This post is a collection of images from chiptune file sharing site 8bitcollective.com. They were designed by a lineup of talented artists and chiptuners using all kinds of different materials and techniques, but they all have something in common: they’re all totally badass and a little bit on the awesome side.
This dude needs to stop producing such insanity. The universe can only handle so much awesomeness at a time and when the threshold is reached, existence will spontaneously implode. Or something.
More pics and a vid of this beast in chiptune action after the jump.
To celebrate the recent launch of ChipMusic.org, chiptuner/console modder extraordinaire Thretris banged out this hot Game Boy complete with a Pro Sound Mod and custom lettering.
Anthony Schmitt of the online chiptune supplier store Nonfinite Electronics whipped up this badass custom black and white vinyl custom dyed Game Boy for a customer. I’ve been thinking about adding a backlight to my Game Boy for some time now, but I just don’t have the guts.
Oh, and if you’re thinking of modding your own Game Boy, Nonfinite has a great selection of D.I.Y. products stocked backlighting kits and more.
If you’re a musician/nerd who’s interested in chiptuning, Noninfinite is a great place to start. They even sell blank USB Game Boy cartridges, and if you purchase a copy of popular chiptuning software LSDJ, they’ll even throw it on the cartridge for ya’ before shipping it out!
NB’s Closet makes awesome laser cut jewelry perfect for just about any nerd. Some standouts include necklaces featuring dual NES Zappers, the Power Glove, a crazy-faced Game Boy, a chainsaw, and Casio Sk-1 & VL-Tone keyboards. There’s a bunch of different colors available for each design as well; so if a baby blue Power Glove isn’t your thing, you can always opt for a color that better suits your manliness.
The overall paint job on this is killer and the modding process doesn’t even seem all that hard. Thretris has an easy-to-follow tutorial which you can find right here.
If any of you out there are curious about making chiptunes of your own, I highly recommend bookmarking Thretris’s blog. There’s a heap of valuable resources totally worth checking out.
8 Bit Weapon was actually the first chiptune artist I’d ever heard of about 4 or 5 years ago. I actually remember a friend of mine saying that the novelty of chiptunes would wear of and I’d get bored with it. He couldn’t have been more wrong. The chiptune scene is growing more and more each year and finally being featured regularly in the mainstream gaming media.
It’s only natural that like other genres, chiptunes would take on classic holiday music. You know a genre’s made it when it finally has a decent catalog of Christmas tunes.
8 Bit Weapon and ComputeHer (which I’ve actually never heard of before now) have teamed up to produce It’s a Chiptune Holiday, an 8 track album which comes in a limited edition handmade 5.25″ floppy disk CD case. You can pick one up at either the 8 Bit Weapon or ComputeHer online store for only $9.95 with free worldwide shipping.
Fez is that blew the collective minds of gamers at the 2008 Independent Games Festival. The creative use of 2D mixed with 3D was awesome enough, but the effects were enhanced with the awesome soundtrack by chiptune artist 6955.
Three unreleased demo tracks are available for free in the form of an EP (implying that a full album is on the way?) that Polytron Corporation has made available as a free download here. There’s also a torrent available right here. Or, for the super-duper-hardcore, there’s the mega-limited, awesomely-packaged 8cm CDR (pictured above) for only $10 — ten fucking dollars, people!!! — and it’s limited to just 250 copies in the entire galaxy!!!
Whoever buys this for me gets a blowjob, clitoris tickle, or ham sandwich in return. I’ll make the ham sandwich myself, but I can’t say the same about the other rewards.
Totally irrelevant, but somewhat related side story:
So, back when Fez was first announced, my girlfriend made these awesome plushies of Gomez, the game’s main character. She hand-made 50 of these things and sold ‘em all on Etsy. Eventually, Phil Fish from Polytron Corporation caught wind of it and sent an email asking that she limits production to no more than 50 because what my gf was doing was basically copyright infringement and they’d hoped to make Fez plushies at some point. He also asked if he could have one.
The plan was for my GF to make a Fez for everyone at Polytron, but after the initial 50, her hands were all kinds of jacked up, so she took a small break which turned into a huge break which turned into her never getting around to it at all. I feel pretty shitty about the whole ordeal and I think that Phil Fish hates my guts and everything Albotas-related. Maybe I’ll get the GF a sewing machine for X-mas so she can finished what her lazy woman ass started.
This video for the song “Follow Me” by Pato Pooh featuring Adam Tensta is just brilliant. It mixes classic 8-Bit gaming sprites with some 2009 glossy design aesthetic. The song also has a chiptune vibe to it that’s actually pretty awesome.
Seriously, you need to watch this.
You can also download Pato Pooh’s entire album here. Just click the link that says LADDA HEM ALBUMET GENOM ATT KLICKA HÄR.
Steve Jones aka Eyebath made this crazy 8-bit inspired music video for the song “The Early Sheets” by The Lost Levels. I wonder if the group had any clue that the video would be 64,012 times better than their song. I also wonder if this made them a tad angry/jealous. Anyway, stick with the whole video because it gets pretty crazy near the end.
Summer: July 18, 2008. Fighter X takes to the streets of Seattle for the first time ever armed with a car battery, two speakers, and his trusty Game Boy. This initial act of chiptune street performance eventually gave rise to the “Lo-Tek Resistance” group. In this first official episode, witness how it all began.
As a huge pervert, hentai enthusiast, and all around fan of retro gaming, I need this modded Game Boy. Not only does it look nice, but it also has a ProSound mod which allows for some thumpin’-ass bass when making chiptunes with software like LSDJ.