Chicago based MyLifeIsPixels brings us a free EP of chiptunes today. Robotic Uprising is a varied and expressive release with twelve tracks, ranging from peaceful 8-bit to dirty chipdub. Using FL Studio and Plogue’s Chipsounds, MyLifeIsPixels has crafted a unique and diverse album worth repeated listens. Check it out and download it for free from Bandcamp or Soundcloud!

Check out MyLifeIsPixels on Soundcloud and Facebook

The JavaScript GameBoy Color Game Center

O​.​S​.​T:
Original Soundtrack
by Daniel Capo.

It’s not technically  a soundtrack to a video game, either from old or new platforms; there’s no actual game associated with this album. What it is is a collection of all “old school”, chiptune, 8bit, retro, etc. styled completely original compositions  written as an homage by the artist to his favorite video games. More or less Daniel “Captain Awesome” Capo (which is the very  fitting nickname that I just now gave him ;3 ) took everything that he loved, all of the wonderful nostalgia and artistry from his favorite video games and their soundtracks, and wrote his own damn album/soundtrack in tribute to such.

DO YOU NOT REALIZE JUST HOW COMPLETELY F**CKING AWESOME  THAT CONCEPT IS?!?!!?!? :O :O :O

It was a game that featured flying cars. Radioactive pools. Long, empty dungeons. Crazy wanted posters. Intergalactic communication. A mysterious package. A medical family. Three guys that will publish anything. Houseplants that burped after drinking cans of Pepsi. Slimey meteors. Severed tentacles that wanted to become rock stars. And if that wasn’t enough for you, microwaved hamsters.

For those of you out there that don’t know that I am talking about “Maniac Mansion”, you really need to “stop being a tuna head”. I can remember buying my copy of the game at the now defunct “Child World”. Buying games there was quite awkward. You had to get a slip of paper from the aisle that had the video game library, take the ticket to the cashier, pay for the game, and then go to the back of the store to pick the game up at what looked like a bank teller in a bad neighborhood. Kind of like how when CD’s first came to be, when they were always in that locked glass case in the back of the record store. I guess they were considered “premium” purchases back in the day. But regardless, nothing was better than tearing open the package in the car and reading the manual while I was the passenger in life, on the long trip home.

But I’m getting off topic here. Maniac Mansion was one of many games that I had purchased with my hard earned allowance money, but it was also one of the few that I had purchased solely based on the box art and testimony only. The front of the box, with its surfer guy, flashlight ghosting, and the typical big 80s hair. Complete with that strange face in the middle, that really cool looking mansion, and the full moon. The back of the box, with the statement, “Why is there a chainsaw in the kitchen?” As the 80s ad used to go, “Inquiring minds want to know. *I* Want to know!”

I start the game up with what had to be one of the most amazing video game theme songs that I hadn’t heard since Zelda II, which is one of my all time favorite video game soundtracks. Then with the title screen scrolling the words “Maniac Mansion” with the heart stabbed at the end, it was a homage already to everything that I loved: Bad B-Horror movies. I just knew at that point that it was going to be good.

Maniac Mansion takes place in the house of the Edison’s. Dr. Fred, Nurse Edna, and their son, Weird Ed make up the human-like aspect of the household, but add to that purple and green tentacles, and you have one big happy family! “20 years ago today”, a meteor crashed near the Edison mansion. The meteor took complete control over the family, which in turn, caused Dr. Fred to begin sucking the pretty brains out of other humans for experimental use. Dave, the main playable character in the game, believes that he saw his girlfriend, Sandy, get abducted to the mansion, and fears her safety. It’s up to Dave and two friends (of your choice) to enter the mansion and save her.

Each of the other characters that you can pick have a special talent or ability that will help you with the game. Examples of special traits include being able to repair radio and telephone equipment, playing musical instruments, or being excellent writers. The combination of characters that the player selects will determine not only the order that the game is played, but will also effect the possible endings, both positive and negative.

Once you enter the mansion, is when the real fun occurs. Using an interface called SCUMM (seriously), you select from options such as “Open”, “Go To”, “Use…With”, and others. It makes it feel like the old text adventures where you had to type out long commands and do a lot of reading, but the interface makes it easier, and of course, there’s graphics involved. I always had a thing for these kind of adventure games, because for the most part, you could take your time. (Unless of course you go straight for the kitchen… “Hello Dearie!”)

