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Play Halo at the Movies

Posted by simoniker on from the divinely-large dept.

modpod writes "According to Engadget, who reference an MSNBC article, a movie theater in Logan, Utah recently hooked up a few Xbox consoles to theater projectors, and is now regularly hosting Halo tournaments in the movie theater, after they 'took four video projectors and set one up in each of four theaters'." Theater co-owner Calvin Timothy said: "According to the gal at the licensing company, we're the first theater ever to license Xbox with them for a theater... It took an act of Congress and a blessing of God (to get the license)." We've previously discussed IMAX screens being used for gaming.

32 comments

  1. 4 Player (Marvel entity) vs. Street Fighter/Capcom by numbski · · Score: 3, Interesting

    or 6 player. There was a hack floating around for MAME, and I think even Nebula and Kawaks that allowed for this over the net. Oh happy day to do that in a theater.

    *drool*

    (meanwhile, elsewhere geeks drool over doing other erm...'things' in a theater, but I digress)

    --

    Karma: Chameleon (mostly due to the fact that you come and go).

  2. popularity gaining by chaosmage42 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I've heard of this done at my university with a single X-Box in the biggest lecture hall late at night {ITS staff gets keys!}. It's neat that it's played legitimately and regularly {shows interest} in theatres. Hopefully we'll see this spreading.

    --

    done
  3. Multiplayer Halo is perfect by ribond · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This could only make it more so. My only gripe: I can't setup the game to split the screen vertically for 2 players...

    If you haven't tried it: the Halo campaign is fantastic, but multiplayer halo is unbelievable.

    Even with the limited map selection the plethora of game type changes you can make produce a game that never gets old.

    I wonder if I can convince a local movie theatre to try this out... :)

    ps: halo2 comes out 11/9
    pps: http://www.ilovebees.com/ Yes it's related.

    1. Re:Multiplayer Halo is perfect by darkjedi521 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Better hope your local theater has either an LCD projector for running video or a DLP for digital cinema. No way to hook this up to a stock projector. Won't be seeing this in my area any time soon, as none of the theaters are equipped for anything but film.

    2. Re:Multiplayer Halo is perfect by Danny+Rathjens · · Score: 1
      My only gripe: I can't setup the game to split the screen vertically for 2 players

      That would really restrict your field of view though. I think it is better to see more left and right, than it is to see more up and down.

      oh, actually, I guess part of why I feel this way is because my group of friends always disables the radar. It makes the game a bit more exciting when people have a chance to sneak up behind you.

    3. Re:Multiplayer Halo is perfect by Rallion · · Score: 1

      You're not allowed to say anything good about Halo unless you have significant experience with two of the following: Goldeneye, Perfect Dark, Timesplitters 2.

      I have hundreds of hours on each, and Halo multiplayer seems bland and repetative by comparison.

    4. Re:Multiplayer Halo is perfect by ribond · · Score: 2, Interesting

      That would really restrict your field of view though. I think it is better to see more left and right, than it is to see more up and down.


      But playing multiplayer on a widescreen TV is just weird with only a top/bottom split. You feel like you're in a very narrow panoramic view. :) And (my experience) you constantly get owned from above because looking up takes too long.

      We play radar disabled as well -- the only way to go. :)
  4. Thats all? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny
    It took an act of Congress and a blessing of God (to get the license).

    And people around here are always complaining about how big business gets the government to make overly restrictive laws.

    1. Re:Thats all? by nacturation · · Score: 2, Funny

      "It took an act of Congress and a blessing of God (to get the license)."

      And people around here are always complaining about how big business gets the government to make overly restrictive laws.

      Of course, God has been making Bush enact overly restrictive laws for quite some time now.

      --
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    2. Re:Thats all? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      "Of course, God has been making Bush enact overly restrictive laws for quite some time now."

      So true. I can hardly step outside anymore without some jackbooted thug hauling me off to the gulag. That damn Bush! It's all his fault!

  5. That's pretty good, but.... by CptnSbaitso · · Score: 2, Informative

    I would like to rent your theater for a LAN party. 32 screens = 32 players with the biggest screens and best surround sound yet. Awwww yeah.... How much would you pay for the opportunity?

    1. Re:That's pretty good, but.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Yeah, but individual room aren't good for LANs. You can't shout "SUCKER" and watch the guy you fragged give you the finger... you might as well play on the net.

