Tag Archives: nerd

EVENTS, GAME MUSIC, GAMING, MUSIC, SHOWS

MAGFest Game Over Austin ROUNDUP!!!

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Last weekend a bunch of amazing MAGFestians (myself included) brought a magical slice of MAGFest to Austin, Texas. It was called MAGFest Game Over Austin AND IT WAS GOOD.
(actually, it was REALLY ZOMBOFURKIN AWESOME, but you get the point ;).
This is my firsthand account of the glorious madness that was this first mobile MAGshow. ENJOY. \m|♥|m/

The shindig started early for me, as I arrived at Red7 with the rest of Lords of Thunder to load in. We got that done, enjoyed some pizza & soda, I logged some time on the freeplay Turtles in Time arcade cab with fellow Thunder Lord Daniel Tidwell, got made-up for the show (hair, make-up, & kilt!!!), made sure merch was setup (i.e. watched the Ladies of Thunder [aka ChipMom & Jenja] make that happen), got destroyed in Mario Kart 64 by Tien from Gameover Videogames (altho I redeemed myself later in the night battling C~Money), and then got ready to catch THIS dude perform:

Dr. Awkward kicked the night off WITH A COLOSSAL BANG with his furiously delicious, cleverly constructed nerdcore rhymes. Honestly, I’d heard of the dude before this show, but hadn’t heard him. IT WAS A GORRAM TREAT. “Impostor” & “Geekquilibrium” were my personal favs, both for the hilarious lyrics & DAT 8BIT GOODNESS. If you haven’t checked him out yet, 
FIX THAT NOW.

And then it was TIME FOR THE THUNDER…

I guess it’s kinda unfair to write this one up since, yanno, I’m playing bass in the band. :3
AH WUTEHFURKEVAR HERE GOES NOTHING~ We came to Austin, we played our 2nd live show ever (1st was 2nd stage MAGFest 11), and we melted faces. In other words, SHIT WAS EPIC. 8) Debuted a new track from Bushido Blade 2 (the closer for our set), which ties as my personal fav with the Guilty Gear 2 jam. BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY, I finally got to wear my kilt on stage. AND IT FELT GOOD. ;3 Also, BEWARE RANDOM ATTACK OWLS~ ;)

Following our face-meltery was the debut of the all new Descendants of Erdrick line-up:

CONFESSION: I was probably both the most anxious & excited for this set out of ANYTHING happening that night (even our set!). Short backstory: DoE are a big part of what pulled me even deeper into the VGM scene, to the point that I’m now playing in a VGM band with some of the former members of DoE sharing the stage with current DoE. MINDSPLOSION. O.O
Much has happened since then, including this lineup change, and thus a bit of conflicted feels.

THIS SHOW COMPLETELY BLEW ANY & ALL OF THOSE FEELS AWAY & REPLACED THEM WITH GI-FURKIN-NORMOUS FEELS OF AWESOME!!!

The Lepre lead lineup & stylistic change were indeed different; as Lerabbit stated, more of an “RPG Adventure tribute band”, and with a slant more towards prog rock. Works INCREDIBLY WELL, as you should be able to tell from the video (and the crowd’s reaction in it). Seriously y’all, keep following this band. They’re just going to get better and better.

Speaking of following awesome people & bands, be sure to catch the previous DoE members & the THREE OTHER VGM ACTS that they’re now involved in: LoT, Gimmick!, & The Returners. Where there was one VGM band there are now four. GOTTA LOVE IT. ♥

And then… there was Megaran:

As always, Random aka Megaran brought it SOMETHING FIERCE. Honestly, I’ve seen him perform several times over the years, & at various different types & sizes of venues, but each show has always been consistent in the PURE EXCELLENCE factor. And I say this as, truthfully, not the biggest nerdcore fan! It’s quality nerdcore artists like Megaran, Doc Awk, Shaffer the Darklord, etc. that make me question that, however, as they get my head bobbin’, feet movin’, and face grinnin’!

