I suppose I wasn't clear -- I meant the actual term "Chiptune" or "Chip Music." I feel like it just wasn't called that back then, like those actual terms didn't show up until people actually began to seek out the sound as a retro thing.
I may be wrong here -- I can personally attest to consuming a lot of this material (demoscene stuff, games, tracker songs, etc) -- but I will admit I didn't make it or actually directly interact with many humans who did.