Get Down
July 25, 2012 4:22 PM Subscribe
"Cartridge Tilting" is the process of upsetting a ROM cartridge by physically lifting one side of the cartridge in a computer or video game console which is in use. It is considered to work best on N64 games and results in surreal, often creepy deconstruction of music and physics.
Here are some examples:
Goldeneye
Super Mario 64
Yoshi's Story
WCW/NWO Revenge
. . . and many more on this auto-curated YouTube page.
The Goldeneye glitch was the inspiration for a long-running meme on the Japanese video sharing website Nico Nico Douga, reinterpreting the glitchy character movement as a new dance style. See also: 1 2 3 and many more examples here.
Here are some examples:
Goldeneye
Super Mario 64
Yoshi's Story
WCW/NWO Revenge
. . . and many more on this auto-curated YouTube page.
The Goldeneye glitch was the inspiration for a long-running meme on the Japanese video sharing website Nico Nico Douga, reinterpreting the glitchy character movement as a new dance style. See also: 1 2 3 and many more examples here.
Love this stuff... but! Looks like the original "Goldeneye gets down" video has been muted or something. Here's a dropbox link to my own copy.
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 4:44 PM on July 25, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 4:44 PM on July 25, 2012 [1 favorite]
And if you turned a TRS-80 on and off really fast, a few times you could make the screen go all colorfully wonky.
posted by pla at 4:49 PM on July 25, 2012 [4 favorites]
posted by pla at 4:49 PM on July 25, 2012 [4 favorites]
That wrestling one is extra awesome.
posted by oddman at 4:57 PM on July 25, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by oddman at 4:57 PM on July 25, 2012 [2 favorites]
It reminds me of the crazy magic sword from The Scar.
posted by vogon_poet at 5:00 PM on July 25, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by vogon_poet at 5:00 PM on July 25, 2012 [2 favorites]
I like how the video from the 1 link has a very long annotation addressing criticisms and links to an in-depth FAQ about all of the choices that went into creating it, considering that it's a crude 40 second animation of ponies rotating.
posted by burnmp3s at 5:01 PM on July 25, 2012 [5 favorites]
posted by burnmp3s at 5:01 PM on July 25, 2012 [5 favorites]
I can't find any YouTube videos demonstrating it, but this also worked for Atari 2600 games.
posted by "But who are the Chefs?" at 5:05 PM on July 25, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by "But who are the Chefs?" at 5:05 PM on July 25, 2012 [1 favorite]
The WCW/NWO is like a better version of a Dragonball fight.
posted by codacorolla at 5:05 PM on July 25, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by codacorolla at 5:05 PM on July 25, 2012 [2 favorites]
From the wikihow article:
"If you pull too much on the cartridge, the game will freeze. If you don't pull enough, nothing will happen. The trick is knowing exactly when to stop pulling."
posted by box at 5:18 PM on July 25, 2012 [1 favorite]
"If you pull too much on the cartridge, the game will freeze. If you don't pull enough, nothing will happen. The trick is knowing exactly when to stop pulling."
posted by box at 5:18 PM on July 25, 2012 [1 favorite]
The old Genesis trick was to power on the system with Altered Beast. Then at the title screen, rip the game out, insert the early-gen game of your choice, press reset. Chances are better than not if the game did play correctly, you'd start with lots of extra lives.
posted by Dr-Baa at 5:20 PM on July 25, 2012 [4 favorites]
posted by Dr-Baa at 5:20 PM on July 25, 2012 [4 favorites]
Someone could write a pseudo-1950s pulp science fiction story based on this.
James kept on cartridge shifting, even though it was annoying his friends. But he didn't care. Every time they tried to continue the game he kept lifting the corner of the cartridge. He kept watching the characters distort and spin. When he finally looked away from the tv, his friends had left. He felt almost sad when he turned off the console.
He was hungry and went looking for his mother. She wasn't in her office or her bedroom. When he stopped to pick at the fridge, he heard static from the living room. At first he didn't see his mother. There was just a grey rent over the wall. Then his mother opened her mouth to speak the static again, before she frantically stretched and spun toward him.
posted by One Hand Slowclapping at 5:22 PM on July 25, 2012 [38 favorites]
James kept on cartridge shifting, even though it was annoying his friends. But he didn't care. Every time they tried to continue the game he kept lifting the corner of the cartridge. He kept watching the characters distort and spin. When he finally looked away from the tv, his friends had left. He felt almost sad when he turned off the console.
