RealMyop.com

Welcome to Ronan Letoqueux aka RealMyop's website, researcher and designer in new technologies.
Like a researcher in fundamental science, I like to experiment in new ways to define interactive art. Through my research I discovered new forms of expressions related to new media, video games and digital arts. Following this research, I'm designing new playful ways of expressions.
On this website you will discover through my artistic research and activities some astonishing applications results.

The picture

Press file (in french)

The Approach

I practice a form of basic research experience in areas which fascinate me. The process is as important as the outcome, the essential idea is to create unprecedented "things", new and therefore creative.
I do not pretend to make some "finished" objects but more to share my experiences and then master most inspiring creations.The circuit bending is a way of creating chaos opposed to the traditional computer approach, which carries out "commands". But what happens in such an object when an errors occurs, what can we find in it?

In classic scientific research, when studying nature, we lean from it without knowing the specific outcomes, and experience helps deducing its operation. We report our findings to our peers, able to validate or disprove your theory based on their own experiences.
But during this process, mistakes, rough guess, are all generating much content to analyze. And many of the discoveries made by man are due to bugs in its approach. Without these "bugs" we would not have penicillin and many other scientific discoveries.
The beginning of the computer world also worked on this model, the invention of scrolling that gave birth to a huge amount of games comes from a memory address error and therefore may be affiliated as a bug or a glitch.

In my work, the idea of emergence is fundamental. Chaos, randomness are excellent sources for new prospects. Through my research, we could find new ideas for game design, level design and much more. It's also the beauty of this chaos: it can't be predicted.

Why old consoles? First because I know them, they are part of my background and make me more comfortable to work with. But also because it is possible! On newer machines, miniaturization is an impassable wall, the machines are too complex, sensitive and fragile to make short circuits.

Like any researcher, practical applications are not necessarily my main goal. But on the discoveries we made, there will one day be a use for designing new products. I hope someday I have a eureka moment for me to imagine myself riding a beam of light, and that my work will inspire truly innovative creations.

Of course I'm not Einstein, and my approach is much more fun, however, using the scientific approach in art and design is to me a perfectly viable method.

The MegaGlitch

A MegaDrive II (Genesis) circuit bended inside a case of Mega cd (Sega cd).

The Super Bugtendo

A circuit bended Super Nintendo coupled with a Bliptronic 5000.

Paintings

GlitchGallery (online soon)

Using my circuit bended consoles I decided to make prints of some of the best glitch images I've made.
But they are also connected to the game itself. I like to introduce some part of history in my paintings. The level, the character(s) and the glitch are used to say something about the game. Like traditional composition in painting or photography.
All these paintings are available for purchase and are limited to 10 copies. They are printed on high quality Plexiglas to size 60 * 80.

Visuals

The circuit bended consoles are interactive ! It would be a shame to deny it. Thanks to them I realize visuals in real time for all music that can accommodate this kind of images.
In collaboration with Furrtek, I work on the first Vj software for Genesis called VJenesis. It allows us to launch videos in real time in the machine and to create our own "visuals" for all types of music. You can find live video here. We continue to work on the program's a video presentation will be soon available.

88 miles per hour, the webcast

88 miles per hour is a webcast introducing Tool Assisted Speedruns. Introducing what? Tool Assisted Speedruns or TAS. A TAS is a way to finish a game as fast as possible (and even more) using an emulator and special tools designed to make you able to overrule the human limitation in skill. The webcast presented by RealMyop and coeurdevandale mix retro-gaming and TAS discovery with humor and technical explanations. After 42 episodes it has generated over a million and a half views on Dailymotion, and is now available to be seen on Youtube.

Some episodes were subbed by Rayas :



Thanks to specific tools, TASers are racing on the Internet, races which can last for years. Working together, performances get enhanced each time someone finds a new feature.

The show commented by RealMyop and Coeurdevandale brings together retrogaming and an introduction to the TAS and its tools in order to finish a game at a speed beyond belief. Including a good portion of humor, the show managed to create a large fanbase on the french web.

