The band first sold a homegrown, self-titled CD on its Web site in 2000, but now feels the production was subpar, so it is rerecording much of that album, plus some new material, for a scheduled summer 2004 release. In the meantime, the Minibosses hope to keep fans happy with their recent EP, also self-titled, featuring tracks from "MegaMan 2" and "Castlevania 3." The 1,000-copy run of the disc has officially sold out; the final unit went for $32 on eBay. Fans need not worry, however: Free MP3s from the EP can be downloaded from Minibosses.com.

The group's exclusive focus on Nintendo raises an obvious question of rights and royalties. "We did try to contact Nintendo, Konami, Capcom and some others [who produced games for Nintendo]," Burke says. "No one ever replied or even tried to find the right person in the organization to talk to."

Indeed, Nintendo's public relations office, when contacted for this article, said via e-mail that officials were "not available this week" to respond. But several attorneys who specialize in entertainment law said that while music from '80s video games may fall into a gray area (because copyright laws had not been updated), in general anyone performing or recording music created by someone else must seek the proper licensing from the copyright holder.

Lawyers at Nintendo "either don't know what the answer's going to be [to the rights question], or they're waiting to see how it plays out," says Anthony Berman, an entertainment attorney in San Francisco.

"Honestly," Burke says, "no one is going to do anything about it until someone starts making some major money off of it."

At present, major money is not even on the radar for the Minibosses. Any income they make from gigs and the occasional road trip barely covers travel expenses, which band members bear themselves. Sales of T-shirts and CDs at shows and on the Web site help keep the band afloat, Johnson says.

That may change if the Minibosses continue to see their audiences and the number of Web site visitors grow. Johnson says that recent coverage on Tech TV and in Wired magazine was "huge for us," to the point that "we get better turnout [at shows] out of town than in town." Since moving to Arizona, the Minibosses have made about one trip to each coast each year. They have also performed at the Defcon hackers' convention in Las Vegas, the Mid-Atlantic Gaming Festival in Virginia, and in May they'll play at the Atomix Gamers Choice Awards 2004 in Mexico City.

The current four-show road trip came about through power rockers Eagles of Death Metal, a musical diversion for Joshua Homme, frontman for the heavier rock act Queens of the Stone Age. As luck would have it, prior to the Minibosses Burke had been Homme's guitar tech for a year, and Homme extended the tour invitation.

The Web has been the Minibosses' No. 1 promotional tool. "The Internet made this band," Johnson said. He says many teens stumbled onto their music through peer-to-peer file-sharing networks such as Kazaa. Band members contribute frequently to the group's raucous message board, and keep everyone posted on the details of shows and releases. Other video game fan and music-remixing sites also link to the Minibosses. Burke said that MP3 downloads can run as high as 5,000 a week.

"There are other people playing live game music," says remixer Jake Kaufman, referring to groups such as the NESkimos, the OneUp Mushrooms, Everyone and Wave Theory. "But nobody puts on a show and gets the crowd going like they do."

How far can the Minibosses go?

"I have no idea," Burke said. "Our main focus is playing and having a good time doing it. When that stops, we stop."

And if the breakthrough doesn't happen? "I would say, 'Good. [Expletives deleted.] Awesome.' Then I would drink a beer and play a kick-ass show."

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