SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
What's old is new again.
(SOUNDBITE OF VIDEO GAME, "SPACE RAFT")
DETROW: Those are sounds from the 4-year-old NES game Space Raft. Yes, raft, like a boat, and yes, NES, the 1980s Nintendo Entertainment System.
(SOUNDBITE OF VIDEO GAME, "SPACE RAFT")
DETROW: And it's not just an online game. It comes in that nostalgic gray cartridge.
JORDAN DAVIS: Publishing on a physical cartridge was the goal from Day 1.
DETROW: Jordan Davis designed the game. It's a bit of a side hustle. His main gig is as lead guitarist for the Milwaukee rock band, Space Raft. This is their song "Tomorrow Today."
(SOUNDBITE OF SPACE RAFT SONG, "TOMORROW TODAY")
DETROW: The game is a tribute to the band's time on the road.
DAVIS: The game involves driving the van through the streets of Milwaukee as if it was an obstacle course.
(SOUNDBITE OF VIDEO GAME, "SPACE RAFT")
DAVIS: Visually, it looks like a game that would have been published around 1986.
DETROW: Like many classic games, it revolves around a quest. Players choose a character and help the band get their tapes back from a renegade former bass player. Along the way, players collect as many chicken sandwiches as they can.
DAVIS: We got on the topic on a drive from Detroit to Chicago, and the theme for the game just developed into a hungry band driving from show to show, collecting sandwiches to keep going.
DETROW: The now-infamous tour van actually belonged to a cable guy before the band took it over.
DAVIS: Most video games would choose to feature some sort of sports car or something really zippy and fun. But a van is slow and lumbering. So I thought it would provide some additional comedy to see it jumping off of ramps in a video game.
DETROW: NES cartridges of Space Raft are already selling out, but there is a version out now for the Nintendo Switch. You just can't blow on the cartridge. Still, if you have the need to add to your stack of OG Nintendo cartridges, Jordan has another game out now, too, The Storied Sword, inspired by old-school games like Ninja Gaiden.
DAVIS: These old video games are the same thing as, like, a vinyl record, you know, made for a machine that not many people have anymore, but the people that have them are extremely dedicated to them.
DETROW: Game on. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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