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Logitech made this retro game display from 160 light-up keyboards
Because when there's VR and cosplay around the corner, a simple gaming keyboard is not going to cut it.
'No Man's Sky' $150 edition comes with a model spaceship
Sure, No Man's Sky finally has a price and release date, but can a game truly claim to have made it without its very own exorbitantly priced special edition? Presenting the No Man's Sky "Explorer's Edition," a limited-run (10,000) version of the game sold exclusively by iam8bit. In it you'll find a hand-painted cast metal space ship, an enamel pin, a "diorama display backdrop," and a "mystery item" with a $10 value. Oh, and a PC game code for Steam or GOG. The price for all this goodness? $149.99. That's pretty high, but iam8bit says the individual components are worth $210.
'Monument Valley' is the latest game soundtrack going vinyl
Monument Valley was one of the most interesting, unique and beautiful games released in 2014 on any platform. Forget that fact that it's "just" a mobile game -- developer UsTwo build an extremely memorable experience, and the game's music contributed heavily to that experience. If you want to immerse yourself in the game's soundscape, the geeky art purveyors iam8bit have just the thing for you -- the soundtrack for Monument Valley will go up for sale on vinyl tomorrow.
'FTL: Faster Than Light' soundtrack on vinyl looks out of this world
One of the direct results of folks helping Subset Games, the developers of FTL: Faster Than Light, absolutely demolish their Kickstarter goal was hiring Ben Prunty to score the game. And now thanks to iam8bit you'll soon be able to listen to it on the best sounding format possible: vinyl. The two LP set features some truly incredible artwork from designer Leif Podhajsky, trippy starburst green and black vinyl and a download code. To make sure those atmospheric sci-fi sounds are at their best, the soundtrack was mastered for wax at Telegraph Mastering Studio whose clients include Sufjan Stevens and Steve Aoki among many others. The release is up for pre-order right now, ships early next year and will run you $35 plus the cost it takes to get it to your door. Don't have a vinyl fetish obsession but still want these tunes? They're available for $5 over on Prunty's Bandcamp page.
'Bit.Trip' limited vinyl soundtrack loaded with killer indie games
The folks over at iam8bit have been knocking it out of the park pretty regularly. Earlier this year they released the absolutely gorgeous vinyl edition of the Hotline Miami 2 soundtrack, an equally beautiful video-game world map and during ComicCon the outfit unveiled the limited edition soundtrack for Battletoads on wax. The latest project looks like it could be just as special: a "greatest chips" collection of games and music from the the lovely (and unapologetically difficult) indie series Bit.Trip. While the multi-colored bullseye picture disc and fancy Drew Wise album art are cool enough on their own, it's the digital offerings packed in that are pretty awesome in and of themselves. In addition to the aforementioned accoutrements, the $25 asking price also nets you download codes for each of the seven Bit.Trip games and their full soundtracks. It's a circus of value!
'Battletoads' is getting a Comic-Con exclusive vinyl soundtrack
The rumors circling a Battletoads return came to a head at E3 this year with the announcement of the Rare Replay collection, and Microsoft didn't waste its next tradeshow appearance for a chance to capitalize on the hype. Folks roaming San Diego Comic Con can pick up a limited edition soundtrack for the amphibious beat 'em up on a very fitting yellow and green 180 gram LP. If the cover art up above looks a little familiar, that's because it was done by the same artist responsible for Run the Jewels' records, Nick Gazin. The SDCC run is $25, limited to 300 copies and features different art than what'll be sold outside of the show later this year, according to Entertainment Weekly.
