An awesome web-based took that Chris from Asmadi Games recently brought to my attention is Infinity Jukebox It finds all the identical audio moments in a song and maps them to other identical moments. The circular representation of your song is a whole new way of looking at music too. Its like suddenly having another dimension of music available.
As the song plays, it randomly takes these branches to link together other sections of the song that normally wouldn’t connect. What you get is a endless loop of version of your favorite songs. Some songs work better than others. Daft Punk songs tend to warp seamlessly. Other songs are pretty random and remix-y. This is a great tool to help you come up with new melodies. Load up a melody you’ve created that regularly returns to the same note and you’ll see how it can be rearranged.
This track from RobKTA is a great example of how it can give you cool ideas on how to re-arrange the melodies and composition of a song.
If, like me, you always wondered what your favorite classic Nintendo games would’ve looked like in 3D, now you can get an idea with the 3DNES emulator. This emulator takes the 2D Art of your favorite games and extrapolates some data about what is walls an what is not, and creates a pseudo-3D version of your classic game. It’s obviously still in its beta phase, as it occasionally glitches out or flickers, but at its best moments it turns a classic into a papercraftesque version of Megaman or Metroid. Then simpler games seem to hold together better. Metroid and Megaman 1 look great. Zelda 2 and Super Mario Bros 3 and other complex games tend to turn into more trippy experience.
Nick Maynard is the guy behind the awesome post rock of Revengineers, one of the best post-rock/chiptune groups in my humble opinion. He also has some solo stuff, an LSDJ manual that is quite popular and has helped out with the also-amazing Noisewaves.
Little Paw is his new release which visits some familiar emotional territory of the Reengineers, earnest guitar and soaring leads evoke all kinds of feelings. However, the palette is expanded and more danceable this time.
While the guitar playing in Revengineers is mostly rhythmic and textural, this project puts it a bit more center stage with some great solos and awesome riffs. One of the most interesting pieces is Flying Slowly, which is a slower song, reminiscent of M38, with an epic bluesy 80s guitar solo at the end.
You will also get some awesome extras, including an unreleased Revengineers track and some wonderful other projects that Nick has in the works. Grab this awesome album today!
I am a huge fan of The Office (US). It’s one of the funniest shows that is mellow and somewhat realistic and at the same time totally outrageous. When I saw that someone had put together an amazing Office Lego set, I just had to pledge my support. You don’t have to buy anything, just make an account on Lego’s site and fill out the small survey about expectations for this set. They have a few months to reach their goal still but they’re a long way off. There’s a ton of attention to detail that really makes it awesome, such as Dwight’s Bobble Head encased in Jello, Date Mike’s hat, the hole andy punched in the wall. It’s pretty awesome, and I hope it will get made. Take a few minutes to support it, tweet it and spread the word to Office fans today!
As you know, I love classic LucasartsSCUMM/Point and Click Adventure games! Lately, they’re making a comeback, so I don’t need to emulate the classics as much. This is one I’m particularly into.
SeaMonster media’s Dexter Stardust takes retro camp sci-fi movie style and merges it with this excellent adventure gaming style. The sense of humor is also hilarious. At no point do you get sick of sitting through dialogue. The voice acting is spot on and hilarious. It’s kind of like The Dig but (20 year old spoiler alert!) no one dies.
The game is free to play and just a demo at this time, but you’ll find enough cinematic quality and storyline to rope you into looking for more.
I’m holding a special sale for the winter months (December to February) on all chiptune orders. You’ll be able to get 25% off anything you order. There are no limitations. You could order one song or 20 songs, straight chip style or a blended modern sound. Mastering and mixing is also included. Take advantage now! Just drop an email to beatscribes@gmail.com with your needs.
I really can’t get enough of all these awesome Rom hacks that are currently coming out as well as new original 8-bit console games. I’m currently waiting anticipating my copy of Lizard arriving for the NES and playing some Super Metroid Rom hacks in the meantime.
