Japanese Console History, in Tiny Plastic Capsules.
Since the beginning of gaming culture, mass marketing machines have churned out a massive array of licensed products, collectibles, clothing, peripherals etc etc, creating an offshoot merchandising market that gleans profits larger than the GNPs of some Nations (forgive the hyperbole, but it’s probably true). Of the myriad of secondary market goods related to game culture, I’ve often been most interested in Japanese collectible culture, more specifically the miniature toys that come in little plastic capsules, known as Gashapon.
Gashapon is the brand name of capsules by Bandai, and it’s subsidiary companies TakaraTomy/ Yujin. These machines (seen above) are all over in Asia, arcades, shopping malls, small shops etc. There are even whole stores that are nothing but Gacha capsule machines and an attendant there to give you change. My first experience with capsule toys dates back to when I was a kid when you could pop in a quarter and get some cheap ass crappy toy in similar machines placed in malls, grocery and department stores. But Gashapon toys are (usually) of a much higher quality.
I found my first Gacha capsule machines in a small shopping centre in Chinatown in Toronto years ago, and then discovered a Gacha machine store in the Pacific Mall in the North-Eastern part of Toronto. Every brand of Asian pop culture has probably been represented in capsule-toy form; anime characters, game characters, miniature fake foods, mini designer furniture collections, and so much more. Sometimes you can find mini actions figures, keychains, small models and maquettes, even mini capsule machines that spit out even tinier capsules with smaller toys inside of them!. But years ago I found a series that caught my attention far more than the usual secondary market merchandise you would normally find.
While visiting the capsule store at the Pacific Mall with a couple of friends years ago, I found the Sega History Collection. The series was essentially mini versions of the entire history of Sega video game consoles. The master system, the Genesis (MegaDrive), the Sega CD, Saturn, Dreamcast. Now these were not simply tiny static models. The game carts are removable, the controllers can be “unplugged”, CDs could be removed and slid into small cases (The Dreamcast came with tiniest of Space Channel 5 game case and disc). AND even the VMUs on the Dreamcast Controllers could be removed and inserted. This was my first encounter with capsule toys with such a high level of detail. I bought a couple of them (one of the things about capsule machines is that you don’t know what you’re going to get, which is half of the fun, unless you end up with a duplicate). But it also inspired me to see what other game hardware had been recreated in mini-model form. Turns out, pretty much any game console from the history of Japanese Video game culture.
Please keep in mind that I have been a collector of many things in my life, I guess I’ve got just enough of that touch of OCD in me to make me want to collect things. And as my interests have changed in my life, I have seen different collections of themes and objects come and go. So when I say that these tiny model game machines have fascinated me for years, more than any other collectible, that’s pretty significant. I’m not sure exactly why this is the case with these, but I think it’s that they’re more than just toys. These “History Collections” are like micronized game museums.
At this point in time, any collector/ game historian would have to put out a prohibitive amount of money to collect one of each of these pieces of hardware (I have a rather extensive collection of game hardware and software, but nothing like the scope of these collections). Yet the Gacha models present an affordable means of collecting the ENTIRE history of Japanese game consoles and their peripherals for fractions of that cost, nevermind they take up a fraction of the amount of space. With these, the history of Japanese (console) gaming can rest on a single shelf.
While we often see all kinds of toys, and objects related to the characters from game franchises, and I have seen some collections dedicated to the history of game genres (there’s a schmup/ bullet hell history collection that I have found, dedicated to all the vehicles that you pilot in the games), these History collections are unique, it’s the only instance I know (other than the odd papercraft or DIY project) that focuses on the machines we play the games on; focusing on the technology of gaming.
Through these collections, and their accompanying mini flyers (which are the images in this post), we can see how the technology has progressed, and how hardware aesthetics have changed over time (arguably, not that much, surprisingly). While these mini flyers are designed to show you the objects that you did not get, to encourage you to go back and drop more money into the capsule machines, it also gives you the slightest taste of that history, even if it is in a very tiny format. Although pretty much every console from Japanese manufacturers are represented, it would be nice to see a collection like this that encompasses other consoles, perhaps Atari or even Commodore or Apple computer histories.