These commentaries are playful as the TAS are. Created to impress the viewer, these videos show that video games can be finished way faster and in a more original way than usual. The art of TASing allows to finish games like Zelda 3 in less than 4 minutes, or even Mario 64 in 5 minutes and a half.

The show managed to introduce and explain the concept of TASing. Why these achievements are nor cheats or real players, but more an absolute research in video game to get closer to an artistic creation, and gets away from sport. TASers are the first cyborgs of our generations, as they are humans assisted by a computer in order to create superhuman feats.

After two years and a half and more than 42 episodes, the show managed to create a passion for TAS. Articles on Gameblog.fr, Pixels Pirates, JeuxVideo.fr or the magazine Libération contributed to its success. DailyMotion even put the show on the frontpage of the website several times. RealMyop's blog has more than 25,000 views each month, and the Facebook fan page has more than 3000 subscribers. The show totales more than one million and a half views!

Commitment

My research (hopefully) lead me to discoveries that I share through my work as an Interactive Designer.

I do not see myself as a game designer but more as a Tool Designer. I try to create useful tools to express and share emotions, passions and skills. Using the abilities of addiction, interactivity, and nearby power that creates the video game console or smart-phone. Because in my eyes, providing tools to users is the best way to make them realize that they can use it to express themselves. It can be much more than just a machine which recieves content, it can also give. I would like to provide everyone everywhere canvases, brushes and galleries to all owners of consoles and smart-phones.

Because it is more than just a game. this is the big difference between my vision of the machine, and the pure game platform video only.

In the early hours of gaming, machines allowed to express your creative talents, we played on the Atari ST, Amiga, Amstrad and they also allowed us to be creative. You could make music, drawing, etc.
But our game consoles have completely lost this idea. What I want is to bring back a little content made by users in our consoles. First, because they can. Secondly, because it could really be a great medium to enhance, share and experiment with new ideas.

This idea is not so new as that, we had Mario Paint on the Super Nintendo. There was no direct challenge-reward as a game designer could design. However the players / creators found their deal. The challenge is your creativity and your technical mastery, the reward is the work accomplished.
Let's ask simple questions: why do people play guitar or piano? Why do they draw and write? Why do they play my game? They play because it's in the human nature to try to contribute by all the available medias. Just type "Mario Paint" on YouTube and look the community that this game has created. We talk about Mario Paint, a game almost 20 years old that still fascinate players just because it offered the opportunity to create content onn a popular machine. Whether we get along, Mario Paint is not the biggest game of the Super Nintendo and has many defects. However just being released on home console made him a reference.

Anyway I really think it is time to rethink this kind of problematic again. Taking into account the new interfaces: PS move, KINECT, Wiimote, plus smart phones that is also becoming a gaming platform. It is time to re-make some fun creative hobby.

PlayMore

In some cases, when you're working to create new machines, some amazing ideas run through your mind. Some are so stubborn that you need to achieve them. Welcome in the Frankenstein section of the website.

Tool Assisted Mario paint

You want to draw whatever you want as fast as you want on MarioPaint? Try this!
This is a video made with an emulator and controled by a Lua script to do the drawing. GameBoy music from Dr Von Pnok: Marvellous shit. Programming: Alden

Sega Noise & Glitchs

An experimental performance capturing noises and glitches of a modified console: the MegaGlitch. The idea of creating new content with old machines fascinates me. The consoles remain alive, for better or for worse, but creative and new.

The bugs, glitches and noises all comes from the chaos, creating new forms of aesthetics. Everything has already been created and operated, but the glitch reformulates through his brutal, primal, minimal nature and makes us question ourselves about the true nature of beauty. This video is not "beautiful", but some will find shapes, colors or sounds they enjoy. They will then discover the bricks of sensations, of their feelings.

Wiitro Gaming

Play old computer games with the help of a Wiimote to give them a new youth. Rediscover the best of their levels with a complete new controller making the game more accessible and more fun.
This is possible thanks to a great piece of software called OSCulator, connected to an emulator. Other videos are going to be uploaded to explain in details how it works.