator?

    • Re:But... (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Jeff DeMaagd ( 2015 ) on Saturday August 28, 2004 @09:46PM (#10100381) Homepage Journal
      With your numbers, if it costs the theater $5 per person in royalties to play a movie, they come out ahead assuming the same number of people would show up either way.

      • Re:But... (Score:3, Interesting)

        by ruprechtjones ( 545762 )
        That's it in a nutshell. Theaters make zero money from ticket sales, and their entire profit margin comes from consession sales. With this program, that door charge is all profit.

        This is how the big chains work, but the smaller theaters are either owned by the big chains and run older movies (at near 100% profit on ticket sales) once the initial release schedule is expired at the big chain, or they are independent theaters that run alternative/older movies.

        I'd pay 10 bucks to go watch a 3-hour Halo 2
        • With this program, that door charge is all profit.

          At least as long as they don't offer Counterstrike [slashdot.org]. I wonder how long before other game companies will want a cut of the ticket price.
      • ...the bottom line is theatres make their money off of concessions. Matinee? Cheaper ticket but the same price for concessions.

        *sigh* I've thought about filing a patent for something called an " intermission ". It would be a break in the movie. Those who fell asleep during a boring movie could get up & stretch, everyone who carried a drink|food in at the beginning and buy more (there's nothing worse than needing to empty your bladder during an excellent movie.

        (would peeing in the empty cup be a bad

    • Re:But... (Score:5, Insightful)

      by csimicah ( 592121 ) on Saturday August 28, 2004 @09:47PM (#10100386)
      It's during a time when the theatre would otherwise be idle... assuming the licensing fees weren't too high, it's found money.

      • Re:But... (Score:5, Interesting)

        by ticklemeozmo ( 595926 ) <justin,j,novack&acm,org> on Saturday August 28, 2004 @11:02PM (#10100678) Homepage Journal
        assuming the licensing fees weren't too high

        I just tried calling the theatre listed in the article (area code 435), they gave me Calvin Timothy's home phone (I pretended to be a manager of the local AMC theatre) and he said he's not at liberty to discuss the licensing, who they go through our how they got it.

        They want to market the idea before anyone steals it. Whatever happened to letting kids have fun?

    • Re:But... (Score:5, Insightful)

      by DeepRedux ( 601768 ) on Saturday August 28, 2004 @10:06PM (#10100468)
      I think the key is that "tournaments are scheduled for Friday nights at midnight". If this were at 8pm, I would not see how it would pay the theater better than a showing a movie. But by midnight they need a special event to get any kind of a crowd.

    • So how can I... (Score:5, Interesting)

      by ticklemeozmo ( 595926 ) <justin,j,novack&acm,org> on Saturday August 28, 2004 @11:05PM (#10100699) Homepage Journal
      I would like convince my local theatre manager (I happen to know him) to do this, but he wants to know which steps are involved?

      Who do you have to get permission from?
      What if you do not charge (peeps will still want popcorn and soda)?
      What hoops must you go through to have fun?
    • Down here at least, when a movie is released the distributor makes a percentage of the admission fee.

      For example, if a movie ticket is $10, the distributor might get 80% of that. If the cinema decides to charge $5 per ticket, the distributor cut is still 80%, they're just making less.

      Through this plan if the cinema charges $10 to play a game, I guess they're giving a percentage of the takings to Microsoft for the Xbox license.

      The local cinema charges anywhere between $2 and $11.50 (australian) to see

      • I should have mentioned... (Score:4, Insightful)

        by EvilCabbage ( 589836 ) on Saturday August 28, 2004 @11:18PM (#10100729) Homepage
        .. I hate replying to my own post.

        The cinema really makes a killing on selling the candy. $3 cokes and $4 packs of salted and sweet snacks go a long way to stuffing the coffers of your local cinema outlet. The movies themselves are almost just a vehicle to sell junk food.

        Film distributors are greedy, soul sapping bastards. If the candy bar didn't pull in an extra $10 or so per consumer here at my local cinema the place would be really scrounging for cash.
        • Its for cinemas outrageous prices for food that I don't, under any circumstances, buy any of their food, period. Since my local cinema is in a shopping centre (mall for you Americans) there is a whole host of other places to buy delicacies from which we are allowed to take into the cinema. Even if they didn't (like another cinema I went to) then the girlfriends handbag makes for a perfect place to stash something to eat. Cargo pants work a treat as well :) Its not like some 15 year old kid is going to start
          • Am I a soul sapping bastard for denying them their revenue on tickters subsidized by candy bar food?