Hotline Miami prints, shirts, buttons hit iam8bit store
The iam8bit store is stocked with some pretty slick artwork and shirts in Hotline Miami style. There are two fine art prints for $50, two shirts for $25 apiece and a button pack for $10. No animal masks in sight, but there's probably a Halloween store with leftover chicken faces somewhere out there. [Images: Niklas Akerblad]
What a treat: Play tons of indie games free on Saturday in SF
The second annual Day of the Devs, an independent game showcase hosted by Double Fine and iam8bit, kicks off on Saturday, November 1 at Mint Plaza in San Francisco. It's free, open to all ages, and runs from 4 - 11PM PT. And it's probably tons of fun. Games on display and available to play include Costume Quest 2, Axiom Verge, Escape Goat 2, Classroom Aquatic, Gang Beasts, GNOG, Grim Fandango Remastered, Hyper Light Drifter, Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime, Massive Chalice, Night in the Woods, Push Me Pull You, Titan Souls and Videoball. There will also be musical entertainment from Doseone, Disasterpeace, David Kanaga, Lifeformed and Fez-developer-turned-DJ Phil Fish. Hear some of Fish's mixes here. If you're not in San Francisco this weekend, you can follow along with the fun live on Twitch, streaming the show from 4PM - 11PM PT on Double Fine's channel. Last year's Day of the Devs drew in more than 1,800 fans.
The iam8bit Entertainment System's homemade console premieres in Los Angeles
The iam8bit gallery in Los Angeles premiered its latest video game-related art show last night, called the iam8bit Entertainment System. The centerpiece of the show was Travis Chen's homemade two-player console, which is a custom-made PC running MAME encased in natural bamboo, with two homemade controller boxes playing three different indie games: Canabalt's two-player version, the Sportsfriends bundle's BaraBariBall, and Chen's own Adventure Time game jam game, Bad Atticube. Chen is a former Neversoft developer who now works on both iOS games with Scopely and his own indie creations, including the recent Typing Karaoke. iam8bit pitched the new show to him as "being kind of like a mock release of a game console" (in the shadow of next week's E3 and its two new consoles), and Chen said he emailed iam8bit co-founder Jon Gibson to say, "Jon, I'm building the console." Chen's work is impressive: The "iES" wood case was laser-cut (though Chen says some sanding was needed to bring it all together), and the front of the console has an LED screen that shows various ASCII text. There are colored buttons on the top of the main unit, and pressing those changes whatever's shown on the screen, from crazy visualizers to a running dialogue between the console and its player. The console is being offered for sale in the gallery, and Chen says if it does sell he wants to customize it for the buyer. But if it doesn't sell, Chen has other plans in mind. "I want to enter it into Indiecade and maybe even the IGF," he says. "Not too many guys are entering hardware, and I think that's really interesting; the idea of indie hardware." The iam8bit Entertainment System, and the rest of the work in the show, will be on display through June 30 at iam8bit.%Gallery-190691%
iam8bit's Entertainment System to feature in retro art exhibit
Los Angeles gallery iam8bit is hosting an art exhibit in celebration of 1980s games, called "iam8bit Entertainment System." Here's where it gets a tad confusing: It also has a physical console designed specifically for retro gaming, called "iam8bit Entertainment System." So, the iam8bit Entertainment System will be at iam8bit Entertainment System from June 7 to June 20, and the console will be available to order online at iam8bit. Sometimes we just don't understand art. Iam8bit Entertainment System – the exhibit – hosts a ton of work from prominent artists around the globe, including the ones whose installments are shown in the gallery below: Olly Moss, Dadu Shin, DKNG Studios, Hine Mizushima, JC Richard, Jophen Stein, Mark Englert and Steve Courtney. The show will include a treat for DuckTales: Remastered fans, with a 10 foot x 10 foot recreation of Uncle Scrooge McDuck's money bin, complete with giant gold coins and gems, and the Green Cheese of Longevity. It's like a ball pit for kids that's really for adults. Now that we understand.%Gallery-190608%%Gallery-190606%
iam8bit Entertainment System retro gaming console / art project to debut during E3
The iam8bit collective has presented intersections of art and old-school gaming frequently over the last few years, and at an LA event during E3 this hand-built console will join the show. Designed "specifically with retro gaming in mind" and put together by artist Travis Chen, the iam8bit Entertainment System's hardware specs will be revealed at its public launch Friday night. The systems will be made available for purchase both in person and online, although price is still TBA just like the heavyweights from Microsoft and Sony. Is the promise of a retro gaming PC featuring some classic wood paneling not enough to draw you in? The exhibition also features work from more than 80 artists plus a real-life replica of Uncle Scrooge McDuck's money bin to celebrate Ducktales: Remastered. It's scheduled to run until June 30th, take a look after the break for the location and time.%Gallery-190517%
