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The ULTRANIMBOY zine brings with it a selection of original pieces from an eclectic collection of chiptune musicians,  artists, and writers to ruminate on their favorite themes related to their hand-held childhoods.

 Contributors include:

☆Natalia Alexeeva
★Andy Hood
☆James Montagna
★Tommy Pedrini(Cats on Mars)
☆+Scare City+
★Elliot Trinidad
☆e.D. Xu
★Binx
☆Shihfu
★Lorraine Grate
☆Liz Ohanesian
★Tony Marino
☆OMOCAT
★Jordan C.
☆Fuzzheads
★Totchii-Mint
☆Slimegirls
★Maré Odomo
☆ Ian Wexler
★ Space Boyfriend
☆ Jake “Virt” Kaufman

~♩~

Four SIX musicians from all across the US made their own unique tracks for this zine inspired by the sonic world of Nintendo’s most iconic handheld. Each was stylistically different, further exploring the idea that hardware restriction does not dictate a uniform sound.

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ULTRANIMBUS SUGAR HIGH is a limited-edition color-printed zine featuring artwork, music, and extra goodies, sourced exclusively from independent artists for the L.A.-based ULTRANIMBUS collective.

Each piece in the zine is themed around the simple joys and more complex decadence associated with sugary treats. Every zine comes individually packed in a candy-style wrapper, and is bundled with stickers and other paper goods.

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Illustrated by eD Xu // Coded by David “Ska” Brown

Pop Pop Battle J is a 4-player party game that takes advantage of a shared custom-built controller and frantic, physical action.

We will be featured at this year’s IndieCade, during Night Games on October 5. Stay tuned for more details! 

Pop Pop Battle J at a DOPE chiptune show in San Francisco.

Players begin by selecting one of four eccentric characters to represent themselves in a colorful, alien arena. The arena contains nine holes which correspond to the buttons on the shared controller. As characters pop up in the arena quickly & randomly, hitting the corresponding button gives them a swift bonk, and in the game’s 100-second round players are tasked with hitting all other characters while protecting their own by any means necessary — be it a self-sacrificial slam on yourself or a (friendly) shove to your neighboring opponent! Anything is fair game as long as all players agree to it.

With nine buttons, four players, and two hands each, Pop Pop Battle J is a close-quarters, quick-reflex party game filled with visual pop and tactile sensation. It’s meant to bring together rowdy friends and social strangers alike, frantically clamoring for victory!

Developers & journalists get physical with Pop Pop Battle J at E3.

Pop Pop Battle J is still in development but is demoing around the Los Angeles Area.

We’ll bring the hand sanitizer.

Presently, we’ve demoed Pop Pop Battle J at the Game Developers Conference, Electronic Entertainment Expo (with coverage on IndieGames.com), and a live chiptune concert. It’s set up to be relatively portable, at best running alongside a projector and a 3-ft. controller, or at minimum, off only a tablet PC and a miniature 10-in. controller.

We have plans to exhibit with IndieCade, GlitchLab LA, and Giant Robot‘s Game Night in the near future. As the game is designed around physical proximity and unconventional peripherals, there are no current plans to distribute Pop Pop Battle J online — for now, you’ll just have to play with us in person!

The game was designed to suit a couple of our own custom-built controllers that are based on Konami’s Pop’n Music control scheme; however, we have no affiliations with Konami or their games. We did, however, want to create something cool for an under-used peripheral!

Pop Pop Battle J was made to adapt to any number of weird input schemes that can totally change the way the game plays and feels. We’re working on adapting the game to dance pads, for example, drastically opening up the amount of physical play space and encouraging the use of all your limbs. And that’s just the beginning!

Please follow us on Twitter at @PopPopBattleJ for updates!