Why is pixel art like CryptoPunks still popular?

Original Title: 《The Pixel Art Revolution Will Be Televised》

Original Source: Aidan Moher, Writer, Hugo Award Winner

Original Translation: Rhythm 0x21

After a year of refinement, the NFT market has become increasingly mature amidst several ups and downs. Careful collectors can easily notice that more and more professional artists and creative teams are getting involved, bringing "Hollywood-level" NFT works. For example, Prime Ape Planet created by artists from BMPC, NFT Bored Bunny, and the highly anticipated HAPE, C-01, among others. This stands in stark contrast to the pixel art that was previously seen as crypto-native.

Some believe that pixel art originates from the community, with representatives like CryptoPunks, Worldwide Webb, and CyberKongz not only embodying the creation of pixel art but also the spirit of crypto originality. Others argue that 3D technology has reached a level indistinguishable to the naked eye, and that pixel-style NFTs are more a compromise in technology during the early development of the metaverse. 3D NFTs are a manifestation of our embrace of technological advancement.

So, is pixel art constrained by technological development, or is it an extension of people's "nostalgic" emotions? In the article "The Pixel Art Revolution Will Be Televised," Aidan Moher delves into the reasons why pixel art has been able to develop to this day through interviews with pixel artists from Extremely OK Games.

Rhythm BlockBeats translates the original text as follows:

Developed by PLAYING CHUCKLEFISH, "Wander Song" gave me a sense of returning home, an experience unlike any other. After its initial reveal in 2018, I was immediately drawn in by its Zelda-like adventure elements, rich narrative, and complex character relationships. But most importantly, the stunning scenes and high-precision environments built with pixel art left me in awe.

After the game was officially released in 2019, my brother described "Wander Song" as: "The world it creates feels like we grew up in it." "Wander Song" is also featured on the Extremely OK Games platform. Previously, "Celeste" and Eric Barone's large farming simulator "Stardew Valley" (also from CHUCKLEFISH) joined this platform. They cleverly utilize the retro aesthetics of pixel games to cater to nostalgic sentiments. This has made Extremely OK Games a rapidly developing hub focused on pixel art. While many of these games could also be done on Nintendo and Sega systems, Extremely OK Games can provide more complex graphical optimizations and gameplay.

But how do strange pixel games like "Wander Song" leave such a deep impression in an era where people pursue realism and powerful 3D engines? The developers of these games believe that pixel art is not merely an outdated product, nor a technical compromise or limitation. Instead, it is a thriving art form that is inextricably linked to video games. After being stifled by Sony and Nintendo 25 years ago, pixel art has seen a revival, largely thanks to the popularity of independently developed games like "Celeste" and "Wander Song." The popularity of pixel art is not just due to its nostalgic charm; it has also become a bridge to modern gaming.

The Creativity of Four Pixels

"Pixel art has many similarities to Impressionist paintings," says Pedros Medeiros, a pixel artist from Extremely OK Games in Canada. Pedros is also the visual artist for the game "Celeste." His work is known for its pixel blocks and Impressionist style, often conveying more emotional impact than many AAA titles with sky-high budgets and cutting-edge technology.

Like Monet's Impressionist paintings, pixel art requires players to fill in the blanks with their own experiences, forming a unique personal relationship with the creator. Pixel art is inherently limited by the canvas. Unlike other types of visual art created with brushes, watercolor pencils, or 3D polygons, pixel art creates a color block (pixel) at a time. Typically, the canvas for pixel art is low resolution. The protagonist of "Celeste," Madeline, doesn't even have a real face in the game. "It only has four pixels," Medeiros says. "But what players see is a face, right? The face they see is different from the one I see."

I grew up in the 1990s when Nintendo was adapting its Mario and Zelda series to 3D, which was eye-opening. Meanwhile, Sony was actively suppressing 2D pixel art games on its brand-new PlayStation. Despite exceptions like "Castlevania: Symphony of the Night" and "Suikoden II," the connection between pixel art and players was stifled by companies chasing new technology.

Christina-Antoinette Neofotistou, a pixel artist with decades of experience, states that the boom of indie games over the past decade has allowed pixel art to rise. "Many smaller teams with lower budgets can develop titles equivalent to 'AAA' games from the 90s."

Neofotistou is an illustrator, animator, and game developer known for his work on the animated film "Pixels." He previously worked on the Warner Bros. game "Space Jam: A New Legacy," which features vibrant pixel art reminiscent of classic GBA games like "Streets of Rage."

"Pixel art is essentially about solving geometric problems," Neofotistou says. Pixels are like mosaic tiles, overlapping and intersecting to outline an ideal shape, infusing one's intentions into it. Artists use the simplest means to tackle a complex problem. The final result often leaves one in awe: "How did they create this piece of art with so few pixels?"