Another awesome one in the works is Megaman II redone on the Sega Master System. From the era when no Sega-licensed character would ever appear on a Nintendo console and vice versa, Megaman never made his way to the Sega 8-bit system of the period. Now we get to see what it might have looked like if he did. So far, the results are pretty close to the original. The music is where you hear a slight difference. It will be cool to see how actual gameplay shapes up.
I like that the developer is doing everything right, taking his time to understand the original disassembly before building each part of his game. Hopefully we’ll have a playable version soon!
I could not be more excited about Joel Hodgson’s kickstarter to bring back MST3K. For those of you unfamiliar with it, Mystery Science Theatre 3000 is 2 puppets and one human watching terrible old sci-fi, mystery and camp movies from the past against a blue screen. They mercilessly mock the films acting, special effects, production and writing throughout. The show was around in the 90s and was a staple of the midwest particularly.
Here’s the kickstarter: http://kck.st/1SFQVq2
If you’ve never seen the show, here’s a good primer of excellent episodes that are worth buying on DVD:
Mystery Science Theatre 3000: The Movie: This Island Earth
A big-name Universal film featuring a meandering random plot filled with overacting and silly science. Although it’s called “the movie” its essentially the same as an episode. The riffing is especially great on this one and some of the one-liners come out of nowhere. Its a very quotable one.
Mitchell
Mitchell is a ridiculous 70’s crime drama about a corrupt detective with a drinking problem. For some reason people are impressed and attracted to Mitchell although he seems like he’s about to have a heart attack during most of the film. There’s not a likable character in the entire thing and lots of terrible music too.
I Accuse My Parents
Another ill-planned film that just kind of goes in random directions. I guess the moral of the story is don’t be a liar with a complicated haircut and get involved with the mob. I like when the title is declared a few minutes in and the gang decides that was the entire film.
The Beginning of the End
Producer Burt I. Gordon’s films are regular targets for MST3K teams sarcasm. In this one GIANT GRASSHOPPERS ATTACK CHICAGO! Well, mostly normal size grasshoppers climb on postcards of Chicago. I love when the team augments at the lines of a distressed communications officer communique with “I don’t know how but they’ve arrange air support from the mexican army. Also, the general was a giant grasshopper in disguise” This movie has some of the most hilarious theme music ever, it’s just like a mash up of way too many notes in some random order played by en entire orchestral with full bombast.
I’m happy to announce the results of our entry into the GameJoltMetroidJam competition. I did some ANSI art and all the music and sfx using Plogue chip sounds. MTRD is a minimalist take on the NES original. The graphics are fully ANSI-based and the music confines to the classic console. For me, it’s a double hit of nostalgia with the music and the text graphics.
The game jams gamejolt puts on are awesome. It’s great practice for programmers to work under deadlines and developer fast and efficiently. Some awesome games have come out of these jams and you should check them out. I worked with the talented Will Smith who did a great job in making a bunch of text characters really feel like the beloved classic.
MTRD is free and you can play it right now. It’s a quick hour-tops play. Go get it today! The soundtrack is free as well and comes with a bonus track if you grab it off Bandcamp. Aside from sticking to the NES chip’s limitations, I also stuck to some of the classic Metroid sound design choices (no ARPs, very little vibrato, no dcpm samples).
The soundtrack includes abstract 8-bit covers of tunes from Metroid Prime and Super Metroid as well. It’s free so if you love the original game’s tunes check these out!
Cutman has been a staple of the vgm remix and chiptune scene for some time with his awesome site VideoGameDJ.com and also the “This Week In Chiptune” podcast. As of today the site is being relaunched with all new content. More authors are signed on (I will continue to occasionally contribute stuff) and they’ll be lots great news, tutorials, rom hack lists and other things you’ve come to love from the site. Go and check it out today.
Nick Maynard is the guy behind the awesome post rock of 
BeatScribe 