Yeah, Picross seriously is gaming crack.

Most of our recent licensed games have gotten reviewed pretty well, actually. The Flash game averaged 72% on Metacritic (69% on gamerankings) and got mostly 8/10s. The last Barbie got a 70% at IGN (don't think it got reviewed elsewhere). The last two GBA Spongebobs averaged 68% and 70%. These aren't mindblowing scores but for licensed games, where the reviewers usually go in looking to hate, we're definitely running above par on our scores.

http://microsites.ign.com/nintendo/drawntolife/

Check it out. A buddy of mine at another company directed the game. When you're zoomed in all the way though, you can pixel pretty precisely so I'm sure some of the folks here could whip up amazing pieces, especially given the prizes.

Actually, my company has plenty of fulltime freelancers. I freelanced at WayForward for a year before I became salaried, and at least 8 months of that was as a fulltimer. I agree that in terms of negotiation and exuding professionalism, a set price is probably better. But what you end up having a lot of on handheld games is tons of little unexpected art chores that need doing, and for those it's great to have people around who are hourly that can work on anything at any time, without having to negotiate pricing over and over. They're not seen as lesser (at leats not at my company) and they get their full 40+ hours a week, they just haven't been formally hired yet. Some people at the company even choose to remain freelance, because they prefer the freedom - a freelancer is under no obligation to do anything beyond their immediate workload, while a salaried person is.

You'll probably impress your employer and get more work from them, or they may recommended you.

Yup. There are a few guys I work with that are definitly not cheap in their hourly rate, but they're so fast and professional that they're totally worth it.