Last week, I wrote about Venice Sunlight’s pay-what-you-want EP, Vs. the Rabid Rabbits, which was recently released via the band’s Bandcamp page. Well, here’s another fantastic musical offering, this time, in the 8-bit chiptuning genre, by Philadelphia’s beloved Doctor Octoroc.

After These Messages is a collection of over 30 tracks inspired by classic TV shows, cartoons and commercials. Each track is arranged as the theme song for a theoretical 8-bit video game, much like titles found on the Nintendo Entertainment System.

The full collection is available for a “pay-what-you-want” price and comes to you from the same artist that brought you 8-Bit Jesus.

You can download the collection via the good Doctor’s official website. Go grab it, toss the guy a few bucks, and support a great local artist.

After These Messages [ Doctoroctoroc.com ]

What do you buy the gamer girl in your life that has everything? Well this classic Gameboy hoodie is a great start. Produced by LowRez.de this great design is an awesome throwback to one of the greatest portable consoles of all time; and super cute on your girlfriend and/or wife.

For the low price $29.40 (I wonder if there is a significance with the price) you too can be the owner of this awesome hoodie. I think the only thing that would have made it just a bit more awesome is possibly putting a Tetris cartridge on the back of the hoodie, as if it was inserted in the Gameboy.  So get it while you can here.

Classic Gameboy Hoodie
http://bit.ly/bnQcu1

Philadelphia’s own Doctor Octoroc, who some of you might know as Levi Buffum, creator of 8-bit music and art, has officially outdone himself. His latest, and possibly greatest project, is his 8 Bit Dr. Horrible.

I could say more, but really… you need to watch it.

Check out Act II and III, and download the soundtrack. And make sure you donate a little something, because seriously, this is fantastic.

Doctor Octoroc
www.doctoroctoroc.com

I am a huge fan of Left 4 Dead,(and any game that Valve Produces for that matter) but I am also a huge retro game fan as well. So to tell you the truth when I saw this I almost couldn’t believe it, the two seemed to go together like peanut butter and chocolate, it’s truly the best of both worlds, it’s 8-Bit Left 4 Dead.

This 8-bit Nintendo style port of the first Left 4 Dead was created by Eric Ruth; a self-taught game designer who created it from scratch in his spare time. To simply call it impressive is putting it lightly. All 4 campaigns from the original game are represented here in an old style side-scrolling shooter, Contra style. You can either play it alone, or the game even offers a 2 player co-op mode as well with 2 levels of difficulty offered.  The only downfall is you have to have a PC to play, this is not simply a rom but a full game download. But the download is free and you can get it here. Checkout after the jump for some screen shots!

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Right to Left: Disasterpeace & Lissajou

It’s that time of the month again, when that little yoga studio in West Philadelphia comes alive with 8-bit beats and visuals, thanks to 8static.

Performing this Saturday? You can catch Disasterpeace (Boston), Lissajou (Florida), visualist noTenDo (NYC), and Philadelphia’s own vBlank. This is your last chance to catch noTenDo here in the states, as he’s moving to Berlin rather soon.

Now, instead of the usual pre-show workshop, there is a special gallery opening related to the chip scene at Drexel University’s Klein Art Gallery. This show is called Ready>Run. More information can be found on the 8static events page.

The show will run you $8 at the door, but it’s only $5 if you have the flier. Hit up 8static’s official website to grab that jawn. Have fun!

8static: Featuring vBlank, Lissajou, & More
Saturday, September 19th
www.8static.com

Studio 34
4522 Baltimore Ave, Philadelphia, PA

Ah, the keyboard cat. The internet’s latest meme sensation has (haz?) certainly melted my icy heart. There’s no denying the hilarity of attaching ‘play him off, keyboard cat!’ to various fail videos.

Well, Jude Buffum and Doctoroc, two of the fine folks involved with Philadelphia’s Autumn Society, a band of talented illustrators and artists, created this hilarious Super Mario Bros Keyboard Cat.

The keyboard cat and his catchy tune in 8-bit?! You’ve got to see it to believe it.

Super Mario Bros Keyboard Cat via The Autumn Society

A week or two ago I wrote about this item, and those great guys over at ThinkGeek were more than happy to put one in my hot little hands, so I could tell you all about it. This is one of those items with the wisdom of the internet, just seemed like a no brainer to me. I mean who hasn’t installed an emulator on their computer? Not only that but when you play an emulator on your computer it’s just not the same you either use a keyboard or a usb controller to play. Which most of these usb computer “game pads” seem like Playstation design concept rejects or they made it as close as possible to the Playstation controller but different enough so they wouldn’t be sued. The problem with that is most people I know playing emulators are retro fans and they are playing the old school games and they want that old school feel.

The retro usb NES controller ThinkGeek is selling is a very faithful replica of the original controllers that came with the original Nintendo Entertainment System. The only thing that really sets it apart when you first see it is the Nintendo logo is replaced by the Retrolink one. There is another smaller difference I noticed right away when I held it, the plastic felt slightly different compared to the original. It just feels a little off to those of us that spent hours with that controller in our hands trying to beat Battletoads or Double Dragon. More retro goodness after the jump.

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We seem to love it when geek icons of the past come together on a T-shirt like this.  Ghostbusters + Pac-man Ghosts?  Awesome.  It’s rendered in fantastic 8-bit style too, so basically you have no excuse to pass this one up.  Head on over to the Glennz Tees store to get yours.

Wow. How have I not come across this yet?!

This fantastic and rather well done Watchmen game plays a lot like classic brawlers like Final Fight, Streets of Rage, and Golden Axe. Great classic sound effects and pixelated cut scenes.

Now, go play and kill some time before the Watchmen movie comes out.

Minutemen via ALBOTAS