When you play any type of video game, you are experiencing several elements to make that game cool.  There is the graphics, control, playability, characters, storyline and most important, the audio/music.  There is not a day that goes by where I play Tetris and then later that day or night, I’m still humming the tune.  Or how about when you play Duck Tales for the NES.  You know darn well that you will probably be humming or at least thinking about the theme song.  Shoot, I am even thinking about it as we speak.

But in this episode of Keep Calm and Insert Coin, I am actually going to go a different direction.  And I will explain why.  The blogs that I do are to share my memories of video games when I was younger.  Be it with the actual arcade games or playing the games at home, a lot of what I hear and think about will bring back the memories.  So cue the ear worm when I talk about this next memory.  Mostly because it transported me back to the 80’s and then made me think of all of the NES games I played.

When you are finished reading this blog, or even while you are reading this blog, head on over to YouTube and look up a video group called 8 Bit Universe.  Someone sent me this link and said, “I heard you love Nintendo games check this out!”  Normally I would think it is a SPAM or a link to some site that I don’t want the kids to see.  But I knew who it was that sent it and it was part of the conversation.  So trust me on this one.  By going to this group, you will be exposed to the wonderful world of 8 Bit music.  Big deal you say?  Actually, it is.

The first song I heard as “Africa” by Toto.  Then, I found “Mr. Blue Sky” by E.L.O.  That was what really got me more interested to listen to more.  It was just the biggest trip down memory lane.  But it’s not just about the 80’s hits.  They even created 8-Bit versions of songs from Suicide Squad, Ghostbusters, Black Panther, Oasis, Boston and of course Star Wars.  But don’t forget about the 8 Bit games themselves.  They have their own version/rendition of the classic like, dare I say Tetris  :).

It was fun to plug in my NES and start to play Bionic Commando with the volume down so I can play the songs from Queen and E.L.O.  It just adds another little sweetness to playing retro games.  But I have to admit, I found the best recipe for gaming tonight.  Check this out this math…….

CONTRA + ALL SEVEN of the 8-Bit tributes by Slipknot = Best damn game EVAR!!!!!!!

But you might want to add more songs to the playlist if you end up using the Up Up Down Down Left Right Left Right B A B A Start Code.

The real interesting thing is, I don’t listen to Slipknot.  Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying they are a bad group.  Because they aren’t.  Grammy winners and from Iowa, and I also went to school with Mic from the band.  It’s just not really my type of music.  But when you throw it into 8-Bit format, and play one of the best games for the Nintendo,  it just makes sense.

Some people may find that the 8-Bit sound from the Nintendo era can be annoying.  It really depends on what you are listening to.  If it’s Justin Bieber, then yeah, I’m not going to listen.  But for the majority of the playlist that is on YouTube,  it will really give you good memories of gaming in the 80’s and even more of a reason to….

 

Keep Calm and Insert Coin

 

 

Brad Feingold Brad Feingold (118 Posts)

Brad has been a die hard arcade fan ever since he can remember. From the first time he played Space Invaders, to the first time he played Pacman, Brad has always had a love for video games. Hanging out at either the Great American Fun Factory in the mall, or spending the night in front of the glowing games at the local roller rink, he was always thinking about when he can spend the next quarter. He also worked at Babbages, which is now GameStop, for over six years. Mostly because they had a really sweet checkout policy on new products and great discounts. But since he had the Atari 2600, he has never looked back and owned some of the greatest home machines, NES, SNES, GENESIS, Turbo Graphix 16, GameBoy, Game Gear, Lynx, Playsation 1,2,3,4 and Vita, XBOX, Gamecube, and N64...just to name a few. Brad is also a reviewer for Mobile Beat Magazine as well as a freelance videographer, part time disc jockey, performing artist and photographer. But has a true love is for video games and Star Wars, as he is a member of the 501st Central Garrison. His ultimate dream is to own a fully working pinball machine and arcade machine. Difficult to say which one, but a Star Wars one would be nice start.