VR SuperGun – An Experimental Prototype Extending the JAMMA Arcade Platform into Networked Virtual Space

VR SuperGun at ACM SIGGRAPH 2021. https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3450615.3464526

VR SuperGun is a custom hardware and software solution that allows players to connect with original arcade platforms over a network connection, while reconstituting the material form of the arcade cabinet in digital space. It extends the format of the standard SuperGun, a device that contains the wiring of an arcade cabinet in consolised form.

An exploded view of the virtual arcade cabinet with Capcom’s Ghosts ‘N Goblins (1985) playable in a web browser, streaming direct from a JAMMA arcade board.

A rotating view of VR SuperGun‘s virtual CRT monitor.

The system can also be modified to fit inside a full size arcade game cabinet, with a pass through connector leaving normal player access to the game coin-op unimpeded. VR SuperGun augments the arcade system’s visual display, rerouting the direct feed from the arcade PCB’s visual and audio outputs to the virtual display of a virtual reality arcade cabinet.

This virtual arcade shell visually recreates the presence of a full-size arcade cabinet in interactive 3D space, including its internal design and electronics. In addition to playing the game presented, the user can inspect the cabinet and its surroundings, while accessing the technical specifications and history of the game and cabinet.

VR SuperGun’s networking aspect facilitates long-distance cooperative of the attached game board to remote participants. As arcade games move from public space to private collections and museum exhibits, this hands-off access allows player access while causing no damage to the arcade cabinet’s physical enclosure.

A supplementary video feed allows the remote user to see the attached board and its local environment, strengthening the connection between the player and the original host hardware.

As an experimental prototype, VR SuperGun attempts to bridge the gap in-between the authenticity and tangibility of experiencing arcade gameplay through original hardware and in situated space around the arcade cabinet, net play, and the gameplay spectatorship afforded through livestreaming.

In the context of game art and media art it uses the material of the JAMMA hardware interface to explore the boundaries of interfacing with the complete arcade machine through remote digital means, providing a meditation on the physicality of hardware both in its form and situated environment, alongside the representational experience of these aspects through software.

An early version of the VR SuperGun hardware prototype set up in desktop mode for use with a flat display.

This prototype uses A-Frame WebVR as a delivery platform, bringing network connectivity to the JAMMA arcade standard. The live video stream from the connected JAMMA game PCB is presented as the screen texture on a 3D representation of an arcade machine.

VR SuperGun’s graphics are delivered in a low polygon style fitting a mid-1990s arcade vector graphics aesthetic. By using an A-Frame WebVR enabled interface VR SuperGun is accessible from basic desktop and mobile browsers as flat 3D, and also through WebXR compatible Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, and Mixed Reality headsets.

An early version of the VR SuperGun prototype, displaying a live feed from Altered Beast (Sega, 1988) streamed to the HTML Canvas. The video texture is mapped to a modified sphere on the left, and to a flat plane on the right.

The VR SuperGun hardware setup (minus display).

Arduino to JAMMA circuit detail.

Links:

VR SuperGun: Installation Edition (2024), Proceedings of the Eighteenth International Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction (acm.org)

SIGGRAPH 2021 Proceedings, ACM SIGGRAPH Digital Library – VR SuperGun: Interfacing 1980s Arcade Hardware with Online Virtual Reality – https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3450615.3464526

SIGGRAPH 2021, Immersive Pavilion – VR SuperGun: Interfacing 1980s Arcade Hardware With Online Virtual Reality

DkIT Lecturer Wins IDI 2020 Experience Design Award

VR SuperGun, Experience Design Category Winner at the IDI 2020 Awards

Tokyo Game Show 2020 Onlineのプレスリリース (PDF)
Press Release for Tokyo Game Show 2020 Online (PDF)

VR SuperGun at the Tokyo Game Show 2020

VR SuperGun at the 23rd Japan Media Arts Festival 2020 Archive

アーケードビデオゲームインタラクションにおける認証と仮想化の橋渡し【JST・京大機械翻訳】

VR SuperGun Demo at 3Dcamp Dublin & Irish VR meetup (2019)

Bridging Authenticity and Virtualisation in Arcade Videogame Interaction – 2018 IEEE Games, Entertainment, and Media Conference (GEM)