Zen Albatross

Indie Quickie: 'How Many Stars' was made in a day

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:26:00 -0500

How Many Stars is a game made by intrepid programmer Steve Jenkins (High Strangeness, STFUAJPGM) in 24 hours. The music is by Rich Vreeland (aka Disasterpeace), and was written within the same timeframe.

Download: How Many Stars

My earliest Game Boy memory, circa 1993

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 01:55:00 -0500

Summertime, during a late night bus ride at sleepaway camp in mid-July. The game was Kirby’s Dreamland. I had borrowed my bunkmate’s Game Boy light attachment so that I could continue playing deep into the night. It must’ve been nearly 4 AM. After hours of toil, the naughty King De De De fell from his decrepit throne of lies and landed at my feet. It was the first game I had ever played from start to finish in one sitting. My silent cries of jubilation were of an unmatched intensity …But all of my comrades were asleep, and none would share in my triumph. Silently, secretly, I let myself slip. Dreamland was saved. And ironically enough, it was my next stop.

Nintendo Game Boy inducted into National Toy Hall of Fame

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 18:58:00 -0500

Nintendo Game Boy inducted into National Toy Hall of Fame:

In case you haven’t noticed by now, people really love the Game Boy. Back in April, I wrote an article about the Game Boy and its astounding impact on culture in celebration of the system’s 20th birthday. Now I’m proud to report that Nintendo’s incomparable 8-bit handheld has been inducted into the Museum of Play’s National Toy Hall of Fame. The trusty old grey brick will join the Atari 2600 in the museum’s gallery, claiming its rightful place amongst the most influential entertainment products of all time.

Brainchild of Nintendo designer Gunpei Yokoi, the Game Boy set a bold precedent for portable interactive entertainment, and continues to be revered as the system that catapulted portable gaming into the multi-million dollar market it is today. 20 years after its inception, the Game Boy is no longer just a platform — It’s an icon of classic gaming that continues to inspire games, art music and culture.

So pull out that ‘ol ‘Brickboy’ from your closet tonight and join me in celebrating another milestone for Nintendo’s legendary handheld.

Chiptune cover songs abound in STFUAJPGM Episode #7 The latest...

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 22:42:45 -0500

Chiptune cover songs abound in STFUAJPGM Episode #7

The latest episode of Crystal Labs’ chipmusic podcast, STFUAJPGM is a tribute to tributes, featuring a collection of low-bit cover songs from Nordloef, Sloopygoop, Syphus and Buskerdroid. It’s also got some pretty rad pixel art, seen above. Hit the link to hear what Ween, The Beatles, Duran Duran and Madonna sound like on obsolete computer hardware.

Quite possibly the best Amazon customer review ever

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 19:43:00 -0500

Quite possibly the best Amazon customer review ever:

“i got game n kil rat mutate over n over untl bad dude kil me ouch. i like game lot n rats r cool n stuff wen thety mutate n try to kill me daed ouch! It ok to play n shoot bad dude n i get game n tell u to get game to kil rat an bad dudes in ur guns u kill rat. Ok great good but no ok good great just ok good great good. Get.”

And just like that, any remaining doubt you once had about purchasing Borderlands is gone. Thank you and good night.

Wedding invitation by lapintamonas (via ronworkman)

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 17:40:36 -0500

Wedding invitation by lapintamonas

(via ronworkman)

‘Little Red Voxel Hood’...

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 12:00:00 -0500

‘Little Red Voxel Hood’ by Sevensheaven.

“Voxels are volumetric pixels” — I learned something new today.

(via brandonnn)

Okami music goes chiptune Spotted on GoNintendo, these videos...

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 10:00:00 -0500

Okami music goes chiptune

Spotted on GoNintendo, these videos show some pretty gnarly NSF versions of music from the Okami soundtrack. Try as I might, I can’t find a source on any of these. However, one commenter claims that all of the tracks were found hidden on the official Okami website. You can listen to all of the covers on MasatoHyuga’s YouTube channel.

Giant Robot & Attract Mode hosting West Coast...

