It's like puppetry, sorta.
Takes motion controls to a whole new level.
Music controllers are all the rage nowadays, thanks to your Rock Bands and your DJ Heroes, even your GameCube Jungle Beats. Now, some whiz has managed to hook up an obscure instrument for some retro action.
The theremin is known for its spooky sounds and for being the only instrument you can play without physical contact. Your hand's proximity to the two metal antennas jutting out determine both pitch and volume, which in this setup controls Mario's horizontal and vertical control respectively. It looks pretty manageable, albeit a bit hokey. Apparently the setup allows a bunch of other instruments to be used, like a violin or even a microphone to yell at the screen and jump.
Eat your heart out, Natal:
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1. VGP
14 Jun 2009, 04:08 BST
Awesome I love Theremin I've played one before,they are so cool.and this guy takes it to a W.N.L.Whole Nother Level as coach hines said.
2. Buster13
14 Jun 2009, 04:09 BST
Seems like Running would be hard, or impossible.
3. VGP
14 Jun 2009, 04:13 BST
The controls look very simple,easy and fun.Hopefully one day I can try this.
@Corbie:While I do love to use a controller I don't mind new ways of playing old school games.
4. Stuffgamer1
14 Jun 2009, 04:15 BST
I'm glad nobody's gone as overboard as to make a Wii game that controls like this! BAD idea, IMO. I do think that theremins are REALLY cool, but not for gaming.
5. Panda
14 Jun 2009, 04:15 BST
It's like installing Linux on everything imaginable: why not?
6. Corbie
14 Jun 2009, 04:22 BST
When they get mind-control, then I'll be impressed. I mean why have to move at all if you don't have to. Free up those hands for soft drinks and snacks. In fact, just create me a virtual being that can play the games for me and I can just download the enjoyment from the being's USB slot when I get time.
7. VGP
14 Jun 2009, 04:36 BST
Hey Corbie here.
http://findhype.com/Tech/NINTENDO_WII_2010
8. Corbie
14 Jun 2009, 04:49 BST
Thanks for that link VGP. And anytime I see a video with Super Mario Bros. being played, it makes me want to play the game.
9. VGP
14 Jun 2009, 04:51 BST
Same here.
10. warioswoods
14 Jun 2009, 05:04 BST
I believe the reaction "that's cool, but will it play the Mario theme?" has attained the level of "that's cool, but will it run Linux?" in a certain demographic.
...Not necessarily a bad thing.
But this guy takes it to a whole 'nother level, seeing if a musical instrument will actually play the game SMB. .
11. StarDust
14 Jun 2009, 06:26 BST
I'd like to see Linux actually run on an NES or SNES
- moving on, I think Theremins are awesome, and it would be awesome to get some schematics and try to build one - I've also thought a couple of times about getting an old school desk, a small LCD monitor, some arcade buttons and joysticks, an NES clone system, and build an NES arcade cabinet out of it! (the cartridges would fit through a slot drilled in the top of the desk) After all, I am an Electrical Engineering Technology Major 
12. KDR_11k
14 Jun 2009, 06:57 BST
Finally a videogame Homsar can play.
13. Stuffgamer1
14 Jun 2009, 08:09 BST
@KDR_11k: AWESOME reference!
14. angel m. rivera collazo
14 Jun 2009, 08:23 BST
I like fantasy,unreal videogames.The more real...the less interesting.Thats why I have a Wii.Imaginative arcade virtual console games.Never real.Arcade at home.Over ten systems in one console!Well...The Conduit is an exception...
15. angel m. rivera collazo
14 Jun 2009, 08:25 BST
motion controls? I use them when theres a party home...NEVER!
16. Joe Diddley
14 Jun 2009, 09:25 BST
The ultimate rhythm game
I wonder what happens if you try and play the bit from Good Vibrations?
17. MickEiA
14 Jun 2009, 09:28 BST
Worst 1:27 video
18. Wiiloveit
14 Jun 2009, 12:14 BST
That's cool, but a bit awkward, no? Plus, notice the lack of a "duck" function.
I wonder what happens if you try and play the bit from Good Vibrations?
You get a British lady trying to find her long lost Irish love in the middle of the ocean.
19. metakirbyknight
14 Jun 2009, 12:35 BST
@ 6. Corbie
http://www.firstscience.com/home/blog/30.html
Read the bit about space invaders. No joke. It's in the book of world records.
20. RevolverLink
14 Jun 2009, 12:54 BST
Okay, I'll admit it: I had no clue what a theremin was until I saw this video.
21. MarkyVigoroth
14 Jun 2009, 12:54 BST
I would like to see the bonang (an Indonesian instrument), guitar, and recorder (the flute, not the tape recorder) be used as controllers (though the bonang is the most likely).
These controllers should be used in playing Mother 3, by the way, due to the musical battle system in that game. In fact, if a bonang GameCube/GBA/Classic Controller was ever invented, I would try to use said controller to play Mother 3!
22. Objection_Blaster
14 Jun 2009, 17:08 BST
Interesting set-up there.
23. Wiiloveit
14 Jun 2009, 20:41 BST
@metakirbyknight: as wrong as it may seem, those Wii "remotes" look slightly like "objects for women's pleasure".
24. Nintendo-Naut
15 Jun 2009, 03:27 BST
25. moosa
15 Jun 2009, 15:50 BST
There are oodles of crazy MIDI instruments out there (most of which are very expensive), and with a program like GlovePIE and some coding it would be quite possible to use any one of them as a game input device.
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