Chipmusic is about accepting the system’s features (aka limitations), and expanding them (aka breaking them). 30 years of new sounds shows how a culture can progress through software and not hardware updates. Competition and community, trial and error & rationalism has contributed to it. But it presupposes that you are allowed to do what you want with the technology.

The C64 iPhone emulator was released in September as the first multi-purpose emulator on the iPhone. But Apple does not allow users to run downloadable code on the iPhone. Apple wants to retain control over what software is running on the iPhone (avoidable by jailbreaking and e.g. cydia). But since the C64 has a built-in BASIC programming language, Apple cannot stay in control. So the solution was to remove BASIC from the emulator, and offer a selection of something like 5 games. In that way, users cannot make their own software and they cannot load whatever software they want. This is the complete opposite to the hippie-libertarian-multimedia ‘coolness’ that has been around Apple since the 1970s. You know, Bill Gates writes a letter in 1976 to promote software copyright and ever since Apple has been cool and Microsoft evil…?

Whatever. But the iPhone C64-emulator transforms the C64-system into a restricted gaming console (but, but). Surely, 8-bit computers are often described as gaming computers. Indeed, they were developed (also) for gaming purposes, and not colourless and soundless business purposes. But they were not read-only and interpassive like consoles, so they should not be remembered, emulated and discussed as such. It is (even) harder to talk about intented uses of computers compared to e.g. Gameboy and NES, in that sense. Ie, there is nothing necessarily subversive about making your own music and software on a C64, even if chipmusic is often described in that way.

While the iPhone C64-emulator is just a piece of entertainment software, it plays part in a larger tendency to reduce old technology to something simplistic, something limited. But limited in what sense, and according to who? I can turn on my C64 and start programming in 1 second, and make music in 1 minute. I can easily have it fixed when it’s broken, or atleast understand what the problem is. I have access to 25 years of software and knowledge, and with a lack of commercial interests I do not have to consider intellectual property regulations. I don’t find 3 channels of sound to be limiting; I think it’s empowering. Of course, digital technology is improving in many quantitative and qualitative ways, enabling users to do more, and faster. But it is not a one-dimensional line of neutral progress – it is change, resulting from economic, cultural, social, and aesthetical values. New technology is not better per se. Even if it is, it doesn’t mean that new ideas require new technology. That modernist idea has been questioned in so many other fields, but is painfully present in digital media.

Oh well. So… here is some of little-scale’s soundchip-related iPhone apps! (Btw, does anyone know how the emulator can be sold, being based on the GPL-licensed Frodo?)

Despues de reunir pacientemente todos los componentes requeridos he podido dedicar el tiempo necesario para realizar un mod a mi c64 de lo más chulo. Desde la primera tanda de produción de mssiah y su puesta a la venta que disponía de un PCB de sid2sid esperando a ser ensamblado. Sid2sid no es más que un PCB producido por 8bitventures que se vende suelto y que deberemos montar nosotros mismos. Ahora ya es fácil instalar un segundo sid en tu commodore 64!

previos al montaje

Una vez instalado, y gracias a los 2 sids y a un software de audio que lo soporte, podemos tener 3 canales de audio extra (o lo que es lo mismo, tener una polifonía de 6 voces). Si utilizas un tracker / juego / demo que tan sólo utiliza el sido original no notarás cambio alguno. En cambio si usas prophet64, mssiah (y creo que algún otro cómo cynthcart) podrás aprovechar el sid#2 y tener el doble de canales para disfrutar. Vamos… que seguro que a más de uno se le hace la boca agua nada más de pensarlo. Que yo lo se

Recomendaciones para montar sid2sid:

- si no estás muy acostumbrado a montar pcbs, o no tienes mucha idea de electrónica (como yo)… tómatelo con calma. Planificar los pasos y previsualizar cómo lo harás ayuda bastante al proceso. Y si en algún caso cometes un error, tranquilo. Es un esquema sencillo y probablemente tenga solución. En mi caso y por torpeza mía, una soldadura saltó llevándose consigo parte de una pista del pcb. Que no cunda el pánico, solucionado gracias a los consejos del señor K y aorante.

sockets soldados

resistencias soldadas

Todos los componentes soldados.

