People Who Go to Midnight Launches Are Insane, but They’re Kind of Awesome Too

September 25, 2012 By Leave a Comment

As a videogame journalist, I don’t often attend midnight launches for videogames anymore. I mean, I generally either receive a free copy of whatever game I need for my review in the mail, or I’m too busy playing whatever I’m reviewing to go out of my way to wait in line at a midnight release. Or I’m having sex. But since I’m a game journalist by trade, you’ve probably already called my bluff on that last one.

But I did make a few exceptions last year.

The first one was for Portal 2. I was scheduled to review it, but there was some mix-up where my review copy never showed up. So I did the only other thing I could think of: I attended the midnight launch so I could play it all night and have a review up the following day. (I literally did not sleep that night. I started Portal 2 shortly after midnight, and turned in my review at about 5 PM the following day. Yes, that’s almost 17 straight hours of Portal 2. In that time, I finished the entire single-player campaign and got about 75% through the co-op portion.)

Now, those of you with good memories probably remember that Portal 2 came out the same day as Mortal Kombat. Some even went as far as to call this day “Portal Kombat,” but those people are far too easily amused by stupid things.

But the guy standing next to me in line was there for SOCOM 4. That’s right, what were, if memory serves, the two most anticipated titles of the first half of 2011 were both coming out that night, yet this guy is standing in line for fucking SOCOM 4.

We got to chatting for a bit, and I felt tempted to say something like, “I hate to break it to you, buddy, but SOCOM 4 is getting really bad reviews.” But that would have been pointless. It’s not like anything I said would have actually deterred him from buying the stupid game. I mean, he was already standing in line with a bunch of Valve fanboys and thirty-year-old fat men who remembered Mortal Kombat on Genesis and were excited to play the series again. And anyone determined enough to put up with that isn’t going to be dissuaded by one journalist’s opinion. (An opinion, I must note, that I only gleaned from other people’s reviews; I never actually played the thing for myself.)

But this got me thinking about this whole midnight release thing. I mean, why do we do it? I can justify my own presence at this event because I was legitimately doing it as part of my job. But what about SOCOM Guy?

Then again, it’s not like I’ve never attended a midnight launch that wasn’t work-related. I actually showed up at midnight to pick up Modern Warfare 3. But I didn’t go alone. My buddy Pete, a guy who’s absolutely obsessed with the Call of Duty franchise, came with me. As the biggest launch of 2011, there was an absurdly long line. They even had to hire extra help to guide people across the street this line was blocking. (Apparently GameStop has very little faith in the intelligence of CoD players. I guess I don’t entirely blame them.)

What really stood out to me about that night, though, was that one man drove up in a Rascal (yeah, one of those electric scooters that are typically made for old people and morbidly obese women) that was tricked out with an HD TV and an Xbox 360. I swear I’m not making this up. Mr. Rascal scooted around the parking lot playing Modern Warfare 3. He was literally the first person in the Central Time Zone to play the game. (With the exception of reviewers. But I’m going to argue that that’s not entirely accurate, as the reviewers of Modern Warfare 3 were flown to California to play the thing. So they were actually playing it in the Pacific Time Zone. Hell, I played it at E3 in June of that year, which was also in Pacific Time. So I technically don’t count either.)

Needless to say, Mr. Rascal was a happy camper. (He seems like the type of guy who would be a camper too, doesn’t he?)

The other midnight launch I attended last year was for a game I was incredibly excited for: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. And this launch ended up being the most disastrous of all.

You see, I wasn’t even sure there was a midnight launch in my town. But I got that reassuring text that GameStop always sends out before these things, assuring me that I would indeed be able to pick up my copy of Skyward Sword at 12:01 AM.

I showed up at 10 PM (the time I was instructed to finalize my payment), but there was no one at GameStop. Well, there was no one inside GameStop. There was one guy standing outside the shop in the freezing Minnesota winter wearing a damn pillowcase on his head. I guess it was supposed to be his Hylian-type hat or something. Oh, and his girlfriend was there to show him support, but apparently she forgot her pillowcase at home. Or else she just wasn’t completely fucking insane.