            No, but you're not a film distribution company, are you?

            I don't agree with the way things are, but if the cinema doesn't agree to the distributors terms, they don't get movies. If they don't get movies, they don't make _any_ money.

            It's similar bully tactics to the **AA, except it's been going on even longer and it's just taken for granted as part of doing business.

    • Re:But... (Score:4, Informative)

      by donutello ( 88309 ) on Saturday August 28, 2004 @11:19PM (#10100740) Homepage
      From what my friends in film school have told me, the cinema owners pretty much break even on admission price versus distributor royalties. Where they make their money is from selling you overpriced popcorn and sodas. Ever wonder why not a single theater tries to compete on the price of concessions?
      • Ever wonder why not a single theater tries to compete on the price of concessions?

        Some do, actually. But it's usually either taking a loss trying to starve out the competition, or as a "We'll gouge you for SLIGHTLY LESS than other theaters do!" sort of campaign.
    • I've actually wondered why someone hasn't done this already. It's very entertaining to watch good players play. What would be really neat is if you got a skilled "spectator" cameraman inside the game and that's what the spectators of the game would see on one screen (possibly as someone narrates, filling in the viewers on details about certain players and their habits or grudges). Meanwhile, the actual players are elsewhere, playing on their own machines and screens.

      Perhaps they get paid for victories or g

  • If I get my hands on this... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 28, 2004 @09:45PM (#10100372)
    ... Moviegoers will be wondering why they always see a Pac-Man maze burnt into the background of every movie they watch! Mwahahaha!

  • Twilight Zone (Score:1, Informative)

    by lightdarkness ( 791960 )
    http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/08/19/ 164257&tid=127&tid=211

    This has already been posted.

  • Actually been done... (Score:5, Informative)

    by sarkeizen ( 106737 ) on Saturday August 28, 2004 @09:46PM (#10100382) Journal
    Cineplex Odeon did this back in the early 90's. Allowing people to rent out a theater to play nintendo. It tanked, big time [tripod.com]
    • Sure, but that was Nintendo in the early nineties. The pixels were probably measurable in inches on a big screen. 3D graphics and smooth first person gameplay make everything better :)
    • The difference, though, is that modern games could actually look good on a big screen, and they can involve massively larger numbers of players. Having a Super Nintendo tournament where 2-4 kids play at once while 200 watch an oversized, probably pixelated image doesn't sound very lucrative...
      • Every now and then there is a video game ad at a cinema, and all of them that I have seen have looked bad. Washed out, pixellated beyond all belief. Most if not all of them have been console games since their mass production and pop culture status is much more assured than PC games and makes them more suitable candidates for cinema.
        • That's because it's the 640x480 TV image res-ed up. Also, when you're not actually playing the game, it's much harder to follow the motion and the lack of cues like motion blur and decent camera work become more apparent.

    • Re:Actually been done... (Score:5, Insightful)

      by josh3736 ( 745265 ) on Saturday August 28, 2004 @10:23PM (#10100549) Homepage
      But that was in the days where you could measure the game's pixels on the theater's screen with a ruler. With today's high-res games, it would be more entertaining.

      Not to mention that in 1993, it was mostly only kids with (a) no car and (b) no cash who played Nintendo. Now you have gamers that can drive themselves to the theater and plop down a few bucks.

    • NES only had a 256x240 pixel screen. Blowing it up to theater size would have been almost painful to watch. Newer consoles and games like HALO four player could really benefit from this. I think this has a good chance of taking off.

  • Coral link (Score:5, Informative)

    by Kinesthe ( 726726 ) <.RofregProgrammer. .at. .msn.com.> on Saturday August 28, 2004 @09:49PM (#10100393)
    In reference to the previous article and to ward off any potential slashdotting, here's a link [nyud.net] using the new Coral P2P cache. Enjoy!

  • I did this (Score:4, Insightful)

    by magefile ( 776388 ) on Saturday August 28, 2004 @09:49PM (#10100400)
    At UMich Ann Arbor. With Super Smash Bros. and a few dozen others.
    • I go to school in the relative vicinity of Ann Arbor.... Like the other respondent: any plans for doing this again?