- conseguir 2 sids de la misma versión: ésta guía de revisiones de sid te será de ayuda para identificar 2 sids compatibles. En mi caso (ver foto) son dos sids 6581 del año 84.

sid2sid con 2 6581 instalados

- he tenido que eliminar la protección metálica que cubre la cpu y otros componentes para poder encajar el sid2sid. Por lo visto, ésta protección hace tambien de disipador de calor (?) porqué iba pegado a la cpu con algo parecido a pasta térmica. Le hecharé un ojo y si veo que se calienta mucho le colocaré un par de disipadores a medida.

- ten cuidado al retirar los sids de la placa. Si no lo haces con destreza puedes acabar doblando las patas.

- la instalación requiere una pequeña modificación del c64 que provoca que los cartuchos normales dejen de funcionar. Si quieres evitarlo puedes colocar un interruptor entre el cable de chip select y el pin 7 de la entrada del cartucho.

interruptor para el chip select con el jack del sid#2 instalado

El resultado es el siguiente. Al montar la placa tendrás un c64 con 2 sids y con 2 salidas de audio independientes. El sid #1 enruta el audio por la salida original (RF-antena y por la salida de video din5) y para el sid #2 deberemos instalar en la carcasa un conector de audio que va directamente a la placa del sid2sid. En mi caso he instalado las dos salidas de audio con jacks. Para instalar un jack en el sid#1 héchale un vistazo al documento MSSIAH – Getting Started – Read this first!, que indica cláramente cómo hacerlo.

iinstalación final del segundo jack para el sid#1

Éste es el primer mod que le realizo al c64, pero tengo alguno más en mente que iré implementado según disponga de algo de tiempo. Por el momento he pensado en:

- instalar los potenciómetros del 4pot controller internamente en la própia carcasa.

- una mano de pintura

- cambiar el led rojo de encendido por otro color.

para a dar guerra con él

Y por último dar las gracias a aorante por donar su commodore 64, con su sid incluído y compatible con el mío

> ver todas las fotos <

For very short (a quick preview not yet complete):

I’ve got an idea to generate some random maps in 2D and then use them in 3D. For example for RPGs like Ultima / Wizardry. The following screens/videos were done on a C64.

This is a random map generated in 2D.

And this is the 3D map generated from the same 2D data above.

I’ve uploaded a video to show some of the features. There’s a similar map at the same size as above and a bigger one (to the max!):

This shows a little program running written in pure BASIC similar to the two pictures above in action. This is “live” and the real speed of C64 BASIC.
Of course this could be done easily in assembly language, and of course it could be compiled (tested that!), and of course i could and should write more about it…

Not to be confused this is NOT my code! It is a program from a C64 demo disk. My idea is to use it further for such game types. It inspires me for an RPG project i have in mind.

…to be continued…

Super Zaxxon beziehungsweise ursprünglich nur Zaxxon genannt, ist ein klassisches Arcade-Spiel aus dem Jahre 1982. Der Entwickler Sega schuf mit diesem Spiel eine Art Shoot’em up, welches man mit der Kontrolle eines Raumschiffs meistern soll. Meistern deshalb, weil einem auf dem Flug, wie soll es auch anders sein, zahlreiche Gegner entgegen fliegen, die nur darauf aus sind, dich bzw. dein Raumschiff vom “Himmel” zu holen. Daher bleibt dir nichts anderes übrig, als jene ebenfalls zu beschießen und somit ins Jenseits zu befördern. Umso mehr Gegner man besiegt und je weiter man sich durch die kosmische Basis kämpft, desto mehr Punkte gibt es dafür, was demzufolge eine Highscore-Jagd fördern soll. Schließlich wurde es, wie so viele Spiele aus diesem Zeitalter, auf dem Atari 2600 veröffentlicht, wo das Erzielen von Rekordpunktzahlen an der Tagesordnung und notwendig für’s Geschäft war. Als weitere Startplattform ist der ColecoVision zu nennen.

