First off, a huge thanks to everyone who watched, loved, commented, spread the word, donated and bought 8-Bit Jesus albums! I feel so loved today and it’s all thanks to you guys! A few things that might interest everyone:
Honestly, I’m blown away by the positive response to this project from everyone, but especially those involved in the creation of the original, amazing and horribly awesome Dr. Horrible’s Sing-along Blog.
A huge thanks to Maurissa Tancharoen (writer), Neil Patrick Harris (Dr. horrible), Felicia Day (Penny), Jed Whedon (Writer and Bad Horse chorus #2) and Nathan Fillion (Captain Hammer) for tweeting! If anyone knows of other cast, creative contributors or crew of the original that gave mention, please let me know. I want to make sure to thank every last one of them.
Anyway, thanks again to everyone who showed their love for 8-Bit Dr. Horrible. It was (and still is) a lot of fun to make, and for anyone that wants to know when Act 2 is released, feel free to subscribe to my RSS feed and get those updates as I post them.
Quick note: I keep getting comments and emails about a spelling error in the dialogue. I am aware that “motor” is not spelled “moter”. Admittedly, it was a typo that it is too late to correct, and it was not intentional by any means. However, I wouldn’t fix it even if I could because part of the goal with this project was to be as true as possible to the original NES game format which, as a result of the fact that Photoshop doesn’t utilize a spell-checker and I’m not a spelling bee champion, includes misspellings. For those that are curious, most old Nintendo games were released originally in Japan and then translated into English for American distribution. As you can imagine, this resulted in many spelling errors and mistakes. My favorite example of this is in Double Dragon where the name “Billy” is spelled “Bimmy”.
Jude Buffum and I have been talking about collaborating on a number of side projects lately, the first of which was his idea for an 8-Bit Keyboard Cat video. If you’re not familiar with this phenomenon, I highly recommend you check out the official Keyboard Cat website. Once you get the picture, then watch ours!
Most people who come to my blog do so for two reasons. Retro music and retro art. Seeing as the semi-recently released Bit.Trip.Beat is an insane combination of both of these things, I figured I’d offer my opinion about the game.
Overall, it was well worth the price. I can’t say I didn’t wish it was longer than 3 levels, but damn were they tough. I’m not the most avid video-gamer, so perhaps this game would be easier for someone of the Guitar Hero and Rock Band mindset. Okay, time for the in depth review…
Introduction to the Game– Without referencing any outside opinions or reading anything about the game, the plot seems to be a crude pixelated man floating through space who is either piloting the player’s pong-like paddle or acts as the enemy, which tosses pixel after pixel of “star dust” and debris at you as you chase him from planet to planet…or something like that. These pixelated pieces contribute tones to the bit-licious soundtrack as they enter the screen, collide with your paddle, and when they leave the area. They come in all formations and speeds and move in patterns from straight-on to a sin-like zig-zag, and in some ways that cannot be described with words. Some of my friends have watched me play and stated “this game was made for you”, as if to imply that it is not made for everyone…I would have to agree. This is not a button mash or careless swinging of the Wiimote – it takes a good feel for the controls (however simple they are), and a lot of practice, just like the good old days!
*shakes fist at Ninja Gaiden II*
Configuration– All you need is the Wiimote. It makes things simple, just like the graphics, sound and music in the game.
Control– The setup is simple: the player holds the Wiimote sideways and tilts it forward and back to shift the paddle up and down. The buttons all make tones of their own, but thus far I have yet to find a purpose for them. It just seems to serve as one more distraction for the player, so I’d recommend forgetting I said anything about them…
Graphics and Sound– The graphics are bad. Very bad. Intentionally bad. I love it. While the graphics themselves are not of high quality, since that’s the point of a throwback to the Atari and Nintendo days, the use of these graphics is great. In the foreground of game-play are very simple pixels, more reminiscent of Atari graphics, but the use of transparency and varying levels of pixel size add depth to the feel of the graphics. Once things start to really pick upthings can get a bit confusing, due to the number of solid, bright colors flying around, but that’s the nature of the game, not a graphical flaw. The background is horribly distracting, since there is so much cool stuff going on in the background with what can only be described as 3-D pixels. In the third level, there is a brain being constructed almost like legos…very cool to see if you’re not the one playing, but frustrating if you are playing. The key is focus.
Another cool thing about the graphics is the danger mode. Basically, once you miss a certain number or percentage of “beat-pixels”, the word “danger” starts flashing in red around the screen, then you enter a completely monochromic mode with no music, and simple pong sounds. If you continue to miss too many pixels, then the game is over. If you recover, however, then you re-enter the normal colorful, upbeat mode. It’s really satisfying on some level.
The music, especially for a huge fan of chip-tunes like myself, is near perfect. The way the tones and notes interact with the game-play is so baffling, it must have taken a genius to design and program the sequences the player faces throughout the game. Each level has a different, but very catchy tune that may very well get stuck in your head from playing the levels over and over. Once you are comfortable enough with the game-play (or have played enough times that you have essentially memorized the first half of the current level) it’s really cool to watch all the pieces and how they contribute to the song.
