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Tag: 8-bit

  • Republicans Made Their Own Retro Platformer Starring an Elephant Named Giopi

    The National Republican Senatorial Committee, the group whose only purpose is getting Republicans elected to the US Senate, has turned to nostalgic gaming to help with its cause.

    The NRSC has built its own retro platformer called Gioipi: 2014 Mission Majority. Combining funky chiptune jams and an unbelievably spry pachyderm with strong GOP messaging, Giopi is available to play right now.

    The game stars Giopi (Ghi-ah-pee? Jai-op-pie?), a patriotically-attired elephant. His goal is to acquire golden keys while avoiding various Democratic foes along the way.

    In level one, Giopi must avoid the dreaded “Taxers.”

    In level two, you encounter “Mudslingers,” described as Democrats who hurl false and empty rhetoric.

    Obama soundbites like “If you like your doctor you will be able to keep your doctor” and “You didn’t build that” play when you vanquish an enemy.

    When you get to level three, you’re told that you’ve collected enough keys to unlock a “large group of volunteers who will knock on doors and make phone calls.”

    “We are here to win back the majority, and to get our nation back on track after a tough few years under the Obama administration. Keep your eyes on the goal!” says Giopi.

    Level four is where shit gets real. Not only are you battling taxers and mudslingers, but you’re also dodging other members of the Obama administration. Your task in the final level is to activate six “switches,” which represent states electing a Republican Senator.

    I’d like to tell you what happens when you beat the game, but I gave up trying to get the game to work past level three after about ten minutes. In lieu of knowing what actually happens, I’ll just assume that Ted Cruz rides down the side of a mountain in a blaze of blinding white light and sends Harry Reid plunging into the fiery depths of Mount Doom.

    The game’s a bit glitchy all around. Though you can supposedly log in via Facebook or Google+, I could only get the game to load via email sign-in after about three tries. And of course, the aforementioned black screen of death prevented be from fulfilling my true destiny.

    Final verdict: the required 60/100. Had a blast. Would play again, if it would let me.

    Image via NRSC, YouTube screenshot

  • Daft Punk’s New Album in 8-bit Is My New Favorite Thing

    Daft Punk’s new album Random Access Memories is burning up the charts and breaking records on Spotify. You’ve probably listened to it a few…dozen times, right?

    Well, I bet you haven’t heard it like this before. Say hello to “A-bit of Daft Punk,” every song on the album, rearranged in 8-bit.

    “I think this might be my best work to date!” says creator Joe Jeremiah on Facebook.

  • Please Fund This Time-Traveling Bear-Punching Kickstarter Project

    Today’s awesome-looking Kickstarter project that you need to be aware of is FIST OF AWESOME, a “retro-style beat-em-up of truly epic proportions.” We’re talking epic level punching bears in the face here.

    According to the developer, Nicoll Hunt, here’s what you can expect from FIST OF AWESOME:

    FIST OF AWESOME is a time-travelling-lumberjack-em-up, a sorely underrepresented genre by anyone’s metric. It’s a modern homage to classics like Streets of Rage and Final Fight, but with more time travel and lumberjacks.

    The hero, Tim Burr, is a forest dwelling tree feller who gets caught up in a needlessly complex interstellar plot to enslave Earth by populating history with homicidal wild animals The game takes place over a number of time periods, features original 2D art and animation throughout, and is to my knowledge, the only game that lets you punch a full grown grizzly bear in the face.

    Sold. The project only needs a little more with 12 days to go. You know what to do.

    Hunt says that his game could be the new beat-em-up game that iOS and Android needs. I’ll let him continue to explain why his game is awesome:

    Oh, and here’s some alpha gameplay:

  • The London 2012 Olympics Would Be Way Better In 8-Bit

    People are excited about the Olympics and for good reason. The event only happen once every four years so we tend to make a big deal out of it whenever it rolls around. The Olympics could stand to be a bit more exciting though. An 8-bit version of the games would be the perfect solution.

    The fine folks at FLIKLI Productions have created an 8-bit montage in honor of the London 2012 games. The montage covers the majority of sports that are on display at the Olympics in glorious 8-bit alongside a charming chiptune soundtrack.

    The 8-Bit Games! from Flikli on Vimeo.

    While awesome in its own right, the animation raises an excellent, if unintended, point. Where are the video game competitions at the Olympics? We already have events at the Olympics that don’t really qualify as “sports” in the traditional manner. Even if South Korea would sweep all the competitions, it would be still exciting to watch e-sports take the center stage at the 2016 Olympics.

    For now, we’ll have to settle for video game versions of the Olympic games that never really seem to capture the real spirit of said games. The above video is about as close as we’ll get to an awesome Olympics game, even if it is only in 8-bit.

