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'Alt254' is a Zelda-style adventure where you play as a pixel
It's about as low-res as games get these days.
'Children of Morta' and the power of modern pixel art
Children of Morta made me incredibly happy, scared, sad and fiercely determined, all within the span of 10 minutes and using only pixel art -- plus a few modern bells and whistles. It comes from Dead Mage and publisher 11 Bit Studios, and it's an isometric hack-and-slash game starring the Bergsons, a family of fierce fighters on a mission to save their home mountain from an evil corruption. Each family member has a special skill, and for my playthrough at GDC, I chose to battle as the youngest daughter, a fire mage.
Retro sci-fi RPG 'Songbringer' arrives for PS4, Xbox One, Mac and PC
The pixel art-infused RPG Songbringer is a love letter to old-school role playing games, and we've been looking forward to its release on PlayStation 4 for a while now. The sci-fi title is out now and available on Xbox One and Windows 10, too. The game is $20 on all platforms, including PC and Mac on Steam and GoG.com, starting today.
OK Go's new music video has robotic seats, drones and life-sized pixel art
Say what you will about OK Go's music, but the band has a knack for attention-getting uses of technology in its videos -- and its latest project only drives that point home. The new "I Won't Let You Down" promo has band members performing dance numbers on Honda's UNI-CUB robot stools, letting them bust moves that aren't possible with legpower alone. And that's only part of the technology involved. Director Morihiro Harano uses an octocopter drone to capture dramatic pull-out shots, while a legion of Japanese schoolgirls creates giant pixel art by dancing in Busby Berkeley-style routines. Is it over the top? You bet, but it's doubtful you'll forget this mechanical extravagance any time soon.
Dotti is a cute LED block that does notifications using pixel art
Let's face it: There's always a part of us that can't resist a good bit of pixel art -- be it on bank notes, in games or even in the form of sculptures. For those who are seeking something more interactive, you may want to check out the Dotti by Hong Kong startup Witti. What we have here is a little eight-by-eight LED block with Bluetooth radio and a battery -- up to 720 hours on standby or 5 hours of continuous display. When paired with its iOS or Android app, Dotti serves as a pixel art canvas (you'll be able to upload your own work), a clock, an icon-based notification display (for calls, e-mails, text, calendar, popular social networks and more), a music visualizer and even a virtual dice. Simply swipe along the top side of Dotti to toggle between these modes, as shown in our video after the break. Want one? It'll arrive just before the holidays for $99.
Norway's new bank notes are pixel art dreams
Norway's new banknotes are quite literally works of art. After inviting submissions from a number of design houses, the country's Norges Bank has chosen just two. While the front of the new notes will display traditional imagery, the rear will feature conceptual designs that transform Norway's costal landscapes into pixels. The artworks, created by Oslo-based Snøhetta, become progressively more abstract as the value of the notes increase, with the 50 kroner note depicting an idyllic scene and the 1000 kroner note a windswept sea of purple. The new designs will go into circulation in 2017, and you can squint at the rest of them after the break.
Artists give Teletext a new purpose
Next month and into September, Berlin will play host to the International Teletext Art Festival (ITAF). Teletext, a basic information service delivered over analogue TV signals, was once prevalent across Europe before becoming increasingly obsolete in the internet age. In the UK, the BBC switched off the very first teletext service Ceefax back in 2012, but similar systems are still active in several countries. The graphically challenged medium continues to be relevant in other ways, however, with plenty of digital artists adopting the simple format. Sponsored by various European teletext operators, the ITAF is now in its third year of showcasing the best in pixelated pieces. Check out the gallery below for select works from last year's event. [Image credit: Good Times by Dan Farrimond]
Ubisoft vs. BNP in Post-it art grudge match
Two competitors enter, no one leaves. That's because this particular battle takes place inside the windows of two adjacent buildings in Paris. A user on the Gamoover forum has photographed the ongoing, unstated Post-it art contest between Ubisoft Montreuil and the bank BNP. Over the course of a few months, the occupants of the two buildings continued to one-up each other with pixelart tableaus, including Space Invaders, taunting Pong scenes, Marios, Galaga ships, and a Rabbid. The crowning achievement in this battle of work evasion, in our opinion, is the pixelated Blanka vs. Ken scene, above. We like to imagine enthusiastic meetings in the Post-it office about the sudden Post-it bubble economy that this competition started.
ExciteBike motorcycle built out of wood hits us like a ton of pixels
To say that ExciteBike ate up a ton of our childhood gaming time would be an extreme understatement. In fact, we still occasionally hear that particular "vroom vroom" noise in our sleep. So the fact that someone -- in this case Justin Harder -- cobbled together a 'pixelated' ExciteBike bike, trophy and helmet out of wood in a months-long labor of love is truly impressive to us, and brings wondrous, dazzling feelings of nostalgia. We're also fairly certain that 8-bit Gary's going to be buying one to tool around town on. Seriously, watch the insane video after the break.
