#retro commercial time | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

aninventoryofthepossible · 10 months

Text

Inspirations for VOID 1680 AM

Earlier this year, I released a new solo TTRPG: VOID 1680 AM. In it, you use a deck of cards, a six-sided die, your music collection and a voice recorder to create your own late-night radio show.

The cards help you dig deep into your collection to reconnect with music you love; they and the die also help you create anonymous Callers and the concerns, hopes and obsessions that drove them to reach out to you, a fellow lone voice in the darkness.

I also included steps for joining the library of Callers for other players to use, and even to submit your full show for broadcast on the "real" VOID 1680 AM. You can see some of those Affiliate broadcasts here. They're genuinely very cool.

You can check out the game here, and I'm proud to say VOID 1680 AM is now a Judges' Spotlight Winner in this year's ENNIES.

Okay, enough table-setting. Let's get into it.

VOID was the culmination of a lifelong obsession with commercial radio; both the technology (which feels retro despite scarcely being over a century old) and the melancholy romance of lonesome voices baring themselves to an audience they'll never know the scope of.

This, to me, is an apt metaphor for the act of making something - anything at all. Speak into the Void, the back cover copy says. You never know who is listening. So it is with putting something you love into the world.

So what inspired VOID? I cite both Anamnesis by Sam Leigh and The Wretched by Chris Bissette in the book itself, two solo RPGs whose tones and methods did much to help me find my own.

But if I'm being truthful, VOID's inspirations mostly reside outside of games. Here are a few things that haunted me profoundly enough to drive me to respond.

The first is Talk Radio, specifically Oliver Stone's adaptation of Eric Bogosian's play. The movie's tagline is "the last neighborhood in America," which to me frames radio's persistent relevance and puts social media - often called a "town square" itself - in proper context as one piece of the many ways people find connection with others, for better or worse.

Contra the VOID DJ, Barry in Talk Radio is very, very aware of how his audience receives him (hint: not well). Barry must be heard, and so must the similarly damaged souls who call in to dump the poison in their brain into his... and everyone who's listening in, besides. It's a host of people who want to connect but don't know how, spiraling in decaying orbit around each other until something awful happens.

VOID 1680 AM was originally much darker before I decided to pull back and let players pick their own tone, and Talk Radio is why.

Oxenfree is a narrative video game about a small group of teens stuck on an island haunted by hungry ghosts who can be tuned in and out of reality with handheld radios. There's more to it than that, but I'll leave you to discover what on your own - because I would recommend this game to just about anyone.

Insofar as VOID 1680 AM can have a "soundtrack," it is this one by scntfc, created using WWII-era radio equipment.

The Vast of Night is a quietly alarming lo-fi/sci-fi set in a small town in New Mexico in the late '50s. A radio DJ and a switchboard operator pick up strange signals, and then... things happen.

This specific radio station (stylized in the poster above) is what I picture for "my" VOID 1680 AM.

Then there's Stevie in The Fog, played by Adrienne Barbeau. She's the bridge between VOID 1680 AM and my earlier solo game, Lighthouse at the End of the World.

She is, yes: a late night DJ. And her radio station is, yes: in a lighthouse. She's living my dream, at least until the ghost pirates show up.

Spoilers, I guess?

But the most important influence? VOID 1680 AM cover artist Jordan Witt's fan art for the podcast King Falls AM years ago. This image took up residence in my head, so much so that I still use it as phone wallpaper despite never having listened to the show it's for.

When it came time to partner with a cover artist, who that cover artist would be was never in question. Entirely unknowingly, Jordan took all these loose ideas in my head and gave them something to cohere to. A beacon, if you will.

They spoke something into the Void, and I listened.

Fun fact: Jordan even jazzed up the original logo I made for VOID 1680 AM when that title only applied to the AM transmitter in my garage. Here's my original - you can plainly see the influence of Jordan's art on that O. It all really came full circle.

Those are the biggest ingredients in the stew that made VOID 1680 AM. It's fun to talk about stuff I like, but also I hope it might nudge someone - anyone - to get going on something they're after.

