I remember playing the arcade games, especially the pinball machines, in the arcade halls when I was younger. Unfortunately, most of them were closed and shut down long ago. The magic of entering a hall full of 8-bit music and people cheering for each other is what I miss the most, and I have no idea why these arcade halls don’t work today as well. I mean, there are plenty of games out there still being played on arcade machines that would make a new Flynn’s just boom with life.
Maybe that’s why I enjoyed Tron Legacy so much when I saw it. If I had the time, I would certainly go and check it out again, but I’ll just have to wait until I can buy the DVD or Blu-ray version of it and blast it at home instead. What I will always think of when I see a pinball machine are the “Insert Coin” animations. I’m talking about the pixelated animation that always seemed truly smooth and real; however, with graphics that couldn’t even match the early Commodore 64 graphics on Outrun and those iconic games.
A couple of guys, Tomas Redigh and Daniel Larsson, from Sweden (judging by the accent in their English and the close ups of the coins) decided to create their own Insert Coin animation but this time using real coins. Using a ceiling projector camera and what seems to be an endless supply of coins, they have created what I would certainly call an epic animation that will be hard for anyone to match. At first, it looks like just another simple stop motion animation, but it doesn’t take long until it’s clear that these guys truly think in 3D.
The awesome Super Mario 3D experience is probably my favorite of the whole thing, and it would be more than awesome if Nintendo would check this out and make Super Mario into a first person jumper game, or something like that. It would definitely float my boat. It would be one of those instantly cool gaming experiences that I think would really make kids and grown-ups play the game for hours. Well, Super Mario probably already does that, but I am just saying…
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