‘Bit-tendo’ prototype offers Bitcoin retro games for bars, conferences

Play to Earn retro games with Bitcoin payouts may soon be making their way to a bar, conference, or meetup near you, according to a Feb. 12 Twitter post by Zebedee founder Christian Moss. The software is tentatively called “Bit-tendo.”

Bitcoin Pay to Play & Play to Earn in Super Mario 3 on the original NES! #bitcoin #retrogames #lightningnetwork powered by @zebedeeio and @lnbits

200 retweets and i’ll integrate SONIC

“Bit-tendo” will be a free retro game bitcoin infuser for bars, conferences, meet ups etc pic.twitter.com/4GBuXX9pN2

— Christian Moss (@MandelDuck) February 12, 2023

The Twitter post includes a video of someone playing Super Mario Bros. 3 on a small, old school tube television. The TV displays a QR code at startup, and asks for a Bitcoin payment. Only once the payment is sent does the game start running.

During gameplay, a “Sats” counter is displayed that apparently counts the number of Sats the player has won as a reward so far — “Sats” are Bitcoin’s smallest divisible unit of 0.00000001BTC each. The display also shows a timer that counts down from 90 seconds to zero, and when the timer goes to zero, the game ends and a new QR code is displayed. A statement at the bottom and top of the image  implies that the player can use the QR code to withdraw their Sats.

In the post, Moss said that the software will eventually “be a free retro game bitcoin infuser for bars, conferences, meet ups etc.”

Cointelegraph reached out to Christian Moss for an explanation of how the software works. In response, he told us that it runs on a PC or other device that is able to accept a video feed. The game itself is produced by a real Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) console, but the video is altered en route to show the Sats counter and timer. The software tracks movements in the video feed to determine if the player has collected a coin and updates the Sat counter each time a coin is collected.

In order to fund the payout wallet, Moss said that the bar or club needs to sign up for a custodial wallet with Zebedee or LNBits. The wallet is connected to the Lightning Network in order to enable low transaction fees and fast payments.

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The Zebedee app is available on the Google Play and Apple app stores. Screenshots reveal that it has a “top up” (deposit) and “cash out” (withdrawal) function that can be accessed after the user completes a Know Your…