He was hungry and went looking for his mother. She wasn't in her office or her bedroom. When he stopped to pick at the fridge, he heard static from the living room. At first he didn't see his mother. There was just a grey rent over the wall. Then his mother opened her mouth to speak the static again, before she frantically stretched and spun toward him.
posted by One Hand Slowclapping at 5:22 PM on July 25, 2012 [38 favorites]
Reminds me of how I wrecked my Atari 2600 by doing experiments like this.
posted by thermonuclear.jive.turkey at 5:25 PM on July 25, 2012 [3 favorites]
posted by thermonuclear.jive.turkey at 5:25 PM on July 25, 2012 [3 favorites]
Sometimes the Internet, and particularly MetaFilter, feel like my inside (my head) voice shared with the masses. But never more than this post.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 5:30 PM on July 25, 2012
posted by MCMikeNamara at 5:30 PM on July 25, 2012
Since the Mario corruption post I made a couple of years ago I've been looking for more examples of what I'll call glitch art. These are great!
posted by JHarris at 5:39 PM on July 25, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by JHarris at 5:39 PM on July 25, 2012 [1 favorite]
i remember getting pretty stoned and going to a wrestling match with george the animal steele and many others
it was NOTHING like that video - what a trip!
posted by pyramid termite at 5:46 PM on July 25, 2012
it was NOTHING like that video - what a trip!
posted by pyramid termite at 5:46 PM on July 25, 2012
I like the way these look, but honestly, that how the character usually move anytime I try to play a video game.
posted by benito.strauss at 5:52 PM on July 25, 2012
posted by benito.strauss at 5:52 PM on July 25, 2012
That Goldeneye one, after about 3:40 when he gets the girl, is so great. "Oh, James! Oh, James! Oh, HOLY GODDAMN JAMES OW CHRIST WHAT THE AAAAAARGH!"
posted by mhoye at 5:56 PM on July 25, 2012
posted by mhoye at 5:56 PM on July 25, 2012
oh, my god, someone's overclocked sonic
posted by pyramid termite at 6:07 PM on July 25, 2012 [4 favorites]
posted by pyramid termite at 6:07 PM on July 25, 2012 [4 favorites]
>I can't find any YouTube videos demonstrating it, but this also worked for Atari 2600 games.
I tried experiments like this when I was a kid. Yes by fooling around with the cartridge you could get all kinds of weird stuff.
I wrecked the microprocessor & it had to be replaced. Yes, the microprocessor. Long story but the tech who did the repair indicated this is what had to be fixed.
posted by thermonuclear.jive.turkey at 6:34 PM on July 25, 2012 [1 favorite]
I tried experiments like this when I was a kid. Yes by fooling around with the cartridge you could get all kinds of weird stuff.
I wrecked the microprocessor & it had to be replaced. Yes, the microprocessor. Long story but the tech who did the repair indicated this is what had to be fixed.
posted by thermonuclear.jive.turkey at 6:34 PM on July 25, 2012 [1 favorite]
Oh is that why the whole "geddan" thing is funny? I thought it was funny because it was totally incomprehensible. You mean to say all this time I coulda been comprehending it?
posted by nebulawindphone at 6:34 PM on July 25, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by nebulawindphone at 6:34 PM on July 25, 2012 [2 favorites]
nebulawindphone: "Oh is that why the whole "geddan" thing is funny? I thought it was funny because it was totally incomprehensible. You mean to say all this time I coulda been comprehending it?"
Such is the way of memes.
posted by subbes at 6:42 PM on July 25, 2012
Such is the way of memes.
posted by subbes at 6:42 PM on July 25, 2012
And oh man, that wrestling video. When I was a kid I read this YA sci-fi novel about traveling around in the fourth dimension and meeting creatures who lived there, and there were these incredibly detailed descriptions of what a four-dimensional creature looks like when it's passing through the three-dimensional slice of space that we're able to perceive, and that is exactly what that shit looks like.
posted by nebulawindphone at 6:45 PM on July 25, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by nebulawindphone at 6:45 PM on July 25, 2012 [1 favorite]
oh, my god, someone's overclocked sonic
oh my god, it's full of stars.
best watched without blinking.
posted by saturday_morning at 7:00 PM on July 25, 2012
oh my god, it's full of stars.