(That's you. I'm talking about you.)

A project finding its voice is a wonderful thing, but there's no real miracle to it, no outside influence that will tell you what to do. It's just things in your head magnetizing to each other until they got a shape that - with coaxing - can stand on its own.

See you on the dial.

#indie ttrpg #ttrpg design #solo ttrpg #void 1680 am

306 notes · View notes

ishcliff · 5 months

Text

canto V speculation/spoilers, featuring discussion of moby dick and lots of guessing.

a note that with my predictions, i am just spitballing here.

still fascinated with the fact that queequeg is a former member of the middle. i would assume she was one of the more skilled members as well, even if only just to play off her original counterpart's position as nobility in his tribe. lest we forget his strong proficiency in harpooning. i wonder if we will have ishmael reference queequeg in being instrumental to her skills with a harpoon?

given ishmael mentioning in the blubbering toad's logs having someone long ago comfort her while crying over something, i have to wonder if this was queequeg, and if queequeg ended up being a mentor to her. the way the members of the middle are referred to as either "big brother" or "big sister" makes me think of a shield/protector sort of role being advertised by them, even if it ends up being a farce. perhaps queequeg had some disillusionment with the operations of the middle? a contrast between the middle's (probable) brutality and queequeg's (if we go by the source) kind-hearted nature?

i think often on source queequeg's sentiment that his exposure to the white christian world have become a taint in his soul, and that he feels unworthy of returning to his home. the world of the city being, for better and definitely for worse "aracial" makes much of the relevance and themes of moby dick a little tricky to translate, imo. for those who might not have read moby dick, my favorite thing to say about it is: "the whale is white for a reason."

schools in the united states often teach that the lesson about race to take away from moby dick are simply not to judge another person by the color of their skin, but that is a vast oversimplification. moby dick was released pre-civil war and asserted that the very concept of whiteness is an inherent evil. it condemned slavery, argued against the merits of the very-popular-at-the-time "scientific" school of phrenology. most importantly, it suggests that the glorification of whiteness as a designation of purity and the reason to guide the "lesser non-white races" is the source of all of christianity's evils. with this in mind, i'd like to bring up that sometimes people nowadays make a show of "wow, moby dick was a commercial failure, but now it's considered one of the greatest american books ever written. thank goodness we discovered it." what actually happened is that moby dick was critically panned in virtually all liberal (in the classical/socialist sense) media circles, but celebrated in socialist ones. you can probably guess why.

perhaps that gives context to my skepticism of how queequeg will be handled in a thematic sense. some people point to queequeg in moby dick as a progenitor of the harmful "noble savage" trope, and i don't think that's entirely without basis. but the difference between moby dick and many other media with "noble savages" is that queequeg was created as a philosophical counter to the very notion of white (and christian) supremacy, whereas the majority examples use this to show the virtues of white society. there is also the fact that queequeg and his fictional home were based on actual indigenous polynesians whom the author, herman melville, actually lived with for several years and maintained strong friendships with. i personally believe that matters.

so how will project moon translate that to queequeg? i don't really know. perhaps her home was a smaller syndicate in the backstreets. maybe she's even an outsider, especially given that ishmael has spent a lot of time exploring the outskirts. ishmael seems to be a blend of the character and a biographical account of herman melville's well-recorded life and philosophical quandaries. i am definitely curious and trying to be optimistic.

there's also the presence of tanya, who was obsessed with strength and survival of the fittest to the point of distortion. maybe she will end up being retroactively made a foil to queequeg? human!tanya in a flashback, maybe? i think she can be a very interesting point to develop PJM's take on queequeg, since queequeg abandoned the middle entirely.

so yeah. needless to say. i have been Pondering. there's a lot left to discover and understand, and i'm excited to see where they take it.

