This is a good summary.

If we ever reach the point of "constantly recycling" the kickass games I played as a kid, I'll let you know. Most pixel art games are "retro" like a Hot Topic store that plays disco.

Wow, good answers! Good point! Still, I think RpgMaker supports 640x480 px? Look at what Harvester managed with that resolution! Yes, the game are free. But shouldn't freeware games be taken just as seriously as games that are sold? I think debate about free indie games is just as important as debate about AAA-titles. If free-indies tends to suck a certain way, it should be addressed.

True:: indies don't have much budget, so they can't just hire some graphic artists. But with the internet and everything, it must be possible to hook up with some artists, who are willing to provide free art for a free game.

You know, somehow I agree. Being negative and complaining about what one dislikes is a fine reason for execution. However, my post wasn't as much about disliking pixelart as it was about that I really like 2D artwork, and that I think that it is sad that so many indies are stuck at the pixelart trope.


I dunno, there's certain retro games that are offering offendingly hard gameplay, such as THEY BLEED PIXELS and HOTLINE MIAMI.

I'll just post this here without any further comment (found via Twitter):

http://pbs.twimg.com/media/BoJ_A-0IcAAvuAT.png

I am tired of the pixel aesthetic myself, I think it's really uninspired and lazy in some cases (not all).

But yeah, things cost money, buuut, I don't see how that's my problem- it's up to the content creator to knock shit together to create content. If it's pixels, it's pixels, but don't expect everyone to like it just because something was created.

It's okay if people dislike something just on the basis of it being that thing.

I think the pixel art style is more acceptable for some games than others. There is good and bad pixel art like there are good and bad games. It's subjective though. I could state that some games moving from well drawn sprites to 3D models or vector graphics ended up looking worse in the long run, such as Cave Story for the 3DS. Again, its all a matter of taste.

In the past, oil painting were the ultimate visual expression possible. Then came the photograph. Oil painting artists invented impressionism, expressionism, pointism, etc. to stand up against the photograph. However, the photograph became medium of the future. There are still oil paintings, but since photography does photorealism better, the artists won't dedicate as much energy at creating perfect, lifelike paintings.

And in the past, comic books were a fresh and effective medium. They were the ultimate in cheap escapism. Back then, comic books were a medium of importance. Books were written about how comics corrupted the youth. So naturally, comic book artist took their craft seriously. Today, there's a a lot of other medias that does escapism better, like games, netflix and youtube. So while comics are still created, the artwork a lot more crappy than it was in the golden years of the comics.

Likewise, in the past, 2D games had the same epic status as 3D AAA games has today. The pre-rendered 2D game MYST was one of these important games that you could read about in the papers. Now the role of 2D games are much more humble. The fact that a game is in 2D is in itself a upper bar. Even if you model each game element in clay, (THE SWAPPER) the game will still just be a 2D game. I think this role that 2D games has today gives a more laid-back approach to the visual efforts.

^^ This.

Anyway, about my originalt post: It is NOT "Below viewing treshold"

It is "Below viewing threshold"