I got to talking with Pillowcase-Head for a bit, and I probably don’t need to convince you he was a big-time Zelda fan.

Now, the way I’ve described this guy so far probably has you assuming he was totally bonkers—and that’s probably a fair assessment—but he seemed normal enough to at least carry on a coherent conversation. Mostly about Zelda games and how damn cold it was, but he also had this tendency to throw these not-exactly-subtle sexual remarks toward his girlfriend. I imagine any dude willing to wear a pillowcase on his head in public is probably not all that secure about his sexual prowess, and this guy was obviously showing off the fact that he had a girlfriend supportive enough to stand out in the cold with him on a Saturday night (yeah, Nintendo games tend to come out on Sundays for some reason) for an early copy of Skyward Sword. Good on him.

Needless to say, I left a bit exasperated with the whole situation. I went home and played Metal Gear Solid. Where it was warm.

I returned just before midnight, and not really to my surprise, Pillowcase-Head and Slightly-Less-Crazy-Better-Half were still waiting there. No one had even come to allow us to finalize our purchases. Every time a car pulled into the parking lot, it was assumed it was a GameStop employee, and that person would be hounded by disgruntled Zelda fans until they either drove off in fear or joined the mob.

And that’s really what these things are: mobs. I mean, these people are herded like cattle into these places to pick up a copy of some videogame they’re excited about. And these things often get violent. It’s not completely unheard of for people to get shot and stabbed at these things. (Unfortunately, that actually wasn’t a joke; these things do happen.)

Now, I’m going to go out on a limb here and assume I was the sanest person at the Skyward Sword midnight launch. I mean, the people I’ve described so far aren’t exactly shining beacons of hope in a nation of under-educated b-holes, right?

So I did what any sane person would do: I went home, I went to bed, and I picked up my copy of Skyward Sword on Sunday morning.

So what’s the point of these stories? I don’t really remember. I guess it just goes to show, though, that the people who attend midnight releases of games are insane, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t interesting. And really, I don’t mind hanging out with interesting people, even if I have to stand in the Minnesota cold at midnight to do so.

Oh, and sometimes they have pizza, which is awesome.

My Refusal to Play Half-Life 2 Proves That I have Terrible Decision-Making Skills

September 14, 2012 By 2 Comments

I’m going to be honest: I hated the original Half-Life.

In fact, my hatred for Half-Life burned so white hot that when Half-Life 2 launched, I absolutely refused to play it.

Now, it’s been so long since my initial Half-Life experience that I can’t really say what it was about the game that convinced me to harbor such a passionate hatred for it. I mean, I’m pretty sure I liked the first part at least. Whatever it was, though, I remember seeing Half-Life 2 on store shelves and feeling this sense of bitterness, as if it’s mere presence were repulsive to me.

I guess I was kind of an angry person back then.

However, Portal eventually came out, and I really wanted to play it. I ultimately swallowed my pride and grumpily picked up the Orange Box, which contained Portal, Team Fortress 2, and Half-Life 2 in its entirety. I played through Portal, loving every minute of it and ignoring the Half-Life portion of my purchase.

But once I started writing about videogames for a living, I could no longer deny the fact that, regardless of my opinion of the Half-Life series, Half-Life 2 was an important game, and I should probably play it. So I did. What I ended up discovering was that I’m a moron.

From the very first steps I took in Half-Life 2‘s dystopic wasteland, I realized that this was an experience unlike anything I had seen prior. Every detail of City 17 was brilliantly designed, and Ravenholm was one of the greatest (and creepiest) environments in gaming history. On top of that, the story was incredible, the characters were expertly crafted, and Breen’s monologues were some of the best-written and acted speeches in a videogame ever. All this to say that Half-Life 2 is a damn good game, and had I not been so stubborn, I’d have known that way sooner.

