8bit sounds in contemporary music

I was listening to my favorite Sirius station yesterday, Left of Center, when I heard what sounded like the beginning of Pole Position. As it turns out, it was The Comeback by the Shout Out Louds. I'm not sure if it is a sample, an imitation, or just a coincidence, but it made me wonder about arcade and console sounds in music. I knew about the "Game Over" controversy regarding a song by Lil' Flip that used a Pac-Man sample. Namco and Sony settled, however, that isn't the only song sampling Pac-Man out there. I'm not sure how many more are out there. In some ways, given licensing problems and the ephemeral nature of consumer culture, I would be surprised if they were frequently used.

Both of these examples made me wonder about the currency of classic arcade games in music and in pop culture in general. Tastes in music and fashion seem to cycle such that the styles of the previous 5-10 years are rejected temporarily until they return as retro kitsch. However, video and arcade games do not seem to have undergone the same cycle. People were running clones, emulators, and updates of classic arcade games throughout the history of console gaming. In some cases, cartoons and tie-ins have outlasted the games themselves, i.e. Pitfall. So, I wonder if there is something more permanent about these classic games that surpasses their status as fads or consumer products. Perhaps it is just that these icons make us think of a simpler time... or a time that was no less conflicted, but we were too young to notice. These days, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised to find these references at all.