Sonic & Tails Pixel Bricks

Posted on 04/09/2014 by Conner Flynn

Do you miss your childhood and the video game characters that went along with it? Well, we can’t deliver all of them from every platform, but now is your chance to bring SEGA’s Sonic and Tails back into your life – in blocky, pixelated form.

These Pixel Bricks will let you build both Sonic and Tails so you can display them and admire them anywhere in your home. These packs contain 210 pieces for Sonic and 175 tiny pieces for Tails.

Now you can recreate cool scenes from the games and relive your childhood. And since both are pixellated, so they look authentic. They may not run fast, but they look great. So spindash over to RED5 to order yours now.

Final Fantasy III Screen Door Pixel Art: Mesh for Fantasy

Posted on 23/06/2014 by Shane McGlaun

I’m not sure why we don’t see more classic art from old video games rendered lovingly on a screen door. The little squares on the screen door material are perfect for representing blocky pixelated graphics. All you need to do is look at this Final Fantasy III art to see that a screen door is the perfect medium.

This screen door art comes to us by way of a twitter user called Rurue0111. The artist used stained window paint to carefully fill in the squares. The paint was applied using a toothpick.

Using the stained glass paint is a good move since that paint is designed to be opaque and let light shine through. I’d like to see some blocky Mario art done in this fashion as well, or perhaps a full on Pac-Man recreation using the entire door.

[via Kotaku]

Turn Any Floor into an 8-bit Video Game Map with These Tiles

Posted on 20/06/2014 by Conner Flynn

Sometimes I really miss those old epic quest RPG gaming titles like The Legend of Zelda. Nothing today really captures the excitement I felt back then while playing those games. These Quest 8-bit Mats sets from JBox are the perfect way to relive those old games. Plus, you can cross the entire map in like a few steps. That would have taken forever in game.

Each set sells for just $6.85(USD) and comes with four blocks: two base tiles and two “special” tiles. They measure about 1-foot square by 1.5-inch thick, and are made from foam, so they should last awhile and are light weight. Each mat features something different. Some have fields, boulders, bricks and even treasure boxes.

If you buy a few sets, there’s really no reason you can’t have a huge game of D&D on your floor. Just plop some figures down and you’ll be playing.

[via Walyou via Nerd Approved]

Pixel Panties: 8-Bitini

Posted on 11/06/2014 by Lambert Varias

Designers Sebastião Teixeira and Cesaria Martins have a pair of underwear for gamers who grew up during the 8-bit era. They’re called Pixel Panties. Frankly I’m surprised it took this long for someone to make something like this, and that Sebastião and Cesaria didn’t make a matching bra.

The pitch video is slightly NSFW:

Pledge at least $25 (USD) on Indiegogo to get a pair of Pixel Panties as a reward. Wait for my Retina Panties, which have a much higher resolution than these.

[via I Heart Chaos]

PixelBots: Making Things With Light! (And Robots!)

Posted on 14/04/2014 by Paul Strauss

When I was growing up, one of my favorite toys was the good old Lite Brite. I’m guessing that it was an indication that I would later find myself hopelessly addicted to pixel art. Now, technologists are working on tiny robots which can create Lite Brite style art all on their own.

Created by Disney Research and the Autonomous Systems Lab, ETH Zurich, PixelBots are round, palm-sized robots which have a LEDs inside of them, and a drive mechanism on their bottoms. An overhead camera tracks the positions of each robot and a computer controls each robot remotely. They’re designed to be able to swarm together to create rudimentary images composed of dots.

Currently, the robots can replicate images drawn on a tablet, and the can also change between images using gesture controls. They can also automatically recover their position if a user picks one up and moves it out of place.

One other neat thing is that their wheels are actually magnetic, so they could not only be used on tabletops, but they could stick to whiteboards too. While I’m not sure there are too many practical application for PixelBots, they sure look like fun, and I’d certainly love to have a fleet of them at my command.

You can read more about how PixelBots work in the research paper Image and Animation Display with Multiple Mobile Robots.

Dragon Quest Floor Mats: Wiper of the Remnant Slimes

Posted on 24/03/2014 by Lambert Varias

Square Enix will be releasing floor mats featuring graphics from the 8-bit Dragon Quest games. The mats are made of acrylic fiber and will come in three variants: journey – i.e. a portal – staircase and poison swamp. Yes kids, this is how swamps looked like back then.

Each mat measures 500mm x 500mm (approx. 20″ x 20″) and has a non-slip bottom.

Each mat will also come with a redeemable code for Dragon Quest X players to adorn their houses with a virtual equivalent of their purchased mat.