Unfortunately, Half-Life 2: Episode Two, the last piece of the story we’ve seen thus far, ended on a cliffhanger. I have since joined the throngs of gamers clamoring for the next piece of the Half-Life story. I know this has been said before, but come on, Valve, we need to know what happens.

The thing about all this, though, is that it makes me curious about the original Half-Life. There’s a huge part of me that wants to go back and replay it, just to be able to remember what the hell happened in that section of the story. Then again, I know that it hasn’t aged well, and I have a feeling I couldn’t possibly be anything but disappointed.

And that makes me this weird combination of sad and relieved: sad that I probably won’t ever play it again, yet relieved that I won’t ever have to. And I guess I can live with that.

Still, you won’t catch me spitting on a Half-Life 2 box in Target ever again.

I Accidentally Made a Jonathan Coulton Sackboy in LittleBigPlanet Vita

September 13, 2012 By Leave a Comment

So, I was playing LittleBigPlanet Vita the other night,attempting to make a hipster Sackboy (don’t judge me) when I came upon a startling realization. The newest handheld iteration of Media Molecule’s cute little creative platformer allows you to make a Jonathan Coulton Sackboy.

Sure, the glasses are a bit large, the hair is a bit too “dreadlocks” and not as much “curly mane,” and an ironic T-shirt would have been more appropriate than a turtleneck sweater. Still, every time I look at my new Sackboy, I can’t help but feel like I’m looking ol’ JoCo right in the face.

Image courtesy of Technique, The South’s Liveliest College Newspaper

Obviously, this isn’t an official Jonathan Coulton Sackboy or anything, but it’s still cool to see the likeness of one of geek culture’s most celebrated musicians accidentally show up (sort of) in a videogame. In fact, I would love to see this combination become official at some point in the future. (Actually, why hasn’t the man ever written a song for the LittleBigPlanet games? Media Molecule, get that guy on the phone!)

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to see what other celebrities I can Sackboy-ify  in LBP Vita.

In the meantime, I’ll leave you with this absolute classic from PAX 2008:

If Anyone Asks, This MetaCon Party Never Actually Happened

September 4, 2012 By 11 Comments

While exploring MetaCon, I heard whispers on the wind of a super secret party that was supposedly taking place up on the fifth floor. In fact, it was so secret that it was dubbed “The Party That Never Was,” and it was not allowed to affiliate itself with MetaCon in any way. Apparently it existed in this grey area of “We’re not technically supposed to be doing this, but we’re doing it anyway. Out of spite.”

Sounds awesome, right?

Since the word “Party” is in our title, obviously GeekParty needed to attend this barely legal bash of epic proportions. I grabbed a couple cameras, rounded up Alcoholic Luigi, and crashed the thing.

Before being allowed to set foot in the room, we were carded by a guy who took his job incredibly seriously for a drunk dude. No underage attendees under any circumstances. At least these guys party responsibly.

As soon as we walked in, we were very loudly, forcefully, and drunkenly told, “No cameras!” I took this as a sign that something awesome was about to happen and immediately started filming. Oddly enough, no one seemed to mind.

We talked to the bartender (yes, there was an actual bartender serving drinks right in the room), and he told us his sad tale of how the party was originally supposed to be an official MetaCon thing, but wasn’t allowed to due to some unforeseen circumstances. I don’t remember what those were, but we got that whole conversation on camera. Unfortunately, I was a bit too drunk to operate the equipment effectively, and all the footage was lost. I would apologize for my clumsiness, but fuck you.

Luigi and I handed out GeekParty stickers and regaled the partygoers with our stories of geek culture journalism while we were treated to pink floofy drinks and Jello shots. Oh yeah, and there was a dance room too, but we didn’t go in there. At least, I don’t think we did.

Whatever happened after that is kind of a blur, but we took some pictures. Check those out.

