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You're invited to a Scott Pilgrim soundtrack listening party
It's been a while since you last attended an exclusive soiree, hasn't it? Our compatriots over at AOL Music have invited you to a "Listening Party" for the Anamanaguchi-crafted soundtrack for Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game. Yes, that's fancy internet-speak for "the whole album is now available to stream for free, on the off-chance you're too much of a cheapskate to buy it." So, it may not be the most exciting party you've ever attended in your life, but at least you can attend it sans pants and not get any funny looks from your contemporaries.
Scott Pilgrim game soundtrack coming to iTunes next week
Do you wish you had the soundtrack to the recently released Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game, so that you had the appropriate tunes for your favorite exercise routine? That routine being, of course, beating the coins out of Canadian hipsters. The 8-bit quartet Anamanaguchi, which crafted the beat-em-up's score, recently announced that the soundtrack will be released August 24 on iTunes through ABKCO Music and Records. If you're forced to deal with a small group of menacing Canadian hipsters standing outside right at this moment, you can stream clips from the soundtrack on ABKCO's site to get pumped up. Or, if you'd just like to hear a few more selections from the 'Guch, you can do so on the band's official site. [Thanks Vivas!]
'Reformat the Planet' chiptune doc on DVD this month, Laserdisc version slated for 2012
It's no secret that we love chiptunes around here, so we'll just go ahead and say that we're super stoked about Reformat the Planet, an in-depth look at one of the few groups of people we can unequivocally say are geekier than we are: those who make music with Game Boys, NES's, and C64's. 2 Player Productions has combined footage from the insane Blip Festival with up-close-and-personals with some of our favorite retro-gaming musicians -- Nullsleep, Glomag, Tugboat and Bubblyfish -- for a thorough portrait of the rapidly-growing scene. A little art, a little science, a lot of awesome. The 2-disc set is out on August 24th, but for now, you can check the trailer (which includes an introduction to square-wave moshing) after the jump.
Chiptune documentary 'Reformat the Planet' on DVD August 24
Reformat the Planet is a documentary by 2 Player Productions about the 2006 Blip Festival and the artists who helped put it together (and then played a bunch of amazing chip music on stage), including Nullsleep, Glomag, Bit Shifter, Hally, Anamanaguchi, and more. 2PP just announced the date for the long-awaited DVD release: August 24. The two-disc package includes the original movie, as well as a "Reformat the Planet 1.5" featurette that follows up with the next couple of years of the New York chiptune scene (a clip of that can be found after the break). The discs also have music videos and songs from some of the included artists. In addition, 2PP partnered with Fangamer to create some lovely merchandise that can be purchased in bundles with the DVD. If you want to look like a person who knows a lot about music made with Game Boys, you can buy a shirt, square buttons (how is this possible?), a poster, and Blip Festival DVDs and CDs. Then you can watch the movie and actually know a lot about it!
TUAW's Daily App: The Incident
The Incident makes for one of the best reasons to be a gamer and own an iPhone -- it's a purely indie affair, with excellent pixel graphics and game design by Neven Mrgan and Matt Comi and terrific chiptunes by Cabel Sasser. And it's a wacky little concoction that doesn't sound like it will work, but of course does, and well. You play a little guy who, standing in the street one day, is suddenly assaulted by falling objects from above. There's a little bit more to uncover, but that's really all you need -- you can tilt the iPhone back and forth to move your guy around in 2D, and tap on the screen to jump out of the way of falling objects above, marked by a warning flash on top of the screen. It sounds strange, and it is, but it works. The controls are responsive, the graphics are colorful, and the game perfectly captures that "one more try" feeling as you ascend through the seven levels, climbing up on the fallen objects all the way to the top of the sky. There are lots of coins, med packs, and extra lives to collect as you go, but the tough part is just staying out of the way -- three hits on the noggin costs you a life (and gives you a trophy to remember what wacky object killed you). There are many, many objects in the game, too, and you'll undoubtedly be surprised by what falls on you next. It's a great game, worth every cent of the US $1.99 they're selling it for in the App Store. Terrific little indie games like this are what make the iPhone platform really shine.
NYC play 'The Dudleys' features chiptune music and 8-bit art
New York City playwright Leegrid Stevens, working with the Theater for New City and manager Danielle Karliner, will debut a new play titled "The Dudleys!" this August at the Joyce and Seward Johnson Theater. "What in the world does this have to do with games?" you may be asking your computer. First and foremost, it's straight up weird that you're speaking to a computer. More importantly, though, "The Dudleys" is a play about the thoughts and memories of a young man, conveyed through "a malfunctioning 8-bit video game." You see the connection now? Apparently, the play will feature chiptune music created on Ataris, GameBoys, and Commodore 64s, and 8-bit art will back up the actors. More specifically, the play aims to juxtapose "the two dimensional side-scrolling world of fun and happy endings up against the confusion and aimlessness of real life." Well then! If you're interested in snagging tickets, they're available online for $15.