Das Besondere an Zaxxon war der Einsatz einer isometrischen Perspektive. Mit deren Hilfe konnte eine gewisse räumliche Tiefe erzeugt werden, weshalb man es kurzerhand als quasi-3D-Scroller bezeichnen kann. Nerdig ausgedrückt, wäre das  dann ein Upper-Right-Diagonal-Scroller – jedoch wäre es damit nur halb beschrieben. Es gibt nämlich desweiteren die Möglichkeit, das Raumschiff nach links und rechts, sowie nach oben und unten zu steuern. Dadurch kann man auch Hindernisse, wie etwa Mauern, überfliegen. Das Spielprinzip wurde dabei vom quasi 2D-Vorgänger Scramble kopiert. Um sich davon ein genaueres Bild machen zu können, hier ein Vorschauvideo:

Zaxxon war, vermutlich gerade wegen des revolutionären Spielprinzips, äußerst erfolgreich. Daher folgte noch im gleichen Jahr Super Zaxxon, bei dem es am Ende einen Roboter zu besiegen galt -  es wurde ein Bossgegner hinzugefügt. Außerdem wurde es innerhalb von 2 Jahren, also bis 1984, auf sage und schreibe 13 Plattformen portiert: unter anderem auf den Commodore 64 und das Sega Master System. 1987 erschien der Nachfolger Zaxxon 3-D und ein Klon namens Panther. 8 Jahre später (1995) folgte dann der letzte Teil der Serie für den Sega 32X: Zaxxon Motherbase 2000.

Aber genug der Worte: Spielt es (KLICK) !

Back in early September, Manomio LLC released a Commodore 64 app for the iPhone/iPod Touch. A mere 2 days later, it was pulled by Apple after they found it was possible to run programs via the emulated C64 app. Only C64 programs you understand, but Apple didn’t like it regardless.

However Eurogamer are reporting that the app is finally back, all locked down but with 3 new games included – International Soccer, International Basketball and International Tennis – which takes the game count up to 8. They also mention version 1.2 of the app is on it’s way, along with more games and some freebies including Bruce Lee. Hey, shame there’s no Speccy emulator on the iPhone, or you could play the superior version of Bruce Lee!

The C64 app is available now and will cost you £2.99, which may or may not be value for money depending on your views about emulation.

(Source: Eurogamer)

The Great Giana Sisters, Rainbow Arts, 1987

In 80 Days Around the World, Rainbow Arts, 1987

Street Gang, Rainbow Arts, 1987

Un’altro grande coder dell’era commodoriana ci ha lasciati. Domenica 8 Novembre moriva in seguito ad un’infarto Armin Gessert creatore di The Great Giana Sisters, In 80 Days Around the World e Street Gang per citare alcuni tra i suoi titoli più retro.

Negli anni Gessert ha poi  legato il suo nome a molti altri titoli tra cui Great Court 2, Robin Hood The Legend of Sherwood, Chicago 1930, Helldorado fino al remake del suo titolo più leggendario per Nintendo DS (Giana Sisters DS).

Personalmente non dimenticherò mai tutte le ore spese proprio su Great Giana Sisters e la gioia che ho provato a rigiocarne il remake su DS. Grazie per tutte le ore spensierate che hai saputo regalarci. Riposa in pace.

Recensioni da Zzap!64: Giana Sisters, In 80 Days Around the World e Street Gang

Confession:  I bought the iPod Touch for this app.  Ok, not really, but I thought about it.  Unfortunately, the C64 app got pulled from the iTunes store for violating Apple’s Terms of Service about a week before I got the iPod Touch.  (Why that happened is a story unto itself.)  Manomio revised the emulator and Apple finally approved the re-release last week.

Premise

The C64 app is a Commodore 64 emulator for the iPhone / iPod Touch.  It plays authentic, licensed reproductions of classic C64 games.  The app currently comes with 8 games built in:  Arctic Shipwreck, Dragons Den, International Basketball, International Soccer, International Tennis, Jack Attack, Jupiter Lander, and Le Mans.  The games are not the first that come to my mind when I think C64 games, except maybe International Soccer, but it’s a nice spread of genres.

Presentation

The graphics used imitate a classic look and feel.  I’m not overly impressed with the rounded screen effect, and really don’t like the fake screen glare they added (you can see it in the upper half of the gaming screens on my screenshots, especially when there’s a dark background).  I hope future version will allow you to turn these on and off per your preference.  You can play games in portrait and landscape modes.