Many of Neofotistou's inspirations come from Susan Kare, the icon designer for Apple's first Macintosh computer and a pioneering pixel artist. She created many classic game works such as "Secret of Monkey Island," "The Sandman," and "Prince of Persia." She herself was deeply influenced by the Pre-Raphaelite movement and the Golden Age illustrator Beatrix Potter. In her view, this continuous flow of inspiration indicates that art can transcend time and medium.

Both Medeiros and Neofotistou believe that pixel art is not a style but a medium through which artists infuse their own styles. By comparing the visuals of "Celeste" and "Wander Song," it's easy to see that both are pixel art, but their tones, textures, and visual impacts are uniquely defined by their creators. "The use of pixel art as a medium fluctuates with trends, just as oil paint gives way to watercolor," Neofotistou says. Nostalgia is a market demand formed by a generation that grew up in the 80s and 90s and now has disposable income. The prices of pixel art are generally low, and it has accompanied these users as they grew up, so artists and fans naturally hope it can return to the mainstream.

"I think some games almost treat nostalgia as a pillar," Medeiros says, explaining that he believes pixel art can transcend nostalgia and create new experiences. Artists like Medeiros and Neofotistou have created new changes throughout their long careers. These changes are breaking gamers' expectations of modern pixel art.

"Undeniably, pixel art games evoke nostalgia," Medeiros admits, "even modern games are the same." However, any player who enters "Celeste" out of nostalgia is likely to be pleasantly surprised. While many players have an attachment to the game due to having lived in that era, there are still many players born after the "8Bit" style who are equally visually inspired, leading to a passionate response. Therefore, Medeiros intentionally avoids relying on nostalgia when designing game visuals. "That's not the feeling we want to convey in our game."

Times Have Changed

The unique display hardware limitations of CRT televisions gave rise to pixel art. Low resolution, saturated fluorescent colors, and low-frequency signals allowed pixel art to extend more creativity. On the other hand, modern pixel art is redefined by artists based on ultra-high-definition displays. For instance, OLED technology has changed the way artists create, bringing new opportunities and challenges.

Neofotistou recalls, "Looking back at the early days, many pixel artists believed that low resolution and pixel quality were creative obstacles; they tended to prefer higher resolutions. However, artists who do not accept the limitations of conditions cannot elevate their skills to another level. Artists should be able to create more works using limited resources and tools."

Although artists like Kazuko Shibuya from "Final Fantasy" have expressed regret over the limitations of 80s gaming technology, Neofotistou and Medeiros prefer to create their art through a combination of different tools rather than being defined by technology. This is also a distinction between modern pixel art and its predecessors. Neofotistou says, "If based on the conditions of Nintendo at the time, with the same technology, the same time, and the same budget, I still have confidence that I could do better than the artists at Nintendo back then."

"Pixel art not only has creative implications, but it also opens new doors for game production," says Medeiros's colleague Maddy Thorson, who is also a writer and designer for "Celeste."

"Pixel-form games, because the files are very small, allow us to store all the game graphics of 'Celeste' in the computer's memory," she explains. The entire game of "Celeste" is built around the concept of "trying" and "failing," which is also the most outrageous challenge in the game. Players frequently "die" due to difficulty, and there is a "shameless" death counter in the game. Since all game graphics are stored in the system memory, players can immediately restart after "dying," reducing frustration, and the increasing number on the "counter" creates an addictive feeling.

Perfect Pixels

Pixel art once dominated, then was abandoned, but now artists like Neofotistou and Medeiros are reinvigorating it. Their work is inspired by the indie game studio boom, gradually forming a mature medium that will exist for a long time. Just as the simple pixel art of the 80s was replaced by more complex technologies in the 90s, a similar evolution is happening, with pixel art being rediscovered as a modern technology. The limitations of technology have shattered, and the future of media is filled with infinite possibilities.

"Pixel art doesn't need to be categorized as retro," Neofotistou says. "The tools we use are best suited to the vision we are trying to achieve."

Medeiros sees a future for pixel art filled with experimentation and novel techniques. Even if the current pixel art movement fades at the end of the indie game boom, things that use pixels will not disappear. Neofotistou says, "We have only touched the most intuitive aspects of what pixel art can offer as a creative medium."

"From the mosaics of ancient Greece and Rome to stained glass, to cross-stitching, weaving, and bead art, to dot matrix printers and cheap LCD displays in buses or rice cookers, placing scattered dots on a grid to represent images is a practice that will not disappear in the short term," Neofotistou describes.

Art is an evolving medium, building on the past while exploring human experience and imagination as new styles and technologies emerge. It is precisely because of those mosaic patterns and stained glass that we have LCD screens in arcades and smartwatches; past pixel art is influencing creators to craft new experiences for future games.