Substance TV

What happens when you mix funk with a dash of techno, two parts video game, a pinch of chiptune, half a cup of 80’s, and a dollop of PXtone? You get the poppy crisp infectious tones of George & Johnathan. Don’t let their simple moniker fool you, these chaps know how to make some fine music. Their newest album, “Beautiful Lifestyle”, hit the digital airwaves this month and let me tell you, it’s delicious loving for my ear holes.

The entire album feels like a soundtrack from a forgotten video game. The track “Whale” is an example of how the duo perfectly matches the name of a song to the overall vibe and feel of the sounds contained therein. It’s very chill and feels like the ending credits to a classic arcade game. Take a listen.

I could gush on about these two, but their music speaks for itself. “Beautiful Lifestyle” is available for as little as $5 (a steal for 12 epic tracks). Make sure to check out their other two albums “The Best Music” and “The Best Christmas” for more sugary sweet sonatas. You can preview all of their albums and more at:

http://georgeandjonathan.com/

BTW: A big thanks to Coldguy for exposing me to these wonderful chaps!

What do you do when even the most impossible task has been completed in a video game? Make up your own game of course. The game goes like this: activate a secret 1-up mushroom and then try to collect all 8 coins without the 1-up catching up. Simple right? Only problem is, the mushroom is faster than Mario and could essentially go through everything. Insanity ensues.

I’ve never seen a group of people so fearful of a 1-up in my life.

SNK has been one of my favorite video game companies of all time. And although there have been some interviews with Ben Herman, the president of SNK Playmore USA, SNK Playmore of Japan has been a bit reclusive when it comes to public speaking. Who knows, maybe they didn’t get such a good grade in speech class. I’ve also been a member of www.neo-geo.com for years. I stumbled upon a thread in the forums about an interesting interview with Yoshihito Koyama, SNK’s most veteran employee (on board since ‘91). The interview was done by Massimiliano “~Max 330 Mega~” and it covers a lot of interesting topics and questions.

The article has renewed my faith in the company. Whether you’re a long time SNK fan or new to this whole SNK thing, it’s a great read. Thanks to Shawn from www.neo-geo.com for posting this interview and making this available to us. Check out the link to the thread for the entire interview.

It’s and SNK interview thread!

As with any endeavor, I try and do the best I can. Whether it’s Substance TV or Pixel Pill, making something of quality and care is important to me. Since I’m fairly new to this whole podcast thing, I’ve been searching out other podcasts to see what else is out there, what I like, what I don’t like, and garner new and interesting thoughts or ideas.

The other day I was browsing through the seemingly endless flood of podcasts on iTunes, and I stumbled upon one oddly named “A Life Well Wasted”. Curiosity got the best of me and I took a listen to it. After that point, I was hooked. I couldn’t believe what a great show was churned out by a normal Joe named Robert Ashley. He covers some interesting topics ranging from preservation of video games to the lives and thoughts of a video game developer on the edge living in some country cabin making his own bread. And the show feels like a professionally produced show. From the music tracks laid behind the voice, to the interviews with notable persons in the video game industry you might not know about. Everything is really well put together and I’ve enjoyed every minute of it. Even better, I learned something I didn’t know before. I took something away from the podcast when I was done listening.

So please give this guy a listen. He’s a gem in the endless sea of video game podcasts.

A Life Well Wasted on iTunes

The arcade scene in my city of Wichita Kansas has been, well, dead for quite sometime. The last great arcade was Aladdin’s Castle at Towne East. I was there the day it was shut down. I’ll spare you the long drawn out childhood gaming story short of saying it was a tragic day. Since then, there has not been a place for an old arcade dog like me to play. Sure there’s the local pool hall or bowling alley, but they are either inundated with DDR and racing games, or if they do have anything good, it’s in disrepair, broken, or missing buttons.

But there may be hope.

Read the rest of this epic article! »