re: video games

Cool topic Sarah. From the army of crafters on Etsy making Mario Brother pillow cases (or whatever) to the world of high fashion with Alba Prat, it's amazing how much inspiration artists have mined from the aesthetic of 8 bit graphics.
A while back I wanted to relive the glory days of Atari 2600 and Coleco and after visiting a few Goodwills amassed a nice collection. Building the collection was fun but playing the games was torturous and boring. Not only were the graphics lousy but the gameplay sucked too. How could I have wasted so many hours of my little kid life to this? It was a total "Hey Dude" moment and I realized nostalgia had gotten the best of me.

So yeah, the look and feel of 80's video games. Often times its used ironically such as
George Plimpton's Video Falconry

But lately another direction has been along the lines of this. Superbrothers Sword and Sorcery has a genuine appreciation for the look of 8bit but without being deliberately retro. I've yet to play it but it sure looks nice.


Audience Calibration Procedure from Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery on Vimeo.

People may be interested in Art of Video Games exhibit at the Smithsonian starting March 16, 2012.