Postcards from MetaCon 2012

September 4, 2012 By Leave a Comment

MetaCon brought its particular brand of geek culture to the Minneapolis area, and we at GeekParty realized we needed to be there. With cameras.

We spent three days walking around, seeing the sights, hanging out with cosplayers, and consuming massive amounts of alcohol. The result of all this exhausting labor was the collection of MetaCon images below. Enjoy!

Play Steve Jackson’s Zombie Dice; Get Shot in the Face with a Shotgun

September 4, 2012 By 1 Comment

While at MetaCon, I wandered into the tabletop game room for a spell, and I stumbled upon something I hadn’t heard of before. It’s called Zombie Dice, and it’s made by Steve Jackson Games, the guys behind Munchkin and a whole dragon’s hoard worth of other super geeky games. I like Munchkin quite a bit, so I decided to give Zombie Dice a shot.

I sat down between two guys named Charlie and Gabe, both of whom were as unfamiliar with the game as I was. Luckily, Holly, a representative from Steve Jackson Games, was there to show us the ropes.

Essentially, in Zombie Dice, you take on the role of a zombie with the goal of collecting 13 brains. You do this by shaking a can of specially made dice, drawing three from the can, and rolling them. Each die can reveal one of three possible outcomes. There’s a brain icon, which earns you a point; a footsteps icon, which allows you to re-roll that particular die; and a shotgun blast icon. As someone who’s spent an absurd amount of time playing Resident Evil games, I’m very aware of the fact that a zombie’s worst enemy is a shotgun to the face. So rolling a shotgun blast icon is bad for your health.

Charlie demonstrates his “being eaten by zombies” expression. I don’t know if I’m entirely convinced.

Now, let’s say that on my turn I roll three dice and come up with one of each icon. I would get one point for rolling a brain, get shot in the face for rolling a shotgun (not in real life, depending on the type of person you are playing with), and I’d get to re-roll the footsteps die if I wanted to. If so, I would then keep the footsteps die out and grab two more from the can.

As I roll the dice, I accumulate points, but I also accumulate shotgun blasts. Racking up three shotgun blasts ends my turn and causes me to forfeit all my brains for that turn. So the trick is knowing when to quit rolling.

Also, I should mention that the dice come in three different colors. Red dice contain the most shotgun blasts per die, green dice contain the least, and yellow dice are somewhere in the middle. They’re basically “Hard,” “Easy,” and “Medium” respectively, I suppose.

The rules were simple enough that we all had it figured out by the second turn, and our game took maybe fifteen minutes to complete. (Charlie won by a landslide.)

Ultimately, I would recommend Zombie Dice as a party game. It’s simple enough that you can pick up the rules even while being several drinks into your weekend binge, and it’s short enough that your short attention span won’t hate you for playing the game to completion. If you are looking for something longer and more involved, though, Zombie Dice won’t really scratch that itch. Then again, as I already mentioned, Steve Jackson Games also has a game called Munchkin that you’ll probably love.

If MetaCon Had a Prom Queen, Her Name Would Be Deadpool

September 4, 2012 By 2 Comments

After spending three entire days at MetaCon in Bloomington, Minnesota, one thing was clear to me: Deadpool is insanely popular here.

Seriously, no matter where I went, Deadpool was there. He could be found hanging out with Spider-Man in the vendor suite, playing DDR in the game room, or turning the Cosplay Masquerade into a Deadpool-themed dance party. In fact, at one point I was aimlessly wandering around the Doubletree Hotel’s second floor, when I stumbled upon a panel room that had been hijacked by a trio of Deadpools. Oh yeah, Kick-Ass and Spider-Bat were there too, though at one point, Kick-Ass was replaced by a potted fern. I promise you, this actually happened.

So what goes on at an unplanned Deadpool MetaCon panel? I stopped in for a bit, mainly to find the answer to this question. (Of course, the fact that I had no less than five guns pointed at me may have had at least some influence on my decision).

