Pixelated Audio

Midwest Edition

Live at VGMCon 2024

What is Pixelated Audio?

A video game music podcast

• focused on history and preservation
• exploring audio and implementation
• capturing stories and experiences from composers

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What is Pixelated Audio?

A video game music podcast

• focused on history and preservation
• exploring audio and implementation
• capturing stories and experiences from composers

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Thomas Kresge

• Composer, orchestrator, and copyist
• Lead of The Game Brass

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Midwest VGM…?

The United States

The United States

Well-known game dev hubs around the US

The Midwest

Midwest VGM…!

• Games made here
• Games about here
• People from here

Midwest VGM…!

• Pinball
• Edutainment
• A lot of traveling cross-country

Let’s talk about Pinball

Let’s talk about Pinball

• Industry centered in Chicago, IL
• companies like Williams, Bally, Gottlieb

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• Popularized in the Great Depression (1930s)�
• Considered gambling and banned (1940s)
• Illegal in some places until 1970s
• Saved by Roger Sharpe’s expert skills in 1976!

Wikipedia: An early pinball game without flippers, c.1932

Let’s talk about Pinball

• Flippers invented in 1947

Wikipedia: Central Park pinball Gottlieb c.1966

• In 70s and 80s, added digital / solid state �(circuit boards) including VGM�
• Stayed popular through rise of video games, �still popular today!

Xenon, Bally (Nov 1980)

Music, sound, voice by Suzanne Ciani

• Born in Indiana, and quickly left to East Coast�
• Moved to Berkeley, CA for grad school and studied with legends like Don Buchla, John Chowning�
• A trailblazing electronic / modular synthesizer musician, active as recently as 2023

Pinbot, Williams (Oct 1986)

Composed by Chris Granner

Pinbot music on Williams System 11A w/ YM2151 FM sound chip

• Studied at U of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign �& Northwestern University
• Worked on many pinball and video games
• Worked closely with Brian Schmidt at Williams

• Left retirement in 2011, joined Jersey Jack Pinball
• Became audio director & composer of their �first game “Wizard of Oz”

Speaking of Jersey Jack Pinball…

“Speak Softly, Love” featuring SLASH

from The Godfather Pinball (2023)

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Arranged and Mixed by Thomas Kresge

Lead Guitar - Slash (from Guns N' Roses)�

Rhythm Guitar - Elliot Callighan

Drums - Gal Gershovsky

Bass - Sam Bobinski

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Jersey Jack Pinball, Based in Chicago

Raven Software

• Best known for:
• Hexen / Heretic
• Jedi Knight II & Jedi Academy
• X-Men Legends
• Call of Duty (2010 onwards)

• Founded 1990
• Based in Wisconsin

X-Men Legends (2004)

Music by Rik Schaffer

“New York City (Action)”

• Member of the bands “Tomorrow’s Child” �and “Engines of Aggression”
• Wrote music for Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines, �Elder Scrolls Online and other games

Well what about Minnesota?

Minnesota Educational Computing Consortium (MECC)

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• Founded 1973
• One of the premier edutainment companies �from 1970s-1990s

Created games like:

• Oregon Trail
• Lemonade Stand
• “Munchers” series

Oregon Trail

Actual journey: Independence MO to Willamette Valley OR

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Oregon Trail

Original game by: Don Rawitsch, Bill Heinemann, Paul Dillenberger

1971 - Mainframe (teletype, text only)

1980 - Apple II

1985 - Apple II

1992 - DOS

2021 - Various

Oregon Trail Deluxe (1993)

Music by

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Lon Koenig

“Title Theme”

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Larry Phenow

Some games that take place in Minnesota…

Some games that take place in Minnesota…

Tony Hawk Pro Skater

Vigilante 8: 2nd Offense

Puzzle Agent

Need for Speed: �The Run

Sorry, no “Superman” by Goldfinger

Vigilante 8: 2nd Offense (1999)

• Pub: Activision
• Dev: Luxoflux Corp
• Vigilante 8 series
• True Crime (LA & NY)
• Shrek 2

“Gimme Mo' Torque”

• Music by
• Christian A. Salyer
• Eric Klein
• Javier Marquez

Puzzle Agent (2010)

• Developed by Telltale Games�
• Music by Disasterpeace
• aka Rich Vreeland

“Tracking Trouble”

Need for Speed: The Run (2011)

Cannonball run racing game across the US

Let’s go on a little detour

Approximate in-game journey

thanks blackweed75 of Reddit!

“It’s a ways”

Let’s go on a little detour

“County Rd 25 (Lismore, MN)” in-game

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thanks blackweed75 of Reddit!

Let’s go on a little detour

• Wabasha County Rd 25
• near Elgin Minnesota

Let’s go on a little detour

Elgin, MN

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Elgin, IL

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Kenosha, WI

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Home of Elgin Cheese Days

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Mars Cheese Castle!

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Former US butter capital

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Let’s go on a little detour

Elgin butter sticks vs “Western Stubbies”

Elgin Butter Tub Company

It’s time for a song about butter

Hypnospace Outlaw

Composed by “The Chowder Man” �(according to game lore) also basis of Coolpunk genre

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Real aliases: Erik Helwig, Hot Dad (from MI)

“Granny Cream’s Hot Butter Ice Cream”

I am Bread (2015)

• Music by Black Heron
• Leo Chilcott
• Murugan Thiruchelvam

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• Also composed Surgeon Simulator

“Kitchen Music”

A few composers from MN to round it out

Kevin Manthei

• Composed on tons of games including
• Neverwinter
• Sacrifice
• Nancy Drew series by Her Interactive (#1-25)
• Shrek 2

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• Films & TV including
• Invader Zim
• Ben 10

“Protector’s Enclave”

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From Neverwinter (2012)

Karl, Will and Marty Brueggemann

• Composers and hosts of Super Marcato Bros
• Performing here at VGMCon
• Now working on music for games

“Let's Break Physics (Main Theme)”

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From Unstable Scientific

Tim Buzza and Ben Woolman

• Both local music educators, and composers�for edutainment game “WolfQuest”

Tim Buzza and Ben Woolman

• Both local music educators, and composers�for edutainment game “WolfQuest”

“Exploration”

composed by Tim Buzza

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WolfQuest © Eduweb and Minnesota Zoo

A few more shoutouts to Minnesota!

Thank you!

Check us out at PixelatedAudio.com

Museum Madness (1994)

• Developed by Novotrade
• Published by MECC
• Music by
• Attila Dobos
• András Magyari

“Computer 2”