  • Being done in Australia already... (Score:5, Informative)

    by Wolfcat ( 599595 ) on Saturday August 28, 2004 @09:53PM (#10100411)
    Village Cinemas in Melbourne are already doing this...See here [villagecinemas.com.au]
    What prizes can I win?
    First Prize: Family trip (2 adults and 2 kids) to the USA to visit Nintendo America. Second Prize: A GameCube Interactive Unit and a year's supply of GameCube games. Third Prize: A private Gold Class screening for 25 people at Village Cinemas Crown.
    What dates can I play?
    Get in by 8.30am each Sunday to register and prepare yourself for the big screen action!
    1 August: Registration and Round 1 - 1080: Avalanche
    15 August: Round 2 - Mario Kart Double Dash!!
    29 August: Round 3 - Super Smash Bros. Melee
    12 September: Round 4 - F-Zero GX
    26 September: Round 5 - Super Smash Bros. Melee
    10 October: Round 6 - Mario Kart Double Dash!!
    24 October: Superfinal The top 300 players will compete in the Superfinal on Sunday 24 October where a winner will be crowned!

    How much does it cost?
    You can purchase a single session ticket for $12, which entitles you entry into one of the above challenges. A guest can also come and watch you play for just $5 a session.

  • Why? when you can do it in the conference room (Score:5, Interesting)

    by eltoyoboyo ( 750015 ) on Saturday August 28, 2004 @09:57PM (#10100432) Journal
    Those projectors do not get used for slide sales demos ALL of the time you know. The response time is a little slow on the LCD screens, but lower the demo screen, set up the speakers and fire away.

  • already done in college towns, by colleges (Score:4, Informative)

    by LauraScudder ( 670475 ) on Saturday August 28, 2004 @09:58PM (#10100440) Journal
    This was already done when I was in college a few years back at Harvey Mudd. Every year one dorm builds a movie screen in their courtyard for the super bowl and leaves it up for a week after for video games and movies. In between, people regularly use the screens in our large lecture hall for after hours gaming. It looks like a blast, but at Mudd at least there's no market for selling this service.

  • Only 'landscape mode' video games will do.... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by iamcf13 ( 736250 ) on Saturday August 28, 2004 @09:58PM (#10100441) Homepage Journal
    Why not do this 'right'....

    Host (for example) a arcade-version Street Fighter tournament at the movie theater and tap the game's A/V signals and route them through the theater's sound system and image projector to make the action appear on the movie screen. Charge a modest spectator fee to fill the seats (and likely offer a cut of it as prize money) and knock yourself out!

    Note that classic games like PAC-MAN and TEMPEST won't do as they are played in 'portrait' mode and not the 'landscape' mode that is the same as the orientation of the movie screen.

  • Yeah (Score:2, Insightful)

    by fredopalus ( 601353 )
    Even better:
    Video games on the IMax.

    Can you imagine playing Rogue Leader on a screen that size?!

    That would be one awesome dog fight!
    • Even if that game is HD compatible, the equivelent resolution of an imax screen is probably much, much higher than even 1920x1080 (imax is even 4:3 IIRC, not 16:9). But yes it would be cool.

    • Re:Yeah (Score:2, Interesting)

      by Unxmaal ( 231 )
      Feh, we did that in 1999 at the Huntsville Space & Rocket Center IMAX theater.

      Sonic Adventure was truly nausea-inducing on the big screen, but Crazy Taxi was a blast. And then, there was multiplayer Goldeneye.
    • At my old job at the science center, we had a large format screen (not Imax but Iwerks, pretty much the same thing). We had one week each summer that was something like "The Science of Video Games" or some shit. Each day, a different video game system would be set up on the screen. There was the very large video projector that went to the center. But, since it didn't fill the entire screen, some other projectors were setup much, much closer, so two other systems could be playes on the sides of the much

  • But what will the RIAA, MPAA, & Jack Valenti s (Score:5, Funny)

    by Proudrooster ( 580120 ) on Saturday August 28, 2004 @10:11PM (#10100494) Homepage
    Look for a new group ending in AA to form soon called the VGAA (Video Game Asssociation of America). I am sure they can put a stop to this illegal, immoral, and downright scandalous behavior. I bet video game sales are plummeting as you read this due to this activity.

    Playing video games on the big screen must violate some law, act, or at least allegedly infringe on some intellectual property right. I wonder if anyone will sneak in a mini cam corder then record a game and make it available on P2P. I wonder if people take modded X-Boxes to the movie theatre? Imagine playing Halo on a modded X-box using the big screen (public display), while having someone record a video of the game, then posting it to a P2P network with a hacked 802.11 WEP key from the adjacent grocery store. This might be a new record for the amount of laws broken with a single activity!

    Be warned! The black helicopters are probably assembling right now to go round these hoodlums up. I just wish the black helicopters would stop stealing my lawn furniture.