Last but HOLY CRAP NOT LEAST are the furious force known as Urizen:

Urizen is another act that appeared at Game Over Austin that I’d heard of (& always awesome things!), but hadn’t witnessed in person yet. To sum up my first time experiencing them live: 

HOLY FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU~

Their mix of metal, chip/8bit/synthy goodness, and INSANE stage show (ZOMBOFURKIN ROBOT MONSTER STAGE BATTLE FINALE ZOMG~!!!) definitely made for an EXCELLENT headlining act. To top it off, their energy & stage presence were MONSTROUS, & crowd interactivity was AMAZEBALLS (can you say THE BEST group Colossus roar outside of MAGFest TO DATE???). Needless to say, I left the show A HUGE FAN. And upon coming home discovered that their frontman, Thomas Drinnen, had also made a Chipmusic version of their latest album titled 8-Bit Universe. THIS PLEASES ME GREATLY.

And now to round-up this round-up with this MAG Austin round-up video by Melissa Flores!

Aw man, watching this video fills me with SO many damn feels! WHAT A ZOMBOFURKIN’ GOOD TIME WE ALL HAD~!!! ^_^ And most importantly, MORE TO COME!!! \m/\m/

Again, SO VERY MUCH LOVE to everyone who was a part of this show. It was DAMN amazing and I’m incredibly proud to have been a part of it. Until the inevitable next time, my friends, upon which I will undoubtedly tell you to…

GET DAT ASS TO MAGFEST!!!!!

~Hoodie
\m|♥|m/

All full set videos provided by Robert Swackhamer of 8bitx.com.

MAGFEST

EVENTS, GAME MUSIC, GAMING, MUSIC, SHOWS

MAGFest hits the road, baby!!! 8)

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The only legitimate gripes that I’ve ever heard about MAGFest are that it’s only once a year & stuck in one location. And those qripes have been quite founded, as they’ve been true up to this point.

…UNTIL NOW.

Just in case your mind is currently TOO ASPLODY to comprehend what’s happening here, LEMME BREAK IT DOWN FOR YA!! ;D

Starting February 3rd – this coming Sunday night!!! – MAGFest will OFFICIALLY be presenting its first in a series of concerts at the Red7 in Austin, Texas!! For a mere $10 in advance/$12 on the day of, you can snag a ticket to catch this inaugural MAG-tour kickoff, which includes some badass video games, awesome bands, and all in all MAGFESTY GOOD TIMES!! 
Lineup includes the debut of the all(most) new Descendants of Erdrick, Lords of Thunder, Urizen, Megaran, & Dr. Awkward!! If you’re ANYWHERE near this indefinable collection of AMAZEBALLS (and hell, even if you’re not!!), I think you know what you need to do…

GET DAT ASS TO MAGFEST!!!!!

Much \m|♥|m/ as always,
Hoodie

P.S. Want a little additional motivation to go to this MAG-show and/or any others that may come near you? MAGFest will be judging the response of these shows to scout out potential locations for a full fledged additional MAGFest at some point in the relatively near future.
So yeah. There’s that too. ;)

Redundant linkymajiggers:
Game Over Austin Facebook event
Red7
Tickets
Descendants of Erdrick
Lords of Thunder
Urizen
Megaran
Dr. Awkward

GAMING, RETRO GAMES

Why Megaman II Is The Best Nintendo Game Ever

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Megman recently celebrated his 25th birthday, but he probably wouldn’t have made it past 2 years of age if it weren’t for one important game; Megaman II. Most lists put Megaman II near the top of best Nintendo games of all time. For me, it’s definitely number one. Of the myriad of Nintendo games I played as a kid, none of them impacted me as much as Mega Man II. If you haven’t played this game, I plan to convince you to get an emulator or pick up the cartridge and check it out.

