The impact of the pandemic, the invasion of streaming services, the poor quality of recent releases, the actors' strike, and a general rise in costs have put many movie theaters in trouble, especially those that are not part of big chains. However, a user on Reddit named «Visual_Performer1665» did something that isn't seen very often and could turn into a new trend: renting the whole theater to play co-op with eight players, using his Steam Deck.
Going to the movies is certainly a very special experience. Sometimes things don't go so well for different reasons (noisy kids, annoying people, audio and video glitches, etc.), but we all agree that some movies must be seen in a theater first. Oppenheimer and Dune were two excellent examples, and I think there are titles with enough firepower (Furiosa, Deadpool & Wolverine, A Quiet Place: Day One, Alien: Romulus) to justify new visits this year.
Now, how does going to the movies to play co-op with a Steam Deck sound? The pandemic marked a before and after, and theater owners had to explore alternatives. Renting theaters for private events isn't that common, but the Reddit user «Visual_Performer1665» is already on his second visit in less than a year.
Renting theaters for gaming sessions: a new trend?
«Visual_Performer1665» explains that the Steam Deck saved him a lot of work, connecting its HDMI output to the projector input. A Bluetooth 5.3 adapter allowed four generic gamepads (which imitate the Nintendo Switch Pro), while an Xbox Wireless Adapter did the same with four Xbox gamepads. The software was the most complicated part of the whole process, since «Visual_Performer1665» had to set up a dual boot of SteamOS and Windows to access a program called «NucleusCo-Op», which turns (almost) any game into a splitscreen title.
Minecraft, Call of Duty: Black Ops II, and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (emulated) were some of the games chosen by «Visual_Performer1665». Although Minecraft needed several performance mods, the Steam Deck met expectations, guaranteeing a base of 60 FPS in all cases.
Finally, the price: «Visual_Performer1665» rented a small local theater for less than a thousand dollars, enabling four hours of gaming, unlimited drinks and popcorn, and the possibility of bringing in more food. It's not cheap... but it doesn't sound terrible for one of the best co-op sessions seen in recent years.
Source: Reddit
