The Future Of Pixel Art

[ndchristie]

2) not sure about this one... but i dont see why not.
What about applying pixels to 3d? either build it up like lego somehow, or make a style like cellshading so that it looks like pixels.
I believe that some of the things in golden sun, and i think super mario rpg(snes) were made 3d and then put into the game. So what if used those same tactics and made an actual 3d game. still looks like pixel (such as super mario rpg) but then would have the ability of a 3d game.

voxels rockxel (except for the fact that you cant have dynamic lighint very easily)

[miascugh]

flaber: i'm not sure if i can follow you there. you're not talking about pixel art, but about game graphics. and both those, vector- and pre-rendered graphics have been out there for a long long time. also, converting pixelart into vectors would be kind of weird. why not start out vector in the first place?

and i just don't get that cell-shading remark. or what comes after that heh. though you might want to have a look at paper mario, i've got a feeling that this could be what you are looking for

[vierbit]

@flaber
as miascugh said already, your two points makes not much sense.

voxels are not very good if you make games
because they have limitations rather than polygon graphics,
and most voxelgraphics in games looks really messy.
there is a reason that most 3d games use polygons. 

[Skull]

As Adarias said, the screen sizes are the real limitations (as well as the friggin controls, tried playing an platformish game on your phone? or any game that requires two buttons at once? heh..)

Because, seriously.. who even bought an N-Gage?

[Kennethfejer]

i doubt pixelart will disappear anytime soon.
when developing for mobile phones, you're not just developing for 1 device, but rather 200+ and all with different specs (processing power, screensizes and so on)
so even if the new nokia or sony ericsson phones gets a nvidia 3d chip, most people will still have an old crappy phone without the 3d capability.
so until the 3d chips(or huge screen resolutions (VGA)) are the mainstream, there will still be enough work for pixelartists.

[Conzeit]

I think we should not depend on hardware to keep Pixelart alive.

I think it is our responsability to develop wholly new aproaches for pixelart,  that is why I enjoy Helm's RGB pic so much, but I also belive we need to develop the techniques of pixelart outside of the realm of pixelart, that is when we can be sure it wont die because that'd make it a meaningfull aesthetic outside of it's medium

[big brother]

people are making the assumption that resolutions are simply going to continue to get smaller and better, but the fact is that there are very real physical limitations with cellphones regarding screen size, and even when clean 3d resolutions become accessable i tihnk much of what goes on will favor pixel art for its clarity.  i could be wrong but i doubt it.

Mobile is already moving in the 3d direction. Look at a few of these titles available on the V-Cast phones:
Madden NFL 07 (coming soon, the trailer looks tasty)
Need for Speed Most Wanted
Massive Snowboarding

The bigger players in the wireless gaming industry seem to be looking more and more for low-poly 3d artists. However, a good chunk of 2d work is needed by the small independent developers.

Pixel remains viable for GBA and DS also, but I feel that most reviewers tend to be less impressed by it, seeing it as a sort of nostalgic appeal to the games of yesteryear.

[ndchristie]

but the gamers of yesteryear are the ones with the most cash

my point is that good 3d (resolutions) cant be put onto a telephone, nor can speedy gameplay.  you arent going to have metroid prime hunters on your v-cast 

you do have a point, but i and i think most people would rather play a good 2d game instead of something that looks and plays like Descent and has worse controls than an old VCR

what i cant figure is why MMO's arent going on mobiles (yet)  .  wouldnt it be cool if you could leave your house AND get killed by oversized ladybugs at the same time ?  people have good internet connections on things like cellphones and blackberries.  probably that damned resolution issue 

[AlexHW]

I worked on an mmo, but it never came through because most people don't like to play those games in this region. They are more interested in brand names and sports, things which they know, and things which companies can rely on to make money. If you make some mmo that no one has heard of, chances are people wont care about it because they are looking for all the things which are identifiable to them, and companies see it as too big of a risk to produce if there will be little profit.
it's really lame work, and sucked dry of creativity.

[flaber]

I think we should not depend on hardware to keep Pixelart alive.

I think it is our responsability to develop wholly new aproaches for pixelart,  that is why I enjoy Helm's RGB pic so much, but I also belive we need to develop the techniques of pixelart outside of the realm of pixelart, that is when we can be sure it wont die because that'd make it a meaningfull aesthetic outside of it's medium

thats kinda what i was trying to say

develop new approaches
Have 3d graphics that look like they were pixelled.. as if the image was built with pixels like you build with lego
thats what i was trying to say before with vectors and stuff
yes you can do vectors, but then its all smooth and such, but if u convert pixels into vector it still keeps the pixel look about it, the pixel style but then you are able to manipulate it more

again..
these are just thoughts
just thought id throw them out there