(this post is in progress - what follows are notes to myself on writing this post)
Information on interfacing NES controllers:
http://www.parallax.com/dl/docs/prod/prop/Hydra-Ch6All-v1.0.pdf
http://www.xs4all.nl/~ganswijk/chipdir/giicm/4021.txt
http://pinouts.ru/Game/snescontroller_pinout.shtml
Parallel->NES Controller cable (take a picture!)
TV Tuner, image processor
Java, JavaComm, JMF, Zelda?