Two-bit organ transformed into fantastic 8-bit 'chipophone'
Sweden's own Linus Åkesson, and now official Hero of Joystiq™, took a friend's old electronic organ, worked some dark hacking magicks on it and turned it into an 8-bit chiptunes instrument. We'll let Åkesson show off his "Chipophone" for you after the break, in the best video you'll see all week.
The perfect companion for those long Light Cycle trips: the 'Tron Boy' mod
Yard sales are great for two things: laughing at the ridiculous stuff some people find and bargain-priced electronics from yesteryear. In this day and age, if you come upon a yard sale that isn't trying to unload at least one Game Boy, then those people probably weren't really into portable gaming. No, really -- those people exist! We tell you this because we have a great idea should you ever come across a Game Boy at one of these slices of Americana: the Tron Boy. The pictured mod by Thretris was created to celebrate the release of 8 Bit Weapon's Tron chiptune album (ZIP file link) and does a good job of plucking our heartstrings on two distinct fronts. It makes us pine for those days of playing Tetris on the bus to school and the first time we saw Jeff Bridges kicking some ass with a disc. Those were the days. ... great, now we have a hankerin' to play some Tetris. Thanks, Thretris! [Via GoNintendo; Tiny Cartridge]
Datapop 3.0 tunes to soothe your soul
We're in the relative calm before the PAX East storm, and to tide over your insatiable hunger for gaming related news and whimsicalities, we present you with some of the sights and sounds of Datapop 3.0. The chiptunes-based concert played its third iteration at SXSW last week, and included acts like The Mysterious H, Sievert, Nullsleep, IAYD, Hally, Random, Bit Shifter, nordloef, Talk to Animals, Starscream, Henry Homesweet, 8BK-ok, Sabrepulse vs. Saskrotch, Je Deviens DJ en 3 Jours, Anamanaguchi, and Trash80, with eyeball-blasting, pixelicious artwork provided by Jean Y. Kim, Omeros, Paris, and outpt. You can check out part of Nullsleep's set with visuals by Omeros and Jean Y. Jim in the video above, and then treat your ears to a snippet of Sievert's tunes at the bottom of this post. He actually pumped out a cover of Bit Shifter's famous "Reformat the Planet," but our mouth was on the ground for most of that one. Not only because he rocked it, but because he played the slot before Bit Shifter. That'd be like an opening group rocking out Green Day's "American Idiot" before they took the stage. Ballsy. Treat your ears, and get reading for some PAX-ing. %Gallery-89067%
The Engadget Show: Inside chiptunes and 8-bit visuals
Greetings humans! If you've seen The Engadget Show, then you've been privy to some pretty incredible performances by a group of musicians and artists who eschew familiar instruments in exchange for hacked and modded handheld gaming devices. We grabbed our cameras and got a brief look at the history of the chiptunes movement, the difference between Game Boy music and music from Game Boys, and most importantly, how these artists and visualists make it all happen. Kick back and take a look at the segment (featuring the likes of Glomag, Paris, and Outpt) -- you'll be glad you did! Special guests: Glomag, Paris, and Outpt Produced and Directed by: Chad Mumm Executive Producer: Joshua Fruhlinger Edited by: Michael Slavens Opening titles by: Julien Nantiec Download the Show: The Engadget Show Segment - 005 (HD) / The Engadget Show Segment - 005 (iPod / iPhone / Zune formatted) Subscribe to the Show: [iTunes] Subscribe to the Show directly in iTunes (M4V). [Zune] Subscribe to the Show directly in the Zune Marketplace (M4V). [RSS M4V] Add the Engadget Show feed (M4V) to your RSS aggregator and have it delivered automatically.
You should probably watch this Bit.Trip Runner trailer
Gaijin Games has released the first trailer for Bit.Trip Runner, the fourth game in the WiiWare Bit.Trip series. Now we can see what the developer means by calling it a "rhythm platformer." The layout of the stage, from enemies to terrain, is all designed in accord with the chiptune soundtrack, and Commander Video, the franchise hero, jumps, slides, and collects gold at super-high speed -- all to the beat of 8-bit-inspired music. We wanted to point to one specific moment in the video (posted after the break), but, as trailers tend to be, this one's full of moments. So, see if you can spot Super Meat Boy! Check out that Pitfall level! Watch out for the ... giant miner? ... Who shoots fireballs at you from a lantern? While you're on a treadmill?
If you only watch one 8-bit Lego animation today, make it 8-bit trip
Rymdreglage's 8-bit trip (see it after the break!) combines an original chiptune composition by Daniel Larsson with a ridiculously amazing Lego animation by Thomas Redigh to create a memorable tribute to the Commodore 64 and NES. The video is composed almost entirely of Lego pixel animation, with stop-motion nods to International Karate, Tetris, Super Mario Bros., and Pac-Man. The Pong sequence is especially jaw-dropping, featuring the proto-game playing on the interior of a spinning structure as it constantly destroys and rebuilds itself. The animation, according to the video's YouTube description, took 1,500 hours, and it shows. More work by Rymdreglage can be found at the duo's website. Not right now, though, because the Internet has crushed the site with its love. [Thanks, Darric]
SXSW 2009: Datapop tuneage for your Tuesday
While we're scampering around GDC in the hunt for gaming goodness, we thought we'd drop a bootleg tune from last week's Datapop concert party at SXSW, which went exceedingly well. The venue was packed with sweaty chiptune lovers, and it actually rocked a lot more than we thought it would. Check out the gallery below from the event, and bounce along to the song from Sievert -- embedded at the bottom of the post.If you're itching for more tunes, hit up the 8bitpeoples site for a ton of free music from most of the artists at the show. Warning: listening is addictive. %Gallery-48344%
SXSW 2009: Free Datapop Gameboy chiptunes party open to the public
If you're interested in all 8-bit music and chiptunes, then you'll want to get yourself to the free Datapop party in Austin this Wednesday night, March 18th. It's free, open to everyone, and will be full of Gameboy music from people like Bit Shifter, Nullsleep, IAYD, Anamanaguchi, 8Bk OK, Graffiti Monsters, and Sievert. Free game-related music, free drinks, and free admission? Three of our favorite free things. We'll be there, and if you will be too then let us know and come say hi.
Watch the Blip Festival documentary free for one week
One of the most surprising films in the sort of "Holy crap? What the heck?! This is cool!" vein to come out of SXSW film festival earlier this year was Blip Festival: Reformat The Planet. It's all about chiptune music and the performers, and is beautifully shot. It's hard to imagine Nintendo thinking people would be hacking into their Game Boys in order to create full-fledged concerts, concerts that would one day spark a feature documentary and an entire genre of music.For one week, you can watch the impressive documentary at Pitchfork.tv. It's even broken up into bite-sized chapters for you. Give it a looksee and you'll find yourself toe-tapping along to the addictive 8-bit music throughout the film. It's beaten Wizard Rock as our current favorite geek music of choice.[Thanks, Eliot]
Alex Mauer's Vegavox album: Now available on NES
Go ahead and toss all your CD's in the garbage, along with your SACD's, audio DVD's, cassettes, LP's, EP's, 45's, 8-tracks, DAT's, Minidiscs, wax cylinders, and player piano rolls. Crush the pile down a little and throw your fancy MP3 player on top. All of that stuff just became embarrassingly obsolete, and we don't want you to appear foolish. There's a new format in town: the NES cartridge. Alex Mauer is a prolific chiptune artist who has made music with the NES, C64, Sega Master System, and Ad Lib sound chips, among others, and for his latest work, Vegavox, he's really done something special. The only way to get the album of original NES-based music is on an NES cartridge. If you need us, we'll be installing an NES cartridge slot in our car. And, of course, by "installing" we mean "cramming."[Via NeoGAF]
Two free NES-style music albums released
Japanese netlabel 16 Dimensional Records has just released two free albums of chiptune songs. Gone Square and Go Square feature around a dozen tracks of old school-style NES music each. The songs are a re-release of artist Dong's work with a few new remixes and original work thrown in for good measure.We've seen several old school chiptune tracks released over the years, so we weren't expecting much when we downloaded these albums. It didn't take long to realize we weren't dealing with your average chiptune collection. This is electronica -- NES-style.Be sure to check out Gerbera and Poinsettia, two of the best tracks from the set.
8bit musicians announce world tour
Former cellmates Nullsleep and Bitshifter have announced plans to embark on a world tour, blasting their blend of bleeps, bloops, and blizzasts from Boston to Brussels and back again. If you're not an 8-bit believer yet, nothing will win you over except trying it out for yourself. To that end, here are links (1, 2, 3, 4) to some MP3s these torturers of Gameboys, Famicoms and other old-school video game consoles have kindly provided for downloading. If you like what you hear, check the tour page and maybe even drop a few dollars in the donation bucket to help make it happen.
