Oh man... They showcased a dude from Brazil which we never HEARD of before. I mean, we at chippanze don't publicize that often what we do, but man, I was kinda pissed by the fact that, by my egoistic standards, we are the brazilian chip dudes... Im happy to see other fellows from here doing it, but c'mon, we are doing this for ten years. But i will stop derailing the thread with my ramblings.
My view on it is that it is evolved a bit. People just kept experimenting and doing weird stuff with the chips. It was never mainstream for starters, so I dunno. But I do miss those days of active community. I am part of the problem, but, well...
The best stuff I heard from the community was from these past few years where people got more influenced by those artists that brought other elements into their music besides the vgm aesthetic. Since it got so wider in scope than it was before, it's hard to put everything into the same umbrella. i.e. what zanzan does is at the same time the same and different for what bit shifter does, ya know? And you can put them into the same basket while at the same time they are different categories. I dunno if I made myself clear.
But, to wrap it up, what I think it's lacking is that community vibe we had, specially when this forum started. But that doesn't mean the networking isn't alive and well.