#limbus company speculation #canto v spoilers #lcb ishmael #lcb queequeg

72 notes · View notes

tomorrowxtogether · 6 months

Text

Tomorrow X Together Refuse To Play It Safe Musically: ‘We Don’t Want To Limit Ourselves’

After Tomorrow X Together’s scored a No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart in February with The Name Chapter: TEMPTATION, the K-pop trailblazers could have been tempted to recreate a collection of similarly whimsical pop cuts. But the quintet opted to push forward with their story by fusing in new genres and collaborators for a goal greater than commercial success.

TXT’s latest musical journey, The Name Chapter: FREEFALL, showcases an unwavering commitment to pushing musical boundaries. From serving one of the best choruses of their careers with a side of ‘80s new wave in the lead single “Chasing That Feeling” to dabbling in everything from metal to Latin pop thanks to mixing new and longtime collaborators, FREEFALL ultimately speaks to their group goal of abandoning traditional genre labels altogether.

“We tried to experiment with new sounds and styles on this album,” says Tomorrow X Together vocalist Taehyun, who co-wrote three of the album’s nine tracks. “We don’t want to limit ourselves to one genre and [want to] continue to experiment with a variety of sounds. At the same time, we want to put our own spin on them so that ‘Tomorrow X Together’ can ultimately be a genre of its own.”

Subverting expectations and refusing to limit oneself is not just a sign of courage in an unpredictable music industry, but artistic confidence that one’s messages and story can continue with the fans and listeners willing to open their ears and minds, with Taehyun, Soobin, Yeonjun, Beomgyu and Hueningkai living that motto in their music. Dive into more with the members of Tomorrow X Together for insights into their creative process, album’s themes and aspirations for the future.

TAEHYUN: We tried to experiment with new sounds and styles on this album as well. There’s 1980s-inspired new wave track “Chasing That Feeling,” hard rock-driven “Growing Pain,” and “Deep Down” which has a Jersey Club sound. We don’t want to limit ourselves to one genre and [want to] continue to experiment with a variety of sounds. At the same time, we want to put our own spin on them so that “TOMORROW X TOGETHER” can ultimately be a genre of its own.

Jeff Benjamin: You mentioned “Chasing That Feeling” has the '80s new-wave sound. What made it the proper title track and how did you approach blending in your sound?

YEONJUN: “Chasing That Feeling” is a song that marks a new beginning in reality and an important turning point in the Name Chapter series. It sings of a fresh start away from the sweet but irresponsible past which our previous album The Name Chapter: TEMPTATION dealt with. So it felt right as the lead single for the new album.

HUENINGKAI: I think the retro, new-wave sound of the track works well because it captures a youthful and resilient energy. It’s a youth anthem, but not like the romantic youth anthems people might expect, and lays out the pain and emptiness of reality which I think a lot of people will find relatable.

Jeff Benjamin: The choreography for “Chasing That Feeling” features voguing, which is rare for boy bands. Can you tell us the thinking behind it and how it complements the song?

BEOMGYU: We wanted the choreography to reflect the message of the song. A lot of the movements were designed to visually convey this sense of speed and a feeling of freefalling. We like to experiment and try something different for our performances, so voguing was a new but fun experience. It resulted in a very dynamic performance that I think our fans will enjoy very much.

Jeff Benjamin: Going through some album songs, “Growing Pain” opens and stands out with its hard rock, almost metal sound. Can you share the story behind this track?

HUENINGKAI: “Growing Pain” is about facing reality head-on and feeling that sense of pain in the process. But rather than looking at this pain as an end, the song embraces this as growing pains and a process to mature in the end. I really liked this perspective of looking at reality and tried to reflect that in the lyrics.

Jeff Benjamin: The lyrics and message in “Deep Down” are very intriguing about seeing one’s horns as a crown. Is there a connection between it and your debut single “Crown”?

YEONJUN: There’s definitely a connection. “Deep Down” is about accepting one’s “horn,” something you want to keep hidden, as one’s “crown,” something that makes you who you are. “Crown” is about the discovery of what makes you different and “Deep Down” embraces that difference as a part of one’s true self. So, it’s like a full circle moment, and I think it’s natural that there’s this evolution in the narrative because we have evolved and wanted to share that journey through our music.