Iam8bit 'Entertainment System' show features art inspired by 1980s games
Iam8bit is at it again with Entertainment System, an international art show featuring work inspired by 1980s video games, debuting on June 7 at the iam8bit gallery in Los Angeles. Opening night is free for all ages and runs from 7pm to 11pm, with the exhibit live through June 30. Entertainment System features more than 80 artists from around the world, including Olly Moss, Jose Emroca Flores, Aled Lewis, Alisha Murray, Zac Gorman and Edison Yan. The show will also have interactive installations, though those will be announced later. Previous iam8bit shows at the Los Angeles gallery include its debut in 2011, Super iam8bit, and American Icons, 25 Years of Street Fighter, and a few game launch parties.
Luigi's Mansion 'Poltergeist 5000' replica doesn't suck
Nintendo has collaborated with iam8bit to produce a real-life replica of Luigi's supernatural sucker, the Poltergeist 5000 vacuum seen in Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon. The making-of video above shows the vacuum itself is functional, with a gutted vacuum motor housed within custom parts at its core.iam8bit is a gaming art and exhibition company, with recent exhibitions highlighting the Street Fighter series and its American Icons series.
PlayStation All-Stars: Battle Royale brings the party to iam8bit this week
Los Angeles' trendy video game art house iam8bit is hosting a one-night event for PlayStation All-Stars: Battle Royale, with the final release code playable for the first time in public. The event is dubbed the LA Beatdown, and it takes place on Wednesday, October 24 from 7 p.m. - 11 p.m. at this location.LA Beatdown is completely free to enter and includes the following goodies: the game playable on a 25-foot widescreen; exclusive, one-time-print t-shirts and posters with art by Boneface for the first 500 attendees (check out the design above); a museum-style exhibit featuring characteristic items from each Battle Royale character; a photo stage with props from the game; and complimentary alcoholic beverages for those 21 and older. Vizzi food truck will be parked outside as well.Entrance is first-come, first-serve, so if you're in the LA area start planning for a thumpin' hump day now.
Capcom and iam8bit remember 25 Years of Street Fighter with art gallery
Last night in iam8bit's Los Angeles headquarters, Capcom opened up its 25 Years of Street Fighter show, revealing a full gallery of artists' work featuring the now classic fighting game characters and settings. In a launch event open to the public, visitors got to see (and buy) the art on display, take pictures in front of a Street Fighter background, and even smash up a car pinata in a tribute to the games' Bonus Round mechanic. Gabe Swarr was one of the artists in attendance last night - his piece in the show, a comic from his Life in the Analog Age series, was a little more personal than all of the various representations of Chun Li, Ryu, and Blanka. In it, he portrays the change that Street Fighter brought to the arcades when it debuted, from sillier games featuring monkeys and spaceships to fire punches and spinning kicks. "Right when Street Fighter started there were two different crowds at that point," says Swarr, "and I wanted to remember that shift in the arcades." Swarr says that Street Fighter as a brand has lasted so long because its characters were so identifiable. Not only are these archetypal characters easy to connect to, but "it's also an international thing," he says. "It's one of the first games where they say this guy's from Brazil, this guy's from Japan and this guy's from the US. They did a really great job of incorporating that into the game." "You could tell that that was like the basis for all the fighting games afterwards," Swarr says. "This was the template that everyone followed." Capcom's 25 Years of Street Fighter show is running at iam8bit through August 19. You can see what's on display there in the gallery below.%Gallery-161786%
Capcom and iam8bit hosting 25 Years of Street Fighter art show in LA
The iam8bit art gallery/collective in Los Angeles' Echo Park is teaming up with Capcom for a "25 Years of Street Fighter" gallery show. "Combo Attack" is a two-week exhibition of art of over 50 pieces celebrating the classic fighting game series, featuring different artists' takes on characters, backgrounds, and other media from the long history of Street Fighter.The show is kicking off with a free-to-the-public opening night party on August 3 at 7pm. It will have art pieces on display, and feature a real-life Street Fighter 2 "bonus round" (a car to wreck, we'd guess), and several other special installations. The art itself will be up in the iam8bit gallery through August 19, so even if you can't make opening night we're sure Jon Gibson and gang would appreciate you stopping by.
