Does pixel art visuals have a place in the industry?

[JenkinsHTTK]

Alright serious discussion here folks and admittedly one close to my heart.


The zeitgeist throughout the current state of the industry is photo-realism = quality video games and i am of the notion that this is going to spell the next video game market crash. If you reference statistics, we can see video game development costs rise exponentially while profit margins remain stagnant for the most part, just look at the numerous and tragic disbandment of many beloved game companies throughout the years 2010 to 2012 to understand how damaging this mentality is. Even more saddening is the growing lack of creativity in the area of visuals.

I dunno man, maybe it is my nostalgia induced tunnel vision and bias here but i would love to see the reemergence of pixel art in video games. Any thoughts on this? Do you share my opinion? Will there ever be a mainstream triple-A title that can shift the current, self-destructive paradigm?

[Spuuky]

There are many, many pixel art games being produced right now. They're mostly indie games. A pixel art game is the best-selling game of the last 5 years (and ever).

[Skyblade]

This is only hurting those who let it hurt them. Mostly large companies and those developing "AAA" games.

Handhelds and indies are still full of games that don't even attempt to have photorealistic graphics or styles, and they are, in my opinion, destroying most of the mainstream market in terms of quality.

As long as people continue to buy the games based on visuals, they'll continue to sell and be made that way. Eventually, I'm sure, the bubble will burst and there will be another video game crash, but I don't think we're anywhere near that point. Pretty games sell, even if they're not that good, and require far to much in terms of resources to make.

It's simply our job to make sure that those games which put substance over style continue to sell.

[Del Murder]

Yeah you can still find it in indie games. I think with the power of current and next-gen consoles and the expectations people have about graphical quality, a major pixel art game for a console probably won't be financially feasible.

[Skyblade]

Yeah you can still find it in indie games. I think with the power of current and next-gen consoles and the expectations people have about graphical quality, a major pixel art game for a console probably won't be financially feasible.

I think it's feasible, though not immediately. You're right, with the expectations and power, people who dole out the money for a current gen system are probably going to be expecting top-tier graphical quality. But once it becomes clear that the power and the visual fidelity are there for every game, I think a company could make a very successful game using different styles of visuals. People would pick it up for the novelty and the switch away from ultra-realism (especially if ultra-realistic games continue to utilize relatively shallow color palettes). I could see games with distinctive and unique art styles being vary successful after the first solid year of releases. And, if people realize that these games look just as stunning (any graphical system can be made HD), and be just as fun, they might well be able to pick up and continue, at least with a niche audience.

[JenkinsHTTK]

With nominal successes such as Dishonored, Walking Dead and X-com within the last year or so, I must say I'm glad to know consumers in the current market give games that wish to develop their own identity a chance.

Hopefully this is a good omen.

[Bolivar]

I think there's a hesitancy to put pixel art on a $60 Blu Ray but with the accessibility and comfort with different pricing mechanisms in the coming generation I think we'll even see the big publishers start to tap into more with their projects.

[Pete for President]

Style over number of polygons any day.

Where Is My Heart is an awesome pixelart PSMini for PS3 if you haven't checked it out yet.

[Psychotic]

Depends completely on the game and context, but yes, definitely. The move towards photorealism makes everything look the same, and so some variation is always appreciated and stands out more.

[Dr Unne]

Quality art vs. pixel art is a false dichotomy. Pixel art can certainly be low-res, low-budget, low-effort crap. It's easy to make bad pixel art. The programs to produce it are free (MS Paint). The file format is simple. Stuffing it into a game is simple. It appeals to programmers making their own games, who might not be great artists themselves.

Pixel art can also be really high-quality and take a ton of time and skill to produce, just like any other art. Look at http://www.foolstown.com/ for example. That stuff is amazing, and it was all drawn pixel-by-pixel.

Look at some of the stuff below, from the PSP FF1. I don't know that the FF1 stuff is really pixel art (in the sense of a picture drawn by manually placing all of the pixels). But it sure looks like it. One thing you could not call this art is low-quality, low-res or low-budget.

MS_69.pngMS_77.pngMS_88.png

I have bought games based on visuals before, where the visuals were pixel art. Recent handheld 2D Castlevania games are an example. There have been tons of recent successful games with pixel art recently. As others have said, look toward indie games.

Nostalgia probably plays a part in the appeal of some pixel art, but it's not all nostalgia. Pixel art is a legitimate art form and it's alive and well today. If anyone is interested in creating (or ogling) good pixel art, check out http://wayofthepixel.net/pixelation/index.php and http://www.pixeljoint.com/, two places pixel artists hang out.

[Hollycat]

Resogun is one of the best games on PS4 and all the animations are pixel art. I'd like to make myself believe that pixel art is relevant.