AuthorTopic: The History of Pixel Art  (Read 142042 times)

Offline pipster818

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Re: The History of Pixel Art

Reply #30 on: February 05, 2016, 11:52:54 pm
I think sprite and pixel art webcomics should be included in the timeline, like 8-Bit Theater, Kid Radd, or Bob and George. The comic A Modest Destiny is particularly good, and is a pretty early example (2003) of pixel art as a deliberate medium of its own and not just a technical limitation. I think webcomics like this played an important role in spreading the style and the terminology to a wider audience.

http://www.squidi.net/comic/index.php

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Modest_Destiny


I also think more recent indie games should be included. Minecraft is pretty popular, but I don't think it fully represents pixel art, because the graphics are three dimensional, and honestly, not very good. (I mean I absolutely love Minecraft, don't get me wrong, but the art is pretty meh.) I think Swords and Sworcery might be a good example, because it also came out in 2011 but is much closer to what's considered "real" pixel art. It has also had a huge effect on the art styles of a lot of new pixel artists.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superbrothers:_Sword_%26_Sworcery_EP


That's my two cents. This is my first time posting to this website, so I've got my fingers crossed that this isn't formatted wrong or posted to the wrong thread or something.

Offline Cure

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Re: The History of Pixel Art

Reply #31 on: February 06, 2016, 05:52:30 pm
Russel Kirsch, Cave Story added.

@pipster: I'll wait and see what others' experience with sprite comics are. I've had no experience with them so can't say how influential they've been. They've always turned me off with mixed resolutions and artwork that is generally terrible.

about minecraft- yes, it's primarily a voxel-based game, but makes extensive use of pixel art textures, and is incomparably influential in broader society compared to any recent game sporting pixel art. If enough people don't think it's significant enough, I'll remove it from the list. But remember, you couldn't buy a pixel-art pickaxe from a toy store before Minecraft, nor did you see kids dressed up as pixelated monsters for Halloween.

- - -

I was reading the comments on Helm's recently-submitted piece at PJ and learned he works for Nitrome. Which got me thinking- should Nitrome make the list? They've produced 10 billion games with pixel art since 2005 after all. Probably had a hand in popularizing that bright, poppy style of pixel art that you also see in eBoy.

Which reminds me- I should put eBoy on the list.
edit: How does one turn an image into a link on this forum? I'd like the thumbnails to link to larger images.
« Last Edit: February 06, 2016, 06:11:34 pm by Cure »

Offline 0xDB

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Re: The History of Pixel Art

Reply #32 on: February 06, 2016, 06:21:44 pm
Which reminds me- I should put eBoy on the list.
Only if you want to make a History Of Crapxel Art. </harsh personal opinion>

Offline Gil

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Re: The History of Pixel Art

Reply #33 on: February 06, 2016, 06:26:13 pm
I personally think eBoy was harmful to pixel art as a genre, because it was for years the supposed masterwork of pixel art, with its crappy technique, single-minded execution, etc. They basically sucked the oxygen out of the room for the rest of us for a good long while.

That said, it was an integral part of our history.


EDIT: I'd like to submit that Prince of Persia should make the list maybe. Its fluid animation style was a direct influence on many pixel art classics, such as Flashback. There's not a lot of animation stuff in the list right now and I think PoP was really influential.
« Last Edit: February 06, 2016, 06:32:06 pm by Gil »

Offline 0xDB

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Re: The History of Pixel Art

Reply #34 on: February 06, 2016, 06:47:44 pm
If PoP makes the list, Karateka must go on it as well.

Offline Cure

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Re: The History of Pixel Art

Reply #35 on: February 06, 2016, 08:00:29 pm
Since both Karateka and PoP are creations of Jordan Mechner, we can get away with listing Karateka and segue to PoP in the description.

As for eBoy, I can strike it from the list if enough people feel it's not relevant enough, I just don't want to omit it purely because we, as fancy pixel artists, scoff at the technique or feel the degree of their popularity was unwarranted.

Offline Atnas

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Re: The History of Pixel Art

Reply #36 on: February 06, 2016, 08:11:28 pm
eBoy is absolutely relevant.

I do not personally care for it, but it is very widely recognized and culturally relevant. Perhaps beyond mario it's something that a lot of people think of when they hear the words pixel art.

Offline surt

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Re: The History of Pixel Art

Reply #37 on: February 06, 2016, 10:03:11 pm
Your screenshot for SuperPaint is clearly from a Macintosh which is more than a decade later. So even if it is from a much later version of that program I don't think it's very relevant to the timeline.

EDIT: according the the descriptions on Wikipedia they don't appear to be related at all.
« Last Edit: February 06, 2016, 10:06:20 pm by surt »

Offline Cure

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Re: The History of Pixel Art

Reply #38 on: February 06, 2016, 10:14:32 pm
Oops. You'll have to forgive these slips, my first computer ran MS-DOS and I missed the 80s.
Maybe something from this page would work better.

Offline MAVW

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Re: The History of Pixel Art

Reply #39 on: February 06, 2016, 11:13:14 pm
I think we should keep Eboy, as Gil said, even if they did more harm than good to the community it doesn't disqualify them as historically relevant pixel artists.

They may have a very limited technique to their work but it's undeniable that they pushed pixel art to a more mainstream view beyond the "videogamy art style" view pixel art has.