The game audio is  the original SID (Sound Interface Device) sound, and sounded good to me.

Interface

Controlling games is a matter of using the old joystick and fire button combination.  In portrait mode, the game takes up the upper half of the screen and the joystick and fire button take up the bottom, similar to a Nintendo DS.  In landscape mode, the game is fullscreen and the controls are invisibly overlayed on the gameplay screen.  Both seem to work fine, but I haven’t decided which I like better.  The games are not like the type where your character stays in the middle of the screen and your fingers don’t get in the way much when they are positioned over the gameplay screen.  I’m starting to think that it depends on the game.

Freshness

The app is groundbreaking in terms of it being on of the few emulators of a gaming platform that is officially approved by Apple.  Apple would not allow the inclusion of uploading your own games to it (not sure why Frotz is still allowed to).  It works well though and gives me a serious C64 fix.  Hopefully we’ll see other official game platform apps like this, rather than a separate app for each

Value

The app is $4.99, which is not overly expensive.  Manomio LLC has already submitted the first round of downloadable addon games to Apple for approval, which they say will be priced from free to $1.  I wouldn’t be surprised if the price doesn’t go down around the time those are released, probably in December.  Being a Commodore 64 fan from years back, I’m definitely enjoying the C64 app.

Summary

Premise:  Excellent
Presentation:  Decent
Interface:  Good
Freshness:  Superlative
Value:  Good
Overall:  Great app

Alternative Party was held once again at the end of October, from Friday 23th to Sunday 25th. I like the event – it’s sort of a demo party but something totally different as the name suggests. Digital culture festival as the web site puts it. This year’s theme was cyberpunk, and Sophie Wilson and Jeri Ellsworth were invited as special guests. Together with the usual exotic and offbeat programme there was again strong music line-up. I was sure to get my ticket early on, and now I’m writing my blog several weeks after the party. So, what did the Altparty deliver this year?

Music

I went to Alt on Saturday, but the only thing I missed from Friday was some of the music acts. Dope Stars Inc. was the event’s main artist and performing on Friday. The band is apparently a somewhat big name in cyberpunk scene. I don’t know – completely unfamiliar for me. Of Friday’s live artists I was sorry to miss Byproduct and The Microkorgs. The Microkorgs was something new for me, but the stuff they have on their MySpace is quite nice retro-nostalgia electro game remixing extravaganza. Trio DStruction would have also been somewhat interesting. While not being there I was listening Scenesat live show from the event. I must say that Byproduct’s gig was top stuff! Luckily you can reLive or download the gig from Scenesat’s show archive.

On Saturday there was more retro electro live music. 64Mula – sixty four-mula – was playing on main stage live with C64 mixed with vinyl scratching and stuff. Not bad at all. However, my main interest was Tero’s gig. He hasn’t been very active the last years so it was awesome to see him play live. I’ve always liked his C64 music and it had been many years since I saw him live last time. Too bad there were some fuck ups in the organizing and the gig was literally cut off. The bar where the gig was held closed down in the middle of the gig. Apparently the reason was some confusion caused by the switch of daylight savings time that night.

Exhibition

As every year, there was many kinds of interesting things to see and experience other than the event programme. I usually hang around a lot at the hardware exhibition area. Collectors and retro hobbyists are welcomed to bring their stuff on display. There is always some rare, unusual, historic and weird hardware to be seen. And not only on to be seen – the stuff is there free to examine and play around.

One of the most curious things was a pong game that you could play against MSX controlled robotic arm playing the other joystick. That thing humiliated many human players.

Special Guests

This year’s special guests were most interesting choises – two nerdy and extremely talented women. Sophie Wilson and Jeri Ellsworth. Both of them micro chip designers, but that’s about the only thing they had in common – two very different persons. Sophie had two seminars, topics ranging from history of Acorn and ARM to modern day ARM architecture developement and even future of embedded technology. Very interesting listen all in all.

And what can I say about Jeri? She’s just awesome! I already knew her as a sort of a celebrity in the C64 hacking scene and now I sure know why. After seeing her, I don’t wonder why she’s called the crazy Commodore girl. And by crazy I don’t mean anything negative here – quite the opposite! How can you not like that race-car-building violent self-taught chip designing pyromaniac Commodore lover? Of course I had a little chat with her and asked her to sign my DTV (She has designed the pimped Commodore inside it, you know).