The Developers Were Passionate About Megaman II

There’s an interesting story around the development of Megaman II. Megaman I was financially a bomb. Capcom was ready to give up on the blue bomber and move on to other projects. However, the team that made the original Megaman didn’t want to give up. They decided to spend their own time developing the game, improving the graphics and making more music for it. They put in 20 hour days and completed the game in about four months. This type of dedication and passion is exhausting but often leads to enduring products. Megaman II simply exudes this kind of commitment to quality.

I think this is something that gets lost so often today in games. Arbitrary deadlines cause people to give up their vision to get something out there to start making a quick buck. In the end, passion and creativity sell a lot more than dropping your game in the holiday season.

It’s Hard, But Not Too Hard

Crazy cliffhanger moments like this made Megman II pretty addicting.
Crazy cliffhanger moments like this made Megman II pretty addicting.

Megaman II is the first game I can remember that really made me tense up. In airman’s level there are some moments where you have to make blind jumps into the void and hope one of those big robo heads is going to appear under you. Once you land, the robo head starts launching an attack. This section of the game still gives me that feeling all these years later. It wasn’t until much later 3D games came out that I ever got a sense of vertigo or physical tension from being on the edge of a platform or taking a crazy blind jump. All this said, the game is never so hard that you want to throw the controller across the room, a common reaction to NES games.

It Has Depth

The premise of Megaman is not that different than many other games like Contra or even Super Mario Brothers. You run, avoid things, shoot robots, hop on platforms, etc. It’s nothing new, but the way it’s all put together is truly ingenius. The underwater sections require special diligence since gravity is altered there.

At this moment, I realized just how much thought went into the weapons in this game. Almost every one has more than one use. Here, the slow rolling, normally useless bubble cannon helps you uncover fake floor traps.
At this moment, I realized just how much thought went into the weapons in this game. .

I think the thing that stands out the most to me about the depth is the weapons. You can play through the whole game with the default blaster and it’s enjoyable. But the game gives you liberal weapon refills when you start using the other tools you earn from each boss.  Play through the levels in the right order and you’ll have tools to take shortcuts, get extra powers or take out enemy bots before they become a threat. Particularly, the seemingly useless bubble gun has such a cool secondary purpose of helping you identify false floors in one of the difficult final stages of the game.

The MUSIC….Oh man, THE MUSIC!!

Megaman II’s music is perhaps some of the best NES music out there. The game’s 21 tracks remixed hundreds of times in varying styles. The catchy tunes were composed by Takashi Tateishi and Manami Matsumae and many would agree that they’re among the most catchy and genre-defining songs of that Nintendo era. The game’s level selecting setup means there’s no “first level” to impress users with. This was common in a lot of NES games, the first level looked awesome and had great sound, but past that, it just became monotonous and musically uninspired. No matter what level you start with, the music is amazing. I’d have to say Flash Man and Quick Man’s levels have some of the best tunes. I’ve heard from many that Dr Wily Stage 1 music is THE best 8-bit song ever.

The songs definitely have a rock music influence to them. I get the feeling these guys were listening to 80’s hair metal guitar solos and trying to convert them into 8-bit blips. The end result doesn’t sound like your average video game track or a heavy rock song but something completely new. It’s hard to believe there’s only four sounds playing at any one time when you listen to these complex and well-composed tunes. I’m always trying to capture those melodic components in my own music.

Megaman II spawned an entire series of successful games, but I don’t think any of them was ever quite as perfect as Megaman II. I strongly suggest you play this excellent game today.

Here’s an awesome song done Coheed and Cambria style based on the Dr Wily Stage 1 Theme music.

