earthbound has a little virtual controller system that allows for gamepad input to be recorded and played back, probably for demos at trade shows and whatnot. but this feature is also used to move the party around whenever you're not controlling them. stairs, escalators, vehicles... they're all controlled by virtual gamepads
@Herringway I wonder if they actually just recorded those sequences off of a controller
@Herringway okay that's much wilder than I expected