Give your browser a puff puff and head to JBOX or AmiAmi to order the floor mats. JOBX sells them for $23 each while AmiAmi has them for ¥1,310 (~$13 USD).

[via Tiny Cartridge via GoNintendo]

Game Frame Pixel Art Frame: 8-Bit Lite Brite

Posted on 13/02/2014 by Conner Flynn

Show off your love for retro gaming with this animated pixel art frame. Similar to the Pixel and Pixel V2, Game Frame is a digital canvas that can be loaded up with hundreds of your favorite 8-bit video game characters and symbols. Time to show off some 8-bit art in your home.

Basically the frame is a grid of 256 ultra-bright LED pixels, for showing off all kinds of geek art. In fact, Game Frame comes with over 40 brand new animations from eBoy. The hardware is Arduino-based, and the complete source code will be released once they ship. Thousands of images & animations can be stored on SD and played back the way you want, configured by two buttons on top.

While it’s not as high resolution as the Pixel, there’s something to be said for the chunky square LED pixels on the Game Frame.

A pledge of at least $230(USD) will get you a completely assembled Game Frame, while you can pick up a kit version with all components but the frame for $150, or without the LEDs for $60.

[via This is Why I'm Broke]

PIXEL V2 Pixel Art LED Frame: More Features, More Accesories, Same Great Resolution

Posted on 10/02/2014 by Lambert Varias

I was going to talk about a pixel art LED display that’s currently raising funds on Kickstarter when I remembered that I already saw something much better: Al Linke’s PIXEL. It turns out he’s also raising funds on Kickstarter for PIXEL V2, an improved version of his display.

Like the original display, PIXEL V2 has 1024 LEDs arranged in a 32×32 matrix. After all, it’s designed to display low-res images and animations so increasing the displays resolution wasn’t necessary. What makes PIXEL V2 much better than its predecessor is that it’s more versatile and customizable, both in terms of software and hardware. For starters, you can now control it with an OS X computer and a Raspberry Pi via USB, in addition to the Android and Windows USB and Bluetooth connectivity that was also present in the original. Unfortunately, it still has no support for iOS though.

Aside from directly sending images to the display via a PC or an Android device, you can also store images on PIXEL V2′s onboard SD card in stand alone mode, after which it will keep displaying images and even animated gifs even if it’s not connected to any computer or mobile device. Another neat feature of PIXEL V2 are its mixed media overlays. As shown in the image below, the overlays allow you to display a drawing on top of the LED display.

PIXEL V2 comes with over 150 samples of pixel art, but as always you can send other images to the display. As shown in the video below, you can even make apps for PIXEL V2. Turn it into a message board, make it display the weather and more. It also has five sensor inputs and optional alcohol and proximity sensors for even more creative applications, although these sensors require an Android device to work.

Pledge at least $260 (USD) on Kickstarter to get a fully assembled PIXEL V2 display. Unassembled kits and partial parts are also available at lower pledges.

Geeky Heroes Boiled Down to Basic Blocks

Posted on 02/02/2014 by Paul Strauss

Artist Adam Lister creates awesome watercolor paintings of iconic pop culture figures using rudimentary block shapes. The most meta of his images has to be the watercolor of Bob Ross – though I’m having a hard time making out any happy little trees.

Despite their apparent simplicity, each image clearly conveys its subjects, while giving them a sort of 16-bit pixelated sensibility to them. He’s done versions of Darth Vader, Superman, Boba Fett, Batman and Robin, Iron Man, and even Forrest Gump. But my personal favorite is Kirk and Spock:

You can find more of Adam’s pieces over on his website – where you can get limited-edition 5×7 Giclee prints of many of his images. He’s even got a special running through today (2/2/14) where you can grab them for just $30(USD). And be sure to check out his gallery of original paintings here.

[via Geek Art]

Minecraft Paper Snowflakes Will Creep up Your Christmas

Posted on 21/12/2013 by Conner Flynn

Minecraft fans will enjoy hanging these paper snowflakes on their Christmas tree this year. You have probably already downloaded and cut some other paper snowflakes. Now you can add some Creepers.

These snowflakes are from Instructables contributor Penolopy Bulnick. You can choose from snowflakes with weapons or one that looks like a bunch of Creepers. They looks great and blocky just like in the game. If your tree happens to be pixelated, these will look even better. At least until the Creepers explode.

You’ve spent hours upon hours playing the game, so you might as well deck the halls with Creepers this year. Have a very Minecraft Christmas and a Creeper New Year!

[via Nerd Approved]

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