PARTY! 8BITSF POW DNA LOUNGE CHIPTUNES

PARTY! 8BITSF POW DNA LOUNGE CHIPTUNES (PICS, and VIDS)


To kick off GDC, 8bitSF hosted 'POW: Indie Music and Developers Collide' event at DNA Lounge. The night was filled with chiptune performers on stage, with indie gaming kiosks set up around the event.


The Glowing Stars, Zen Albatross, and Virt were among my favorites. The Yobble Air Guitar was also a fun little game for iPhone.


If you weren't at the event, you definitely missed out on some good stuff.


Check out the pics and video below.

DNA LOUNGE 
http://www.dnalounge.com/ 


8bitSF 
http://www.8bitsf.com/2012/02/8bitsf-presents-pow-indie-music-and.html 

FOODIE EATS TU LAN VIETNAMESE SAN FRANCISCO

FOODIE EATS! - SAN FRANCISCO - TU LAN VIETNAMESE RESTAURANT

I had a chance to try this little local favorite, Vietnamese restaurant when I was in town for GDC. A local friend suggested Tu Lan (thx momop!). The area isn't so great around the restaurant, which is the case with a lot of the good food in downtown SF. The lunch crowd was very busy and very packed, but the turnover was fairly quick, and not too bad of a wait.

A friend and I sat at the bar, set up like an old diner, but serving up some very good Vietnamese eats. The serving staff were very quick, even though it might appear as chaos, they were pretty organized, Asian style. 

I ordered half salad roll/spring roll which wasn't on the menu but they were glad to do it for new customers. I also ordered a #7 Pho noodle. The broth was quite peppery compared to other Pho that I've tried, and the beef pieces were fully cooked (no rare steak option) but still very filling and tasty.

Apparently their #15 (kabob on noodle) is da bomb! Which I will have to make a return trip to try.

Tu Lan Vietnamese, good stuff!

And yes, that is Julia Child on their menus.

Vietnamese Cuisine  ♦  Since 1977
8, Sixth Street, San Francisco, CA. 94103
(415) 626-0927

http://tulansf.blogspot.com/
http://www.yelp.ca/biz/tu-lan-san-francisco

PARTY! GDC 2012 IDA Ireland Bourbon and Branch

PARTY! GDC 2012 IDA Ireland Bourbon and Branch

The IDA Ireland party was held at Bourbon and Branch, a very cool 1920's style speakeasy establishment. Located in downtown San Francisco's Jones st., the location is very easy to miss because of the unmarked exterior. I walked past it once, then realized I had missed it when saw some people who were dressed unlike the surrounding homeless characters, enter this door. 

With the password for the event, I entered, and was led through the bar, and to a back room that had to be unlocked, which opened up to this really cool room. I at first felt slightly out of place since I was the only non-Irish in the room. The Irish people were actually quite friendly. After a few drinks, I didn't feel so out of place. 

The bartenders made a variety of strong drinks, which I never got the names of. Definitely worth a return trip. Really interesting experience. It felt like I wasn't even at a GDC event.

Bourbon and Branch is reservation only.

Industrial Development Authority Ireland - Big Fish Games
http://www.idaireland.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qgr2bjWydro

http://www.bourbonandbranch.com/
501 Jones Street  San Francisco, CA 94102

PARTY! GDC 2012 Super7 Insert Coin PixelJunk 4am

PARTY! GDC 2012 Super7 Insert Coin PixelJunk 4am


Super7 has always been on my list of toy shops to hit up if ever I was in town, I just never had a chance to visit the shop until my recent trip to San Francisco. It seemed like the forces had aligned and I had an opportunity to check it out. Fresh off the plane, I was in a bit of a groggy state, going out into the night and in need of a party. 


Super7 is a well known Kaiju figure shop with a side of Japanese Star Wars figures, and limited print graphic tees. I knew the place was cool, I just didn't know how awesome it was until I got there. 


With the Game Developers Conference in town, they threw a party for the launch of their new line of gamer tees called 'Insert Coin', so I jumped at the chance to check it out. After a sardine packed BART ride from downtown, and a walk through a dark street towards Haight St., (fearing I would be stabbed), I found Super7. Then I realized, I could have just taken the bus! (Their previous location had been in Japantown, and is now located on Haight.)




The party was packed with art fans spilled on the side walk.  Sony's PixelJunk 4am was being demoed at the event. Using the Sony Move controller, users can create and layer sounds and beats using the visualizer on screen. The experience has been described as similar to the music process of a DJ, transitioning through beats, with the ability for people to spectate. 


The visualizer is like an instrument, with button inputs creating different sounds, when the controller is waved around, or whether buttons are held then released. I could definitely see the depth in program like this. Though I don't think was a way to save out the audio into a convenient format to create and share. (PixelJunk 4am was also set up on the Expo floor at GDC, Sony booth.)


The Insert Coin tee designs were all pretty creative, taking retro gaming and design and slapping it on a tee is a tall order, but these artists did a great job. Unfortunately, I didn't pick up any of the gamer tees, and instead opted for the In-N-Out secret menu tee by artist Josh Herbolsheimer. Fans of burgers should appreciate this.











The boys and girls over at Super7 were very chill. Keep up the good work guys!


Check out the pics from the event!

http://super7store.com

ADDRESS

Super7 Store
1427 Haight St (@ Masonic)
San Francisco, CA 94117