Competitions

The competitions held at Altparty are generally more or less unusual. This year a little less I think. One of the most potentially interesting competitions this year was the supercomputer demo competition. Cray had provided an entry level supercomputer to the event. Sadly it was not a surprise that the few entries in that compo were not very interesting. One very basic looking 64k intro and two mandelbrot applications. Surely they were using up the available resources but they just did not look impressive at all. After all, you don’t need a supercomputer for fractal zoomer, do you?

The main demo competiton had some nice oldskool demos, and they ranked on top to their merit. The organizers were being proud to run the oldskool stuff on real hardware. That’s nice, but maybe they should have put a little more effort to get a decent picture on the screen – the output from the old hardware was pretty horrible. All the demos including the ones running on contemporary platforms and supercomputer were competing in the same series. Even still the 8bit and 16bit productions were victorious. The three awarded oldskool demos were: 3rd: Cernit Trandafir by Dead Hackers Society on Atari STe, 2nd: Unsigned by Byterapers on C64 and 1st: Bold by Dvik & Joyrex on MSX.

Also, Bad News from kooma – from the Dynamic Demo competition:

This year I also decided to participate into one of the compos for the first time ever. I made a picture for the Retro Graphics competition and ranked second. That of course added to the overall Alternative experience, which was once again very good.

[svofski] has a friend who is a pixel artist. They really wanted to try out their skills on a c64, but were missing a mouse. The original mouse for the c64 was not only serial, but used a different method of communication than more modern mice. [svofski] built this adapter to translate the ps/2 data to something the c64 can use. The writeup describes the build in detail and even has the PCB and source code available for download.

[via flickr]

Forrás: Graphical User Interface Gallery

I’m happy that there’s been a recent resurgence of the build-it-yourself mentality in the tech crowd. For a while, there was a dearth of interest in how electronics and low-level software work. If you were lucky enough to have engineers as parents, you may have grown up with electronic kits and mathematics. But if grew up in a small town like I did, you may have learned from an amateur radio operator.

Radio was the most popular tech hobby before personal computers became common in the early 1980’s. In the 1950’s, my parents’ generation built crystal radios or worked with awesome explosive and radioactive chemistry kits. In the 1960’s, kids built transistor radios or simple relay-based logic to play tic-tac-toe. I have great memories of visiting my relatives and finding these projects from their childhood in the closet. With the advent of multi-frequency scanners and cheaper radios in the 1970’s, amateur radio became even more popular than it ever had been. CB radio was even mainstream.

There were several HAMs that were friends of our family. Hal was a dispatcher for an air-conditioning repair service. He had a spare bedroom that was full of equipment. It was pretty magical to hear the morse code beeping out a message from a repeater on some distant mountain. In the evening, the teletype would constantly bang out words from HAMs all over the region, sending callsigns and weather reports to each other. It was the predecessor to IRC, IM, and texting.

Amateur radio and computers fit very well together. Hal gave my dad our first computer, a VIC-20, after he upgraded to a C64. He had used it to generate and decode morse code (CW) as well as log the various contacts he made. It was obvious to me that one of the best uses for a computer was to interface with other things.

Jim was an electrician, installing wiring in new buildings. He was also a HAM, although he built more of his own equipment than Hal. He would review various circuits I had drawn and recommend improvements. One circuit I designed was a clone of the game Lazer Tag. I was excited about my efficient circuit for the IR transmitter and receiver. However, he told me that while the circuit was mostly correct, I would need a matched lens pair since the IR LED would disperse too much to be reliably read. Also, my design would falsely trigger due to background noise like the sun because it wasn’t a coded channel, just a simple detector. Still, it was really fun to come up with new designs with his help.

One time he took me up to a nearby mountain where all the radio stations had their towers. The local HAM club had a repeater there in a rack with other equipment. He pointed out each repeater, including the ones for the commercial FM stations. I thought about what would happen if I pulled the plug on the country station.

They also had an automatic phone patch. This allowed you to make local calls from any radio by sending DTMF to the repeater. That was pretty amazing in a time where there were no cellphones. While phone patches still exist today, they’ve become a lot more rare. Still, they can be useful in disasters when the cell networks are down or overloaded and the closest working phone is far away.

