Technology is awesome, and the crazy things tinkerers and makers can do with everyday tech can be mind-blowing. Especially when it comes to doing weird stuff with games. Which brings us to the winners of HackIllinois, a collegiate hacking competition, who used a Raspberry Pi and other tools to convert a Chevy Volt into a Mario Kart 64 controller.
A blog post by the winners describes the process used to achieve this technological feat. Using data from the car, a mini-computer (the aforementioned Raspberry Pi), and the software needed to read the data from the car, the hackers were able to convert functions such as the steering wheel and windshield wipers into buttons on a Nintendo 64 emulator.
Most intriguing is the thought process behind converting the steering wheel to the N64 stick. The emulator software considers the stick as a button, only providing left or right. A steering wheel is more like a modern joystick in function, meaning there’s a dead zone to keep in mind, as well as the depth a wheel is capable of turning. So the hackers developed a method to make turning the wheel equate to length of time the button is pressed, to make the game feel more like driving a car.
Check out this ridiculous Mario Kart 64 setup in action.
Source: avidhacker