Switched has a new home! Huffpost Tech.

Click here to visit the new home of Switched!

Hot on HuffPost Tech:

See More Stories
AOL Tech

Stop-Motion Video Game Battle: Who Will We Crown the Victor?

by Matthew Zuras on May 29, 2010 at 01:00 PM

stop-motion 8-bit video game videos

It's Memorial Day Weekend, so how about a little stop-motion video game battle? We don't want you to have to think too hard while you're drinking yourself into the emergency room (in honor of the men and women who have died in service to our country, of course). So, we submit to you two amateur videos that have recently hit the Interwebs for a little compare/contrast debate. Check out the vids after the break for a stop-motion FIGHT!

The first video comes from YouTube user bornforthis43, who employs LEGOs, gumballs, bits of wood and deft construction paper-work to revisit some classic NES games.


Next, we have Vimeo user Alex Varanese's "My Desk is 8-Bit." We're not exactly sure what kind of materials Varanese used, but his imagined video game features a classic side-scrolling setup with a helicopter on the chase.


Now, the debate. Varanese immediately scores mega-points because he also composed the music for his vid, while bornforthis43 borrows the original Nintendo soundtracks. While we support the handmade, DIY spirit of the first video, and while we don't like the fact that we're about to crap all over this dude's hard work, such is the tough job of a critic.

If bornforthis43 took the time to photograph each frame and bring them back to FinalCutPro to splice them with appropriate tunes, we wonder why he didn't try harder to make his props look less like the crap from his fridge. In contrast, Varanese's video breaks for a moment of white noise and a blank 'AUX' screen, a subtle nod to the world outside the gameplay. Then again, the ultra-lo-fi aesthetic of bornforthis43's video will doubtlessly inspire jealous coos from our readers who are imbued with the indie spirit.

But we're gonna call it: "My Desk is 8-Bit" wins! Congratulations, Alex. We cordially invite you to recreate your cinematic tour-de-force on our Switched desks. We will pay you our standard blogger fee of one (1) cup of free office coffee and half of an old onion bagel (no cream cheese). borthforthis43 gets the runner-up prize of a broken USB drive that we got from a drunk PR rep. For the rest of you: get off the Internet, nerds, and go enjoy your weekend! [From: Vimeo and Geekosystem, via: YouTube]

P.S. We're just kidding, guys. Great work from you both!

Tags: 8-bit, AlexVaranese, amateur, battle, bornforthis43, lego, nes, nintendo, Papercraft, stop-motion, top, video, VideoGames, web

HuffPost AOL Social News Most Popular