Event: "INSERT COIN" retrogaming nights (Milan, Italy, ongoing)
Think Milan is only about fashion and design? Blast the stereotype away! The real appeal of Milano is its retrogaming tribes who are organizing some of the hottest events in Northern Italy. Take "Insert Coin". Masterminded by Ubisoft programmer by day Andrea Babich aka Bisboch and Fabio Bortolotti aka Kenobit, Insert Coin brings together 8-bit games, chiptune, manga, lightguns, and beer. Every. Month. Do you want to know more about the Insert Coin events? Check the Retrogaming Milano page on (sigh) Facebook. The retro-location is the circolo Arci Métissage, located in via Gaetano De Castillia, in Milan. Game freakiness is explicitly required. No, really:
Unsurprisingly one of the puppet masters, Mr. Bisboch, has been working on the greatest arcade remake project of all time, Bubble Bobble: Lost Cave, "A project that aims to create a new experience for every lover of the classic Bubble Bobble arcade game, designed by Fukio “MTJ” Mitsuji and crew back in 1986." It looks like this:
"SOURCE: Game Boy Color RND25-GRV At this point of the game, we really needed to start introducing the first of the three special bubbles, namely the Water Bubble. We’re already late – on the original Bubble Bobble coin-op it appears at round six. We chose an advanced stage from the Game Boy Color version, which you may find on the elusive Graveyard path: function-wise, it’s quite similar to the aformentioned round 6, with water zigzagging from top to bottom, but the layout follows a symmetrical patch (those Bubble Bobble GBC developers were really obsessed with simmetry!). The good thing is that now, without that ugly GBC backgound, you can actually understand what’s going on. As a bonus, you get a free Coleridge quote in the round title. Or an Iron Maiden one, if you prefer." (Bisboch)
So, what's not to love?
Last but no least, Bisboch and Kinobit are chiptune masters. Here's an example of their work, The Sultans of SID - Bunta's Theme (2013), "A tribute to Shinichi Sakamoto and Psychic 5, recorded with a Nintendo Game Boy running LSDJ and a Commodore 64 played live via midi, with a Mssiah cart." (Bortolotti - Babich). Its a killer kombo.
Andrea Babich & Fabio Bortolotti
Submitted by Matteo Bittanti