Jeff Benjamin: MAX co-wrote “Happily Ever After.” Are you fans of him or have you managed to start a friendship?

HUENINGKAI: He's one of my favorite artists, and I was genuinely thrilled when I heard the news that he would be taking part in the track. I was also pleasantly surprised when we received the demo because he sang it himself.

Jeff Benjamin: The color blue appears in several TXT song titles: “Blue Hour,” “Blue Orangeade” and, now, “Blue Spring.” What is the significance of the color and connection with your fans, MOA?

HUENINGKAI: The color blue has a part in the cohesive story we’re trying to tell through our music. Therefore, certain imagery reappears and evolves along with the theme of our albums. It also plays a role in further immersing our fans into the story we’re telling.

Jeff Benjamin: The visuals for the album range from dark and to fantastical, how do they fit into the overall album theme or sounds even?

SOOBIN: Since we wanted to talk about reality as we see it in this album, the album’s visuals also reflect this. We intended to recreate the look of the real world as it is to give off this sense of reality seen without a filter. And in this reality, there are moments of both pain and beauty, so you can see that reflected in the melancholy and fantasy-like imagery.

Jeff Benjamin: You worked with Ryan Tedder for two songs “Do It Like That” and “Back for More” on this album. What was the experience like and how did he contribute to your established creative process?

TAEHYUN: We had a chance to meet and work with Ryan in Los Angeles during the U.S. leg of our most recent world tour. He took the time out of his vacation to come to the studio to direct our recording sessions. His dedication and level of professionalism throughout the entire process really inspired me. He’s an incredible musician, and it was such a pleasure working with him.

Jeff Benjamin: The album has a message about “freefalling” into reality. Have there been times when you unexpectedly or suddenly had to face reality head on?

YEONJUN: I’d say the journey of becoming an artist was an experience where I faced reality head on. The path to becoming an artist, and a great artist at that, requires a great deal of hard work and responsibility along with growing pains. Through it all, I feel that I’ve become a better artist by enduring those times.

Jeff Benjamin: The series of “Dreamers,” “Deep Down,” “Happily Ever After” and “Skipping Stones” is strong; I think fans will find inspiration in their messages of identity, hope, and courage. Are there personal sentiments here any of you can relate to?

TAEHYUN: In "Dreamer," there are lyrics that say, “I'm a dreamer, dreamer, dreamer with memories of stars.” I love the sense of resilience in these lyrics because it’s about choosing to embrace adulthood without abandoning the capacity to dream, rather than giving up on hopes and dreams as an adult in the real world. That’s something that I very much aspire to do.

HUENINGKAI: “Skipping Stones” is another great track that I relate to. It’s about staying strong in the face of adversity. The song compares one’s inner turmoil to the fluctuating water surface from skipping stones. One’s inner turmoil creates this wave of unsettling emotions, but just like skipping stones, the water eventually becomes still—I love the lyrical imagery on top of the track’s raw sound.

Jeff Benjamin: Do you have any specific hopes or goals for this album on the charts?

BEOMGYU: We received so much love on our previous album, and it’d be amazing to continue to garner great results on the charts. Regardless, I’m still very proud of how far we were able to expand our sound once again and artistically grow through this album.

Jeff Benjamin: Now that The Name Chapter: FREEFALL is here and fans have seen yet another side of TXT, what are some other aspects you’re excited about or hope to show?

BEOMGYU: I think our fans will enjoy our #ChasingThatFeeling dance challenge videos that we shot in many different locations. Some of them were shot on the set of our music video at Universal Studios in Los Angeles, which gives a behind-the-scenes look of different promotions we’re doing for this album. We also did the dance challenge with other artists that you might not have expected. So, I’m excited about that and I think our fans will enjoy it too.

Jeff Benjamin: Anything else to add or a message you want to ensure fans know?

SOOBIN: We worked very hard on this album. I hope that many people enjoy it and relate to it in a way that makes tough times a little easier.

