Demoscene Research

I wrote a bunch of scripts to visualize the Pouet.net database of demoscene productions. While there is a great number of limitations and pitfalls in them, this sort of graphs haven’t been presented anywhere so far. Check them out here!

Added Paul A. Taylor’s book Hackers (1999) to related material.

Added In Medias Res to online material. A great number of old C64/Amiga scener interviews.

We’re happy to announce that after a break of a few years Hanna Lönnblad’s (these days Kaivola) master’s thesis Tietokonedemot kulttuurina ja musiikin harrastuksen muotona is back online, thanks to Hanna.

Added Commodork: Sordid Tales from a BBS Junkie (O’Hara 2006) to related publications. An entertaining read, which provides a rare view to the other side of the pond.

An interesting – and perhaps a bit silly – presentation on the history of software piracy by Jason Scott: http://vimeo.com/15400820

There will be a demoscene-related bar event / mini-party with the name Demoscene Club on the 15th of April in Tampere. For more info, check out their website.

Added Hirvonen 2010, a recent Finnish master’s thesis dealing with the relationship of BBS and Internet cultures. A worthy read, as few studies exist on this topic. There is a section on subcultures, demoscene included.

YLE, the Finnish national broadcasting company, has published a six-part documentary about the demoscene. Only in Finnish for now. Featuring milestone demos, interviews of sceners and historical facts. Markku can be seen in a couple of episodes, too. Check the series out on its dedicated Youtube channel.

Just now I realized that perhaps I should have mentioned my presentation here before, not after it took place. Yesterday I presented my thesis at the Alternative Party in Helsinki. A demanding audience — to talk about demoscene to the demoscene itself.