The panel included three Deadpools answering absurd audience questions, Princess Luna delivering cupcakes to the panelists, and Spider-Man being the butt of as many jokes as possible. At one point, a Deadpool even threw a bunch of grenades into the audience while shouting “Pineapple surprise!” (The grenades weren’t actually real, hence my living to tell this tale.)

To underscore his popularity, Deadpool won a “Best in Show” award at the aforementioned Cosplay Masquerade, which allowed him (three of him, in fact) to dance on stage at the closing ceremonies without being escorted from the building. At one point during this ceremony, there was a “Deadpool!” chant, and one person even recommended changing the name of the con to DeadpoolCon. (Then again, the person who made the suggestion may have been one of the Deadpools.)

Needless to say, if you attended MetaCon 2012, you probably have at least one memory involving the ol’ “Merc with a Mouth.” And there’s a pretty good chance that the memory was a good one. So thank you, Deadpool, for doing all the absurd things you did. We thoroughly enjoyed every moment of it.

UPDATE: Okay, so I have been notified of this thing that is now a thing: DeadpoolCon Facebook page. Let’s make this happen.

A Night at the Triple Rock with Mario Kart 64

August 27, 2012 By 2 Comments

The Triple Rock Social Club is Minneapolis’ premiere punk rock venue. In fact, it’s so punk rock that NOFX wrote a song about it (“Seeing Double at the Triple Rock”) and Lagwagon will be stopping by in October. But on Sunday, August 26, there was very little punk rock in sight, as the Triple Rock was completely overtaken by gamers for Tipsy Pixels’ Mario Kart 64 tournament.

So what exactly is Tipsy Pixels? Well, I talked to the guys behind the concept, Pete Basgen and Art Allen, to find out. (Tipsy Pixels is on Facebook, by the way. Check that out.) Here’s how Basgen explained it to me:

We do this sort of regular thing where we go and have drinks and just brainstorm ideas, concepts for stuff that we can do as events and goofy business ideas. We were sitting in the bar one night and just talking about playing videogames back in high school and college and even before, and it occurred to us that some sort of organized LAN party for grown-up people who love old school gaming and who love to drink could be a thing. And now we’re here.

The Triple Rock wants us to do this here every month, at least once a month. Our plan right now is to do a new old school game as the focus every month, and then just kind of rotate over the course of the year.

Pete Basgen and Art Allen of Tipsy Pixels.

Future games Basgen and Allen are looking at include Street Fighter II, Super Smash Bros., and Tecmo Super Bowl. But the focus for August 26 was Mario Kart 64.

The first 32 contestants to slap down five bucks (which wasn’t a bad deal at all, considering it came with a free drink ticket) were entered into the competition. Shortly after 8PM, the races began, with four players at a time battling it out while the game was displayed on a projection screen on the Triple Rock’s stage.

The tension was high, but so were the spirits of those involved, with onlookers offering encouragement through chants, cheers, and all-out hollering. Some of the contestants clearly had more experience (and less to drink beforehand) than others, as some were able to skillfully dodge red and green turtle shells while others struggled to finish. In fact, one player even spent an entire race going the wrong way around the track, despite Lakitu’s signpost and condescending finger wave. It was all in good fun, even though there were some sweet prizes at stake.

During the first two rounds of play, scores were tallied, and a third round was required to narrow the contestant pool down to four. While the first three rounds were all your standard Mario Kart races, the final round was a free-for-all balloon battle.

After a fairly drawn out battle that ended in an epic showdown between Bowser and Wario, the match was won and the tournament decided. Zach Pint was declared the winner, taking home a Nintendo GameCube console and four games donated by Rusty Quarters Retro Arcade & Museum.

Zach Pint stands victorious

Of course, even for those who didn’t participate in the tournament, there was much fun to be had. Retro gaming consoles were set up for anyone who wanted to play classics like Contra, Super Mario Bros 2., and Sonic 2. And, of course, there were plenty of drinks to be purchased at the bar.

