HoloLens developer recreates Super Mario Bros in augmented reality

Video game developers seem intent on conjuring up new ways to make us look like prize buffoons while we play. If it's not dance mats or motion controls it's virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) changing the world around us.

VR locks people into virtual worlds only they and those in similar headsets can see, while AR takes the real world and superimposes computer-generated imagery on it - the potential for gaming is obvious.

Pokémon Go is the biggest example of an AR game, but Microsoft's HoloLens headset offers something different, as you can see with this new demo bringing Nintendo's Super Mario Bros into the real world.

It's not officially licensed and won't be released as an official game, but developer Abhishek Singh has recreated the iconic opening level of the 1985 NES classic and played it down Central Park's Mall.

You can see the game being played in the video embedded below. It shows the player jumping to hit blocks, growing with mushrooms (or rather shrinking the size of the objects) and jumping on Goombas.

He has to walk around the game's pipes, but considering they're five-to-six feet tall that's fair enough.

It looks like a cool experiment but not exactly an industry-shaking new kind of play, which can be said of every notable HoloLens demo. In 2015 Microsoft demoed a shooter with enemies appearing to break out of walls, and in 2016 it showed off a platformer starring a young Conker from Conker's Bad Fur Day.

Perhaps the most famous demo however involved Minecraft, which was shown off at E3 2015.