December 2009
19 posts
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Free MAGFest Music Sampler now available
As you’ve probably gathered from my previous post, Alexandria’s Music and Gaming Festival kicks off it’s eigth installment tonight with a spectacular New Year’s Eve concert at the Hilton Alexandria. To commemorate the birth of the year 2010 (who will be forced out of the womb via the sounding of a massive guitar chord), we present to you this very special music-album,...
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Chiptunes, games and more this weekend at MAGFest
If you were planning on spending another New Year’s Eve trolling NeoGAF while downing leftover egg nog, please first reconsider your life, then head down to Alexandria, Virginia to celebrate the earliest days of 2010 surrounded by rad videogames, loud music and swell folks.
Now in its 8th year, MAGFest (Music and Gaming Festival) is an annual gathering of videogame composers, chip...
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My First Bleeps: A Beginner's Guide to Blip...
If you’ve kept your ear to the pavement lately, you may have heard the quickening rumble of low-frequency square waves that heralds the coming of Blip Festival, the world’s largest and longest running festival for 8-bit music and art. The festival, which kicks off tonight at The Bell House in Brooklyn, has already flooded New York City with droves of musicians, artists and...
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Zen Albatross' Unofficial Guide to Blip Festival...
Blip Festival 2009 is imminent. All hands are on deck, and the emergency blogcast system has been activated. With only three days left until the world’s largest chiptune party comes to New York City, we here at Zen Albatross Industries have suspended the activities of our Department of Airship Manufacture to bring you a concise list of all the exciting chipmusic events that will be taking...
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Machinarium coming to retail in Europe with extra...
There’s just no stopping Amanita’s point-and-click robot hero. After receiving widespread critical acclaim and being honored with over 20 gaming and design awards, Machinarium and its charming metallic protagonist will be headed to retail stores across the UK and Europe in the first quarter of 2010 for PC. Of course, the game will still be available to download via Amanita’s...
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WatchAn interesting look into the mind of an indie game developer, featuring Alec Holowka of Infinite Ammo (Aquaria, Paper Moon). The piece was featured as part of BlinkWorks’ series on New Media entrepreneurs in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
[via Attract Mode]
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Countdown to Blip Festival 2009
It’s spreading. Slowly but surely, it’s infecting all of us. Can you feel it? No, not that weird rash on your inner thigh. That’s gross. In fact, you should probably get that checked out. I’m talking about Blip Fever, a highly metaphorical sickness I’ve made up for the purposes of this blog. Symptoms include dancing uncontrollably at random, vivid pixelated dreams...
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Superbrothers, Capybara & Jim Guthrie join forces...
I almost missed seeing this the other day, but I’m glad I eventually did, because nothing toots my horn quite like the work of Craig D. Adams (aka Superbrothers). So you can probably imagine my excitement upon learning that the Canadian pixel artist is teaming up with both Critter Crunch developer Capybara and musician Jim Guthrie to create a new iPhone game entitled ‘Sword &...
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Free 'Autumntunes' chip compo now available on...
The holidays are almost upon us, but before you deck the halls and bust out the egg nog, why not spend the last few days of Autumn reflecting on brisk winds and golden brown falling leaves with ‘Autumntunes,’ a seasonal chipmusic compilation available for free on Ubiktune.
The compilation features some fantastic new music from Jake ‘virt’ Kaufman, Alex Mauer,...
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Watch“Color Remoto” by Carlos Villar
This guy sampled some of my NES circuitbending work to make this neat video. CC Share-Alike, REPRESENT!
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Gaijin Games and Robotube to make Blip...
I’ve already told you countless times about Blip Festival, the 3-day chiptune music extravaganza that’s coming back to New York City in just 2 short weeks. But I bet you never expected that the festival would be getting its own game. Blip Fest sponsors and creators of the Bit.Trip series Gaijin Games have announced that they will be teaming up with Robotube (Bloktonik, Zyrx) to...
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WatchReverend Anthony on legitimizing games as an artform.
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Yamaoka confirms Konami departure, OSV promises...
Feathers were flying yesterday when a rumor got out that Silent Hill composer Akira Yamaoka would be leaving Konami, and in turn the Silent Hill series, permanently. Now OSV has received word from Yamaoka himself, confirming the rumor to be true. There are still no details on the reasons and conditions of his departure, but OSV has promised an “extensive interview” with the composer...
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Polytron giving away 3-track Fez soundtrack EP
If last week’s free Machinarium EP wasn’t enough to sate your craving for awesome game music, you’ll be pleased to know that indie developer Polytron is embracing the spirit of the season and giving us 3 free songs from their upcoming 2.5-D pixel platformer, Fez.
The songs, composed by Polytron’s resident chiptune musician, 6955, combine ambient guitars and singing...
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Paint Over Pixel: Brock Davis' minimalist...
Do you recognize these classic games? Even if you’re not familiar with the 1980’s arcade scene, chances are that some of these paintings by Brock Davis, which contain no more than a few carefully placed brush strokes, should be almost instantly identifiable. I’ve stated before how fascinating it is that the iconography of videogames is such an integral part of our visual...