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.

Read More

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

 

Straight 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

 

Boston8Bit 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

 

A 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

 

LeaguePodcast & 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

 

LeaguePodcast & 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)

Read More

Overclocked Remix, the world’s largest video game remix community has just released an awesome 24 track tribute to Kirby’s Super Star for SNES! Directed by
Arek the Absolute with beautiful cover art by PROTODOME, this album doesn’t sparkle in cosmetics alone.

Remixers include some of GameChops own, halc and Benjamin Briggs teaming up as Insert Ruppee for some wondrous electronic chillout. My favorite track on the album has got to be Brandon Strader’s impressive arrangement of GREEN GREENS and Gourmet Race.

As with all OCRemix albums, these are fan arrangements offered for free download direct from their site! They offer MP3 downloads either direct from their server or via BitTorrent. I suggest using the torrent, as it’s super fast and helps OCR save on bandwidth!

Download Milky Way Wishes!

Read More

I love Donkey Kong Country as much as the next person who enjoys tediously difficult super nintendo games, and turns out I’m not the only one. Both OverClocked Remix and DK Vine have created their own massive DKR remix albums. And they’re both free!

OverClocked Remix’s “Double The Trouble!” is a ridiculous 77 song compilations featuring remixes from 69 individual artists in a variety of styles. The album is available for free download via dkc3.ocremix.org.

DK Vine’s “Chip Country” is a 30 track 8-bit remix album featuring chipmusicians like Iron Curtain, Heavy W8bit, MyLifeIsPixels, 8-BITchin’tendo, PolarBirds, and Nestrogen. It is also available for free download viaDKVine.com.

Download Double The Trouble! via OCRemix.org.

Download Chip Country via DKVine.com.

Read More

Live chip music preview by emily k feder

Melt away that winter chill at 8static on February 9th!! This month we will bring you four amazing performers; all debuting new material live at this show!!

Scene chameleon, Doomcloud, may perform under many different monikers, but this time he will be completely redefining an existing one! Presenting his live debut of all-live hardware, NES dance music, you could almost call this Doomcloud 2.0! Don’t let the name or platform change interrupt your perception of what will be an amazing groove session as we close out the night in style!

Local legend, Ro-Bear, will be bring us some all-new jams this time. Known for producing some of the most elegant and lyrical music on the Gameboy, we can’t wait to see what he has in store for us this show!

Ricky Brugal may be a new name to 8static, but he definitely isn’t a new face. Performing twice before in the past under Da Pantz, Ricky Brugal will making his 8static debut not only with a change in names, but also in style! His musical autobiography has changed pace to reflect his true-life experience and we look forward to seeing his performance!

Philadelphia’s Cutman may be better known for his chiptune and VGM remix work as Dj CUTMAN, but at this show he will be debuting his set of all-original music for the first time at 8static! Don’t be late as he will be opening the performance with his new jams!

Coming all the out from Seattle, we welcome demoscene player, Guybrush on visuals!! Formerly of Northern Dragons demo group, we are honored to have him make his east coast performance debut at 8static!! Aside from visuals, Guybrush will also be hosting our workshop, giving us a demoscene rundown and some examples of his work!

Our after-party upstairs at The Institute Bar down the block will be a special performance by, Dj CUTMAN, temporarily suspending his hiatus to hang with us!! Also don’t forget, as an 8static patron your bill will be 10% off!

Admission will be a sliding scale of $7-$10 & doors are at 7pm. Those that support 8static with a $10 admission fee will receive a special sticker exclusive to this month’s show! Spread the word and get your friends to join us at another amazing 8static at PhilaMOCA!!!

Can’t make it out to Philly? Listen to the live stream on Arecibo Radio and experience the show as it happens!

RSVP at our Facebook event: Invite your friends here!!

Read More