The object of the game is to use your special talents and abilities, and try to find and rescue Sandy. As weird as it sounds, to do that, you need to do some pretty strange things. Like getting to the attic by feeding Chuck a Pepsi. (Did I mention Chuck is a plant?) Or, feeding a tentacle a bowl of wax fruit. Or, temporarily emptying out a radioactive pool. Even doing something REALLY crazy like trying to set up a new band, or by writing a best selling novel! But don’t give a certain person their beloved pet after microwaving it, or it’s curtains for you.

The game is mostly a trial and error style of game unless you have a cheat guide, or watch walkthroughs on Youtube, but you’re not that kind of player, right? Besides, playing the game a few times has a very nice benefit, other than being a lot of fun. See, one cool aspect of the game is the multiple types of endings. Of course, in today’s games, it’s very common to have endings happen based on your input throughout the game. But in 1987, this was something very new. For instance, you can save Sandy, but get the Slimy meteor a record contract. Or, you can save Sandy, and have the meteor be arrested during a live intergalactic television broadcast. But make a few wrong moves, and you can also cause an atomic meltdown that causes “everything within a 5 mile radius” to be infected. (Really? Just 5 miles? Maybe those “Duck & Cover” videos from the 50s were right!)

With this a trial and error game, and with many different combinations of characters that you can play as, it really gives the game a fantastic replay value. Which for any generation of gaming, if you’re going to pork out $50 on a video game, replay value is an absolute must in my opinion. I’ve personally only seen about 3 different endings in the many years that I’ve played the game, but I know there are quite a few more. (Cause, you know. I *am* that kind of player!) And don’t feel that you have the finish the game in a single sitting: The cartridge uses a battery save state instead of a tedious password system. After all, games are supposed to be fun, not data entry! Kudos to Jaleco! All in all, this is definitely a game that should be added to everyone’s NES collection. I’m sure once you give it a play, even for just a few minutes, you’ll be hooked on the randomness, that is, the Maniac Mansion.

So get out there, and let us know what you think of our articles!

A distinct chiptune atmosphere surrounds each neatly arranged and thoughtfully instrumented piece. I particularly love Joshua’s use of delay, taking traditional chiptune sounds and adding a depth and and breadth that wouldn’t have been possible through old hardware alone. A unique album most certainly worth a listen, and definintly worth a download at name-your-own-price.

Follow Joshua Morse on Twitter and Facebook.

First, if you haven’t watched the promo video yet, DO THAT NOW:

To reiterate what was stated in that awesomely ridiculous  video, the 51 track Chiptunes MEGA compilation releases on June 5th at midnight via Bandcamp immediately  following the 8 Bit Power Hour listening party starting at 8pm Eastern time on Areciboradio. A link to the Facebook event page for that can be found right here.

In the meantime, stay tuned on Mondays to Geekbeat LeRadio on Unregular Radio, &  Nerd Rock Radio with Samuel Mulligan on WMFO Medford 91.5 FM for project news and teaser tracks from the upcoming compilation! Will hear different tracks on both programs on every show leading up to the release date!

Also, for more information and Chiptuney goodness feel free to check out the Chiptunes = WIN \m|♥|m/ Facebook page, the 8bitx blog page, and, of course, the 450+ member strong Facebook group that started it all! =D

And did I mention yet that Dj Cutman is mastering the entire project? EXACTLY.  8)

So hold on to your butts, because in only two weeks!!!!!  teh Chiptune craziness is ON LIKE A NECKBONE!! 

\m|♥|m/

ENTER CORY JOHNSON.

This dude that I’d never even heard of  before Jmr’s Open Circuit listening party on Areciboradio last weekend just up and released this INDESCRIBABLY amazing 23 track  Legend of Zelda tribute album. Turns out it’s actually been around a year in the making and you can damn well tell  by the quality of it! Stylistically it’s a mix of prog rock, post-rock, blues, western country, jazz piano AND ZORA KNOWS WTF ELSE!!!  Regardless, the end result is this stirring EPIC  – in the TRUEST sense of the word – of Zelda love and musicality far beyond the norm.
IT’S ABSO-F**KIN-LUTELY BEAUTIFUL. I mean, seriously, that sums it up, because how often do you hear someone describe a VGM album with the term “BEAUTIFUL“?? Also, the guy needs to get a band happening so I can see his ass play at MAGFest; would be a killer  show. SO GET ON THAT, VGM MUSICIANS!!!!   ;D ANYWHO, enough words already! HEY LISTEN!!  to it already and then promptly go bug the deku nuts out of Cory on Twitter about how awesome it is so he’ll keep making more fantastic VGMusic. DEFINITELY  will be your good deed of the day/week/month/year/EVAR.  ;)

