Spontaneous Devotion, or How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love Chiptune

In my first year of law school, while searching for NES game soundtracks, I discovered chiptune music. Well, that's not technically accurate, but you'll see what I mean.

For those (two) of you reading this that might not know what it is, chiptune is a type of electronic music that is made using a computer or video game system's sound chip. If I were to play you a chiptune song right now, you would almost immediately think of the original 8-bit Nintendo, or Game Boy. This is because, out of necessity, all of the music in the games for those systems are indeed chiptune.

Flash back to almost 20 years ago. I knew that video game music had the potential to be really fucking good since I was six, plugging in the password (A5, B2, B4, C1, C3, C5, D4, D5, E2) to skip past all those damn hard bosses to the first stage of Dr. Wily's Castle in Mega Man II. The ensuing bleeps and beats that comprised that stage's music, quite honestly changed my life.

Yeah, okay, that sounds a little dramatic, but hear me out: it essentially was the first step towards me loving music as much as I do now.

The twin harmonies, the triplet bassline, the hard driving beat; all combined to form a theme invoking more heroic emotion than seemingly possible from an 8-bit system's sound processor. It floored the six year old geek kid in me, who, eventually, would grow up to form a teenaged obsession with Iron Maiden, a heavy metal band who, using guitars, bass and drums instead of pulse waves, triangle waves and noise channels, created that same intense, "epic" sound that I fell in love with in classic Mega Man level music. Twin guitar harmonies, of any sort really, still make me giggle (more inwardly than outwardly) with sonic glee.

Soon enough, I started having more than a casual relationship with music, and I was discovering new bands I loved left and right. Around the same time, I acquired the ability to pretty much download any song I wanted (courtesy of the internet), and put them on a mixed CD (courtesy of my ex-girlfriend's CD burner).

I remember I had made a mixed CD with System of a Down, Deep Purple, and some Pink Floyd on there, and I had put "Simon's Theme" from Super Castlevania IV at the end. Driving around by myself, I would have that organ theme full blast on my speakers, with my rearview mirrors shivering from the bassline. When I picked up friends, though, on came the Floyd, or some Weezer...something else, anyway. For a while, I was kind of embarassed that I really, really liked a lot of video game music, but Zelda, Castlevania, and of course Mega Man songs all started popping up in my mixed CD rotation. I guess I felt as if it was a guilty pleasure.

One day in late 2007, while searching for NES game soundtracks, I stumbled upon the 8bitpeoples website, and, if I recall correctly, the first artist I heard on the site was a young fellow going by the name Random (pictured above rocking his Game Boy), who had just released The Bad Joke EP earlier that summer. I listened to the first two tracks, "Sitge's Savepoint" and "Micawber's Moan", and jaw having dropped, I proceeded to immediately download the rest of Random's (unfortunately small) discography.

When I first listened to "Micawber's Moan", I got hit with that same sense of otherworldly auditory wonder I felt back in the early 90s playing that Dr. Wily's Castle stage for the first time. Obviously, part of it was me nostalgically linking the sounds I was hearing to the sound capabilities of the NES (technically the Game Boy) in a way that reminded me of being a kid sitting in front of a TV at my aunt's house, but there was something else.

I listened to other artists on the 8bitpeoples site, but for some reason none of the tracks by other artists really captured my attention and enthusiasm the way songs like "Black Mist" and "Searching for Atlantis" did. When I played Random's songs for others (namely, anyone who entered my room in residence for the next two weeks), I really don't think they got it. I guess they just heard video game music, and for their intents and purposes, I guess that's what it was.

I think it was the nostalgia hook that got me listening to Random, but what keeps me listening, and what I kept repeating to anyone listening to the songs with me, is this: Random is an awesome composer. There is an intensity to these songs, and there's certainly a high amount of danceability, too. But there are shovelfuls of intensely dance-y chiptunes to be found online, and only a couple artists have really caught my attention with great hooks, great harmonies, and great depth.

This realization, I think, is what has allowed me to shed the "guilty" from the pleasure of listening to chiptune, be it "Bloody Tears" from Castlevania II: Simon's Quest, or "Spontaneous Devotion" by Random: well crafted music, no matter what its source, is worth listening to, and sharing.

