(no audio) (guitar string vibrates) (Jordan strums the guitar) - [Producer] All right, Jordan, you can go ahead and start.

- Ready?

- Yeah.

- Cool.

(Jordan strumming the guitar) I started my first band in high school called Mystery Girls from Green Bay.

It was a garage rock band.

Our first record came out when I was 19 or so, that kind of set me on my way.

So I'm mostly a musician, that's kind of my main discipline.

(Jordan strumming the guitar) (Jordan continues strumming the guitar) When I finally moved to Milwaukee in my twenties, I started a band called Space Raft.

(midtempo rock music) So "Space Raft," the video game, it's an 8-bit NES game about my indie rock band, and basically it's a kind of adventure where you're following the band around trying to retrieve the stolen master tapes of the new record.

Because it was my first video game, I decided to stick to what I know.

Basically, every stage in the game is a different venue or establishment here in Milwaukee.

♪ I just hope you feel the same ♪ (gentle bright music) (gentle bright music continues) (gentle bright music continues) (gentle bright music ending) (cartridge rattling) (lid snaps) (upbeat video game music) (controller buttons clicking) - Video games have overtaken every other sort of entertainment media.

It's a form of empowerment, I think, when you're giving the player the tools to accomplish tasks and to solve problems, that's something that we can all relate to.

(upbeat video game music) (controller buttons clicking) So I think that there is some sort of self-expression aspect that comes along with interactive media, because we all choose to experience it differently, and I think there's something kind of profound about that.

I felt a little intimidated by the visual aspect of this project when I got started.

I hadn't done any visual art, outside of random show posters, in probably about 15, 20 years.

The first thing that I actually ended up drawing was the front steps of the Cactus Club.

I worked at Cactus Club for many years, so it was very much, you know, it also lived down the street, so it was part of my neighborhood.

I couldn't drive to the freeway without driving past it, so I was very intimate with the location.

With tile-based, 8-bit artwork, everything is representational.

You know, you're not doing one-for-one of anything.

You're trying to represent your subject the best so that people interpret it the way that you want it to.

And I think I got it pretty close, I think people that are familiar with Cactus Club that have stood from that side of the street, crossed the street to look at it, will recognize it.

(upbeat video game music) Our ex-bass player, Srini, is a dear friend of mine.

He volunteered to be the villain of the game.

He volunteered the premise that he would have stolen the master tapes in a fit of jealousy and that we're basically tracking him down trying to retrieve the tapes and put the record out.

So that involves going to shows and cleaning up after our ex-bass player.

It's just a lot of antics, I guess you'd call 'em.

(upbeat video game music) I had very little idea of how much demand there would be for a new NES cartridge.

It seemed funny to me to make something for outdated hardware.

And the more that I kind of researched it, the more I realized that it wasn't irrational, and there was a lot of people out there that are interested in this stuff.

I just think that, like, old technology, record players, cassette players, old game consoles, they all have value, the same way that we would write a piece of music for a piano, which was invented in the 1700s.

(Jordan playing midtempo piano music) I have friends on every corner of the globe that are currently working with the console.

It's really nice to have a sense of community with any creative endeavor that you go into.

And game development can be an incredibly solo pursuit, you know, it's a lot of time spent alone with headphones on, pouring over details that others may not find interesting.

But to be able to relate those experiences to a broader community of developers and players and create this feedback loop is really satisfying.

Finding connection with people and communicating intentions, I think that's what art is in general.

Finding that through games is no less fulfilling than it is through painting, or through playing guitar, or through doing anything else that you might fill your days with.

(Jordan playing midtempo piano music) (Jordan continues playing midtempo piano music) (gentle music) - [Announcer] Thanks for watching "The Arts Page."

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