Last weekend, from Saturday 5 to Sunday 6 July 2025, Crazy Games arcade in Surbo, Italy, opened its doors to players from all over Europe for the International In The Groove (ITG) Competition. The arcade floor with four cabinets side by side, panels flashing as competitors prepared for the competitions.
Friday: warm‑up
A handful of early arrivals took advantage of free play and playtesting on Friday 4 July. It was the perfect chance to dust off skills and get comfortable with the pads. By evening, most felt ready for battle.
Saturday: General Divisions
Saturday’s schedule packed all four main divisions into a single day:
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Beginner (Level 5–8)
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Lower (Level 7–11)
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Mid (Level 9–13)
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Upper (Level 10–15)
Sync start on four cabinets let eight players go head to head. Groups battled for points only the top scorers moved on, while the rest fought through elimination rounds until semifinals and finals decided the podium. Between matches, there was time to chat, review scores, and prepair for the next round. Watching someone nail their timing was very cool in itself, just genuine respect.
Sunday: Side events, each testing a different skill set
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Hard‑Tech (Level 9–13): Fast, pinpoint precision.
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Sightread: charts revealed at the start, no practice, no repeats.
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Gimmicks: custom modfiles and weird effects to throw you off.
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Variety: team challenges like avoid the top two and bottom two placements on the results, play without bar and speedmod, freestyle danceoffs, or racking up the most misses without failing.
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Official DDR/ITG: the original songs, just the classics.
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Doubles: two pads at once.
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Stamina: an endurance competition, last player standing.
Format Recap
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Sync start: 4 cabinets, 8 players
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Group stages: Point race best advance
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Finals: Semis and finals decide top spots
After each bracket, trophies were handed out and winners posed for photos to well deserved applause.
Aside from the main competitions, the organizers had set up additional rhythm‑game cabinets like IIDX, Taiko, and Guitar Hero Arcade for anyone who didn’t need to compete. There was also a StepManiaX cabinet, and all of these were free‑play. You could also get credits and try out the other games at the venue.
Thanks are due to the Italian community and their sponsors for putting this all together.
Lastly, here are the results:
