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'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!
Give thanks for Bit.Trip Void on November 23
Gaijin Games has announced a release date for the third game in its abstract, chiptune-infused Bit.Trip series. Bit.Trip: Void, which involves using the Nunchuk's analog stick to absorb and/or avoid dots based on color, will arrive in North America on November 23. "That's right, the week of Thanksgiving!" the announcement notes. "Total sweetness in the village." Like Beat and Core, it'll cost 600 Wii Points. If you like the music from the Bit.Trip games, you'll also be delighted to know that the soundtrack for Bit.Trip: Beat is now available for purchase on iTunes and CDBaby, with releases to follow on pretty much every online and mobile music retailer you've ever heard of, and several you haven't. Finally, proving its allegiance to the chiptune community. Gaijin Games announced that it will sponsor this year's Blip Festival in New York City. Classy!
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]
Blip Festival returns to New York with 8-bit music, workshops, and more
Last year, the Blip Festival brought together a plethora of chiptune musical artists, visual artists, and filmmakers to relish in the aeshtetics of an 8-bit lifestyle. This Thursday, Blip Festival 2007 kicks off with an even more ambitious roster of international chiptune musicians, artists, and more.The event will be held at Eyebeam in New York City from Thursday to Sunday. Concerts each day will include a variety of musical artists, including heavy hitters like Bit Shifter, Nullsleep and Anamanaguchi. Saturday and Sunday of the event will also feature workshops and film screenings. Admission is $10 for each day's events, although multi-day passes are also available on the website.Fans of anything and everything 8-bit are encouraged to attend. Chiptune artists have to be seen to be believed.[Via GameSetWatch]