Game and Storyline — Not much to say here, since it’s a party game. As I mentioned in the intro, the storyline is open to interpretation, and the game itself is simple for the sake of fun.
The challenge level is up there, but I wouldn’t say it’s super-hard. It’s difficult, but not near impossible. The third level might raise the bar significantly higher above the second level than the second did above the first, but all-in-all, what is required of the player is not impossible. The patterns may be very challenging, but the player is afforded quite a few mistakes.
Conclusion — Overall, great game, very fun, addicting (for as long as it lasts), and well balanced in terms of the challenge it presents. I do wish it was longer, but it’s probably better that it’s not, considering the level of frustration one could experience from the game.
I give Bit.Trip.Beat an 8/10 by today’s standards and a 9.9/10 as a personal rating…but I’m just old school like that.
Just in time for Christmas, it’s the full version of 8-Bit Jesus: Classic Christmas Songs in the Style of Classic NES Games. This full release contains 18 tracks total, including improved variations of a few of the original nine! Please be sure to check out the new amazing cover art for the full release, designed by Jude Buffum.
*EDIT: To listen to the full album right now, please visit the official 8-Bit Jesus page. You can also download the original teaser from this post.
A few weeks ago, USA Today did an article related to the not-so-age-old discussion: Are Video Games Art?. While it was less an address of the debate and more of a presentation of those things that were arguably considered to be such, I found it rather disappointing that a show mentioned in the article, entitled Into The Pixel contained no…well, pixels.
While I am a huge fan of all Video Game inspired art, music, writing, etc, I have to say that it would be nice to see a widely recognized gallery, show, and artist which actually features pixel-based paintings or other works of art containing pixels, squares, what-have-you. It honestly baffles me how at this point in time, with the influence of early Video Games on culture, and furthermore on the current generation of up-and-coming young-to-mid adults, that pixel based art is not a widely accepted or practiced form of abstract/conceptual art…why not? I do realize that pixel-art is most definitely a form to many, however, this acceptence generally happens only when it is created, shared, and viewed soley on a computer, generally over the internet.
Going back to my reaction to the Into The Pixel show; this was the same reaction I had to the series of I Am 8-Bit shows in Los Angelos, CA these past couple of years. I was thrilled to know, however, that a few pieces of pixelated goodness were accepted into last summer’s show, by none other than my talented bro, Jude Buffum. Additionally, the pieces displayed were a set of four from his Happy Endings series.
I personally love the pixel as a medium – simple yet pronounced, sharp but elegant – which is part of the reason I depict naked women, bowls of fruit and other images that once begged for curves and many shades of color to be considered art. I’ve honestly had people tell me that they would f*ck the girl in a painting of mine. And yet, I’ve had others be offended that I would depict naked women, even in such low resolution - my dad among them, nonetheless – though there are no more than 4 or 5 pixels worth of nipple in any of the paintings. That, and I haven’t yet shown any nether region, but I think I just might…
My point is that who’s really to say what is and isn’t art. It doesn’t matter, art is what it is to whom it is. However, one thing that art most certainly is, is a representation, in one way, shape, or form, of the culture and generation which creates it and embraces it. I create pixel art, and I embrace it.
For those that still think pixel art isn’t valid art, I leave you with this image:
I just added an Articles & Interviews section to my side bar here on the blog. Some of you may be more interested than others to check out other official sources who thought my work was noteworthy – I think it’s neat, especially since I find most of the articles while doing a search for my name or something related to what I do, without prior knowledge of the article being written. It’s nice to randomly find sites like Joystiq, Destructoid, Geek Crafts and GamerTell writing articles about my Bead Sprites!
I may be a Nintendo Fan Boy, but I can appreciate oldschool gaming for every platform. While Genesis may be the only system I’ve ever owned for just a week, it did have some memorable music, and you know what that means – it’s time for another compilation album, a Genesis one, from Game Music 4 All!
I just got the skinny from Anthony about the compilation, who insisted that there be a Doctor on the album. I told him Doc Popular was available, but he didn’t fall for that one, so needless to say, I will be contributing one of my own tracks, however, I’m not sure which one yet. Plus, I’d like to keep Anthony on his toes as to whether I’ll finish the track at all - and this wouldn’t be the first time…
You may have heard the Here Comes a New Challenger compilation. If your memory is a bit hazy, maybe the cover art will help jog it!
Who are all those attractive people on the cover? Why, those are all the artists that contributed to the album, of course. I’m in there somewhere…black hat, brown shirt, jeans, grey shoes and black wrist bands – do you see me? No? That’s right, you’re too busy staring at the girls from Zombies! Organize!!