#txt #tomorrow x together #231030 #article #forbes #soobin #yeonjun #beomgyu #taehyun #hueningkai #the name chapter: freefall #freefall

49 notes · View notes

therobotmonster · 9 months

Text

My Retro-Cartoon Ramblings, Part 1

I am bored, so I'm copying an old twitter thread to a series of posts here. Bailing out some of the better content before Elon sinks that bitch, as it were. Maybe give ya something to watch during the strikes. Some improvements and edits may be made.

80s Cartoons Tiered and commented on in no order in particular, but starting with an obvious high-ranking contender, Before he was solemn robojesus martyrdad, Optimus Prime played b-ball, called decepticons "boobies" and okayed building robot dinosaurs for… fun, I guess?

What I'm saying is its goofier and more fun than you remember. It also had a way of feeling bigger than it was. Fun fact! I knew I wanted to create toys and kidvid the second I heard the metallic clunk of Sludge's torso being dropped on his legs.

It's also about 35% jank by volume. Just assume that's true for everything here. Animation errors, coloring errors, voice errors, plotting errors, conceptual errors, its all there. Sometimes all in one scene.

Next up, Masters of the Universe. One of the first of the new toy commercial cartoons (Which I call "AdvertToons"), and a weird artifact in and of itself. Nonviolent to the point of comedy, with a weird mix of sinister-sounding lore and super-cuddly after-school special morality.

It's a show where a creature which is explicitly stated to be a demon can be redeemed because Orko wants to be his friend. It feels like an artifact from another dimension, being one of (if not the) last all-US produced animated series (for awhile at least.)

It's one of the few shows I recommend everyone watch at least a couple of episodes. Not so much because it's good or holds up, but just because it's so uniquely of its time.

ALSO, if you're looking to do animation with a small team... you could probably pull off a series like motu on youtube with a team of half a dozen if you used all the same tricks with current tech.

(continued in part 2)

#my 80s cartoon ramblings #80s cartoons #Transformers #Masters of the Universe #MOTU #nostalgia #animation #advertoons #toyetic

65 notes · View notes

g4zdtechtv · 8 months

Text

youtube

Cinematech Presents RCT - The McDonald's As Featured In Meal

♾️ Variants Served.

2 notes · View notes

summerof85 · 2 years

Photo

📼 Time Life Video - Barney & Friends tapes || 1993

#1990s #1990s commercials #1990s aesthetic #1990s tv #90s commercials #90s aesthetic #90s tv #retro commercials #retro tv #retro aesthetic #vhs #vhswave #vaporwave #retrowave #summerof85 #Barney & Friends #Time Life Video #1993

37 notes · View notes

easternmind · 4 months

Text

Last year in classic games

For motives I cannot expand on with much glee, I found a little more time than usual this year to reduce my seemingly endless backlog of classics. Despite all the fine new releases 2023 has greeted us with, I was able to finally dive into this eclectic handful of games I gathered over time. It is perhaps no coincidence that I reached out for more direct game experiences than story-driven ones. I find myself increasingly drawn to games designs that are mindful of the player's time as a commodity not to be carelessly squandered.

One note, if I may: I would like to inspire my readers to progressively discard the use of the word retro this year. We are all of advancing years and wisdom, I trust. The introduction of the term retro to the videogame vernacular was a gross mistake furthering the abhorrent notion that games were as ephemeral in their nature as fashion. It is a purely commercial designation by which to profitably repackage old software as a category of its own, originating from the same minds that considered games as mere novelty trinkets of limited marketable lifespan.

It is up to the player to individually decide on an older game's appeal, whether they may be discovering it for the first time or revisiting it for the umpteenth one. This is not only an appeal for those of you who write about games in any capacity, rather to anyone who takes videogames as a serious interest and communicates with others about this the object of their predilection. Thank you.

This loose cart came with a Famicom bundle auction I won in 2009, if memory serves. I turned on the Famicom and tested it merely to verify if it was still in working condition and found myself engrossed in that trademark Pajitnov/Pokhilko elegant approach to game design. As per the cassette's label, Hatris was originally a concept developed in collaboration with ParaGraph, a Russian studio that went on to develop specialized professional software, a year before the Bullet-Proof Software licensing deal. They produced a few games in the turn of the decade that were rather unusual and, some would say, even visionary. I recommend that you look up their story, if you're curious.

