oh, so like a quick rundown is what you need then?
ON THE PREVIOUS EPISODE OF CHIP SOMETHING SOMETHING
- quite a few "big" shows that already happened or are pending: BRKfest, superbyte, toy company fest, ultrachip, eindbaas, square sounds
- seems like more of the chip community activity is moving more and more towards twitter/tumblr/facebook/eHarmony
- a couple of "mainstream" crossovers/exposure: anamanabananarama on jimmy fallon, disasterpeace getting more notoriety,
- chibi-tech's legendary drop
- the advent of webshows streamed from home. the community of streamers seems to still be figuring out a format that works.
- a lot more artists seem to be doing more projects for indie games - hearing a lot more about soundtracks and stuff.
- quite a few artists that didn't release much in 2012 are coming out with new releases in 2013
GEOGRAPHIC REGIONS OF NOTE
- new york is in a holding pattern but keeping steady with pulsewave / io
- philly has been amping it up this year, trying to set up 8static festival and inviting talent from surrounding regions
- pacific northwest has tried to get some bigger shows going but hasn't been able to round up enough collective support for it yet, internal struggles i hear. "regular" shows in seattle and portland have still been happening though on what seems like a bi-monthly or quarterly basis
- california is trying to get something consistent together but i hear the challenge is geography and being mega spaced out
- the mongolian scene is still as dead as ever
STUFF TO LOOK FORWARD TO
- the need is still apparent for a trusted somebody (or a group of people) to help curate / round up the goings-on in the chip scene
- there's no clear choice for an "ultimate chiptune site" yet (not even sure if there's a need though)
- more interest in piggy, FM, and combined-chip songs as tools and tech improve
- there is some groundwork development that might just lead towards some kind of web API for editing LSDJ tracks in the cloud
as far as answering your original topic question, i still totally like chiptune, just not the overly simplistic stuff that constitutes the "average" chiptune as perceived by the casually-listening public. plenty of innovative stuff still being made these days.
