Category Archives: GAMING

GAME MUSIC, GAMING, MUSIC, RETRO GAMES

The Most Baffling Video Game Songs of All Time

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Designing a video game requires hundreds of tiny creative and technical decisions that all amount to a finished product. You might think music was a no-brainer in the early days, with limited sound chips and minimal memory, but from the beginning their have been some totally baffling video game songs that make you wonder what the developer or composer were thinking. Here’s a few of those confusing moments that you may or may not have heard before. You might be surprised at how enjoyable some of these pieces are, they just don’t fit in their respective games.

Metroid – Norfair

Metroid has one of the best NES soundtracks out there. It’s memorable, heroic and creepy in all the right places..except for this one. Don’t get me wrong, I think this is a lovely piece of music. In fact I listen to it regularly, but after all this time and so many listens, I have no idea how this song makes me feel! Is it supposed to be scary? Relaxing? I find it rather relaxing until those weird unsettling pauses occur. It sort of makes me picture a lifeless puppet dangling in the wind. Wierdly, it reminds me of a 90’s math-rock/emo band called Ethel Meserve.

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CHIPTUNE, CONVENTIONS, EVENTS, GAME MUSIC, GAMING, MUSIC, NERDCORE

PAX EAST 2013 = ZOMBOCON 8)

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PAX EAST 2013 IS NIGH  (March 22-24th, i.e. THIS WEEKEND!!!)

AND I’M WAY TOO EXCITED TO TYPE UP A COHERENT INTRO TO THIS POST SO STRAIGHT TO THE RELEVANT DEETS:

 

MAGFest Presents: Jamspace

 

magfest-logoStraight from the mouth of MAGFest’s very own Nick the Newbie:

“What in the ever loving shit is “Jamspace”? Jamspace is music all day every day during pax. We’ve got chiptunes, live video game cover bands, DJs, and even open jam time with provided instruments. We’ve got guitar, bass, drums, and keyboard for playing, or you can even bring your own instruments! Follow @MAGFest on twitter for updates of what’s going on all weekend.”

Fri-Sun schedule:
Friday, 3-5pm: The World Is Square, Random aka MegaRan
Saturday, 3-5pm: Lords of Thunder, Armcannon
Sunday 1-3pm: OverClocked University, Crashfaster

Regarding the bulk of the scheduled chipmusic shows happening in the Jamspace…

 

B8B Presents: PAXE Chiptune 2013

 

pax-east-2013-chip-showcase-521x1024Boston8Bit is once again bringing a KILLER chiptune lineup to the PAX East Jamspace. In case you can’t read the SUPER SEKSAY flyer just to the left there, here’s the full Friday & Saturday 11:30am – 2:30pm EST lineup!

Friday:
Dj CUTMAN | Disasterpeace | Br1ght Pr1mate | D&D Sluggers | MC Facepalm | Glenntai

Sat:
Danimal Cannon | Cheap Dinosaurs | Active Knowledge | Doomcloud | RobotSexMusic | Sam Mulligan

Visuals by:
Animal Style | Invaderbacca | VJ Guybrush

Dj: Decktonic

 

And if that’s not enough MOST EXCELLENT chipmusic for you (it’s NEVAR enough!), or you’d like a chance to perform your own chipmusic at an open mic event…

 

B8B & ChipWIN Presents: CHIPstage

 

chipstage-bannerA very first for PAX East, the CHIPstage is essentially a separate Jamspace for chipartists & Djs! Bring your chippy and/or electronic jams & showcase ’em LIVE AT PAX!!!

On top of that, there’ll also be a good chance of any or all of the following happening at CHIPstage:

  • random gaming &/or tourneys
  • ridiculous contests (dickbutt drawing contest anyone? :3 )
  • a guaranteed on stage suplex for every artist who suffers a DMG crash while performing (J/k! Maybe… ♥)
  • really stupid dance offs (Hoodie shuffle comin’ ‘atcha! 8)
  • VERY SPECIAL music events & guests
  • WHO KNOWS WTF ELSE?!?