The only entry from the group that isn't of Japanese provenance - though it is a Japanese edition - I played it for purely nostalgic motives, perhaps a yearning for a certain pixel, palette and parallax that resoundingly evoke a time I was fortunate enough to experience, first-hand. If I may be honest, I purchased the game for the visual value of its unique cover art, which I deem superior to the US edition's. In saying that, I must highlight that the original Amiga game box art was quite accomplished.

In the Summer of 93 while on holiday at the beach, there was a French Nintendo magazine for sale whose purchase I could not resist. It was very common to find Spanish, English and French publications at the time in Portugal. This edition had a striking four page preview of this Jaleco gem, Ikari no Yōsai, or Operation Logic Bomb as it was named in the West. For years I searched the PAL version in vain, then ultimately decided to import it on account of - you'd never guess! - the superior box art. Playing it this year at long last, I was instantly reminded of an old Game Boy favourite, Fortified Zone, which I now know to be its prequel. Most top-down shooters are best played in co-op. Ikari no Yōsai is strictly and single-player affair and not once did I miss the absence of a friendly companion.

Keio Flying Squadron 2 first came to my attention via an infamous Saturn demo disc, which came into my hands through circumstances I have since forgotten about. I use the word infamous because the entire game code was available in the disc and the level select cheat code enabled me to unscrupulously play the entirety of the game for no additional expense - at only the cost of missing out on the colourful Studio Pierrot anime FMV interludes.

Having played the sequel first, I was somewhat disenchanted to learn the original game did not feature any platforming segments, it being a pure scrolling shooter in the same whimsical vein as Parodius or, say, an AirZonk. Still, a jolly good time with the old three buttons.

For reasons that will not be immediately apparent to younger reading audiences, I pride myself in having completed most Shinobi games, The Revenge Of and GG being my preferred ones. Shin Shinobi Den, or Shinobi X in Europe, was a game not readily available from my usual game dealers. I eventually borrowed the PAL version once, though not nearly long enough to master it. I finally saw it through this year, mere days before SEGA announced a new episode. While the live action clips looked a tad maladroit in the 1990s, they came to acquire that nice patina I now look for in classic games.

Omega Force was known to take the sporadic breather from producing some of KOEI's most cherished and profitable series. I distinctly remember enjoying Destrega quite a bit in its day, a game quite unlike any other. What their 1998 Enigma lacks in consistency and originality, it more than amply makes up for with its own bizarre concepts, extravagant characters and unexpected genre fusions. Of all the titles in this post, this was the one whose pace felt the most sluggish, and needlessly so.

Microsoft Game Studio Japan release schedule plans were not at all kind on this, their first production, Magatama. Earlier this year I praised this era for its highly inspired H&S action adventure titles and even spent a few days delighting myself with the likes of Blood Will Tell, Nightshade, Bujingai, or Chaos Legion. This most unusual creation, developed by the aptly-named Team Breakout - a group composed of many talented ex-Square employees - is one among the finest of the era. Sadly, it did not do enough to persuade players at the time that it was a better purchase than Otogi or its sequel. Playing it with my mind and heart set back in time to 2003, I can say that this misguided consideration may not have withstood a second thought.

I've long wanted to write an extensive article on Japanese firefighting games. In fact, I have the structure laid out for a Japanofiles entry gathering moss in my Tumblr drafts for over a decade now. For a brief period this year I convinced myself I could finally fulfil this aspiration and resumed Sakurazaka Shouboutai as research. Developed by Racdym - later Racjin - for Irem, it is every bit as good as Firefighter F.D.18 or Hard Luck, and in many ways more inventive from a conceptual standpoint. While Konami and Spike found a way to have their games released in the west, Sakurazaka's poor regional sales performance clearly accounts for Irem's reluctance to bear the cost of an overseas ticket.

27 notes · View notes