The Quantum Conundrum show is heavy on fluff, frenzy
The premiere episode of The Super Dimensional Quantum Learning's Problems and Solutions Gametime Spectacular!! is live, and that's all we're going to say about that. We're not going to mention how former G4 host Kevin Pereira makes for an overly emphatic, quirked-out presenter, how it seems developers Airtight Games really want Quantum Conundrum to go viral, or how we honestly couldn't watch the entire thing because it hurts us, precious. Why does it hurts us?The Super Dimensional Quantum Learning's Problems and Solutions Gametime Spectacular!! is produced by iam8bit, and this is the first episode in a series that will show off each dimension of physics-puzzler Quantum Conundrum: fluffy, heavy, slow-mo and reverse gravity.For a less manic take on Quantum Conundrum, check out our review, a recorded live stream of us playing the first bit of the game, and our discussion of its finer points on the Super Joystiq Podcast, as part of the Joystiq Research Institute.
Quantum Conundrum and iam8bit team up for inter-dimensional fan travel
Quantum Conundrum's Airtight Games is used to handling inter-dimensional scenarios, but now it's going for the most egregious combination yet, mixing virtual reality with real reality. Quantum Conundrum and iam8bit are teaming up for a mysterious and seemingly slightly dangerous production this May, asking "hardcore fans" to sign up to be "transported to another dimension, all in the name of science. Seriously, we're not messing around."Potential participants are asked to be at least 18 years old and be available May 11 and 12 in the Los Angeles area. Fifty people will be chosen, based on the form requirements of "Why should you win?" and, apparently, how hearty your bone structure appears in a photo you send in. Any die-hard Quantum Conundrum or iam8bit fans, or those with superior cheekbones, can fill out the entry form right here.
Nintendo launches Rhythm Heaven Fever with a party at iam8bit
Los Angeles' iam8bit gallery played host to Nintendo last night, as the two companies launched Rhythm Heaven Fever with a full scale party. There were plenty of demos of the game on display, live painting by artists Yoskay Yamamoto and Mari Inukai, a live DJ spinning tunes, and a few photo booths where players could dress up and pose, or even dance for a video running on Nintendo's own site.The event was a lot of fun, and you can pretend you were able to be there by browsing through the gallery below. iam8bit always does a great job with these events, and co-founder Jon Gibson promised us there's lots more on the way: He's currently working hard on the leetUP event that iam8bit is co-hosting at the beginning of next month, and says VIP tickets for that one have sold out already. We'll be in attendance, so stay tuned for more.%Gallery-147121%
Play Rhythm Heaven Fever early in LA Feb. 10
If you're near Los Angeles on February 10, and you're eager to celebrate the upcoming release of Rhythm Heaven Fever, you can party with other like-minded people at the iam8bit gallery.Nintendo, Giant Robot, and iam8bit are teaming up for a launch event, at which attendees will be able to play the game (with headphones, hopefully!) and pick up custom swag. Go find out who else in the world dares to play a rhythm game about interviewing wrestlers and playing airplane badminton!