      Still, Halo 4 vs 4 CTF with a cinema screen each would rule. You can at least talk to your team then.

  6. Motion Sickness an Issue? by FeetOfStinky · · Score: 3, Interesting
    I can't say I've done any gaming in a movie theatre. But I have on several occasions played first person shooters over at my buddy's house using his LCD projector. The screen measures 120 inches or so, and I find it only takes an hour before I start to get queasy. I never have this problem playing games on my TV or computer.

    These guys better get the barf buckets ready.

    1. Re:Motion Sickness an Issue? by Shagz · · Score: 2, Funny

      You could just use the empty Popcorn buckets. I don't think I'd want to go for the free refill though!

    2. Re:Motion Sickness an Issue? by bigman2003 · · Score: 1

      Yep, same thing happens to me.

      I set up a projector, and had a 7 foot tall screen.

      Golf looked great, so did tennis.

      Halo made me sick in about 2 minutes. It's just too fast for me to handle on a big screen.

      --
      No reason to lie.
    3. Re:Motion Sickness an Issue? by cbirdsong64 · · Score: 1

      Halo is a fairly slow paced game as far as FPS games go. I can't imagine playing something crazy fast like Timesplitters 2 on a projector.

    4. Re:Motion Sickness an Issue? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      We did it here at work with one of the managers projectors in the boardroom one christmas eve. We tried playing Q3 but it was pretty nauseating. IMO, the coolest part was that someone brought in their racing wheel and we were time-trialing Colin McRae Rally all afternoon. That looked awesome, and it didn't make the players or speactators queasy at all.

      Great fun.

    5. Re:Motion Sickness an Issue? by JFMulder · · Score: 1

      Must be you. I had a similar setup at my parents house (100 inches) and played Ninja Gaiden for a whole afternoon on a boring saturday and I was quite fine. But then, I also read for hours in a bus going through rought terrain going up and down, so maybe I'm not the kind of people who's affected by motion sickness anyway...

  7. Re:It's gotta be said.. by Ahnteis · · Score: 3, Funny

    I LIVE in Logan. How come I didn't hear about this sooner?!

  8. Gaming maladies... by Cyno01 · · Score: 1

    I remember when i started playing first person 3d games (mechwarrior 2, descent), i always had a sore neck from jerking my head around trying to look at things. I was a spaz of a little kid though...

    --
    "Sic Semper Tyrannosaurus Rex."
  9. Re:It's gotta be said.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Because the tractor that delivers your monthly paper hasn't made it to your house yet?

  10. How'd they get around... by Moryath · · Score: 2, Interesting

    the fact that LCD projectors tend to have a 2-3 frame delay?

    1. Re:How'd they get around... by way2trivial · · Score: 1
      well, they all have the same delay?



      +, if you are all working on a video card that can supply 60fps, then how long is the delay?

      --
      every day http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
    2. Re:How'd they get around... by SphericalCrusher · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Maybe because it's not an LCD screen, it's a projector. ;) Unless, of course, you're replying to something someone else said that was offtopic...

      --
      "Instant gratification takes too long." - Carrie Fisher
  11. Re:It's gotta be said.. by pontifier · · Score: 1

    Too true... I find out about more local events and things through slashdot than anywhere else.

    --
    -John Fenley
  12. xbconnect by kcornwell · · Score: 1

    Check out http://www.xbconnect.com/ It allows you to play "system link" enabled games over the internet. It's free and works great! At this very moment there are 203 Halo games being hosted! Jup and look for kornkob.

  13. Re:It's gotta be said.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...I'm sorry.

  14. Zing! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Zing!

  15. Bigger is better by mattACK · · Score: 1

    "You've got room to move when you can see a bigger picture," Stocks said. "When you have (multiple) people playing on a small TV screen, you can't tell what's going on."

    This is true. Only since getting my projector has 4 player split screen gaming become practical. Nobody bitches when every player gets 50" of screen area.

    --


    "My God, this must be a truly remarkable corn chip, to be so widely and confidently touted."
  16. I did this back in college by bludstone · · Score: 1

    When I played through ff7 the first time, I did so in one of the college's theaters. I had the "in," so to speak, with the media folks. Getting a pass, the keys, and the connectors were trivial. Heck, half the time they would show up and want to play with us.

    So, it was tekken 3, soul blade, and other games in the theater on the ps1.

    But, let me tell you, finishing ff7 for the first time, in a movie theater, was pretty darn remarkable.

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