There are other large-ish Gacha capsules that have even housed mini vintage Sega arcade machines (such as OutRun, After Burner, etc). And recently I even found work by model railroad enthusiasts that are making their own mini arcade machines (more on that another time). But if there’s any question of game culture’s saturation of images, themes and characters, click here to see mugen toys page dedicated to game themed Gacha Capsules. And these are only the ones that are recent, or haven’t sold out yet.
I for one am going to keep searching for pieces from these history collections. Maybe I’ll make a mini-museum diorama to house them in.
cTrix’ Gatari 2600, the chipmusic “guitar”
Anyone who knows me knows that I’m fairly obsessed with the chipmusic genre, although calling it a genre is a bit inaccurate, given the range and scope of the styles of music that are created by the myriad of artists on gameboys, nintendos, vintage computers and other game consoles. It’s a musical form that is constantly evolving due to the close relationship the creators of chipmusic share with hacking culture. While many use software designed by others much like a guitar player plays a guitar, but does not MAKE the guitar, there are just as many examples of chipmusicians who code, hack and mod their way into creating their own methods of creating chiptunes.
Recently at the Japanese edition of BLIPFEST, the international festival dedicated to all things chipmusic, Aussie artist cTrix debuted his new creation for the composition and live performance of chipmusic on an Atari 2600. He called this beast the GATARI 2600. Essentially it runs custom software enabling him to create his own chipmusic on an Atari 2600. From there, the Atari was built onto a frame that houses a joystick and various guitar effect pedals; the final result resembling a guitar. Here’s a video of cTrix explaining the device, including footage of him performing live with the Gatari in Tokyo.
Pretty incredible stuff. As far as forms of electronic music go, there’s a reason why chipmusic is at the top of my list. The spirit of play, both in the creation and live performance of the music is deeper than that of other musical genres. For these creators not only play music, they hack, mod, tweak and play WITH the technologies used to create their compositions. In an age of increasingly plug and play / proprietary technologies, it’s folk like cTrix who are pulling it apart and rebuilding it for their own means.
Found cheat sheet.
on one of my many trips to local thrift shops searching out cheap notable/ vintage games, i found this tucked inside an xbox version of a metal gear solid game.
Having recently moved to Toronto to pursue graduate studies, Im continuing my work curating/ programming video game culture art events, beginning at Interaccess Gallery with the launch of a new series. I’m excited that this event will be my first such event in Toronto and my first game culture event of 2012!
Interaccess Gallery, the Hand Eye Society and the CanadianGame Studies Association present:
D-Pad (Directions in play/art/design).
Designed to be part social event, part art event, part pop-up arcade, D-Pad will bring together works from a variety of disciplines that share a common theme/topic; video games. Whether its hardware, software, iconography, D-Pad will feature works by artists running the gamut of games, art, and performance. While it is important to note those that create games which facilitate play, it’s also crucial to acknowledge how game culture has facilitated new works by those playing WITH the games and their technology. While D-Pad’s focus will largely be works by local artists, each event will feature the work of an artist from outside the region.
Doors Open at 8:30, with performances getting under way at 9:30, cover is $5 at the door, and the event will be licensed, with the gallery serving beer and wine.
D-Pad, Version 1 Will feature:
Performances by:
bossfyte (audio visual performance featuring modified video game hardware)
mandelbrut (a/v performance featuring modified Vectrex game consoles)
oxyvulu (live chipmusic)
mrghosty (chipmusic DJ set)
Art, Installations and Games by:
Emilie and Jim Mcginley of TO Jam / Bigpants (3D game `the Depths to which I sink`, and selected games from the TO Jam catalogue)
Clint Enns (gameboy ROM and Machinima remakes of Andy Warhol’s Empire)
Tim Mcdonald (Gauntlet Series 1; a series of paintings based on the classic video game Gauntlet)
Damian Sommer (co-operative game Friendship in Four Colours)
Dames Making Games. (selected games from the emerging game creators collective, whose purpose is to promote the works of female game makers in Toronto and beyond).
