Before
The Nintendo Entertainment System had such a unique art style, because of its limited hardware capabilities. Game developers worked tirelessly to push those limits over and over again, and their accomplishments saved the once failing video game industry.
Something about the mid-2000’s made independent developers nostalgic for that look. As I began to notice the rising trend of 8-bit video games, I found myself doing heavy research on how the console actually worked.You know, just in case I have to make my own game someday…
As I am known to do, I combined this passion for classic gaming with my love for improv. I came up with a show title, a logo, and even created a few assets that I would have used, had the show ever come to fruition.
During
Fast-forward to late 2019. A good friend of mine, Will, announced that he was putting together a show called 8-Bit Improv. He’d been awarded 3 performance opportunities—thanks to HUGE Theater’s Improv A-Go-Go lottery system—but before he could even think about casting it, I had to show him the 8-bit art I had already created.
Needless to say: he loved it. Not only did he ask to use the graphics for the show, he even asked me to be in the show with him. You’ll never guess what my answer was!
But I can’t stop at just one little promo image. If I’m going to be part of something cool, I’m going to make it as cool as possible.
I decided to combine all of the graphics into a nice little video package, and cap it off with a little chiptune version of one of my own songs, “I Feel Bad For You.” You can read more about transposing the song here.
After
We performed all 3 shows to great success. It was a total blast! And on each of those 3 nights, we played this video package for the whole audience to see:
Moral of the story? Don’t throw away your old, unfinished projects. Someday, you might be able to bring it all together.