I’m not sure what tech hobby today is as widespread as amateur radio was back then. Even people with blue-collar backgrounds were interested in it. While building your Arduino kits, be sure to invite the neighborhood kids. They might be the next Steve Wozniak or Bunnie Huang. I’m thankful for the HAMs that helped me when I was first getting started.

Fighting was something that Bruce Lee was good at. It was the very thing he was famous for, so it’s apt that a conversation on the Eurogamer forums about the C64 version of the game would lead to my inspiration to write my first “which version is better” article. A quick warning – I am very much biased in favour of the Spectrum. Old fan boys die hard. I do not promise impartiality, although I shall try my best.

So Bruce Lee on the Spectrum, or Bruce on the Commodore 64 – which is better? Well there’s only one way to find out…

First, a little context. The Bruce Lee game was released in 1984, and was not based on any of his movies in particular. Or if it was, I must have missed that particular film where he fought a sumo wrestler and ninja at the same time as collecting lanterns and avoiding laser death traps. Both the C64 and Spectrum versions are credited to the same 3 guys – code by Ron J. Fortier, graphics by Kelly Day and music by John A. Fitzpatrick. The game was originally released on the Atari 8-computers before being ported over to the C64, with the Spectrum following in the same year.

It’s a great fun game, but very simple in it’s mechanics. Bruce basically has to collect all the lanterns from 20 screens with an evil wizard waiting on the 20^th screen. A ninja with a sword and a green sumo wrestler are looking to stop him. As Bruce you have two moves – a punch and a flying kick. Defeating the ninja or sumo only temporarily stops them as they will respawn. The environment is also dangerous with traps that must be avoided. The two player mode was also worth a laugh with a like-minded friend. You could either take turns as Bruce, or the second player got to control the sumo. Since the sumo could hurt the ninja it meant you could help or hinder Bruce.

The first thing you’ll notice when comparing the games is the graphics. The C64 version looks very much like the Atari version, with a higher resolution reducing the blockiness of it all. The Spectrum version goes it’s own path due to the weaker graphics capabilities, the characters are black and white, with a lot less colour in the environments. This does actually work in favour of the Spectrum in parts, with the Spectrum version being less blocky and the C64 version being a bit too colourful for the game’s own good. When there are so few colours available, things tend to get a bit gaudy. The animation seems pretty much identical, and if there are any differences I haven’t been able to spot them.

C64

Spectrum

Gameplay is essentially the same on both formats. However, the Spectrum version runs faster and as a result feels a lot “smoother” to play. The C64 version can feel almost like the game is taking place underwater, especially with the speed of which Bruce Lee falls. Putting the C64 emulation into NTSC provides a speed boost, although it still doesn’t quite match the flow of the Spectrum version. Of course, if you’re one of those freaky people who still play using the original machines you’re not going to be able to do that.

Strangely on the C64 version, the sumo loses his ability to climb ladders, and the ninja doesn’t climb in either version, so if you manage to get them trapped at the bottom of the screen you can go about your business at the top without issue. However it would seem on the Spectrum the enemies are not as keen to attack, get near the C64 bad guys and you’re more likely to get a good shoeing. What is weird is that the climbing animation is definitely in the game on both versions for both characters, as you’ll see it when they go onto the “lift” areas. A coding issue then I would assume.

The sound of both versions is certainly nothing to celebrate. The C64 obviously holds the advantage, but it’s not a good showcase of the SID sound chip. In fact, quite the opposite – I find the music in both to be quite painful. Thank goodness it’s saved for the title screen. Sound effects only during the game itself, and again the C64 comes out on top with a higher quality of sound effect compared to the Speccy’s sparce blips and bleeps.

C64

Spectrum

No matter which version you choose, you’re looking at a game that’s still a lot of fun to play. It doesn’t fall within the 8-bit trap of being insanely difficult, and has some good and imaginative level design. I would say the Spectrum version edges it due to the speed issues on the C64 but there’s definitely an argument there for the C64.