Featured Guest Artists:
Devine Lu Linvega and Renaud Bedard (MTL):
Rain+Bow – a bullet hell shooter highly influenced by Japanese pop culture, lasting 90 seconds long. If you can survive that long.
Kenton sheely (NYC)
Cities in Flux – Abstract interactive generative art created through modifying the game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.
—————————————————————————————————————————————————
Some folks in the labs at the Japanese Institute of Science and Technology (JAIST) have created a controlled quantum levitation race track game based on the hit sci-fi racing game Wipe Out. Each “car”, or futuristic floating jet race craft thing moves about the track with a remote control. As a proof of concept, these scientists could have done a much less remarkable job in the presentation this technology and it still would be an incredible thing, but the attention to detail; the lengths at which they captured the style and aesthetic of the game track, and the cars blew me away.
What a grandious way to show off your concept! In body of the text describing the video, the makers of this piece site the major influence that Wipeout had on them while developing the project, which is obvious from the video. They even say thay maybe this could lead to them building larger concepts and one day (in the future) have full scale tracks, thus bringing the futuristic racer into reality. While I’d probably be the first to sign up to race in a real hover jet racing environment, I’d be perfectly happy with this small scale version to play with at home. Someone at Sony should take notice of this and find a way to market a consumer version. I bet it would fly off the shelves.
Here’s a clip from the HD remake of Wipeout for those unfamilar with the game, it’s concept or its aesthetics; which these scientists have captured perfectly in real life miniature form.
Footnote: n00b.
While doing research for a paper on the history of ROMhacking on the NES, I was reading Brent John Dewaal’s Dissertation, called Motivations for Video Game Play, I came across the above footnote. Dewaal mis-cites Capcom as the maker of Mortal Kombat (it is actually midway that made MK).. I just found it humerous that someone wrote this response in the book. Nice to see Game lingo being used academically, well sort of.
We all know that gaming companies have a history of being protective of their proprietary technologies, which comes in the form of games, consoles, peripherals etc. Since the launch of the NES, Nintendo has had a history of shrewd licensing policies, controlling the distribution and manufacture of titles for their consoles; a model which layed the groundwork for other companies in the industry to do the same. In order to thwart hacking of consoles such as the Wii and PSP, firmware updates were encoded into new game discs so that players had to update their console’s firmware in order to play said new games; often firmware updates erased old hacks/ exploits and made it more difficult (as the theory went) to hack the machines again.
Microsoft has also often taken a similar stance on such matters. The best example of Microsoft hacks came in the form of the Kinect when it was released in November 2010. Within hours of its release, hackers got to work trying to unpack how this new motion control device worked, and quickly it spawned all manner of control hacks, art projects and more. Initially Microsoft was dead set against hacking the device and even threatened legal action to take down sites such as the Open Kinect project. In a press release (part of which found here) Microsoft stated:
“”Microsoft does not condone the modification of its products. With Kinect, Microsoft built in numerous hardware and software safeguards designed to reduce the chances of product tampering. Microsoft will continue to make advances in these types of safeguards and work closely with law enforcement and product safety groups to keep Kinect tamper-resistant.”
GamerCamp Lv. 3. RoundUp.
This past weekend marked the 3rd incarnation of Toronto’s festival of play and gaming: GamerCamp. Founded by Mark Rabo and Jaime Woo, Gamercamp is a celebration of all aspects of games and play. It’s an indie developers conference, it’s a gaming festival for enthusiasts, it incorporates elements of academia. Needless to say it’s the only festival that I’ve ever seen in gaming culture that strives to be as inclusive as it can possibly be.
