My Famicase Exhibition 2008

If you’re following any of the major video game blogs, then you’ve probably read about My Famicase, an exhibition of NES cartridge art for games that don’t exist. This annual event is organised by METEOR, a Japanese retro game store. The group of illustrators, game designers, writers, etc. create a label for the cart, a company logo and also a concept for the fictional game.

Famicom cartridges come in different (mostly vibrant, mostly pastel) colours and sport an iconic design that makes them prime pop art material. I won’t even bother mentioning the grey, dull, ugly design of NES carts, because that would be sad.

I first found out about My Famicase Exhibition and the related Fami-mode (“a retro game-themed post-New Years party”) event while watching an episode of Points, an amazingly awesome webshow about video game culture that centers around Japan and Tokyo’s many retro game stores. I was mesmerised by the different cart designs and developed a strong interest in chiptunes, particularly those by KPLECRAFT, an outstanding electro-acoustic group with strong chiptune elements. You can watch them perform along with several other chiptune artists if you watch the episode I’ve linked to below.

So here’s a small list of goodness I’ve compiled for your viewing pleasure:

• My Famicase Exhibition 2008 (official site)
• My Famicase Exhibition 2006/2007 (hosted by Mushroom-Kingdom.com)
• Points Episode 01+ (show on video game culture – this particular episode covers My Famicase 2007 and Fami-Mode 2007; includes interviews with the owner of METEOR and various exhibitors)