By the way, you can still download all of the tracks from the HCNC compilation for free, right here, on the Media page. Also, if you want a higher resolution image of the amazing artwork for your desktop, or the individual sprites of all the characters, you can find them on the About page…or somewhere around the site.
Anyhoo, this next comp is sure to please. I may not have gotten to do my Chemical Zone track from “Sonic the Hedgehog 2″, but someone will, that’s for sure. Now that I think about it, Genesis games did have some pretty bad-ass tracks to them. Maybe I’ll do a track from “The Great Waldo Search”.
Be sure to follow the Game Music 4 All Blog to stay up to date with the VGM community, and look for the Sega Genesis Tribute Compilation sometime around this October – hey, my birthday is in October!
I have the uncanny ability to build up any situation to be so much more exciting than reality will allow for. I believe it’s my imagination hard at work, but I could be wrong. Having said that, and knowing I have this gift for self-disappointment, I have also learned to seperate upcoming events into two categories:
Great potential to disappoint
Will not disappoint.
This is very valuable, although I still build up those items that fall under category #1, those that fall into #2 are sure fire. 32-Bit Genocide is sure fire.
I first attended 16-Bit Genocide on August 16, 2007. Having missed the previous 8-Bit Genocide, I was unsure of what to expect, but I went with my brother, who was part of the Art portion of this Video Game Music and Art Fest. He suggested that I set up a table next to him and sell some Bead Sprites I had made.
Unexpected, and much to my satisfaction, I sold a lot. Additionally, of what wasn’t sold to attendees (around half of the merchandise), all but a few pieces were consigned by the show’s sponsor, East Coast Earthquake. I was overwhelmed and saw a vision:
I was at 32-Bit Genocide, and I was sitting in a chair. In front of me was a table and on that table were many pieces of art – not fine art, but kid’s art…crafts! there were those little ironing beads that fuse together, and they were all depicting my favorite video game characters. There were Pokemon, items from A Link To The Past and Super Mario World, a bunch of other characters on printed backgrounds and then…then I saw the gigantic bead sprites. They were beautiful – Gutsdozer, Ninja Gaiden, Skull Castle, Mega Man X…and people bought them all!
Needless to say, this year is going to be very exciting for me…and possibly very exciting for every one else there – after all, I’m not the only person that is going to be there.
Anyone who appreciates this entry title is probably a good friend of mine.
Of course, this post has nothing to do with Vietnam…well, not in the literal sense. No, I am refering to the masses of electronics I’ve lost in my life time, the most recent being my poor, departed, lap top computer.
The worst part about losing a computer to an unfortunate iced tea accident isn’t the money it costs to replace it, or even the time it takes to get the new system, set it up, and explain to everyone how you spilled iced tea all over it in the first place – no, the worst part is all the work I’ve done over the past year. I have yet to determine if I can salvage the hard drive, but rather then give my hopes up, I’m making the assumption that I cannot, and should it happen that I can, it will be a happy, happy day.
I have a lot of hobbies, many know this about me, and a lot of hobbies means a lot of projects – many in the works, many completed and many no more than a simple text document on my desktop reiterating my ideas to my future self. These are the things that 3 oz. of Arizona can take from you in a heart beat if you’re not careful…which I most certainly was not.
Now, to my real point. We live in a time when electronics, advancement and technology are a large part of most people’s lives. Think about how seriously f*cked you would be if your power went out for a week. Just for shits and giggles, I’m making a list of all the things I wouldn’t be able to do in such a situation.
No Internet
No Computer
No Video Games
No Movies or Television
No Air Conditioning or Heat
No Music
No Light
No Cold Food
No Cell Phone
No Shaving
I could probably go on with more trivial matters, however, this should suffice to say that our society puts way too much stock in electronics. I know this sounds ironic coming from someone who makes his living on the Internet and spends close to 12 hours a day utilizing the aformentioned, but still, I have a point – admit it!
Now, time for another list: Items I’ve lost to the electronic grave, and how I lost them (in reverse chronilogical order).
Dell Laptop Computer (2008) – iced tea
Kensington Optical Cordless Mouse (2008) – too many clicks?
Motorola Cell Phone (2007) – washing machine
MuVo MP3 Player (2007) – gravity
Dell Laptop Computer (2007) – old age
Sony Portable CD Player (2006) – battery leak
Sony Portable Mini-Disc Player (2006) – gravity
Kyocera Cell Phone (2004) – it was a piece of shit
Dell Laptop Computer (2002) – Pepsi
Gateway Desktop Computer (2000) – rain
Sharp Portable Mini-Disc Player (1999) – it was also a piece of shit
Once again, the list goes on, and as curious as I am, I don’t even want to add up the cash value of these things, beause it would probably be enough to pay off my student loans.
Most people who come to my blog do so for two reasons. Retro music and retro art. Seeing as the semi-recently released Bit.Trip.Beat is an insane combination of both of these things, I figured I’d offer my opinion about the game.