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 14:28:00 -0500

Giant Robot & Attract Mode hosting West Coast Chiptunes Micro Tour

Evidence found on ancient stones suggests that the rivalry between the East and West Coast chipmusic scenes dates back to primordial days, when Game Boys were made of rocks and used as weapons against hungry Velociraptors. Now, after a millennia-long standstill, New York ambassadors minusbaby and Paris Treantafeles will be embarking on a diplomatic mission to the hostile West to join its natives in a chiptunes micro tour.

The tour kicks off on November 7th in Los Angeles, with a chipmusic workshop at the Japanese American National Museum, presented by the fine folks from Attract Mode. Afterwards, head over to the Chop Suey Cafe for a live show featuring Trash80, minusbaby, StarPause and Crashfaster with visuals by Daniel Rehn and Paris.

The boys will also be making appearances in San Francisco, Portland and Seattle in the coming weeks. Check Databeez.com for more details.

(via minusbaby)

Happy Halloween! OverClocked Remix releases Castlevania: Sonata of the Damned

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 23:39:00 -0400

Happy Halloween! OverClocked Remix releases Castlevania: Sonata of the Damned:

Since everyone I know had their awesome Halloween parties yesterday, I’m currently cooped up in my quaint Brooklyn apartment, still hung over from last night, watching horror movies and slowly working my way into a candy-induced diabetic coma. If you’re finding yourself in a similar situation, you’ll be happy to know that OverClocked ReMix is serving up a Halloween treat of their own, and it’s way better than those nasty candy corn things (which I’m still convinced were all made prior to 1986).

Enter the latest OverClocked remix project, ‘Castlevania: Sonata of the Damned.’ Arranged, performed and mixed by the insanely talented Joshua Morse, Sonata of the Damned offers 7 tracks of re-imagined Castlevania music, including tracks from Dracula’s Curse, Symphony of the Night and even some of the newer titles like Portrait of Ruin and Order of Ecclessia. Go to the project’s official site and download it for free.

Download: Torrent
Download: OverClocked Remix

GameSetWatch interviews Machinarium composer Tomas Dvorak

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 15:39:08 -0400

GameSetWatch interviews Machinarium composer Tomas Dvorak:

GameSetWatch has an interview with Tomas Dvorak (aka Floex), the man responsible for the gorgeous organic soundscapes in Amanita Design’s new puzzle adventure game, Machinarium.

Amanita is also offering a free preview of Machinarium’s soundtrack at their website. Seriously, guys. This game is SO_FREAKING_GOOD. There is no reason why you should not purchase it right now.

minusbaby: (via minusbaby)My piece, “Cadê o Pescador?” (“Where...

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 20:00:38 -0400

minusbaby:

(via minusbaby)

My piece, “Cadê o Pescador?” (“Where Is the Fisherman?” in Portuguese), in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for the Multiplicidade/Núcleo Avançado em Educação (NAVE) Pixel Art Expo.

Its size is about 6 feet by 12 feet (1 meter by 2 meters).

Help support the next season of This Spartan Life! Created in...

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 17:00:00 -0400

Help support the next season of This Spartan Life!

Created in 2005 by Chris Burke (also known by his chipmusic alias glomag), This Spartan Life is a talk show set inside an unpredictable (and generally explodey) game of Halo. TSL regularly hosts a variety of segments including guest interviews, political debates (with rocket launchers) and synchronized dance routines set to the hottest chiptune jams. Past guests have included Bungie lead composer Marty O’Donnell, Red Vs Blue creator Bernie Burns and former Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren. A new season of the award-winning series is now on the horizon, and its creators need your help to make it a reality.

Of course, your generosity won’t go unrewarded: Your contributions to the project make you eligible for a number of neat prizes, including a chance at a virtual in-game date with Amber of the Solid Gold Elite Dancers, who may or may not interpret ‘date’ as ‘burning your face off with a plasma sword.’

Head over to TSL’s page on Kickstarter for more info, and if you’re unfamiliar with the series, check out the official website for past episodes, all available for free.

‘Saturn Devouring His Son (Peter Paul Rubens...

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 20:12:08 -0400

‘Saturn Devouring His Son (Peter Paul Rubens edition)’ by enso.

