Is it a music video, a video game or an interactive music video game? Whatever you
call it, this collision of indie gaming and music has got our cathode-rays blazing. Kill Screen, Pitchfork and Intel have brought great musicians – think Matthew Dear, M83, Chromatics and Cut Copy – together with game designers to demonstrate the transformative effect these trailblazers have had on the gaming landscape.
Geometry of Love is an abstract, sound-reactive game inspired by analog video effects of the late 70s and early 80s, created by interactive artist and game designer Ivan Safrin and set to the sound of Chromatics' song, Lady.
Sun God is an experiment in cooperative dancing for two players, or one player with two hands. Two mysterious people haul each other up a pulsating hill, capturing glowing embers between twin trails of light. Cut Copy's hypnotic beats control the light and motion of the cathode-ray glitchscape. Created by Bennett Foddy, a philosopher at Oxford University, who writes about moral issues stemming from new technology. By night, he writes videogames that explore rhythm, muscle power, and the immoral abuse of players.
In an earlier life, Bennett was also the bassist for Cut Copy, so he couldn't resist this opportunity to torment his old bandmates by making a predominantly pink game and setting it to one of their new songs.
Watch and play all these awesome games at soundplay.pitchfork.com