Categories: Geek

World’s Most Kick Ass Insert Coin Animation With Real Coins

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…

Richard Darell

Richard Darell is the founder and CEO of Bit Rebels, a multifaceted online news outlet that reports daily on the latest developments in technology, social media, design and everything geek. Today this media entity welcomes more than 3.5 million unique visitors per month and is considered the go-to place for people in constant motion. As an Internet entrepreneur, he is dedicated to constantly trying to develop new ways to bring content faster and closer to the end user in a more streamlined way. His excitement for statistics has allowed him to further develop systems that continuously produce accurate and fast-paced analytics to better optimize the approach by which Bit Rebels presents news and content. His graphic design background has proven to be an important tool when designing new systems and features for Bit Rebels since the development of solid and stable code depends entirely on their structure and implemented procedures. Richard currently resides in Stockholm, Sweden and directs the Bit Rebels offices in both Stockholm and Atlanta. You can reach Richard at richard@bitrebels.com