pixelart (mspaint and stuff) and using video game vst in Ableton...does that get me in the door? you guys rule

For pixel art, you'll want to look out for battles in the pixel or visuall formats. There have been a lot of one-hour pixel battles recently! You're also welcome to try your hand at suggesting an album cover for the ongoing Summer Chip battle in the chipbattle_art format.

For Ableton, you'll want to look out for battles in the allgear, fakebit, or wildchip formats. There are also often chiptune battles which are focused on the capabilities of specific hardware -- Ableton wouldn't work for those, but there are more specialized tools like FamiTracker and Furnace Tracker which are well worth learning about!

thank you lasertooth...I love this site it always takes me down a rabbit hole of researching various people places and things...I want to be a valuable member and at least vote on entries :)