Like many of us, Campbell Whyte remembers the time when 8-bit graphics were magical, when pixels and tiny sprites evoked wonder and excitement. Unlike us, though, Whyte's also a skilled illustrator, and used his fond NES memories as the basis of the 8 Bit Dreams project.
Whyte created an illustration a day for over a year, aiming to pinpoint what made those early games so special. In Whyte's words:
I was trying to capture something about those early games. The frantic energy, the vague and suggestive graphics, the hyper kinetic sounds. It formed a sort of unified mythology, a religious codex of parables and fables.
The video below is the first part of Whyte's project, featuring drawings of 375 NES games, nearly halfway towards Whyte's ultimate 789 target. How many can you name?
Thanks to Twitter follower YomeNetSan for the tip.
[source campbellwhyte.com]
Comments 20
I remember when this project began and there was an article about on this site but only a few drawings as the project had just begun... looking at it now, it has come a far way! Well done to the artist, brilliant idea.
Sounds cool! Too bad it's a video and I can't watch those at work though...
I could've sworn I saw the Kid Icarus one twice...
kr neki
Wow! Very neat drawwwrrrings xD
Makes me wish I could draw
Love the boy and his blob one
Groove-tastic Drawings! (and music)
Ghosts and Ghouls was my favorite
The art is sold on their etsy site, I might pick up their DQ art!
Dat artstyle
Nice style...
@Ulala Agreed.
so there were 375 pictures... how many NES games were there ever made?
@ 14
937( I think)
this makes me realize and remember how many insanely fun, addictive, and overall great games there were back in those days. They were often simple, but that's what made them so compelling to play. There are simpler arcade style games being made now for Wii Ware, PSN, and XBLA, but they just don't capture that 8 bit vibe that I started out on as a young gamer.
The sheer number of illustrations here, in their comical, mischievous, action packed, and fun way, really do capture the glory that was NES.
It sort of makes me want to go download every single Virtual Console game the Wii offers lol. If only they were cheaper.
Once it gets to the Wii U, prices should really go down. NES games should be like, $1.00 each. And SNES can be $2.50. N64 should go down to $5, and gamecube could be anywhere between $10 & $15. Digital versions of Wii games could even be distributed, for a more substantial sum, $20 - $30. And, similarly to XBLA and PSN, full retail Wii U games could be distributed digitally for a slightly discounted price, say $50 instead of $60.
I hope Nintendo does this.
Then I truly will go on a downloading craze!
When did Mario ever use a gun?
@Sakeraf over 1,000 were released in Japan, but in North America I think it's nearly 800
There were quite a few games represented more than once, it seemed.
These drawings remind me of FlapJack.
COOL ART
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