    [h/t: ITWorld]

  • Radiohead In 8-Bit Sound Quality

    Radiohead In 8-Bit Sound Quality

    Remember the dulcet sounds of video game soundtracks in 8-bit format? Music from titles like Double Dragon and the first Mario Brothers? Of course you do. If not, take a moment to remind yourself. Now that that’s taken care of, imagine what one of the most popular bands–I said band, not pop singers for those of you guessing Katy Perry or the chick who sings “Call Me Maybe”–in the world would sound like in that manner.

    Thanks to the efforts of Quinton Sung, we now know exactly like such a thing would sound like, thanks to his conversion of Radiohead’s Kid A and OK Computer to the 8-bit sound format and uploaded them to YouTube. Not just songs from these albums, mind you–although, there are some of those available as well–but the entire albums.

    Not only that, but with Kid A, there are clickable annotations that allow you to jump to each song on the album. Check it out:


    Naturally, this find has made the social media newswires all over, appearing in places like Buzzfeed and Boing Boing, for instance. The 8-bit conversions didn’t miss Twitter’s eye, either:

    (image) Matt Fowler
    @MattIGN     I had planned on writing the Wrap Up today, then I found full-length 8-Bit versions of Radiohead’s OK Computer & Kid A http://t.co/dWwVBlix
    1 hour ago via TweetDeck · powered by @socialditto
     Reply  · Retweet  · Favorite

    (image) Eamonn Brennan
    @eamonnbrennan     No they are not. RT @UPROXX: 8-Bit Renditions Of Radiohead’s Two Best Albums Are Not A Let Down http://t.co/XatUqGjc
    1 hour ago via Twitter for Mac · powered by @socialditto
     Reply  · Retweet  · Favorite

    (image) Ellis Hamburger
    @hamburger     Paranoid Android in 8-bit is unreal must listen > Radiohead’s ‘OK Computer’ and ‘Kid A’ get an 8-bit reimagining http://t.co/ioB7L1uy
    4 hours ago via Tweet Button · powered by @socialditto
     Reply  · Retweet  · Favorite

    (image) Victor Paradis
    @vparads     esto es increíble. Quiero un vídeojuego de Radiohead http://t.co/LsxjHomM via @PlayGrounder
    29 seconds ago via web · powered by @socialditto
     Reply  · Retweet  · Favorite

    Mi gusta, también.

  • Google Maps Comes To The Nintendo Entertainment System

    This may be my favorite April Fool’s offering from Google ever (and they’ve done a lot of things).

    They’ve created Google Maps for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), complete with a special cartridge and controllers (for voice search input).

    You can actually go to Google Maps and navigate in 8-bit. It even includes Street View:

    Street View 8 Bit

    “Our engineering team in Japan understood the importance of maps on retro game systems,” says Google Maps software engineer Tatsuo Nomura. “With the power of Google’s immense data centers, and support from Nintendo and Square Enix, we were able to overcome the technical and design hurdles of developing 8-bit maps. Today, we’re excited to announce the result: a version of Google Maps for NES, with beautiful low-res graphics, simple and intuitive controls, and a timeless soundtrack.”

    “With Google Maps 8-bit, you can do all the things you already do on regular Google Maps,” Nomura adds. “Search for famous landmarks and sites around the world. Take an epic journey with 8-bit Street View. Get detailed directions to avoid dangerous paths, and battle your way through a world of powerful monsters and mystic treasures.”

    I hope this feature is around for the rest of the year.

    I’m sure we’ll see plenty more April Fool’s fun from Google over the course of the weekend.

  • Mad Men 8-bit Game Lets You Choose Your Own Adventure

    On Sunday, Mad Men returns to AMC’s lineup after a very (extremely, painful, horrible, ridiculously) long hiatus. After the well publicized delay, we’re almost ready to see what happens to Don, Betty, Roger, Peggy, and Joan. My guess is dapper dressing, booze swilling, and gender politics. Sounds like a fun season to me.

    But of course, that’s not until Sunday. And until then, you should probably stop what you’re doing, pour a cocktail, and play the Mad Men 8-bit choose-your-own-adventure-game.

    This one comes to you from The Fine Bros, makers of the equally awesome Saved by the Bell Interactive Game.

    Play as Don Draper from Mad Men and help him complete all 3 tasks to save the company! There are 3 different endings based on the order you complete the tasks, we encourage you to play the game multiple times to see all possible endings. The game “knows” which order you picked! Technology at work, enjoy the game!

    They warn that the game has too many videos (40+) to be fully experienced on a mobile device, so you should probably wait until you’re in front of a desktop to play this one. And to pour that cocktail, naturally.

    Something about the 60s and the 80s melds perfectly, don’t you think? And seriously, that 8-bit version of the mad men theme song and intro is one of my favorite things I’ve seen on the internet in a good while. Did you find all of the endings? Let us know in the comments.

    [h/t Uproxx]