Trend: Commodore 64 music - all your eardrum are belong to us

I don't make a secret of my love for the Commodore 64. It was the iMac of its time - small, inexpensive, simple enough to use right out of the box, more powerful than most of its competitors, with an impressive library of games that still frustrate me to this day. (Damn you, Miner 2049er!)

Part of the secret to the Commodore's success was the SID, or Sound Interface Device. One of the first integrated sound chips on any home computer, the SID was a capable digital sound synthesizer built into a tiny chip, enabling programmers to include music soundtracks and sound effects miles beyond anything else available in 1985. The SID's distinctive, crunchy sound arguably did more to influence video game music than perhaps any other single piece of hardware. In fact, it's so coveted that a music synthesizer based on the SID, known as the SIDStation, was sold in the late 2000s by Swedish firm, Elektron:

The sad news is that the SID hasn't been made since 1987, and though its patent expired in 2007, no new SID chips are being made. Therefore, the only way to get your hands on a SID chip nowadays is to rip one out of a broken Commodore 64 - which is exactly what the creator of the MIDIBox SID did:

The MIDIBox SID is one of the more elaborate Commodore 64 hacks I've seen. (Still not as elaborate as the Commodore 64 Laptop, but close.) The body was created from a broken C64 body, with the MIDI and Serial ports on the side of the machine, and the keyboard replaced by a sophisticated adonized-steel front panel with 15 knobs and a small screen for data input. Its sound is hard to adequately capture with words, but let's just say it'll simultaneously remind you of a late-night rave in early-90s Detroit and a game of Montezuma's Revenge.

The MIDIBox SID is unfortunately not commercially available, but the plans are downloadable if you're savvy with a breadboard. They do, however, show up on eBay and other auction sites from time to time, but be prepared to burn a $1,000-sized hole in your wallet. I'd rather buy a used Commodore 64 and a program like MSSIAH or Cynthcart for a fifth of the price. Still a nifty piece of hardware hackery, though.

Review: "Korg DS-10 Plus" for DS

It occurred to me while thinking of a subject for my next game review that I haven't considered an original game yet; both of the games I've covered so far are knockoffs. I also haven't yet reviewed a game for a modern system, nor have I considered a game for a handheld system (unless you count playing Breakout on my laptop in class as "handheld"). So, today I decided to shatter some glass ceilings and cover something slightly unusual: a commercially-released game (not a homebrew), created for a modern system, the Nintendo DS.

But wait!, you say, isn't this a blog about homemade games? Well... yes. But it's also about other homemade video-game related things, including music. And, the Korg DS-10 is such a fabulous tool for creating game-based synthesized compositions that it seems silly not to give it at least a nod.

The DS-10 is, ostensibly, based on the MS-10 synthesizer, a simple keyboard introduced in 1978 as a beginner's synthesizer and a learning tool for electronic music. The DS-10 inherits both of these purposes; it's an ideal learning tool, and the DS's touch-screen interface is perfect for twiddling, noodling, and just generally making irritating squeaky noises while in public. (One of my favorite pastimes!) Unlike the original, however, the DS-10 features a sequencer for composing songs, as well as drum sounds and a complex effects matrix. Thanks to the DS-10, it is entirely possible to compose an entire track on a Nintendo DS, and while the concept of composing a song on a handheld video game makes me scoff instinctively, the YouTube video demonstrations I've seen shut me up pretty quickly. I guess it really is the future...

My biggest complaint about the DS-10 is the lack of MIDI connectivity, which greatly reduces composition possibilites, as well as live performance capabilities. If it can happen on the Commodore 64, why not on the DS? Perhaps Nintendo could market a MIDI cable that connects to the link slot on the DS, enabling the machine to fully integrate into a digital music production environment. Until they do, however, the DS-10 remains a fun toy rather than a serious musical instrument. It packs a suprising amount of features, but it's simply too inflexible to be useful.

The Korg DS-10 should now be available in most video game stores. Visit the website here.