Michael Steil presents diorama64, an open-source project that turns Super Mario 64 levels into living dioramas on Apple Vision Pro that sit on a real table while you play with a controller, and contrasts Nintendo's takedowns with Microsoft's embrace of similar fan projects.
The Best Way to Play Super Mario 64: on Apple Vision Pro
Michael Steil
Super Mario 64 becomes a living diorama on Apple Vision Pro. Each level sits on your real table, and you walk around it while you play with a game controller. You are the camera: lean in for a closer look, or step around the table to see Mario from any side.
These clips record the headset’s entire field of view, so the diorama is only a small part of a wide picture. Watch them full screen on a large display.
The title screen: you pull Mario’s face around with your fingers.
The opening flyover of the castle grounds, close enough to lean into.
Inside the castle: rooms appear as you discover them.
Bob-omb Battlefield: you walk around it to follow the path up the mountain.
Princess’s Secret Slide, the whole chute in view at once.
The Tower of the Wing Cap.
Bowser in the Fire Sea, a lake of lava in the dining room.
Big Boo’s Haunt: outside the house, then inside it.
Scaled up until you are standing inside the level.
Last week, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma wrote that games are being “rapidly decompiled and rebuilt to run on hardware they were never originally designed to support”, and called it “unmistakably good outcomes for players.” Nintendo’s answer to the same idea was DMCA takedowns for the Super Mario 64 PC port in 2020 and a lawsuit against Yuzu in 2024.
Wouldn’t it be nice if Nintendo were more like Microsoft?