  • Duping Is Not Flaming (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Rie Beam ( 632299 ) on Saturday August 28, 2004 @10:17PM (#10100517) Journal
    Why are all posts pointing out that this is a dupe [slashdot.org] getting modded flamebait?
    • The SPAA (Slashdot Post Association of America) Does not support unsolicited assistance in the managerial aspect of the subject header specification whereby two subjects may at any time: site the same article(s) as source(s), contain the same word(s), be exact duplicates of each other. We here at SPAA fully appreciate your inquiry, however your soliciting of an answer from staff inside a thread falls against the Unfair Use Act as stated in our Terms and Conditions, which you agreed to upon signing up for a

  • Been doing this for a while (Score:5, Informative)

    by evn ( 686927 ) on Saturday August 28, 2004 @10:21PM (#10100536)
    I have a friend who is a manager at a one of the Famous Players theaters here in town. Occasionally late at night there will be an "xbox night". Everyone brings in a controller and their xbox (well 4 people do). Add a few meters of Cat5 and a $19 SMC 4 port router and you've got a recipe for good times. Last weekend we had 16 player games of Halo running for hours. Crimson Skies wouldn't go more than 4 player (2 theaters * 2 players) which was a shame. The new zelda really comes into it's own on a huge screen though.

    Pretty much every theater these days has a digital projector for displaying those powerpoint-esque advertisements so it's just like plugging in at home: at least some good came out of those. It's worth buying the controller extension cables so you can sit 2 or 3 rows up rather than right against the back wall. Walkie-talkies cover the inter-theater communication because cellphones can be hit-and-miss.

    They sell beer at the concession now and there is a Pizza Hut right there for the food so I can see how it could make a good night out for the guys. All that said, I'm not sure this is something I'd be willing to pay for. 4 players * 4 theater is great because there is no down time. If I had to sit out every 4th round I think I'd rather just play at home on my puny 130cm TV and xbox live. Splitting $60 4 ways also seams a little pricey (though not much more than a regular movie). Not being able to eat and drink while playing would be a major disappointment too.

    "Revolutionary"? I don't think it will be any more revolutionary than when they were showing saturday morning cartoons on them a few years ago. A good novelty, but ultimately to expensive, inconvenient (can't just go-and-play) to compete with the home gathering.
    • I don't think it will be any more revolutionary than when they were showing saturday morning cartoons on them a few years ago. A good novelty, but ultimately to expensive, inconvenient (can't just go-and-play) to compete with the home gathering.

      while i agree that this is not revolutionary, and not even an original idea, it can be just as fun (and the same thing as) a LAN party... but this one is already set up for you.

  • Hell Yes! (Score:2, Interesting)

    by attam ( 806532 )
    i most certainly believe this is going to become a popular way to game (in multiplayer situations for sure). i just graduated from college and i cant tell you how many hours my friends and i wasted playing HALO on the projector i bought. whenever it was time to make teams (i was in a fraternity so we always had 8 people ready to play) there was always a huge fight over who got to play on the "big screen" and who had to go in the other room and play on the tv. i definitely recommend that if any HALO fans ge

  • Uhh, "could be"? (Score:3, Informative)

    by crashnbur ( 127738 ) on Saturday August 28, 2004 @10:24PM (#10100551)
    They've been doing this around here for a few years now. A local theatre manager who happened to like video games would allow co-workers to invite a couple of friends and play video games on the big screen once in a while on either Friday or Saturday nights. I don't remember what it started with, but they had been addicted to Halo for a while last I heard. I don't play Halo, so I've never bothered to check it out. :-P

  • No way (Score:5, Funny)

    by pHatidic ( 163975 ) on Saturday August 28, 2004 @10:24PM (#10100552)
    Does anyone else think this could catch on to be successful, especially in college towns?

    No way. College students are way too busy studying to do things such as playing video games and drinking.

  • Yes (Score:4, Insightful)

    by TedCheshireAcad ( 311748 ) <ted AT fc DOT rit DOT edu> on Saturday August 28, 2004 @10:27PM (#10100567) Homepage
    Does anyone else think this could catch on to be successful, especially in college towns?

    Yes, but only if there is beer provided. Pizza also a plus.
    • Off campus, beer and gaming? I'm there!