Sortly after last year’s GamerCamp, Lv.2, I had the pleasure of meeting Mark and Jaime. When I was throwing the first incarnation of Data Dance, my chiptune dance party and pop-up arcade series in Winnipeg, Jaime and Mark roadtripped all the way out to the Peg from Toronto to demo several indie games from Toronto’s indie gaming community (N+ and Cephalopods Co-Op Cottage Defence, to this day still two of my fave indie games). Needless to say that their enthusiasm was infectious. I had kept up with their activities over the months following and when I found out that I had been accepted to graduate school in Toronto, well, I was very excited about getting to attend Gamercamp.
This year’s Gamercamp was a 3 day affair, but sadly due to school commitments I was unable to attend Friday’s Keynote talks by a variety of speakers that I was eager to hear from, including designer and indie game zine publisher Cory Schmitz. I’ve been a big fan of Cory’s work for a while and regret not being able to make it. Other amazing activities for Friday that I missed where the Board Game Jam (where participants created their own board games!), and the 3 hr long Iron Chef Game Making Competition (in 3hrs indie developers were given a “secret ingredient” and then had to make a game based on it). I did however manage to make it down for the Casual Gala opening party, and see Gamercamp’s emerging artist talks where 4 emerging indie artists talked about the games they were creating and their process. The event was also a fundraiser for Sick Kid Hospital, where local indie developers and designers donated works of art for a raffle. It was a great introduction to the community (some of whom I knew, others I was just meeting), and I have to say that Toronto’s Indie Game Communities are the most open and mutually supportive group I’ve ever been privy to.
Sadly due to an emergency, I was unable to attend Saturday’s proceedings, including a panel on creating a mindset of play for adults (of which I was supposed to be a panelist on, but due to circumstances I could not participate: seriously bummed about that). And a whole other whack of activities at both the Toronto Underground Cinema, George Brown College and out on the streets of Toronto in the evening “Live Action Roving Mario Party”, where gamer camp took games and gamers to the streets for a night of fun!
I am pleased to say though that in spite of adverse circumstances on Saturday, that I did make my way down to George Brown College for the final day of GamerCamp! And it was a fantastic day! Upon entering I was greeted with a buffet of just about every sugar cereal known to man on one table, and the grilled cheese sandwich buffet on another (both of which are now inscribed as gamercamp traditions. So to begin my experience, I grabbed a bowl and a spoon, had some cereal and watched old Rocket Robin Hood Cartoons being projected on the wall.
After becomming sufficiently hopped up on sugar I meandered my way around the building to discover all kinds of great activities, already underway. There was the Snakes and Lattes Board Game Cafe room. For those who don’t know Snakes and Lattes, its a board game cafe located in Toronto. For their room, they brought a ton of games for people to try and play, plus they kept coffee brewing all day long. And even though the sugar high was in full effect, I of course had a cup or two.
Down the Hall and around the corner was the indie game tournament room, where Gamercampers could compete through a series of indie games for prizes and accolades. The room was hosted by Jim and Emily McGinley, the pair behind Toronto’s TO Jam game jams.
Then there was the film room, featuring film screenings with a game theme, co-programmed by Dorkshelf, The Toronto After Dark Film Festival and the Toronto Underground Cinema. On the bill were various films based on video games, or video game themes, but most notable for me was the film Kings of Power 4 Billion Percent by Paul Robertson. A 16 /32 bit style animated short unlike anything I had ever seen before. It’s a pop patische of so many other elements of game, film, sci-fi, pop culture that I lost track of just how many references to other works in the 12 short minutes of this film. Here is the entire short:
And still there was even more going on. In the peripherals room, selected works from the TIFF Nexus peripherals Initiative were showcased. The two I managed to spend some time with were Analog Defender and The Depths to Which I sink, which is a 3D game played with the old style blue and red lensed 3d glasses.
While there I also managed to take in a talk by local IndieDev Demian Sommers called I maek gaems and so can you, in which Demian talked about the software available for those with the desire to make games but without the coding and programming experience necessary to do so. He showed us the variety of warez available and then showed us example games made with each piece of software. It was a really helpful talk for someone like me with an interest in creating games but no background at all in coding.