\m|♥|m/

Mappy is the classic quintessential game of cat and mouse, which is probably why its simple, fast-paced style gameplay formula is still jut as fun to play today as it was when it came out 29 years ago. You take control of Mappy, the cute little mouse cop from the Micro Police. Your mission: To infiltrate a giant, 6-story house that is filled with thieving cats, who have been pilfering some of the most sought after goods from the early 80s;  like small white radios with multicolored buttons, huge tube TVs with that oh-so-modern wooden finish, and state-of-the-art computers that boast storage capacities of like, 3MB and a lightning fast 64KB processor! I think someone duped these feline felons though, because they also have a seemingly endless amount of identical paintings that look just like the Mona Lisa. Forgeries, man…forgeries. They were however smart enough to steal a bunch of safes, which hopefully they are actually able to open.

Once inside, you progress through each stage in an attempt to retrieve the stolen loot, but watch out! Hot on Mappy’s tail, are the pink cat-thief grunts, the Mewkies, er, Meowkies, as we say here in America! Our cats make their sounds with an ‘o’ here! You will also have be on the lookout for the big boss cat, Nyamko! Err, wait, that’s right, he’s called Goro here in the good ole US of A. You know, I never understood why names of characters got changed so often back in the day when they made their transition from Japan the western world. OK, maybe people wouldn’t immediately catch that the name Nyamko is a clever pun which combines the onomatopoeia of a cat meowing in Japanese (“Nyan”) with the name of the company who made the game, Namco. C’mon westerners, you need to start brushing up on your Japanese onomatopoeia for cats! Sheesh…

Say it with me now, “Nyam-ko”, “Nyamko”. Good.

Anywho, the objective of the game is rather simple: Retrieve as much of the stolen loot as you possibly can before the kitty cats get you. For the most part, Mappy is essentially defenseless, despite the fact that he holds a standard Micro Police issued baton. He has to cleverly utilize his environment in order to escape danger, and he can do so one of two ways. First, since you ascend to different levels of the house via trampolines, he can time his jumps well to dip out onto a different floor than his pursuers. Although they do get smarter as the round goes on, this can be a good way of giving them the slip.  The other way to escape danger is by swinging open doors straight into the kissers of those who wish to devour him. If you open the door at the right second, it will knock the kitties over and stun them for a few seconds. There are also magical shiny glowing doors that emit a wave that will catch any Mewkie or Nyamko cat in their path and send them off screen. If timed correctly, you can wipe out all of your pursuers, and force them to re-enter the stage one at a time through the top of the screen.

Fun fact: If you pick up an item while Nyamko is hiding behind it, you get bonus points!

To change things up, every few rounds you will be treated to a bonus stage in which Mappy has to bounce and maneuver through a maze of trampolines in a balloon collecting frenzy in order to collect some sweet bonus points. This is where you can really pick up some big bonus points in your pursuit to get the high score for the day.

 
Wheeee~!

If you can find a Mappy arcade machine nowadays, you’re most certainly a lucky duck! But fear not, there are plenty of ways to can play this game in this day and age filled with compilation discs. Mappy is featured on Namco Museum Vol. 2 for the Playstation 1 and Namco Museum 50th Anniversary Collection for Xbox, Gamecube, and Playstation 2 for home systems. For those who want some Mappy goodness on the go, it can be found on Namco Museum DS for the Nintendo DS and Namco Museum Battle Collection for the PSP.

Just for fun, next time you play Mappy, as the background jingle consistently repeats itself, place these lyrics over the jingle, and I guarantee that they will be stuck in your head during every subsequent play-through.

I’m a little mouse cap, running through a maze
Here come all the cat thieves to steal my microwaves
Mona Lisa Mona Lisa
Mona Lisa Mona Lisa
Oh crap! It’s a door!
Ba dum bum