      To get back on topic, this would definately work in college towns. But we all know this would almost never hold anywhere else. Try doing this in New York or San Francisco and we all know what'd happen. Controllers get smashed, the occasional fight, the 'games cause violence' protesting, the insane amounts of damage, the fire regulations being broken (can't have people falling asleep in the pathways of others), and of course, the little kids who you KNOW will throw stuf

  • Oh come on (Score:4, Interesting)

    by sometwo ( 53041 ) on Saturday August 28, 2004 @10:28PM (#10100574)
    Video games have been done on a bigger "screen" than that: Brown students create massive Tetris game on building [com.com]

    • Re:Oh come on (Score:2, Informative)

      by belg4mit ( 152620 )
      How original
      http://hacks.mit.edu/Hacks/by_location/5 4.html

      Interactive even
      http://vadim.www.media.mit.edu/games/gbt.htm l

      See also
      http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=89704&ci d=7749 183

  • Sound (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Zorilla ( 791636 )
    I'm curious about this. There are a lot of accounts of theaters running gaming and such being posted on here. Of these, how many people are actually hooking the sound up to the theater system? As nice as it would be to see the game at theater size, it would be even cooler to hear it, provided it was hooked up in full surround, not just stereo, or upmixed 2 channel surround.
    • Of these, how many people are actually hooking the sound up to the theater system?

      If it's at all like the theater our church used to meet in, probably not very many. We brought in our own speakers, mounted them up behind the screens, and ran all our own cabling, just because the theater sound system was so proprietary.

      I don't know if this is only in the tiny trashy independent theaters (I say "used to meet in" because it went bankrupt, to no one's surprise), or if all sound systems are like this, though

    • Re:Sound (Score:4, Informative)

      by evn ( 686927 ) on Sunday August 29, 2004 @01:53AM (#10101168)
      When we play (see my post above) we use the theater sound system. The projector to run the advertising accepts standard RCA type connections and is patched into the sound system for the theater - there's no real rummaging around to find empty jacks. I would assume this is to allow a PC to be used to run a slideshow or multimedia presentation when it's rented out for company meetings and such. The advertising is driven by a standard Wintel PC: keep in mind that we're interested in the advertising project (800x600 lcd project) not the projector that shows your the movies. This system is independent of the main projection system but is still tied into the theaters audio system.

      It's not 7.1 THX surround, but it's still loud enough to rumble the ice in your cup.

  • My experience with big screen gaming (Score:3, Informative)

    by theluckyleper ( 758120 ) on Saturday August 28, 2004 @10:51PM (#10100644) Homepage
    I tried this with a few friends of mine once... we knew a T/A in the CS department who had keys to the AV equipment (enough abbreviations FY?). We went to the largest lecture hall and played 20 foot Mario Kart 64 with the RGB projector.

    It was fun... but damn, was it ever fuzzy. I don't think the N64 was meant to be blown up so large! Even on big screen TVs it gets a bit foggy-looking. Fish-doggy (Yoshi) was little more than a 6 foot blob.

    Next time we'll have to try some PC gaming I think, to see if the higher res images fare better.

  • Why I didn't renew my subscription. (Score:3, Insightful)

    by DAldredge ( 2353 ) <SlashdotEmail@GMail.Com> on Saturday August 28, 2004 @10:57PM (#10100661) Journal
    This is why I didn't renew my /. subscription.

    http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/08/19/ 164257&tid=127&tid=211 [slashdot.org]

  • Motion Sickness (Score:4, Interesting)

    by SnowWolf2003 ( 692561 ) on Saturday August 28, 2004 @11:14PM (#10100719)
    A friend of mine recently bought a projector, and we started playing XBOX games on it. Most are great and it's made a huge difference to the gaming experience. The only problem is that for people who have a tendency to experience motion sickness [gamespot.com] when playing FPS style games (like Halo) the effects become amplified. I can play Halo on a normal tv and only feel a little ill after, but after just a minute on the big screen I cannot play any more.
    • I like the more specific term simulator sickness to describe motion sickness related to visual perception of movement without inner ear perception.

      I know people proned to motion sickness who are fine with games, and people who are bad with games who are fine with being moved without seeing the movement (traditional motionsickness).
  • So does this mean adapting Red Versus Blue [redvsblue.com] to the big screen? That's good news for everyone still using dialup.