All through out the halls of GamerCamp where a variety of indie games being demo’d by their creators including Miguel Sternberg’s brilliant and upcoming game They Bleed Pixels. I featured a demo of the game at ArtCadia at the Winnipeg Art Gallery for Nuit Blanche Winnipeg this year. It is an incredible game and I highly recommend that everyone check it out.
Then in the foyer was the PWNAGE series, in which participants could challenge competitive gamers at their own game. I witnessed the Mortal Kombat portion of the event, where all manner of challenger came up against the resident MK expert (a competitive MK gamer) and were summarily defeated. All in good fun.
And it was around this time that all that coffee and sugar began wearing off, so I began to make my way out of GamerCamp. All around an incredible event. What Jaime and Mark have done here have created a festival/conference/gathering that includes all manner of DIY creatives and culture programmers in Toronto. It’s perhaps the most inclusive event I’ve ever been to, walking in to various rooms, each one programmed and facilitated by members of Toronto’s creative community. Gamercamp cuts wide swath through our various cultures of play, and I for one am eager to participate in Level 4 next year.
SUPER PEPPER SPRAY COP!!!
As the Pepper Spray Cop Meme continues to flourish, there have been a number of game themed images popping up. I’ll post my favorites that I have found later. Through seeing these memetic mashups, I was inspired to create one of my own tonight. I give you Super Pepper Spray Cop.
For Science, you monster! Portal 2 Fan videos.
I’ve always been fascinated with participatory (see: fan) cultures on the internet and the various creative projects that rise out of these cultures. One such sub-culture that I’ve been preoccupied with as of late are the fans of games released by Valve. Valve has been a game company that has generally always given support to its fans, first through mod culture and more recently through video contests and the like.
Earlier this year with the release of Portal 2 (Portal and Portal 2 are among my favorite games), Valve created a music video contest. Valve had the band the National create a track just for this contest called “Exile Vilify”, released it to fans and then let them go to work on creating their own videos for the track. Here’s an example:
This video incorporates images from the game, as well as from the digital comic series Lab Rat, which fills in the narrative gaps between Portal and Portal 2 and is told from the perspective of “rat man”, a character we never see in the games but who’s presence is felt throughout it.
Here’s another video from the contest that uses images from the comic, as well as its aesthetic in its animations:
according to the Portal website the above video game in 1.000000001th place. Here is the winning video:
More videos from the contest can be found here.
While I very much like the creative work made for this contest, and it’s high level of professional production values, I am even more interested in the work created by individuals who create works outside of the realms of officially sanctioned contests or competititions. Here is a music video by youtube user TigerboyPT, who created all of the animations for this project, then edited them together, using the music track from the credit sequence in Portal 2:
And then just last night I found the fan video below, which is a satirical “industrial film” about Aperture Science. A sort of taking a look behind the scenes “film” that is still common among corporations, but the creators of this video seem to be harkening back to the classic industrial films made by film companies such as “Handy Jam“ during World War 2.
Anyone who has played Portal will know the tongue and cheek humour of this video draws upon the same comedic tropes that exist in both games.
And another (new to me) discovery is the Underground.
The Underground is a machinima “talk show” featuring the various personality spheres from the Portal series. Here, instead of being incinerated, the defective AI s are inadvertently dropped onto the set of a talk show, hosted by the “Interview Sphere”. As most machinima is, this is a rather silly little comedy program, but still worth watching for any Portal fans, although the comedy might be lost on someone who hasn’t invested the time in playing Portal. Here’s a promo that I found for the show, which immediately led me to watching the series:
And here the first episode:
With the dawning of youtube, fan video culture has exploded in the past 7 years. And fans of Valve’s game franchises create new and high quality works all the time. Click here to read a post from this past May about Beyond Black Mesa, a fan made science fiction film based on the Half Life game series by Valve.
And finally I’ll finish this post with a look at a live action video based on yet another Valve series called Team Fortress 2. This video has had over 3 million views!
This is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of indie cultural production based on Valve game properties.