As Tipsy Pixels’ first event, I would definitely consider the Mario Kart 64 tournament to be a huge success. I can’t wait until September 30, 2012, when they bring Super Street Fighter II Turbo to the Triple Rock. If you’re in the Minneapolis area, you should definitely stop by.

In the meantime, though, here’s a slideshow of images from the Mario Kart 64 tourney. Enjoy!

Castle Story Kickstarted; Developers Make Awesomest Thank You Video Ever

August 25, 2012 By Leave a Comment

So.

Remember that game Castle Story? The one I said kind of reminded me of Minecraft, even though it was actually more of an RTS with super cute yellow dude characters?

Well, the guys behind it (Sauropod Studios) launched a Kickstarter in order to raise money for the project, and they met their goal on the first day. In fact, they managed to raise almost $700,000.

As you can imagine, those guys are pretty thankful for all this money. So thankful, that they’ve added a bonus reward for every backer, even the cheapskates that donated one measly buck.

To be honest, the reward isn’t all that cool (it’s a hug from a game developer; as someone who hangs out with game developers frequently, I know that they smell kind of funny), but the video they made about this reward is solid gold. You should probably watch that immediately.

You’re welcome, Sauropod.

 

Low-Gain Interview, Part 5: Life After 8-bit Collective

August 24, 2012 By Leave a Comment

So what is Logan Erickson up to now that he’s no longer a major player in the 8-bit community?

He and I talked about his post-8bc life for a bit. He did mention that chipmusic was still a part of his life, though it’s role had diminished considerably since the “glory days.”

I still come back to it. I still listen to chipmusic all the time. Every now and then I’ll pull out my Game Boys and noodle on tracks that I started a year ago, or two years ago. It is nice to have the break, that’s for sure, because I view music a lot differently now than I did then. Unfortunately, I’d like to think that I was more productive when I was in the chipmusic scene. I was actually getting stuff done, versus now when I just don’t have time for anything.

At some point, I think Stefan and I are going to do another show. We’re going to do Microsound DJ. But it will be its own podcast; it won’t be an official 8-bit Collective thing. And we’re just going to play music we enjoy. And it’s not going to be 100% chip. I think there will be some stuff that’s 100%, but then there’s going to be some stuff that just [has some 8-bit sounds] mixed in.

He and I have a project called Bit’R'Chip that we’re looking at. We started in 2007, 2008. We’ve got like 7 or 8 songs, and we’re going to do a vinyl release of it and just put it out there.

And he’s working on a new record for Unicorn Dream Attack. And I’ve got another record worth that I’ll do that’s 8-bit. It’ll probably be my last 100% 8-bit or chipmusic record. I don’t know where I’ll post it, probably chipmusic.org.

And I would love to do a college tour. That’d be nice.

Of course, doing a tour with more elaborate equipment comes with its own set of problems that are absent when your primary instrument is a tiny little Game Boy.

It’s funny; doing the 8-bit thing is so easy because all I have to do is bring out a couple of Game Boys, a mixer, and a couple Kaoss Pads. It can fit into a suitcase, and it can all be wired. Now, you’re bringing thousands of dollars’ worth of equipment out, [and] you have to plug everything in. That’s one thing I miss: [having] everything in [one little] case. I could put it in a carry-on and fly anywhere with it.

At this point, I asked him whether he felt he’s grown beyond the 8-bit music he had become known for. He reassured me that he’s not entirely done with it.

That’s not to say I won’t be using [8-bit sounds]again on any other release; it’s just that [this upcoming record will] be the [last of my] 100% Game Boy-type stuff.

I really miss having clear kicks. I really want to have a kick that hits me in the chest. I miss that. I need more fidelity.

[But] I’ll use [the Game Boy] for bass lines; I’ll use it for synth leads and stuff. I love the noise channel for hi-hats and whatnot. I’m known for that. I was all about the Ninja Gaiden sword slash. That was my snare. I did that all the time. I love that sound.

