When I was growing up, the Atari 2600 was a staple in family rooms everywhere. But despite the countless hours of entertainment these gaming systems provided, there’s no question they had primitive graphics. Imagine though if the Atari 2600 could have had real-world backgrounds for its games. It might look something like this…
For his Atari World series, digital artist Carlos Pérez combined idyllic real-world scenes with the rudimentary pixel graphics from an Atari 2600. The end result is both surreal and beautiful.
It would be cool if somebody went back and remade classic Atari 2600 games with these backgrounds. While their gameplay still might lack depth, they’d certainly be a feast for they eyes.
I always wondered how clean it was down in those pipes where Mario would duck into. I certainly wouldn’t want to jump into some green pipe sticking out of the sidewalk. While a real sewer pipe might not be so pleasant, this one is filled with nothing but tasty goodness.
This delightful 8-bit Mario cake by I Am Ginger Pops features the pixelated likeness of the plumber peeping his head out of a green drain pipe, surrounded by some of the denizens of the Mushroom Kingdom. In all honesty, I don’t think gum paste and fondant taste all that good, but Toad looks so delicious, I want to pop him into my mouth and chomp him down this second. And forget about the cake on the inside of the pipe – it’s a dense vanilla fudge cake. Damn, that sounds so much better than lousy old 1up mushrooms.
Great job on the cake, Ginger Pops. Now how can I get one to put in my belly?
This Han Solo LEGO pixel art from The Sydney Brick Show this past April is mindblowingly cool. If you aren’t familiar with the event, it’s an opportunity for Australian LEGO sculptors bring some of their creations and get together with other fans.
Skels from Geek Crafts shared some of the best things that she saw there and among them is this amazing pixelated Han Solo LEGO sculpture. This entire piece is said to be about 1 meter squared and is comprised of over TWENTY THOUSAND bricks.
Yes, you read that right. Why so many? Because those pieces are the tiny “one-ers” that are always all over your kid’s floor, waiting to stab you in the feet.
The UK town of Ipswich has an odd name, but that’s not what concerns us here. The town hosts an annual music and arts festival known as Switch Fringe, and this year there is a special addition to the program book. An 8-bit map of the town – from Zelda!
Sound crazy? It is. The Decibel Kid designed it. He turned the entire town of Ipswich into a Zelda level. Pretty novel idea for this years event. But there is more than just this image. If you want, you can view a digital version of the map and zoom around to see all the fun details. If you look closely, you’ll even find Link wandering around the festival.
Too bad the level isn’t playable.
Cities are awesome when they look like games. Ipswich is my new favorite UK town.
In all honesty, it’s been a while since I dusted off my original NES copy of The Legend of Zelda, but it’s still one of the all time classic video games, IMHO. But even if you don’t play the game regularly, you could have a daily reminder of Link’s adventures thanks to this awesome Legend of Zelda quilt.
Every time you lie down on the couch to take a nap, you could snuggle up under this hand-pieced quilt by artist Kelly Jaworski. It features a detailed pixel art image of Link, and is surrounded by triangular pieces of fabric, shaped like Triforces.
The small version of the quilt measures about 3.5 x 4.5 ft and sells for $199 (USD), while the queen-size (5.5 x 7.5 ft) version goes for $299. I wonder how many rupees that is.
Each one is backed with soft flannel to help keep you warm during long quests through Hyrule.
Have you ever accidentally formed a shape or a letter while playing Tetris? Felt swell did you? As always, the Internet is here to remind you that other people are much more awesome than your are. First up is Michael Birken, who wrote a software algorithm that can draw a portrait by playing a modified version of Tetris.
As I mentioned above, Birken’s Tetris Printer algorithm needs to use a custom variant of Tetris. The game field is bigger and the algorithm also controls the sequence of pieces. But it’s still very remarkable because it actually plays by the rule of the game, i.e. if it forms a horizontal line, that line is wiped out and so on. That means it has to go through ridiculously tedious methods to accomplish the simplest of tasks.
For instance, all tetrominoes are made of four blocks. So what if it only needs to “draw” one block? Birken states, “To generate an individual square, the algorithm assembles a structure consisting of a rectangular region fully supported by a single square protruding from the bottom. When the rectangular region is completed, its rows are cleared, leaving behind the protruding square.”
You can head to Birken’s website for his full explanation and the source code of Tetris Printer. Or just play the video below and enjoy the result:
Surely such precise manipulations can only be done by machines and their cold logic. WRONG. YouTuber John Schuepbach aka Shuey187 is the human equivalent of the Tetris Printer. As in, he doesn’t know which pieces will come out. He just plays and plays and plays, taking each little opportunity the game gives him so he can impose his will on the game’s relentless chaos. In fact, he’s been doing this way before Birken ever came up with his algorithm. Here he is painstakingly drawing Mario:
No matter how much you blow on these scarves, they’re still going to be glitchy. These 8bit scarves from Glitchaus by Jeff Donaldson are designed based on a pattern from a composite screen capture from the short circuit screen from the Nintendo Entertainment System. Those pixel errors look a lot better on a person than on the screen- and certainly less frustrating- argh! Jeff keeps a 1:1 pixel to knot ratio (which btw is one my top 3 ratios after the Golden Ratio and 2:1). He also has some 16 and 32 bit designs. Each scarf is hand knit to order and available in pre-selected or custom color choices for $75-95.
Okay, I actually don’t know if you could have produced these images with an 8-bit system, or if you would have needed a 16-bit one, but I still love the way these retro styled cityscapes look, no matter how many bits they required.
These illustrations were created by Miles Donovan of The Daily Robot, and are currently available in Chicago, Boston and Seattle versions. They kind of remind me of the sort of thing I might have drawn with Deluxe Paint on my old Atari ST, but they were painstakingly drawn with Adobe Illustrator.
Each print measures 12-inches square, is printed on heavy cover stock and is signed by the artist. You can choose from the day time scenes shown here, or a sunset version if you’d prefer. Since they are all vector art, the images could possibly be enlarged too, though you’ll need to ask the artist if he can get them printed in bigger sizes.
Watch as blocks fall into place and build images of familiar gaming faces due to a custom made software. The …
Artist Miles Donovan captures three excellent cityscapes in 8-bit form. Would you believe that these fantastic pixelated cityscapes were not …