These days, along with listening to Random (and desperately hoping that the guy puts out another full fledged release as soon as possible), I've been listening to Trash80 and more recently Sabrepulse. A lot of this stuff is straight up electronic dance music, and while there's nothing wrong with that, every now and then I'll listen to old NES soundtracks (particularly Mega Man II, III and IV) every now and then for a true retro music experience.

Of course, there's also bands like Minibosses and The Advantage who play chiptune music with rock guitars, or bands like Anamanaguchi who bridge the gap between chiptune and full on rock in an undeniably catchy way. But they don't invoke the same sorts of emotion in me that straight up chiptune does. I don't think I've quite explained myself on that point, the best I can tell you, really, is just to listen for yourself.

In the end, now I don't mind when people know I listen to chiptune, be it game soundtracks or original composers. It's funny, actually; sometimes I miss the days when games didn't have full orchestrated soundtracks. There are exceptions to this rule, of course ("Drake's Theme" from Uncharted: Drake's Fortune being a recent example), but generally I don't find today's game soundtracks to be memorable as those on the classic NES and SNES.

Am I saying "they just don't make 'em like they used to..."? I guess I am.

Maybe I'm just getting old.

(Note: I can't remember where that picture came from - I just Google Image searched it. It's not mine, and if it's yours, let me know so I can credit you.)

Early Impressions: Demon's Souls

When I first played Atlus' Etrian Odyssey, I was full aware going in that the game was meant for purists, for hardcore RPG lovers, for the fiends craving a challenge. It was simple, but difficult, and I liked it for that (as you may have read in an earlier review).

Fastforward to last night (read: really early this morning): I finally cracked open Demon's Souls.

What in the merciful fuck is going on in this game?

I got through the tutorial session okay, in a bit of a blurry haze. At the end, a big burly brute of a beast one-hit killed me. I assumed that was part of the experience, and that it could not be avoided. I know that being dead and a spirit is part of the gameplay, and I, well, I'm not sure, but I think I might still be dead now.

I've just played through the same section of a castle about two dozen times, getting eight to twelve feet further each time. Okay, it's hard, yeah, alright.

But I don't so much feel challenged as I do mentally challenged. I don't know where I supposed to be going, what I'm supposed to be doing (collecting souls, ostensibly?) or how I'm supposed to accomplish anything. All I've been doing is leaving bloodstains everywhere, and getting my ass handed to me by every enemy I encounter.

I wonder, is this the madness that is supposed to ensue when you lose your soul? Being an aimless wanderer trying to fight his way back to some semblance of purpose? A cursory flip through the instruction manual was no help. I can't sell items? Okay. How do I save? I don't know! What the fuck do half these items do? Beats me!

I might not be an expert, but I'd like to think I'm pretty learned in the realm of RPGs. Here's hoping that I will slowly figure out what the fuck is going on in this game and enjoy it on the same terms as everyone else. Because I can only play through the same area another dozen or so more times before I get fed up.

Early Impressions: New Super Mario Bros. Wii

I've spent the last couple of hours trying to hammer out a closing statement for a mock criminal trial tomorrow evening, in which I am acting as defence counsel. This weekend, I bought a suit to wear at that exercise, the Blu-ray edition Watchmen: The Complete Story that I intend to watch for post-trial celebratory relaxation, and New Super Mario Bros. Wii.

I finished World 1 this evening before hunkering down behind my laptop to start crafting legal arguments. I remarked to my friend who was watching, "Alright, World 2, here comes the desert!" and, sure enough, I was greated by the golden brown sands of a pretty standard Mario desert overworld map.

This sort of predictability is alright by me.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii is the sequel to the 2006 DS game that returned Nintendo's well known (and perhaps overworked) plumber mascot to his two dimensional roots. This time, the focus is on a Mario platformer first - simultaneous co-op multiplayer, for up to four players. I was a little dubious at first, until I remembered these games always include exemplary level design coupled with that retro-quirk sense of humour that Mario and company provide.

Right off the bat, it somehow felt more natural to be playing this sort of game on a console rather than a portable system, with the Wii Remote in its sideways, NES-controller guise. Brought me right back to those days of marvelling at the original Super Mario Bros. Well, not really, but we'll get to that.