  • Big Screen Gaming in the University (Score:4, Interesting)

    by foxalopex ( 522681 ) on Saturday August 28, 2004 @11:40PM (#10100812)
    I've actually done this before. Thanks to my affinity with an Anime club, we had access to University theater projection equipment. Car racing type games were breathtaking since the cars were pretty much life sized! The only games that didn't work too well were side scrolling space shooters where there were lots of objects to track on screen. They're difficult because it takes longer for your eyes to track the whole field of view on a big screen killing your reaction time. Aside from that it was a lot of fun. I think if theaters decide to do this, it will be loads of fun! :)
    • Back when I was at Carnegie Mellon, our Online Gaming Society would often run tournaments on the huge lecture hall projection screens. Tourneys included games like Soul Calibre, Smash Bros, and Halo. We even played DDR once or twice, although the slight video delay and having to stare up at the huge screen got a little annoying.

  • Cleveland Indians + PSII + JumboTron 5/6/04 (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Theologian ( 583625 ) on Saturday August 28, 2004 @11:44PM (#10100828)
    The Cleveland Indians allowed people during "College Night" to play on their newly replaced JumboTron (now the largest screen in North America) at Jacob's Field on their "College Night" on May 6, 2004.

    I don't have any photos of the event, except for a local radio station's gallery of pictures.

    http://www.wmms.com/jacor-common/globalphotos.html ?eventID=24801&eventsection=&pagecontent= [wmms.com]
    It's kinda coincidental that they've also made the connection between college and big-screen gaming.
  • if people will sneak camcorders into the theaters to record the games, then release them on the Net.

  • Well, I have two rules dealing with this issue. (Score:5, Funny)

    by nastro ( 32421 ) on Sunday August 29, 2004 @12:20AM (#10100941)
    1. As long as this has nothing to do with Fred Savage, Super Mario Bros. 3, and the word "Wizard" (which, when you think about it, spawned, after several generational mutations, "Hackers")...Well, then I'm game.

    2. As per college kids...C'mon, Timothy...

    Here I quote after drunkedly RTFA...
    "Timothy said tournament entry fees are $60 for a team of four. There is a $3 charge for spectators to watch the games."

    Let it be said, and I feel safe generalising here, that any college kid with $63 will either spend it on: Ramen
    Beer
    Some Girl

    This idea reminds me of the movie theaters that opened up with the pretense of being 'high class', i.e. serving dinner and booze. Nice idea, but the average Joe Consumer can only watch from afar and wish that he/she could afford such niceties. So. Target patron: College kid? Nope. Maybe parents could foot the bill for their kids to do it. Some pay membership fees for their wee ones to join skate parks, why the hell not this, I guess. It's a goofy niche, s'what I'm sayin'.

    In conclusion, I'll get another beer.

  • Market Study (Score:4, Interesting)

    by ducomputergeek ( 595742 ) on Sunday August 29, 2004 @12:23AM (#10100943)
    We did a market research study for a client in a college town that was an existing bar and was looking for a new gimic and though of purchasing the building next door and setting up a system of HD LCD TV's networked into divded areas. Fees to play would would be $5 per person during open times, to cover basic overhead expenses and then make the profit from selling concessions such as snacks, soda, and beer.


    Our conclusion was it could work with about a $50,000 investment in equipement and rennovations and could turn a tidy profit, however it was the fact that it was the X-box and we found that while gamers would pay to play on larger screens that many wouldn't because the ease of setting up a 4 room X-box match in the Dorms or existing frat houses, many of which had several new flat-panel TV's in every room (college/frats had just built 4 brand new houses at an average price of $2M a peice).

  • Back in the day, I knew a guy who owned a movie theater in Houston (the Bellaire, FTitK). They had a video projection system as well, and for his son's birthday party they hooked up the original Nintendo NES with a Duck Hunt cartridge and the Zapper light gun... much fun was had, blasting away at the movie screen...
  • and they are doing it again next month [originalalamo.com] before the showing of of the season 2 DVD of Redvsblue. [redvsblue.com] I've often thought of doing something similar. I'd have our Texas Gaming Festival [txgf.com] at Drafthouse, but the tables are not big enough for a computer. Console works though, and it is more fun seeing Mr. Sinus at Drafthouse where they belong instead of at a makeshift venue during Quakecon.

  • Wow (Score:2)

    by tsa ( 15680 )
    Imagine the thrill and excitement of playing Syberia or Myst (I, II, III, Uru, IV (insert your favorite)) on a big screen like that! Especially for the spectators! ;-)
  • I remember reading about it 10 years ago.

    What happened?

  • Atari Star Raiders (Score:4, Informative)

    by marko123 ( 131635 ) on Sunday August 29, 2004 @04:11AM (#10101404) Homepage
    The Atari Home Computer version was projected on the roof of an observatory (planetarium?) in the very early 80's.

    (most of these details could be wrong from it being so long ago, but I saw a photo of it.)

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