I AM 8BIT

Dust off those Nintendo Entertainment Systems because I AM 8BIT dropped one of the coolest collectibles to date...an all new GPK Video Game!

From their website (iam8bit.com):

"In the 80s, the world was ruled by two things: the Nintendo Entertainment System and Garbage Pail Kids cards. These lovable, grossout monster children could be found in the lunchboxes of every latchkey kid, juvenile delinquent, rascal, and brat in your neighborhood. At the same time, Nintendo was taking over America with their first home video game console. So, it only made perfect sense when these two dominant forces of 80s pop culture came together… right? Right????? Well, here’s the thing: that never happened. UNTIL NOW!!"

'Mad Mike and the Quest for Stale Gum' is a side-scrolling game featuring (purposefully-dated) graphics that make one feel like they're playing a game made in the 80s. Released on October 25, 2022, the game was written by Adam F. Goldberg (creater of The Goldbergs), and contains multiple levels, characters, bosses, and more! It is clear that a lot of care was put into making the game both complex, yet easy to pick up and start playing

Below you will find pics and info about this popular release from iam8bit

GAME BOX

Limited to 4000 copies, the game came packaged in a 'NES-sized' retro-styled box featuring artwork by Joe Simko on the front, and a story with gameplay pictures on the back

GAME CARTRIDGE

Without a doubt, the coolest feature of this release is that the game cartridges are fully-playable in an old-school Nintendo Entertainment System. There are three different cartridges for collectors to hunt down, but only two were available for purchase. Those who bought the game received either the 'Mad Mike Blue' cartridge (standard), or a 'Stale Gum Pink' Chase version (1:8)

Additionally there is a (very rare) Grey version that was distributed to a handful of people prior to the release (see 'Promotional Info' section below for details)

In addition to the physical cartridge, the game was available for download on Steam, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and the Epic Game Store

MANUAL & EXTRAS

Inside the box was a Full-Color, Premium Instruction Booklet. This booklet includes a Foreword by Adam F. Goldberg, as well as multiple pages detailing the story, characters, controls, and more. See below for sample pages

Click the images above for hi-res versions

In addition to the manual, the box also included a set of exclusive 'Pixel Art GPK Cards'. This set of four cards features the 8-bit version of four characters from the game on the front, and their card-artwork and bio on the backs. These cards were smaller than standard GPK cards

PROMOTIONAL MATERIAL

The team at iam8bit did something super-cool (and super-rare) and worked with a select few members of the hobby and gaming communities in an effort to help promote the game's release. I was one of the lucky ones to receive a giant 'Barf Bag' full of promotional materials...and suffice it to say, it did NOT disappoint! Each bag included:

• a metal lunchbox full of goodies (the grey copy of the game was inside the lunchbox along with a pack of OS5, Luke Puke Pin, and more)
• a vinyl 3-ring binder (the binder included a letter, artwork, 35mm slides, a patch, and more)
• all packaged up in a giant white paper bag (featuring the 'BARF BAG' artwork from Get A Grip Skateboards)

CLICK HERE to watch my Instagram Reel that showcases everything included in the Influencer Promo Set!

JUST FOR FUN

Back in 2022 I took to Photoshop to create what I felt the packaging for this game should have looked like. As I mentioned above, Joe's artwork for the box is solid...but it doesn't exactly fit the "80's vibe" that the project deserved. So without further ado, here is what I came up with:

Click the image above for a hi-res version

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