Visualized: Douglas Coupland's pixel orca
Douglas Coupland (yes, that Douglas Coupland) created this pixel sculpture which lives outside of the Vancouver convention center. He should meet these guys.
eBoy's FixPix iPhone game available now for $1.99 (video)
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/apple/eBoy_s_FixPix_iPhone_game_available_now_for_1_99'; It's out! eBoy's $1.99 FixPix iPhone game christened "the greatest game ever made" by a certain Engadget fanboy is available now from the iTunes App Store. If you fail to understand the value of piecing together eBoy pixel art by manipulating the iPhone's accelerometer, then gawd help you... you're already dead. Gameplay video after the break. [Thanks, William]
eBoy: an ode and introduction
I don't know where my love for eBoy springs from, but it definitely has something to do with a childhood of 8-bit video gaming and young adult years of raving till dawn. Regardless, if you haven't been introduced to the pixel art collective, then hopefully this will kick off your education. The designers -- Kai Vermehr, Steffen Sauerteig, and Svend Smital -- have been producing some of the most distinctive and nuanced modern art in the world since 1997. As you can tell by even a casual glance at the artist's pics (we've rounded up some in the gallery below), their work is incredibly vibrant -- almost information overload -- and filled with the kinds of minute details that make looking at eBoy images less of a passive activity and more like a scavenger hunt which rewards the dedicated viewer. The eBoy team have expanded their work to run the gamut from album covers, books, advertising, clothing and footwear, and even a forthcoming iPhone game. As masters of the micro, they've built what amounts to a mini-empire. Whenever I get a new device (typically when I'm reviewing something for the site), the first thing I do is tack eBoy images onto the wallpaper. Usually I have to crop them down or otherwise customize them for the platform at hand, and as a result I've ended up with a metric ton of tweets and emails asking where they come from. I figured as a public service I would .zip everything I could find on my hard drive to give to you, the reader. If you've been wondering where and how these came to life, wonder no more. Of course, it's eBoy's world -- we're just living in it. And yes, that's me up there. Thanks guys! Download: jt_eboy.zip %Gallery-93493%
Luigi's Mansion + Castlevania = Mansionvania: Vacuum of Sorrow
We'll have to file this one under the "Games That We Wish Existed" category, as the screen you see above is little more than a pixelart mash-up of Luigi's Mansion and the Castlevania series. Masterfully created by Shane Gill for his PixelJoint page (and spotted by the folks at Tiny Cartridge), the piece is the living embodiment of what we wish the DSiWare service played host to more often. Alas, we don't believe we'll be seeing "Mansionvania: Vacuum of Sorrow" landing on Nintendo's digital distribution service anytime soon -- but we can at least point to it next time someone asks what we'd like to see available for download. "That! Go make that! That 2D pixel game with the vacuum-wielding Luigi! And enough with the calendars already!" [Via Tiny Cartridge]
Mario wall art invades UNCC campus
University of North Carolina, Charlotte student newspaper The Niner is reporting on the surprising appearance of chalk-based Mario pixel-art on the brick walls of campus buildings. Knuttz.net has pictures of five of the six works of art, which include a Koopa Troopa, Cheep Cheep, Pirahna Plant and Super Mushroom (not pictured, according to The Niner's description, is a character called "Bob-Boom." Are you looking for Bob-omb, perhaps?) The article gives no hints to the creator of the spontaneous works of art, which use each brick as a pixel to create life-size versions of the familiar characters. What's worse, despite receiving no calls or complaints about the drawings, campus authorities say they plan on washing the chalk off the walls "as soon as possible." Why bother? All these works are doing is adding a little whimsy and fun to the days of some no doubt terminally bored students. Besides, it's not like the artist did any permanent damage to the buildings -- the chalk will wash itself off during the next rainstorm anyway. Let the magic last until then, at least. [Thanks, Matthew] [Update: Joystiq reader Jamie had seen this pixelated wall art before. Actually, he and his wife snapped some pics (like the one above) last week, which he just sent in for us to enjoy. Thanks, Jamie!]
Arcade Daze from the Iconfactory
I usually don't write about new icons, but when they are so... iconic I feel it is my duty to share them with the good readers of TUAW (I am too kind, I know). Arcade Daze from the Iconfactory revisits those halcyon days of yore when one could fritter away the afternoon, and a roll of quarters, in the local arcade.Mario, Pac Man, and several others make appearances in this free (for personal use) icon set. Get it while the getting is good.
10 steps to a pixel art masterpiece
Derek Yu, one of the members of the soon-to-be award winning Thompsonsoft, has made a "10-step tutorial, [which will] teach you how to create a "sprite", which is a stand-alone two-dimensional character or object." Covering everything from lines to anti-aliasing, watch Derek create "the Lucha Lawyer, the ass-kickin'est wrestling attorney around, as [his] model! He could be in a fighting game, or something, with moves like the 'Habeus Corpse Blaster.'" The amount of labor necessary is amazing, for only one frame![UPDATE: The link is redirecting to a Russian MP3 site, so hold off trying to check out the tutorial. We'll let you know when, or if, we know anything else. Sorry! Everything seems to be working again. Apparently Zangief was hosting his site!]
