I’m still not fully recovered from all of the rad stuff that went on last week at GDC in San Francisco (see some of my coverage here, here and here), but nevertheless, I’m headed to Boston this weekend for PAX East.

The chip showcase we had there last year was pretty legit, but this year it’s going into overdrive: Local allies Boston8bit have teamed up with MAGFest to organize a 3-part chip showcase featuring 15 performers and 3 visual artists to the PAX East Jamspace on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

I’ll be giving a presentation on the history of chip music Saturday morning at 10 AM in the Jamspace, then performing alongside AdamGetsAwesome, Danimal Cannon, Bright Primate and Smiletron from 11 - 2 PM.

I’ll be bringing some merch with me too: Micro-CD’s (the same ones I premiered at PAX Prime - only a couple left) and brand-new 1” Zen Albatross buttons, brought to you thanks to the hard work of Jenn DLV:



Other must-see acts like NY chiptune forebears Bit Shifter and Glomag will also be performing throughout the weekend. And if you're still around on Sunday, definitely don't miss casio/gameboy duo The Shortsleeves, who are on tour this month.

Here's the full lineup:

=== FRIDAY ===
Cathode Rays
Oxygenstar
Active Knowledge
Animal Style
Bit Shifter

=== SATURDAY ===
AdamGetsAwesome
Zen Albatross
Danimal Cannon
Br1ght Pr1mate
Smiletron

=== SUNDAY ===
7th Gear
Facundo
Shortsleeves
Disasterpeace
glomag and Corset lore

=== VISUAL ARTISTS ===
InvaderBacca
HN_i_C
Batsly Adams

More info + RSVP here.

Chip music is coming to Seattle’s Penny Arcade Expo in a big way this year. If you’ve been to PAX before, you’ve probably seen Lo-Tek Resistance, the annual chiptune street busking performance held (unofficially) in front of the convention center by members of Crunchy Co Records. Featuring chip artists local to the Seattle area (and some special guests from afar), Lo-Tek has quickly picked up a lot of attention among PAX attendees and organizers. This year marks a milestone for the event, and I’m proud to announce that I’ll be performing with Fighter X, Spamtron, Knife City and Seanbad at PAX’s very first official Chiptune Music Showcase, taking place in the Jamspace room of the Washington State Convention Center on Saturday, September 4th at 1PM.

In addition to that, Crunchy Co will be running a chiptunes panel on Friday, September 3rd at 11AM in the Wolfman Theatre. Now’s your chance to learn how chip music is made and performed from some of the world’s top 8-bit artists. Panelists will include Peter Berkman of Anamanaguchi, Nickolas Walthew of Fighter X and Gabe Hayward of KGHB.

Last but certainly not least, 2 Player Productions, creators of the massive, newly-released chiptune documentary Reformat The Planet will be having their own panel and screening Penny Arcade TV, their documentary series on Penny Arcade creators Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins on Friday, September 3rd at 5PM in the Serpent Theatre. Make sure to say hi and pick up a copy of the RFTP DVD.

Check out this thread for more info. See you there!

Oh wow, I haven't posted here in quite a while. Do I even know anyone on this site anymore? Anywho, I thought you (whoever you are) might like to check out some on-site reporting I've done for Vice on a DIY indie games arcade that's making waves here in New York City. Enjoy!

In New York City, there’s a new arcade in town. But don’t expect to find anything you could purchase at your local Gamestop here. Instead, the homemade titles that fill the ramshackle cabinets of this musty basement just off the L train’s Halsey stop are part of an underground movement that’s re-invigorating interest in grassroots game development by taking to heart a credo strikingly similar to that of the early punk rock scene.

The place is Silent Barn, an active DIY music venue in Ridgewood, Queens that has quickly become an unlikely hub of videogame counterculture through Babycastles, a curated gallery of independently developed games from developers around the world. Normally a faceless exchange operating through all manner of internet message boards, blogs and IRC channels, Babycastles co-founders Syed Salahuddin, Kunal Gupta and Arthur Ward aim to bring the indie games community back into meatspace. And they’re doing it the only way they know how to: By throwing raucous parties with live music and huge crowds of gaming enthusiasts button-mashing away on arcade cabinets lovingly crafted from planks of wood, painted styrofoam and whatever else was lying around that day.

Check out more photos from the most recent Babycastles event on MOTHERBOARD.

Photo by Earl Z. Madness

Going to PAX East in Boston this weekend? Great! I'll be there too, carrying a bag filled with Game Boys and terrible junk food that I'll regret eating later. But more importantly, I'll be leading a chipmusic panel on Saturday at 10:30AM in the JamSpace room (Rm 309) of the Hynes Convention Center, joined by a panel of local artists who will share their experiences incubating Boston's burgeoning chipmusic scene.

Afterwards, we're going to rock the joint six ways till Sunday with not one, but two chiptune concerts, right smack dab in the middle of PAX. And if all goes according to plan, we might be playing outside too. Because, you know, no one's done that at PAX before. Come party with us!

The lineup is:

Saturday, 3/27, 11:30a - 2:00p
Br1ght Pr1mate
Zen Albatross
Disasterpeace

Sunday, 3/28, 12:00p - 2:30p
Active Knowledge
OxygenStar
A_Rival

Be there or be square(wave).

Hello, Destructo-friends. It's Self-Promotion Time:

I'm going to be playing Pulsewave, New York's largest monthly chipmusic event next weekend with my pals Minusbaby of 8bitpeoples and Active Knowledge of Boston 8-Bit. If you're in the area, holla at yer boy/albatross.

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Saturday, March 20th, 2010
8 PM - 12 AM
$10
All Ages

The Tank
354 West 45th Street
Between 8th and 9th Avenues

GOOGLE MAP
http://3.ly/thetank

BY SUBWAY
A, C, E, N, Q, R, W, 1, 2, 3, B, D, F, V, S, or 7 to 42nd Street

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

And if you can't make it, you'd better be in Boston the following week for PAX East -- I'll be joined by Disasterpeace, Br1ghtPr1mate, A_Rival, Active Knowledge and more for two days of chip concerts and panels in the Jamspace room. Be there or be square(wave).

Flowers, chocolates and poetry are all well and good, but nothing says ‘I love you’ quite like a bouquet of award-winning indie games. Fortunately for all you shortchanged cassanovas out there, the Indie Love Bundle is here with an affordable package of quality independent titles guaranteed to amplify the affections of your sweetheart this Valentine’s Day. Or to be enjoyed by yourself whilst stomping on rose petals and angrily expressing your disdain for the Hallmark card company.



The bundle gives you six amazing indie titles for PC, Mac and Linux: Robotic puzzle adventure Machinarium, serene biophysics engine Osmos, gravity-shifting platformer And Yet It Moves, side-scrolling action RPG Aztaka, abstract audiovisual reverie Auditorium and ambient space simulator Eufloria are all included. And of course, the best part is that you get all of this for only $20. It’s an absolute steal, but just like an alarmingly high percentage of marriages, it won’t last forever — You’ll only be able to snag the bundle up until the clock strikes midnight next week on February 19th, so get moving. Whether you’re lovestruck or loveless this year, don’t pass up this amazing opportunity to experience some of the most important independent games of the past few years.