Pixels and Chips!

Before continuing to read on please load this chip tune to get the full effect of this blog post.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Lb9Fy2H96k

Recently I have come across an amazing culture that I must share with you. Chip culture.

A couple weeks ago when I was reading though my EGM, I came across an article about film makers that relate to gaming. Reformat the Planet was a documentary film listed about the underground chip music scene. Chip music is remeniciant of NES and Gameboy music and is apparently coming back in a big way. Wikipedia's description of chip music:

"A chiptune (or chip music) is music written in sound formats where many of the sound textures are synthesized or sequenced in real time by a computer or video game console sound chip, sometimes including sample-based synthesis and low bit sample playback."

 After a quick swing by www.ChipMusic.org I learn that there are not only plenty of chip music makers but also pixel artists as well. Pixel art as described by Wiki is:  

"Pixel art is a form of digital art, created through the use of raster graphics software, where images are edited on the pixel level. Graphics in most old (or relatively limited) computer and video games, graphing calculator games, and many mobile phone games are mostly pixel art."

 

Maybe it's because I'm a huge fan of old console games music and art that this medium hits so close to home. It's also the fact that back in the day when music and games had to be created this way due to technological limitations. I enjoy that people are revisiting this dated way of creating music and art and really making beautiful pieces of work. 

If you are becoming interested in chip music and pixel art I highly recommend visiting www.chipmusic.org for a good foothold into the chip culture. All three pictures here were taken from an art thread off the site. 

Lokokokoko

Black out in a can!

I don't know if you have had the now infamous "4 Loko" but if so then you know that the statement above is true. One can averages around $2.50 and is equivalent to drinking 6.8 Bud Lights and 4 cups of coffee. But 7 Bud Lights are roughly equivalent to 4.5 good beers. So still, 4.5 beers and 4 cups of coffee for $2.50 taint bad. From my own experience the only real bad part of 4 Lokos are the taste. I feel like they melt down jolly ranchers and mix it with prison toilet wine. It's quite revolting actually to someone like me who drinks dark stouts for the most part. But if you have a sweet tooth and aren't a beer connoisseur then who knows, you might freakin' love it.

The problem is that drinking one tall boy of Loko won't take you long. If you drink 2 Lokos in two hours then in truth you have had 9 beers and 8 cups of coffee within 120 minutes (14 beers for you Bud Light drinkers). You are going to be fucked up is what this means. So fucked up in fact that people are being hospitalized nationally by these new caffeine beers. Loko and other beers like it are under the gun by the Food and Drug Administration and are being required to prove that the combination of alcohol and caffeine isn't harmful.

Loko has already been banned in some college towns and is now banned statewide in Michigan. If these companies can't prove that they aren't endangering the lives of their consumers than this drink might be gone before you know it.

The hype of these drinks are growing extremely rapid though. There have been multiple songs released about them. All of them just as silly as the drink they're about. Check out a few when you are getting Loko yourself.

Loko 4 That Loko

Whoa That Kinda Drunk There Is Kinda Scary

Saxin Waxin

So if you aren't a resident of Michigan then go out and try this new infamous death drunk drink. Just remember what you have read and be safe. My personal recommendation is to wait at least an hour between Lokos. When that caffeine starts wearing down you'll know if you're ready to slam your face into another Loko, or into the floor.

Supreme Court: The Video Game!

Yesterday marked the first day of a big adventure for the video game industry. An adventure full of sex, violence and smelly courtrooms. November 2nd, 2010 was the beginning of the Supreme Court case, Schwarzenegger vs EMA.

The two issues at hand are:

1. Does the First Amendment bar a state from restricting the sale of violent videogames to minors?
2. If the First Amendment applies to violent videogames that are sold to minors and the standard of review is strict scrutiny, under Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. v. F.C.C., 512 u.s. 622, 666, (1994), is the state required to demonstrate a causal link between violent videogames and physical or physiological harm to minors before the state can prohibit the sale of violent games?

Which simply put means are video games protected by the 1st amendment. If so does the state have to prove that there is a link between violent games and harm to minors, physically or physiologically, before they can prohibit the sale of said games.

The worst possible situation would be that videogames are not protected by the 1st amendment and states do not have to provide evidence of the games being violent. This would give the state full reign on game regulations and would possibly landslide into more cases about violence in entertainment. Music, Movies, Television, Books and any other form of entertainment would be under the gun about violence and if they are protected by the 1st amendment.

The best possible solution would be for the courts to determine that videogames are protected by the 1st amendment and that they hold a certain artistic value. Then determining that states cannot restrict the sale of video games. This would give video games protection by the constitution and a lot more breathing room.

The verdict might be a late as June 2011 but could come much sooner.

Check out more information at:

1up.com or Neoseeker

The beginning begins... YESTERDAY!!

Howdy do you!

I am new to this blogging business but am fairly excited to spend even more time in front of the computer screen! This blog will be dedicated to posting information on some of my favorite things in life.

1. Video Games
2. Drinking Good Beer
3. Silly Pictures
4. Good Music
5. Bad Movies

When I start out doing anything in life I am very excited in the beginning. That spark dies out long before there is any fire to speak of. Hopefully my motivation will endure and this can become a regularly updated piece of work. I look forward till my next post. But for now setting up this monster was enough work for the day.

Until then I'll leave you with a song I was listening to while creating this.

Also a picture.