What initially made you fall in love with gaming?
Cosmic Osmo and The Manhole on early Mac computers.
Hypercard stacks where we could make our own games.
Despite their low-fi graphics, they still were portals into another world.
Could you discuss the genesis story behind Two Bit Circus?
Eric and I have been interested in getting people together in public for over a decade.
It started with interactive art for parties and grew to huge events like the Super Bowl and Olympics.
Two Bit Circus features a lot of classic arcade games such as Street Fighter 2 and Ms. Pac Man.
Why do you believe these classic games have held up so well after all of this time?
Great games are less about the graphics and technology, than the core game mechanics that drive the play.
Early video games didnt even have the option of great visuals so the mechanics had to be good!
Two Bit Circus features the Virtual Reality Playground.
How important is VR to the entire Two Bit Circus experience?
We aim for our showcase to be experience led.
VR is a super immersive, rapidly evolving space thats excellent in a lot of contexts.
Hologate is an excellent example of social VR.
Its high energy and sometimes even a good workout!
VR Pods are also feature which offer a one player gaming experience.
What are some of the games that are offered, and do you have a personal favorite?
We aim for as many social experiences as possible but do have the occasional one-player game.
One of my favorites is Baumgartners Line Wobbler.
This one-pixel dungeon crawler is so clever.
Story Rooms are some of my favorite Two Bit experiences.
These 3-6 player games often last about 20 minutes.
Weve extended our interactive game show out onto the interwebs with a platform we callREMOTE.
Is there anything else that you would like to share about Two Bit Circus?
We run a regular public game show every week on Thursday at 7pm Pacific Time.