See Also: Goya version, also by enso.

Cheap Dinosaurs at PULSEWAVE 10.24.09 Philly-based chipmusic...

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 10:29:27 -0400

Cheap Dinosaurs at PULSEWAVE 10.24.09

Philly-based chipmusic ensemble Cheap Dinosaurs, led by Dino Lionetti (formerly of Chromelodeon) cover the psychedelic horror movie music of Goblin at Saturday’s Halloween Pulsewave event. Those Philly kids are something else.

(via TCTD)

Pato Pooh feat. Adam Tensta - ‘Follow Me’ While...

Sun, 25 Oct 2009 17:00:00 -0400

Pato Pooh feat. Adam Tensta - ‘Follow Me’

While I’m not a huge fan of the whole ‘videogamez R gangsta’ nerd rap scene, I’ve gotta give props to the new video from Swedish MC Pato Pooh. Silly mile-a-minute retro videogame references aside, there’s some really impressive visual direction here, as well as some rad custom sprite artwork.

Now I just need to figure out why he calls the cartridge a “cassette”. Maybe that’s just a Swedish thing? Or perhaps a linguistic side effect of Stockholm Syndrome. Har har har! Robbing banks is bad, kids.

Xenogears remix album ‘Humans + Gears’ now...

Sun, 25 Oct 2009 13:08:00 -0400

Xenogears remix album ‘Humans + Gears’ now available

The good ol’ folks at OverClocked ReMix are at it again, and this time they’re paying tribute to one of the games industry’s greatest composers, Yasunori Mitsuda, with this fantastic re-envisioning of the music from the 1998 Squaresoft RPG classic, Xenogears. The album combines sweeping orchestral arrangements with driving electronic beats and features compositions by a plethora of profusely talented OverClocked artists, such as Geoffrey Taucer, LEVEL 99, Oinkness, Chipp Damage, Prophet of Mephisto and many more.

The release marks OverClocked ReMix’s 15th album project, and can be downloaded for free from OCRemix.org — And while you’re there, check out some of OCRemix’s other recent projects, like Final Fantasy IV’s ‘Echoes of Betrayal, Light of Redemption.’

DOWNLOAD: ‘Humans + Gears: Xenogears Remixed’

Amazing pixel art by Lackey. (via Rich Vreeland)

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 13:42:55 -0400

Amazing pixel art by Lackey.

(via Rich Vreeland)

BIT.TRIP Beat soundtrack now available The swell folks over at...

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 20:07:00 -0400

BIT.TRIP Beat soundtrack now available

The swell folks over at Gaijin Games have released the soundtrack to their retrolicious arcade rhythm game, BIT.TRIP Beat. I can’t recall many games beyond Rez and Everyday Shooter that have had such a thoroughly hypnotic soundtrack. If you’re a fan of the game or a chipmusic aficionado, it’s for your own benefit that I lovingly shove you in the direction of independent music distributor CDBaby, where you can purchase all 10 tracks as MP3 downloads for a grand total of 6 measly pesos. And of course by pesos I mean dollars, but the point is it’s cheap and you should buy it, so there.

Also, keep an eye on Destructoid this week for a chance to win all kinds of BIT.TRIP-related swag. Yahoo!

TONIGHT: Nullsleep, Starscream, Graffiti Monsters @ Impose CMJ...

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 15:05:10 -0400

TONIGHT: Nullsleep, Starscream, Graffiti Monsters @ Impose CMJ Showcase

Ah, CMJ Week. It’s that magical time of year where every band in Brooklyn is playing a show on the same night. In addition to the free chipmusic show that I mentioned in a previous blog, there’s another show tonight at Don Pedro’s in Brooklyn featuring the lo-fi artistry of Nullsleep, Graffiti Monsters and Starscream, with locals Ninjasonik fronting the bill.

Lots of shows this week, kids. Choose wisely.

—-
NINJASONIK
Graffiti Monsters
Nullsleep
Starscream
+Special Guests!

@ Don Pedro’s
90 Manhattan Ave
Brooklyn, NY

Doors: 8pm
$5