games  anime  |  toys
This is a Dtoid readers's blog. For staff blogs click here. Confused? read this Create you own!  |   Members: Login now



Reformat the Planet Proves Nerd Culture Is Relevant, Rocks Out With Cock Out
NobodysDream | 12:34 AM on 08.20.2008 8 comments


[Blog reposted from earlier, due to weird timestamp.]

If you have yet to drop by Pitchfork TV to watch Reformat the Planet do so now, because it will make you feel like there might be a light at the end of the tunnel of your gaming life. Here is a trailer if you want to know what you're getting into.



I love chiptunes for a lot of reasons, not the least of which are the pumping beats that are sure to get you laid on Saturday night. Nothing says "Rock the Fuck Out" like a Gameboy with a plug up its ass wired into a surround sound system. But what really makes me love chiptunes is that it is evidence of a culture. More importantly, a relevant and artistically rich culture.

I don't like the fact that video games are inextricably linked to consumer culture and trash culture. When people think "video games", they imagine the giant throbbing corporate cock of Microsoft, ready to fuck you up the ass in exchange for a brief diversion of violence and sex. When people think of "video game culture", they imagine an infinite expanse of cats with captions on them.



I CAN HAZ CULTURAL IRRELEVANCY?

Gamers and gamer culture are hardly respected, and are hardly respectable. And lets be honest, if the entirety of our output was shit like this, we deserve to be locked the fuck up for our frankenstein photoshop creations. Thankfully, we don't live in that world.

Chiptunes and the chiptunes scene are important for a lot of reasons. The whole scene is DIY. If you want your life to be vibrant, it has to be yours, and the only way to make it yours is to make it yourself. The consoles may be relics of a well spent youth, but they are celebrated and reformatted to fit the artists intent.

The output isn't just some cultural feedback loop. The styles are diverse and reflect the individual musician, like a mirror you can dance to. The twisted soundscapes they create are unique, sincere, and original. Most of gamer culture is remix culture, which is great when you're in on the joke, but it doesn't last long in the open world. Like all remix culture, it withers and dies when exposed to a vacuum.



The OneUps may be awesome, but they are a good example of band that cannot exist without the self perpetuating elixir of reference and recognition. We say,"Oh shit, Toejam and Earl, turn that shit up." But without such recognition, the song ceases to be anything other than a funky jam. Not that I don't love to bring the funk, mind you. Nothing gets me going quite like a phat bassline and the sultry tones of a large black man whispering sweet nothings into my ear.

What I'm trying to say is that Dale North cannot survive in the vacuum of space.

With chiptunes, the sound may bud with nostalgia, but you don't need to play video games to know that this is awesome.



I made a pun. Did you see what I did there? I'm so fucking cool. I'm the goddamn definition of BAMF. Please love me.

I love chiptunes because it is evidence of a culture I can be proud of. It can inspire you to think or inspire you to get the fuck on down to the dance floor and rip that shit up. It is original, it is meaningful, and it is ours. Gamers are not some uniform mass, and we have no real cultural connection outside of the games we play, but various social phenomena have sprouted from something as simple as staying inside on sunny days and mashing on a d-pad. These are the cultures that connect us, and represent us.

This is our punk rock.

And if you had to choose something to represent you, would you rather have this...



...or this.



If the answer isn't obvious, you are walking cancer, and I hope a meteor hits you.



  related blogs:
 

Is this post awesome? Vote it up!

0


Comment with Facebook





Click connect and comment instantly!

Comment with Dtoid





New? SIGN UP - it takes 5 seconds

8 comments | showing # 1 to 8

prev next

Gangles's Destructoid Blog
Happen to know the name of the song toward the end of the first video? Me likey.
NobodysDream's Destructoid Blog
I don't know the name of the song, but it sounds like Bit Shifter to me. You can download everything by the 8bitpeoples on their website, so head on over if you're curious.
Aziel13's Destructoid Blog
MOAR! I need MOAR!
Dirty ROM Dance Mix
why haven't I heard of this before
man I R t3h 0ldzors
='(
Fusiontr's Destructoid Blog
Chiptune is awesome
full stop
I'd love to create music like that.
But I have no clue what to do

The closest I can get is through my Korg DS-10 which I'm still getting to grips with.

