About Us

“We strive to make the world of chipmusic accessible to anyone, of any means, in any country.”- Anthony Schmitt, owner of Nonfinite Electronics, LLC.

Our specialty is the modification of vintage computers and video game consoles, mainly for use as musical instruments. Amongst the many different computers and consoles available to chip music enthusiasts, one particular gaming console stands out for us: the Nintendo GameBoy. We have dedicated much of our time and experience to this lovable and recognizable line of handhelds, and have played a role in making the GameBoy one of the most popular compositional tools available to chip musicians through our products and modifications.

The Beginning

In the summer of 2006, an idea was born in the back corner of a basement.

Since the discovery of the chiptune website 8bitpeoples.com the previous year, Anthony Schmitt had been hooked on making music with vintage video game equipment. Then, the community was small but passionate, and he didn't have trouble learning the ropes of getting started with his own GameBoy. Thanks to a background in classical violin, writing the actual notes came easily to Schmitt, but acquiring a performance instrument to play his new tunes became a challenge. Using tutorials from other artists, he was able to do his own Pro Sound modification, but soon found that the separate GameBoy light from the 80's was hardly enough to see the screen for reading in the dark.

Armed with various LED lights, foil, mirrors, plastic and glass, he assembled his first backlight for the GameBoy. It was large and bulky but it worked - composition could now happen anywhere, in any light. Schmitt pursued his idea with several manufacturers and eventually the modern SMT V2.0 Backlight was born, made of dual LED's, lightweight acrylic and diffusion film.

Schmitt started selling his backlight on the auction giant eBay to share his vision and to help others compose chiptune music more effectively. When the demand became more than just an auction here and there, he decided to start selling them through his personal website, and thus the Nonfinite Electronics shop was born.

As the chiptune community continued to grow and flourish, Schmitt started expanding his repertoire of products to other accessories for musicians. He also started offering modification services for those that needed an expert's hand, and expanded to other gaming systems as well, like the GB Pocket and GB Color.

Today

Nonfinite Electronics now offers over 50 products and has shipped packages to countries on every continent except Antarctica. Both the casual user and world class performance artists use our GameBoys. We have partnered with various chiptune artists to create new products, like the USB Cartridge, and have plans in the works for more partnerships in the future. The chiptune genre is forever changing and growing, and Nonfinite Electronics will be there every step of the way.

Anthony, Owner Anthony was born in Appleton, WI and moved to Madison in 2004, where he started the shop for Nonfinite Electronics. He was trained as a classical violinist throughout his youth, and took an interest in music theory and application in college. He is known in the chiptune world as Nonfinite, and has played his chiptune music at shows in places like San Francisco, Minneapolis, St. Louis, Lexington, Chicago and Philadelphia. His first two albums, Northbridge and Southbridge, have influences of classical composition, while also infusing hard beats with gritty sounds. Anthony lives in Madison and enjoys disc golf and snowboarding. When he isn't modifying vintage video game consoles and writing music, he works full time as an IT professional.

Kerry, Business Manager Kerry has loved video games since early childhood, when she systematically orchestrated a plan to beat all her friends playing Mario Bros during a fieldtrip bus ride to Chicago. Since she didn't have a system of her own, she depended on friends with GameBoys and Ataris until she finally got her very own GameCube. Making the switch into the GameBoy modification business from marketing and communications came very naturally for her. Kerry joined NonElec as business manager in 2009 and has been running the shop ever since. When not working on daily operations for Nonfinite Electronics, Kerry can be found riding horses and writing fiction.