These days if you want to play Bruce Lee, and your C64/Spectrum has gone the same way as my goldfish (no, not down the loo) then you’re looking at going down the emulation route. World Of Spectrum and Lemon 64 are excellent resources as ever, but of course emulation can be a legally grey area. There is a rather fantastic looking remake available as well called Ultimate Bruce Lee if you wish to keep a completely clear conscience. You good Christian you.

Which ever version you choose – don’t forget to make “comedy” Bruce Lee sound effects yourself… WHA-TAAAAAA!

There is an interview with Neil Baldwin at Original Sound Version. It’s a good interview and very well-researched, so check it out. Neil did his first game music for the NES in 1990 and hasn’t stopped since. He’s recently returned to chipmusic by describing all game music he’s made at his site, work on a new text-based NES music software to make full use of the NES (mentioned before), and he has produced some new music! Don’t miss his last one, Cleptoplank, full-force triple-speed NES-action literally beyond the chips.

Neil started on the C64 and there are interesting comparisons between C64 and NES. Neil says: “I think the most difficult aspect technically was coping with the different approach required for a ROM-based medium. All those self-modifying-code tricks that you could do on C64 were just not possible. As I’ve said before, we also lacked proper technical information, so it was very much trial and error. It’s not actually correct to say I used C64 drivers, but the NES ones were definitely modeled on the same token/sequence/track format that I (and most other people) used to use, which was probably invented by Rob Hubbard.”

He mentions his bottom-up way of composing. Ehm, that doesn’t sound right. What I mean is, while some composers write the composition before the code (like Hubbard wrote scores on paper that he transcribed into assembler), others find their way through the hardware/software and gradually come up with a song. Neil: “I never sat down and planned out a song as a traditional composer might. From that point-of-view, I was constantly messing around with the audio programming side, trying to invent new ways of making the NES sound different…”

On the question of favourite NES-composers, it’s interesting that Neil only refers to Western composers “(apart from the obvious Japanese guys)”. Not being a real NES-music freak I might be wrong, but I feel like there is a gap between Japanese and Western NES-music in the 1980s (ie, Europe & America). Musically it might be a bit of a stretch to say that Western composers were more oriented towards rock. (or..?) I’m talking more about the methods of production, about how you treated technology. It seems that Western composers wanted to stretch the limits of the soundchip, to break out of the system. For Japanese composers it was more important to stay within the systemand focus on composition rather than production, so to say. Respecting the materiality, like a guitar builder.

It would be interesting to hear your views on this. Surely there are exceptions. But it is weird that on the C64 it only took a few years until the experimenting got pretty hardcore, while on the NES it is difficult to find transgressive uses of the 2A03 in the 1980s. It cannot only be becase the NES is a console and the C64 was open for any freaks to explore, right? Why did Japan never have a something like a demoscene? The first homecomputer was Japanese (pictured). Were there any network hackers in Japan? Were the 8-bit computers not so popular since 8 bits could not include all the Japanese characters? So were computers predominantly expensive 16-bit business machines? Any answers would be very welcome. Meanwhile, I have another idea.

Western composers had been fostered in an individualistic culture where hacking and (personal) computers had to do with self-realization. Counterculture and commerce united in a Californian ideology that portrayed computers as tools for Freedom. I don’t know the history of hacking or creative computing in Asia, but it seems unlikely that such libertarian ideas would develop in more collectivistic culture such as Japan. Western thought has been pre-occupied for centuries with the idea of transcendence rather than immanence. You know – free will, independence, and objectivity is better than submerging into a group and a system of beliefs. That’s the individualistic system of belief. It might be far-fetched, but I think that centuries of thought is bound to have some effect on how music is made, also with soundchips. Again, I don’t know enough about Japanese culture, but maybe it could be a sign of disrespect towards Nintendo to use the soundchip in any way you please. Maybe that is a property of your culture that you are not supposed to just ‘break’. For a hardcore individualist, that way of reasoning would be a sign of Japan’s Killer Collectivism (LOL).

And Neil, if you are reading this … I don’t know what to say. I am sorry I dragged you into this mess.