In summation, NONSTOP ZOMBOCON. 8)

Follow @ChiptunesWIN & @BOSTON8BIT on Twitter for updates during the craziness.

What? Really? That’s still not enough? You want another party to go to on Saturday night?
WELL FINE HERE YOU GO~

 

Saturday Night PAXE Party

 

sat-nite-after-partyLeaguePodcast & Rock On! Concerts present:

|Mega Ran | Active Knowledge (Boston8Bit) | Shane Hall | Gage | Weird Die Young|

This badasstastic music PARTAY is going down at The Cavern Club At The Hard Rock Café.

Doors at 8pm EST, $10 to get in. Tickets here.

What? You want a Sunday night afterparty too? OKAY!!!

 

Sunday Night PAXE Afterparty

 

pax-east-after-partyLeaguePodcast & Rock On! Concerts Present:

The Protomen
MC Frontalot
Br1ght Pr1mate
The World Is Square

This fantabulous shindig of WIN is happening at the Middle East Restaurant & Nightclub.

Doors at 7pm EST, $15 to get in. Tickets here.

 

Seriously y’all, if you don’t get enough VGM/chip jammage in & around PAX East this year (including the AWESOME PAX East main stage lineup HERE) IT’S NOBODY’S FAULT BUT YOUR OWN.

And if you can’t come, don’t be a sad panda about it! Just tune into geekbeatradio on UnregularRadio to catch the livestream of the FULL SCHEDULED JAMSPACE LINEUP (chip & VGM shows) & as much of the CHIPstage as they can grab! There’ll be *SOMETHING* PAX East broadcasting on the UR Fest channel throughout the whole party. GOOD TIMES.

I mean, srsly gaiz, THIS IS AN EPIC F*CKTON OF STUFF. We’re all probably going to survive PAXE 2013 this year, but JUST BARELY. 8) In other words…

ZOMBOCOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON~

~SEE YOU THERE~

Much \m|♥|m/,
President Hoodie

EDIT: Just so this post has EVERYTHING  (& just in case you don’t pay attention to the front page of the PAXE website… :3 ), here’s a schedule of the main stage acts as well!

Friday 3/22, 8:30pm – 1:30am:
| VGO | Those Who Fight | The Protomen |

Saturday 3/23, 8:30pm – 2am:
| Sam Hart | MC Frontalot | Jonathan Coulton | Paul and Storm |
————————————————————————————–

Relevant linkage:
MAGFest Presents: Jamspace
B8B Presents: PAXE Chiptune 2013
B8B & ChipWIN Presents: CHIPstage
Saturday Night Afterparty
Sunday Night Afterparty
PAXE Main Stage Concerts
MAGFest
Boston8Bit
geekbeatradio
Chiptunes = WIN

#freakstyle

Crossposted to the ChipWIN Blog HERE for extra awesome & ZOMBOCON. 8)

GAMING, PRODUCTION & TUTORIALS, RETRO GAMES, ROM HACKS

How Mario Paint Inspired a Little Kid

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Mario Paint was sort of a suite of creative programs for the SNES.
Mario Paint was sort of a suite of creative programs for the SNES.

People get introduced into the world of video game design, music and art in different ways. But I’ve been surprised to discover how many people got into it the same way I did; through a little Super Nintendo cart called Mario Paint, released back in 1992. This was my first introduction into the world of tracker programs for making synthesized music as well as learning how the pixel artwork of early video game systems was created.

 

It turns out, I’m not alone. Lots of well-known flash animators – including the Chapman brothers of Homestar Runner fame – got their start making little derpy animations in Mario Paint. The program features a pixel-level editor, tiling system, basic animation functions and most importantly, a tracker-like song creation program that let you put together a basic piece of music using provided samples. It came with a mouse, which was just a weird thing to have with a console game at that time. Continue Reading…

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GAMING, PRODUCTION & TUTORIALS, VIDEOS

Music Production – Side Chain Compression in Cutman’s new album

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Over 100 people clamored on my Facebook page for a behind the scenes video from my new album, so here it is! Forgive my vagueness, I had just woken from cryosleep. My new album drops tomorrow! Check back on this blog for links n things!