This brought us to the topic of videogames. Of course, It would be foolish to deny the influence that the original NES had on the 8-bit musicians who grew up in the 1980s, including Logan.

The music in [Ninja Gaiden] was just amazing. There’s so many games that I loved. At one point I had like eighteen Nintendos. I don’t think I [even] have one now. I have all my games, so I’ll have to get one again. But that would require me to have a TV that you could actually use it on.

I got into collecting arcade machines. At the time I was really into it, I had eighteen arcade machines. I sold them all, because that’s just too much space. [But] we [have] some pinball machines out in the garage that aren’t hooked up yet.

And I’ll do a multi-system just to be able to have everything in one box. I don’t really care about having the original stuff. I used to restore the games. Now I want to just sit down and play them. So I’ll just get one of those everything-in-one-type machines, probably like a Candy Cab or something. I don’t know where to put it, but I just don’t have time to play.

Logan seemed legitimately saddened by the fact that he was struggling to find time to make the music he was once so passionate about. Maybe another factor in all this, though, is that the scene is no longer what it once was.

I know the community is still pretty strong, but I don’t feel that it’s as strong. At least the names of the core people that I knew — everybody that was really big in England, in New York, L.A., around the country in general. I think we’re still involved, but it’s not so much like we’re together anymore as this core community. We’ve kind of dispersed. I’m sure there’s a bunch of new names and stuff of people that are doing great things.

Of course, he’s since stopped selling LSDJ cartridges.

I stopped doing that a while ago. I got tired of trying to battle with other people who were selling them. At the time, it was my ego. It wasn’t that I thought I was better than other people, [but] I felt that I was more established in what I was doing than other people. And some of that got me in trouble. But I’m more aware of it now.

Moving on, I asked Logan what it is about chipmusic that he thinks draws certain people to it.

Part of it for the older guys is the nostalgia. It’s just like, ‘Oh yeah, I used to play Nintendo. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Super Mario Bros. Hell yeah!’ That was part of it for me. That’s most of it for me. I mean, I don’t know how I could say it’s not. It was just so cool [that] I can make music that not only was similar to the old games, but it’s even cooler because it’s music that I enjoy. It’s dance music. Some of it just sounds cool.

I don’t know if I could really understand it if I did not know what it was coming from. I think that’s part of why some people just don’t like it; they can’t appreciate it. They don’t care. They don’t know that this is being created from a little Game Boy that can only make four sounds at once, and the sound palette is [so limited]. You can do so little with it, yet you can do so much. People can’t [understand that], because they’re so used to listening to other music. But if you only knew the background of how it worked, then you could appreciate it.

But then there [are] some people that are just like, ‘Yeah, this is great! Let’s dance to it! Let’s have a good time!’ but as far as why, I don’t know. The 80s came back, and that’s part of it. And, you know, they have 8-bit beer now. I’m sorry, that has to be chipmusic-influenced. Not even joking. It has to be.

Through the years, chipmusic’s influence has been seeping into the mainstream, not only into products like “8-bit beer,” but into the music scene as well. It doesn’t necessarily make itself completely obvious, but it’s there, regardless of how subtle it may be.

Look at the pop music these days; you hear 8-bit stuff all over the place. It’s certainly becoming more popular. I don’t think hardcore 100% chipmusic will ever become pop music, but because electronic music is now cool, you’re hearing so many of those elements being mixed into pop music. And I think it’ll always be an accent piece. You can do a synth line that’s like the main lead of a chorus or something, and it’s going to be catchy and whatnot. But I don’t think you’ll ever hear something that’s 100% Game Boy [hit the mainstream]. I mean, it’d be rare. But it’s great that it’s influenced people.

And that about wrapped up our interview. Ultimately, what I took from our conversation is that Logan Erickson is a man who’s managed to get his hands into just about every aspect of the chipmusic scene. In fact, I’d venture to say that if you’re into 8-bit music at all, you’ve undoubtedly felt his influence, whether you’ve noticed it or not.

And that’s pretty damn cool.

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