22-25 April 2026 
What Retro Games Taught Me About Microsoft Fabric
Proposed session for SQLBits 2026TL; DR
Dive into a crazy session where DOOM and Pokémon Yellow run inside Microsoft Fabric Notebooks. See retro games as data, explore Lakehouse tricks, and learn why plain Python often beats PySpark for real-world Fabric solutions.
Session Details
As a person who likes computer games, I would like to know if I can somehow play some old games on Microsoft Fabric. Meanwhile, during my process of trying, I have encountered many interesting approaches and learned a lot from the perspective of what can be done.
In this unique session, I would like to delve into a topic that combines retro gaming and Microsoft Fabric, and demonstrate how iconic titles like DOOM and Pokémon Yellow can come alive within Microsoft Fabric Notebooks using PySpark or Python. Through live demonstrations, you'll be able to see these nostalgic games working, as well as how Fabric behaves in these edge scenarios. I would also like to show you how to elevate some of the approaches I came up with in your notebooks or solutions.
We'll explore:
Running DOOM and Pokémon Yellow directly in Fabric Notebooks, highlighting platform versatility.
Creative scenarios leveraging Fabric Lakehouses to store, manage, and retrieve game data.
Why PySpark should not be your direct answer to any solution in Fabric and why plain Python should be.
Join me to elevate your understanding of Microsoft Fabric, combining nostalgia, innovation, and practical knowledge in one crazy session!
In this unique session, I would like to delve into a topic that combines retro gaming and Microsoft Fabric, and demonstrate how iconic titles like DOOM and Pokémon Yellow can come alive within Microsoft Fabric Notebooks using PySpark or Python. Through live demonstrations, you'll be able to see these nostalgic games working, as well as how Fabric behaves in these edge scenarios. I would also like to show you how to elevate some of the approaches I came up with in your notebooks or solutions.
We'll explore:
Running DOOM and Pokémon Yellow directly in Fabric Notebooks, highlighting platform versatility.
Creative scenarios leveraging Fabric Lakehouses to store, manage, and retrieve game data.
Why PySpark should not be your direct answer to any solution in Fabric and why plain Python should be.
Join me to elevate your understanding of Microsoft Fabric, combining nostalgia, innovation, and practical knowledge in one crazy session!
3 things you'll get out of this session
Practical tricks for running unconventional workloads (like retro games) inside Microsoft Fabric Notebooks. Deeper understanding of when to use PySpark vs. plain Python for real-world Fabric scenarios. New ideas for using Lakehouses to store, manage, and explore complex or non-traditional data.