 

BeatScribeFaceBeatscribe is a full time indie composer, musician and writer. By day he creates soundtracks for various mobile gaming companies, by night creates megaman-inspired chiptunes, in the afternoons he drinks tea.  Check out his latest releases, tutorials and retro ruminations at www.beatscribe.com.
GAMING, RETRO GAMES

The Best NES Megaman Games You Never Played

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I sorta remember about 8 more bits to this scene...
I sorta remember about 8 more bits to this scene…

I’ve gotta hand it to Rom hackers. I can’t imagine having the intelligence and drive to pick apart the code of an old video game and reassemble it into a newer game. It’s just mind-boggling to me that someone would take the time to do this as a hobby. I can only figure that they’re such hardcore programmers that it’s easy compared to whatever they do during the day (rocket science?! Actual Robot Master design?).

I’m certainly glad they do what they do though. If you’ve never heard of this, ROM hacks basically involve rewriting a game to add graphics, music, levels and enemies or modify the existing behavior of these things. Some hacks are simple, turning Super Mario into a girl or adding some differnet music. Some ROM hacks are like completely new games.

There’s a bunch of MegaMan II ROM hacks. My understanding is that they are legal since all they are is small patches of code changes that you apply to the ROM (how you get the ROM legally is your own business).

These are like alternate universe Megaman games that are much more challenging than the original. A lot of them feature graphic and music assets cobbled together from other NES games to create a new project. You might recognize something here or there from a game you played years ago. Here’s two of the best Megaman II Rom hacks. Have fun. These two require the Japanese Rockman II ROM to perform the patching. Patching the original rom is not hard, just follow our IPS patching tutorial to learn how to modify your legally-obtained backup copy of the original ROM.

Rockman No Constancy

Rockman No Constancy has some of the most gorgeous 8-bit graphics I've ever seen!
Rockman No Constancy has some of the most gorgeous 8-bit graphics I’ve ever seen.

Rockman No Constnacy is a massive tribute to the 8-bit and 16-bit era Megaman games. This game features meticulously redesigned levels that emulate parts of Megaman X and other later titles. To play the first level of Megaman X in glorious 8-bit is just a surreal experience. The level of detail put into this game is amazing. It’s hard to believe it’s a legit 8-bit game since it has some of the best graphics I’ve seen on the NES. If it wasn’t running on an emulator and my GameKing I’d think there was some sort of graphical cheating involved.

This game is HARD too. I’m ashamed to admit I only got as far as the level where you fight all the Robot Masters a second time. I have been unable to best them all. That’s just on Normal mode too. In hard mode, you don’t get the ‘reflex’ time when Megaman takes a hit and flashes for a moment. Nope, you can get hit over and over again, which means any robot master can take you out in about 2 seconds. I give up.

The music comes from Ikari Warrios and a bunch of other classic NES games. The quality level of this hack is just mind blowing. It’s my #1 recommendation.

Rockman Deus Ex Machina

While perhaps not as visually stunning as No Constnacy, Deus Ex Machina has great tunes and insane challenge level.
While perhaps not as visually stunning as No Constnacy, Deus Ex Machina has great tunes and insane challenge level.

Rockman Deus Ex Machina is not quite as pretty as Rockman No Constnancy, but it has some of the most insane level designs I’ve ever seen. Any time you approach a pit that looks like a simple jump, you’ll be surprised by something unexpected, a bird swoops down, a monster flies out of the pit right as you jump. I seriously wanted to cry after a few attempts. You can shoot 4 bullets in this version, which only slightly tips the scales in your favor. Another cool thing is the fact that there are lots of branches through many of the levels. You’d be hardpressed to beat this game witout using save states though. That’s just the way it is.

There’s a bunch of other ROM hacks of varying quality out there, but these two are the ones I’d recommend. Make sure you follow the patching directions. It’s really very simple if you follow the directions. Enjoy!

 

 

 

BeatScribeFaceBeatscribe is a full time indie composer, musician and writer. By day he creates soundtracks for various mobile gaming companies, by night creates megaman-inspired chiptunes, in the afternoons he drinks tea.  Check out his latest releases, tutorials and retro ruminations at www.beatscribe.com.