Welcome. Blastanova is a game portal in progress, with the main goal of merging independent music and casual gaming. I started listening to music in the 90s, and in my opinion, it is still the golden age of music videos. You can't argue with the brilliance of Spike Jonze.
I plan to recreate the feel of the great music videos, such as Beastie Boys' Sabotage , Fatboy Slim's Weapon of Choice, or even OK Go's Here it Goes Again and transport their magic to simple, easy, and absorbing games. It's a lofty goal, but I think it needs to be done.
Listening to music is very casual these days. With Pandora.com, digital music players, and XM Radio, music is almost disposable. It's harder to fall in love with a song or artist with so many choices available. Bringing games and music together, if done well, could make it easier and be fantastic.
Of course, rhythm games already have a long history, from PaRappa the Rapper to Rock Band. We listen to the songs within them over and over again. They stick in our heads and are impossible to get out. We crave more of the same because the songs get under our skins. The only problem is that AC/DC and Weezer don't need games to get the word out about their music--but independent artists do. I plan to create a series of music video games that will be accessible to independent artists to promote their work and get them the attention, and fans, that they deserve.
The name Blastanova is a play on bossanova. Bossanova translates to "new beat" and evolved from samba, which is known for its rhythm. Associating music games with bossanova just makes sense, given the ties to rhythm and beats. It also doesn't hurt that my favorite Pixies album is named Bossanova, and I'm in love with Bebel Gilberto.
So check back in late 2010, when, hopefully, I'll have some demos up. In the meantime, I'll be blogging on music and new media and using this site as a portfolio.
