[Feba]

Everything comes from something.

We were before we became. From life comes rhythm, and from rhythm comes life.

We are beings of information.

Everything is a conduit for learning.

We communicate in bits and bytes.

And we will return to something once we become nothing.

After our BIT.TRIP is complete.

What is Bit.Trip?
Bit.Trip is a series of games, developed by a three-man studio (Gaijin Games), and published by Aksys games. They are rhythm games styled after retro games, in the like of the C64 or Atari 2600. The visuals, chiptune music, and difficulty are all designed to feel like they're from out of the early 80s. The first entry in the series, Bit.Trip Beat, is best described as "Rez meets Pong", and is currently available on WiiWare. The second game in the series, Bit.Trip Core, is set to release in summer of 2009.

See also:
* Official 'concept' page

Why do you care so much?
One, Bit.Trip (Beat, at least) is very unique, and I have little doubt it will end up as a cult classic at a minimum. It's a synesthetic experience, combining three senses together to create a very engaging game. I think that a lot of you have the right attitude for it, in that you don't mind a tough game that provides something unique and interesting. I say this largely because you play FFXI. If you're willing to give it a shot, there's a very good chance you will like it.

Two, out of support for Gaijin Games. Not only are they creating truly original and quality titles, but they like what they do. They get and respond to feedback on various community outlets, and will happily tell you why they did something one way, what they think about something, what mistakes were made. After about a month of being the #4 game on WiiWare, Bit.Trip Beat has dropped to 9th, then 13th, and now 20th. Their response to this was to ask people who hadn't bought it why they hadn't, so they could fix that. It's in danger of falling off the list of best selling WiiWare titles, and it really deserves to be up there.

Bit.Trip Beat

Harder than it looks.

Bit.Trip Beat plays like pong, except instead of battling a second paddle, you fight against a very cruel level designer. It can be played by 1-4 players in coop. It is controlled by tilting the Wii remote back and forth-- while this sounds gimmicky at first, once you play it, you realize that this is actually a rather good implementation of a paddle controller, and that the game would not work nearly as well with joystick controls. The controller pulses with the rhythm, and when the paddle hits a beat, it makes a sound. Playing well will result in the music becoming more active, whereas playing poorly will cause the music to fall back to very basic bleeps and bloops, and the visuals to turn to stark black and white.

Bit.Trip Beat is composed of three levels: Transition, Growth, and Descent. While that is a bit on the short side, the difficulty and addictiveness will keep you coming back. The game shipped in the US with an unfortunate bug that causes it to only save your progress if you get a high score, though there is a workaround here: BIT.TRIP BUGS � Gaijin Games . They are also looking in to getting the game updated so this is no longer an issue. It apparently isn't a problem in the EU and JP releases.

Bit.Trip Beat is a great example of games as art at its simplest. It is a cheap WiiWare game, coming in at 600 points, and I recommend it very highly to anyone that doesn't mind a bit of a challenge.

Bit Trip Beat Video Game, Boxy Gameplay | Game Trailers & Videos | GameTrailers.com

Bit Trip Beat Video Game, Boxy Gameplay | Game Trailers & Videos | GameTrailers.com

Bit.Trip Core announced, with video!

Originally Posted by http://www.gamespot.com/news/6209086.html?tag=gallery_summary;story

Set for release this summer, Bit.Trip Core puts players in control of an immobile cross-shaped cannon at the center of the playfield. The cannon can shoot a beam in just four directions, and any "bits" crossing it will be destroyed, yielding a suitably old-school gaming sound effect.

As with Bit.Trip Beat, the screen quickly fills with these bits, and as players successfully take them out, the sound effects will come together to form the game's soundtrack. Also like its predecessor, Bit.Trip Core punishes players for missing too many bits by muting the soundtrack and trippy laser-light-show visuals, underscoring how much those aspects contribute to the gameplay.

(You may need to disable adblocking software on gamespot for videos to work)

GameSpot Video: Bit.Trip Core Gameplay Movie 1

GameSpot Video: Bit.Trip Core Gameplay Movie 1

GameSpot Video: Bit.Trip Core Gameplay Movie 2

GameSpot Video: Bit.Trip Core Gameplay Movie 2

GameSpot Video: Bit.Trip Core Gameplay Movie 3

GameSpot Video: Bit.Trip Core Gameplay Movie 3

[Malacite]

It's as if DDR and Pong had some horrible freak child.

[Feba]

It's more like Rez than DDR. DDR is more about pressing buttons with good timing, whereas Rez and Bit.Trip are more about being in the right general area and interacting with the music.

[Ameroth]

Sounds great.

Now. Go outside.

[Yellow Mage]

Originally Posted by Ameroth

Now. Go outside.

Ameroth knows how to get you high. On life.

[Feba]

Tell you what, Ameroth. You buy Bit.Trip Beat, I go outside. Win/win, really.

[Lmnop]

This Febamercial™ brought to you by Satan'n'Friends.

Does the vibrating pulse controller thing actually do anything for you other than confirmation that you succeeded?

I just got a "clickjacking" warning from Malacite's sig. =(

[Raydeus]

/

Are there any boss fights?

[Feba]

Lmnop: it--- it turns you on?

Actually, it doesn't pulse when you things iirc, it just pulses with the rhythm. That MIGHT depend on what mode you're in-- nether mode (black and white) might not have it, and hyper mode (step up from the normal mode) almost certainly does. It's part of the synesthesia. I've also heard that it's similar to the way old paddle controllers would jitter, although I've never played anything older than an NES myself so I don't know.

And Raydeus, yes, there are three, one at the end of each level.

[Lmnop]

Oh

I read

Originally Posted by Feba

It's a synesthetic experience, combining three senses together to create a very engaging game.

and thought maybe the vibrate function was doing something amazingly unique.

Oh well. There's always Wiisex.

[Feba]

It's not amazing individually, but it certainly adds to the experience. Trust me, pick it up, it's an amazingly unique game as a whole.

[Feba]

BIT.TRIP BUGS � Gaijin Games

Replacement saves from Gaijin. In addition to the statement in their link, they posted this on a site I go to:

We would love to patch the game, but it's a lot more complicated a process than it seems, sadly. Since a patch is still far off (if it even happens), we thought we'd offer this peace-offering of sorts in the meantime. Since the game was never meant to be as punishing as the shipped version turned out to be, we felt that doing anything and everything we could to help players was the best course of action. We are still pursuing the possibility of a patch, though, and will let the entire world know if it ends up becoming a reality. And trust us, the very moment that it becomes possible, we will do it.

Thanks to everyone for all your support too, and for not turning your back on the game because of this issue. Also, I'm glad that some folks could find a new challenge in the game despite the bug. Rest assured, CORE has the fix included for all regions.

[Feba]

YouTube - BIT.TRIP CORE (WiiWare) E3 Gameplay Trailer

Bit.Trip Core E3 trailer.

Also, good news: Bit.Trip went from #20 in the top 20 WiiWare the week I posted this to 17 last week, and now up at #13! Nintendo also included it prominently in their celebration of 1 year of WiiWare the other day. Outside the US, it's #1 in Sweden (yes, above World of Goo), #2 in the UK, #4 in Germany and Australia, and #12 in Canada.

Keep you movin'.

[Feba]

Bit.Trip Beat is now officially #1 in the UK!

Also, #19 in Japan.