I played through a few levels on my own, and then noted to my delight that adding a second player (killerclair, of course) was as easy as pausing the game and having Clair grab a remote and hit a button. Having her exit the game when she wanted to get back to work was just as easy. Drop-in, and drop-out. Beauty.

One of the things that hit home for me early on was the rather clever integration of a controller-shake as, essentially, an extra button. It worked well and felt natural; I guess if anyone is going to get waggle right, it would be Nintendo first-party developers.

I always instinctively shudder when I read about new Mario costumes. Having grown up with Frog and Raccoon Mario, I feel that, for a game that's supposed to capture what I loved about these games as a kid, Penguin Mario or Bee Mario or whatever-animal Mario seem silly and foolish. I guess the "newness" of the games keeps me from going back to 1990 in my mind.

But, that's okay. Because New Super Mario Bros. Wii seems to contain everything that was good about Super Mario Bros. 3 or Super Mario World or even Yoshi's Island to an extent (I giggled a bit to myself when Yoshi appeared for the first time and I could do his little leg-kicking mid-air boost).

It's a combination of the old-school jumping, running, and princess-saving premise with just enough tweaks and new, fun elements to keep things hopping.

Propeller-Hat Mario wasn't so bad, I guess! Onto World 2!

Struggling To Move Forward.

Demon's Souls still sits, unplayed, on the top of a stack of PS3 games into which I have yet to delve.

It is extremely frustrating, and it mirrors my inability to write lately. I have so many games I want to play, so many things I want to talk about, so many ideas for directions for the blog. And yet, school and life keep getting in the way of a good solid gaming session, and a good blogging session.

Not only that, when I do get a free moment, it ususally ends up getting usurped by NHL 10, which I've played to an obscene degree (it is as good as I'd hoped it would be). Or, my new obsession, Strat-o-Matic Hockey. We won't go there.

Oh, and I did manage to finish Uncharted, the most cinematic game I've ever played. "Drake's Theme" really drove that feeling home every time I fired up the game. Sorta excited for Uncharted 2, but again, this requires me to dig myself out from under that giant pile of unplayed games.

With exams looming in a month's time (less, actually), I fear I won't have as much of an opportunity to write as I'd like. I do have a mini-reviews thing that's in the draft stages, however, it's just a matter of me sitting down to properly finish the reviews, or in some cases, the games I'm reviewing.

It is not a lack of things, but a glut, that has prevented a move forward.

This weekend I am going to try and post some mini-reviews, and maybe, maybe, some impressions.

In the meantime, I've been playing Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrows. I had a game in progress, but then, as is my custom, I got distracted by something else and forgot about it. In the tradition of many other gamers of my ilk, I decided to restart from scratch. I dabbled in the GBA's Circle of the Moon, and I straight out gobbled up Dawn of Sorrow's sequel, Portrait of Ruin, but something about the Metroidvania style that's become so prevalent in the series lately rubs me the wrong way, especially considering Super Castlevania IV is my choice for best game in the franchise.

Dawn of Sorrow is a really solid platformer, with some neat concepts thrown in (and it's nice to have a break from the "Charlotte! Jonathan! Charlotte! Jonathan!" back and forth character switching gimmick from Portrait of Ruin). The touch-screen "draw the seal" mechanic is a bit difficult to do on the fly in a game where you're primarily using the directional pad and buttons.

There's something to be said for games that encourage some free-roaming exploration, but I find more often than not I get frustrated because I can't remember the places I need to go back to once I find the item I needed to access them. Maybe I'm overly nostalgic, but I'd really like a throwback, no-frills, level-based Castlevania game. Every other fucking game is getting a retro-remake! I guess Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth could be that game, but I don't have high hopes, given that the original Castlevania: The Adventure was a boring and rather awful Game Boy game.

Note to Konami: Let whichever Belmont is in charge this time around flick his whip in eight directions again! Why would you introduce such an enjoyable, heralded mechanic, only to remove it in every (as far as I know) subsequent game?

Alright, Demon's Souls tonight, dammit. Tonight!