For anyone still wondering what Blip Festival is like,  this is the trailer for Blip Festival 2006: The Videos that I couldn't get my hands on before. Care of those 8-bit documentarians at 2PlayerProductions, who will also be filming this year, anything you may miss will be archived in gorgeous hi-def like so.

The excitement is building, and this year yours truly is blessed to have numerous Destructoid cohorts joining the party: Tiff, Topher, Colette, Phist, and Mr. Destructoid himself are gonna go 8-bit. If you're going to be there this coming week, make sure to come over and say 'Hello,' accost us, ask for our (er, Niero's) autographs, get us to help you change a flat tire, or whatever else you may need from the group -- we're multi-talented, some of us even multi-layered.

Take note after the jump, because the official schedule is finalized and has been released. 

Blip Festival 2007 

November 29 -- December 2, 2007

presented by The Tank and 8bitpeoples

at Eyebeam Atelier | 540 W. 21st Street, New York, NY

The only way to follow up an event like the watershed debut of the Blip Festival in 2006 is either to initiate the Apocalypse, or come back bigger, more international and far more bad ass. Since our continued existence is assured for now, be glad that the BlipFest organizers have come through, culling 40 artists from 15 countries around the globe (Yes, even RoboFrance 29) to excite and titillate every twitching, multimedia-loving fiber in your body.

This year, the main event will happen over four days at the Eybeam Atelier's massive 5000 square-foot space in Chelsea, while a satellite art show, B I T M A P: as good as new, celebrating all things lo-bit will be exhibited at Brooklyn's vertexList gallery.

From last year's incredible bill, returning performers include Anamanaguchi, Bit Shifter, Bubblyfish, Mark DeNardo, Nullsleep, Virt, noteNdo, and Neil Voss. Save any artists yet to be added to the schedule, everyone else performing their audio and visual works are entirely new to the festival. Among them, the famed German duo, Bodenständig 2000, playing for only the second time in New York, will likely headline one of the biggest nights.

Blip Festival is a unique event unlike anything else, so if you don't want to miss it, make travel plans now.  And no, you can't stay at my house -- it's booked solid.

The artist list and info after the jump!

Last Friday, those in attendance at Pulsewave, The Tank's monthly chiptunes showcase, got an extra treat when the crew from 2 Player Productions ran the trailer for the Blip Festival 2006 documentary between sets.  It was an unexpected surprise, so the snapshots I took were all of the shaky phone camera sort.

The DVD is slated for release just in time for this year's festival. Blip Festival 2007 runs from Nov. 29 to Dec. 2, and was moved to the EYEBEAM, a larger gallery space in Chelsea. The four-day lineup has not been released, yet, but if last year is any indication, there will a great number of artists one wouldn't want to miss. Start planning!

It's Wednesday, and if you live in New York City, you should rush down tonight to The Tank's monthly film series, New York Experimental, for the premiere of the short film, NightSide. Directed by Paul Owens of 2 Player Productions (known for their work, "Play," A Video Game Movie, and the upcoming Blip Festival 2006 documentary), and featuring six new tracks by banjo-toting chiptunes artist Bud Melvin, the film is described as:

A quasi-western adventure film with an underlying sense of dread and an experimental edge. The film is set far in the past and follows a young orphan (known simply as “the boy”) as he leaves his dwelling deep in the woods for the first time. Along the way he encounters many people, most of them no longer living.

NightSide will be the last film screened, so don't fret if you can't get there immediately at 7:30pm. Expect the soundtrack to be available some time next month, and check Bud's web site for some dates for his other bands' shows.

@ The Tank

279 Church Street, between Franklin and White

Tonight at 7:30pm

$7

Bud Melvin's MySpace

Nullsleep has been quite busy lately, gigging, celebrating the beginning of summer, putting out a new record, and fronting the 8bitpeoples juggernaut, as always.

The video before you is part of Nullsleep's performance in the first ever Make Music New York 2007 that took place last week on June 21st, the first day of summer. 

Make Music New York is based on France's Fete de la Musique, which has been a great success for 25 years. Since it was inaugurated, the festival has become an international phenomenon, celebrated on the same day in more than 300 cities in 108 countries, including Germany, Italy, Egypt, Syria, Morocco, Australia, Vietnam, Congo, Cameroon, Togo, Columbia [sic], Chile, Mongolia, and Japan -- everywhere, it seems, except New York.

Care of the Tank, it was an afternoon of great energy with other performances from Mark Denardo and Bit Shifter, even though the rain did dampen the former's set, ending it early. People began to congregate at the corner of Church and White streets after the show restarted, creeping closer out of curiosity at the large jostling crowd that had formed. Among the new tracks from Electric Heart Strike, Nullsleep dropped an unreleased gem called Lightspeed Lament, which he described as a "...song about the best things in the universe: girls, time travel and superstring theory."

If you're in the Chicago area this weekend, you have a chance to see Nullsleep and Bit Shifter, who will be part of the lineup at the inaugural concert for the four-part Ohm Multimedia Series on Saturday, June 30 at 1:30pm.

Hit the jump for some goodies.

That's a tagline you can stand behind. It's concise, speaks directly to the point, and leaves nothing to be desired...except beer. The boys behind the first ever Wii Tennis tournament, Wiimbledon, ensure there will be plenty of that, too, having chosen Barcade in Williamsburg, Brooklyn as the official venue.

The little event that could has been building its own internet buzz thanks in part to organizers Lane Buschel (a PR-firm VP) and Steve Bryant (a Hollywood Reporter columnist), who know a thing or two (and people) about effectively getting the word out.