best watched without blinking.
posted by saturday_morning at 7:00 PM on July 25, 2012
The Boy Who Reversed Himself. Good book, even ten years later.
posted by Alterity at 7:02 PM on July 25, 2012
posted by Alterity at 7:02 PM on July 25, 2012
Yes, that's the one!
posted by nebulawindphone at 7:53 PM on July 25, 2012
posted by nebulawindphone at 7:53 PM on July 25, 2012
> oh my god, it's full of stars
Feh! This is where you need a ZX Spectrum emulator (preferably DOS-based for raw speed). Set the emulator for maximum speed; anything over 30x is fine. Now play 3D Deathchase. A game might last as long as a couple of seconds. You may have a heart attack; it's a little stressful.
posted by scruss at 8:02 PM on July 25, 2012 [2 favorites]
Feh! This is where you need a ZX Spectrum emulator (preferably DOS-based for raw speed). Set the emulator for maximum speed; anything over 30x is fine. Now play 3D Deathchase. A game might last as long as a couple of seconds. You may have a heart attack; it's a little stressful.
posted by scruss at 8:02 PM on July 25, 2012 [2 favorites]
Somewhere, in the deepest circles of tilt-glitch art-gaming, people are speaking of the most legendary glitch in the history of glitching with excited overtones and demonstrative body language.
You know it's true.
posted by roboton666 at 8:18 PM on July 25, 2012
You know it's true.
posted by roboton666 at 8:18 PM on July 25, 2012
Did anybody else try to stick random tapes in their Atari tape drive hoping it would boot up a previously unseen rad game in a "monkeys banging on typewriters" kinda deal?
posted by Challahtronix at 8:28 PM on July 25, 2012
posted by Challahtronix at 8:28 PM on July 25, 2012
Oh man, this stuff is great. I can't hardly believe how much I like this.
posted by !Jim at 9:26 PM on July 25, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by !Jim at 9:26 PM on July 25, 2012 [1 favorite]
My brothers and I would play with the power switch on our Atari 2600 to get games to load all weird. "Warlords" was particularly amenable to the technique.
posted by neutralmojo at 2:44 AM on July 26, 2012
posted by neutralmojo at 2:44 AM on July 26, 2012
> Did anybody else try to stick random tapes in their Atari tape drive
No, but I once got an Amstrad CPC to proclaim "Read error d" on a Stevie Wonder song.
posted by scruss at 6:46 AM on July 26, 2012 [1 favorite]
No, but I once got an Amstrad CPC to proclaim "Read error d" on a Stevie Wonder song.
posted by scruss at 6:46 AM on July 26, 2012 [1 favorite]
The Mario one looks as if his lifeless body is being drug by invisible hands into Hell's brick portal.
posted by sourwookie at 11:29 AM on July 26, 2012
posted by sourwookie at 11:29 AM on July 26, 2012
pyramid termite: "oh, my god, someone's overclocked sonic "
Jesus. That's like a simulation of some degenerative neurological disease. It starts out with shit not lining up quite right and the music being a little strange but still melodic and recognizable and ends up somewhere... really really dark.
posted by danny the boy at 2:27 PM on July 26, 2012 [2 favorites]
Jesus. That's like a simulation of some degenerative neurological disease. It starts out with shit not lining up quite right and the music being a little strange but still melodic and recognizable and ends up somewhere... really really dark.
posted by danny the boy at 2:27 PM on July 26, 2012 [2 favorites]
So I wanted to see if the Goldeneye glitch could be duplicated in an emulator. Apparently the left side of an N64 cartridge is all address lines, so now I've got a representation of the ROM as the console should be seeing it. The only problem is that Mupen64 quits as soon as it sees an invalid opcode. Anyone know if there are any emulators that don't do that?
posted by marakesh at 2:44 PM on July 26, 2012
posted by marakesh at 2:44 PM on July 26, 2012
I remember when NES catridges would get dirty to the point that once you started it up, there'd be the colored blocks and stripes and blotches, and sometimes it was strangely disturbing and unsettling to me. This has the same effect, except you can add nightmarish to the list. Funny, but still kinda creepy.
posted by TheSecretDecoderRing at 1:00 AM on July 27, 2012
posted by TheSecretDecoderRing at 1:00 AM on July 27, 2012
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posted by griphus at 4:37 PM on July 25, 2012 [3 favorites]