Es ist Mittwoch, und auch heute wollen wir euch ein neues Minigame präsentieren. Und heute haben wir einen absoluten Klassiker im Angebot – Pac Man! Es dürfte wohl schwieriger sein jemanden zu finden der noch nie von der gefräßigen gelben Kugel gehört hat als umgekehrt. Schier endlos viele Portierungen für unzählige Konsolen, Gastspiele in komplett unterschiedlichen Genres – keine Frage, Pac Man hat in seinem 30 jährigen bestehen viel mitgemacht.

Angefangen hat nämlich alles 1979, als Namco den sogenannten “Puck Man” in Japan veröffentlichte, damals in Form eines Spielautomaten. Das Spiel erlangte schnelle Popularität, und wurde dann als Pac-Man in den USA veröffentlicht. Vater der Figur ist der Japaner Toru Iwatani, der noch bis 2007 in der Firmenleitung bei Namco tätig war und heute an der Osaka University of Arts als Professor arbeitet.

Für die wenigen die das Spielprinzip tatsächlich noch nicht kennen: Ihr steuert Pac-Man durch ein kleines Labyrinth, welches mit Punkten gefüllt ist. Der Haken an der Sache: Ihr werdet dabei konstant von 4 Geistern verfolgt. Eine Berührung mit selbigen führt zum sofortigen Verlust eines Spiellebens, es sei denn, ihr schnappt euch eine von vier Kraftpillen. Dadurch verlangsamen sich die Geister und sind für kurze Zeit für Bonuspunkte fressbar. Auch gibt es im Labyrinth hin und wieder Früchte zu finden, die ebenfalls euren Highscore erhöhen. Um das Level zu gewinnen müsst ihr folgerichtig natürlich alle Punkte im Labyrinth fressen.

Wenn ihr nun auf den Geschmack gekommen seid oder einfach nur mit einer Runde Pac-Man in Erinnerungen schwelgen möchtet könnt ihr das unter der untenstehenden URL tun.

http://www.pacmangame.net/

Anbei noch ein kleines Video um euch in die richtige Stimmung fürs Punktejagen zu versetzen.

welcome back C64 for all retro game funs:) C64 was back and lunch iTMS !! I really wait this app and i cant wait play it haha

C64 Manomio LLC リリース日: 2009/9/6 ジャンル: ゲーム © Manomio LLC

ついに待ちに待っていたiPhoneアプリが正式にラウンチされてきました。一時リリースがアナウンスされて本当に楽しみにしていたらappleより”リジェクト”…と凹んだ。
コモドールC64のエミュレーターです！今の日本でもファミコンはプレイする事可能だけど、コレは素人には無理って事でeBayでモニター一式付きを血眼で探した時期もありました(笑)あとC64はグリッチ、ビットチューンにも大人気でゲーム以外でもファンが多いですよね:)

ちなみに自分は今でもATARI 2600は必死で捜索中です。あはは

ともあれ。これで一つの夢が叶いました。ありがとうiPhone！！

Blip Festival 2009

With this year’s event a scant month away, NYC chip collective 8bitpeoples and non-profit arts and cultural organization The Tank have at last announced a (partial) lineup for the 2009 Blip Festival. Now entering its fourth year, Blip Festival is a lo-fi digital extravaganza boasting daytime workshops, visual art installations, film screenings and, of course, three nights of amazing live chip music. Running Thursday, December 17th through Saturday, December 19th at the Bell House in the Gowanus area of Brooklyn, this year’s performers include:

Bit Shifter
Chromix
Disasterpeace
Failotron
Fighter X
The Hunters
I, Cactus
The J. Arthur Keenes Band
Je Deviens DJ En Trois Jours
Leeni
Little-Scale
Nullsleep
Rainbowdragoneyes

Also confirmed is a stellar selection of digital visualists who’ll be projecting their work live:
Enso
JYK
Outpt
Paris
Vblank

Whether you’re a fan of the uncomplicated design aesthetics of the Commodore 64, the pixilated elegance of NES-era graphics or a lover of Game Boy music, Blip Festival 2009 is for you. The world’s longest running event of its kind, this year’s fest once again promises to be easily accessible to hardcore fans and novices alike, not to mention a friendly, all-ages experience that GeekDads can share with their brood.

Festival passes and single-night tickets are currently available, and interested parties are also advised to visit the event’s Kickstarter campaign page to help bridge the funding gap. Exclusive rewards are up for grabs to eligible supporters, so don’t delay!