The tournament is this coming Saturday, June 23rd from Noon to 5pm, and Destructoid will be there to catch the flailing, the mayhem, and the drinking (on tape!). So, come down and join us, or get your name down on the list to compete.  The winner takes home a Nintendo Wii of their very own, and there will be an award for those deemed best-dressed in their tennis outfits.

Now that the tourney itself has a real prize, Bryant can come through for those looking damn fine: "...maybe the prize will be hookers and some blow. ” Aww, yeah!

[Sign up here!]

...a musical trio ahead of their time. Hunter, Tug, and Matthew are three talented eleven-year-olds with similar musical passions who are more musically progressive than many artists twice their age! While their exciting and catchy musical style reflects that of an older age, the lyrical content is certainly written from the amusing view of a pre-teen.

What's that burning smell? Is it the building? Did the knifeless hibachi chef get bored and start lighting things on fire?

Could it be that Majesco's Cooking Mama: Cook Off for the Nintendo Wii is selling like hotcakes? That's what I'm guessing, because it seems like everyone likes this game.

This past Saturday, the Nintendo World Store in New York City hosted an exclusive event to launch our culinary heroine onto the unsuspecting closet homemakers around the country. Dtoid was there to storm the free food, pwn kids half our age, and grate some virtual ginger with the best of them.

Jump on it...to the next page!

In an unfortunate turn for UK fans of New York's Anamanaguchi, the band was detained earlier this week at Glasgow airport. Why were they denied? Apparently, they were too good to be allowed into the country. Perhaps the Scots thought that Anamanaguchi would displace all of the domestic 8-bit rockers.  From the press release:

The immigration officer asked guitarist/programmer Peter Berkman for a phone number to call; he gave the number of Phil from the group Firebrand Boy, whose flat they were staying that night. The officer asked Phil two questions on the phone: "Are they getting paid for these shows?" to which Phil replied, "I don't even know if I'll break even, everything's out of pocket." And the second question, "Would you say they're pretty good at what they do?" to which friend and fan Phil replied "yes." The officer returned and told the band that since they were "pretty good at what they do" they had to be denied access to the UK.

 [Read on for details.]

Anamanaguchi will shred their way into the UK starting next week, hopefully knocking the last few teeth our trans-Atlantic friends have left.

If you live in the Old Country and are jonesin' for some 8-bit power pop, peep the dates below, make your plans, accordingly:

March 10th - Glasgow - Strathclyde University w/Firebrand Boy, Sabrepulse, Technophobes

March 11th - Sheffield - DnR Bar w/Spheres of Chaos, Elfonso, Deny The Accident

March 12th - Derby - The Victoria Inn w/Close To Nothing, The Boom!Cans, Deny The Accident

March 14th - London - Camden Barfly w/Glamour For Better, Deny The Accident

March 15th - Nottingham - Stealth w/Deny The Accident + One TBA

March 16th - Guildford - House Party w/Red! Nice Guy?, The Siegfried Sassoon, Deny The Accident

March 17th - Oxford - Abort Retry Fail @ The Cellar w/George Pringle, Deny The Accident

When this man first brought you his FPS Glasses, we were on it (and your little dog, too). Bartholl will be at the EYEBEAM in NYC for some hands-on craft work, as part of their larger exhibit Open City.

From the press release:

Aram Bartholl - First Person Shooter Workshop
Mar. 2, 2007
3-5pm

From 3-5pm artist Aram Bartholl will lead a drop-in free workshop demo-ing how to create his First Person Shooter Glasses.

For more information on this project visit http://www.datenform.de/fpseng.html

If Gametap is the whore of video game content delivery, then Richard Branson's unfortunately named AWOMO (A World of My Own) is the new kid on the block.

This poor, dumpy kid will inevitably get beat up, even though it's only a matter of time before everyone starts rolling out their own metaverses -- and then it will seem like second nature.

Ars Technica reports more details on the partnership between Virgin Games and Game Domain International (GDI), that Branson claims will "do for PC games what iTunes has done for music" by integrating faster content delivery with a virtual world interface. The Steam Review also has a few musings on how that might work with GDI's current tech.

A future of virtual social space with promises of tournament prizes like a trip on Virgin Galactic sounds enticing, though.  Just keep in mind, regardless of which virtual world you end up residing in, if you buy all your wares there, it's just like being at the mall.

[Thanks for the tip, Liz] 

JeuxFrance has unveiled the first gameplay images for Mega Man ZX Advent (care of Famitsu magazine), slated for release in Japan on the Nintendo DS later this year.

As the story goes:

...Eyed for release this year in Japan, Mega Man ZX [Advent] will feature two young heroes, Grey (14 yrs. old) and Ashe (15 yrs. old), whose stories are linked to Pandora and Prometheus, respectively, in a game that offers two different scenarios.  After just emerging from a deep sleep, Grey is apparently the result of an experiment gone wrong, while Ashe is a hunter, whose mission is to recover the stolen Model A Livemetal. The magazine also indicates that the first model Rockman [Mega Man] was a Model A (see image). To Follow.

(Hit the Jump for that Capcom eye-candy)

The development team that brought you ICO and Shadow of the Colossus has posted a "Now Hiring" ad in the latest issue of Famitsu.

People do crazy things for love, and you know you love these games. So, thanks to Nick's alertness, if you happen to be a masterful video game programmer, fluent in Japanese, and willing to uproot your whole life to join this team for its third installment, then here's your chance.

Not that they've been very forthcoming with information as to how to reply. Such are the mysteries of women...and Sony.

[Update: Further information on the love connection between you and Team ICO can be found on Sony's career website here.] 

(Hit the jump for the scan)