And I agree with pretty much everything.
People may not be into nerd culture necessarily, but can seriously love the music created because of it.

Also, the bass in the One Up video is damn funky
king3vbo's Destructoid Blog
You can haz chiptunes
NobodysDream's Destructoid Blog
Dirty ROM Dance Mix is pretty awesome, ain't gonna lie.

I'd also like to incorporate chiptunes into my music, but I can never find my old Gameboy. Maybe one day, if I wish hard enough, I'll have the opportunity to crowd surf over nerds that barely have the upper body strength to support themselves, dropping me several feet from the stage.

I luvs meh chiptunes.
Spartacus's Destructoid Blog
AMEN, BRUTHA

Also, @FUSIONTR
All I know about making chiptunes are the phrases "littlesounddj" and "elektron sidstation." I dunno, Google, them and you should get somewhere.
NobodysDream's Destructoid Blog
Although I'm pleased to know everyone here enjoys chiptunes, I was hoping someone would come out and defend the "other" video I posted at the bottom.

I just want to know the logic of someone that finds value in a collection of clips from DBZ and Naruto set to Linkin Park.


prev next


Comment with Facebook





Click connect and comment instantly!

Comment with Dtoid





New? SIGN UP - it takes 5 seconds

Comments policy

Destructoid is an open discussion community. You don't need to "audition" to post a comment - just speak your mind. We respect differing opinions on the site, so have at it. Be smart, funny, insightful, clueless, or cute -- but back it up with substance. Keep your cool, keep it fun. We only ask that you act respectfully and above all: don't be a troll and ruin it for everyone else. Don't bring down gamers or we'll, you know, gently shoot you in the face and stuff you into a flaming mailbox. Each comment is your opportuntity to make this community awesomer. Is that even a word?

Avoiding the banhammer only requires common sense: spamming, trolling, racism, NSFW stuff, and other forms of sucking will not be tolerated. If anyone is griefing please report abuse. Be good. Don't suck!

 about me

I'm a student at UCSC.

I've been a reader of Dtoid since 2006.

I have Aaron Linde/Nex yaoi on my computer. I don't know why.

I'm a failing author.

I'm a failing musician.

I'm kind of a cunt.

I'm an indiefag.

I think Video Games have the potential to be the richest artistic medium of all time.

By simply reading that sentence, your pretension has increased by 25%.

I like boobies.

 friends' updates
Aziel13's Profile Aziel13
Happy B-day Niero and D-toid
BahamutZero's Profile BahamutZero
TITAN QUEST IS AMAZING - aka - BUY THE THQ PACK ON STEAM BEFORE MONDAY
Cowzilla3's Profile Cowzilla3
Monday Review: Drag Me to Hell
EternalDeathSlayer's Profile EternalDeathSlayer
Happy Thanksgiving Destructoid, I'm thankful for you and some other stuff.
Justice's Profile Justice
A new addition to the household (shortblog)
king3vbo's Profile king3vbo
Why I Love Destructoid
Krow's Profile Krow
Kauza's review of Mass Effect 2
Mxyzptlk's Profile Mxyzptlk
Left 4 Dead 2: Interview with a Zombie 2
myaimistrue's Profile myaimistrue
First Dead-o-Rising: Chop Til You Drop review - Shocker! It's from Sweden!
nukka jdav's Profile nukka jdav
I am poor, buy my cheap PS3 and games. College is lame.
Professor Pew's Profile Professor Pew
Pew Review: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (360) (spoilerfree no less)
Timmeh's Profile Timmeh
Fails at blogging.
Zombutler's Profile Zombutler
360 Friday Night Fights: When the bleh is away....


 

 
  get involved

register or login
post a blog
post a forum
enter a contest
contribute a news tip
suggest a feature
be a guest editor
support

new member's guide
login assistance
tech support
report abuse
email our editors
read our dev blog
nuclear crisis?
keep in touch

RSS feed
Twitter
Facebook
Myspace
Flickr
Game nights
Meetup+play online
seriously

about Destructoid
advertising
terms of use
privacy policy
jobs at MM
buy our crap
our network

Tomopop
Japanator
Despingation?




Destructoid is an independently-run publication forged by our love of video games and the gaming community's need of accountable enthusiast press
living the dream since March 16, 2006