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I know many readers are not actually visiting the website so they won't see this crazy banner. Check out 8-Bit City on your phone, but check the real deal sometimes too!

Thanks for reading, as always! I started the site with the intention of reviewing games that needed more attention. Five years later, I'm glad to do other stuff too, even if that means less interest in the site overall. Maybe I just want to explore the connection between video games and art without being a pretentious snob. Feelings and emotions don't make something artistic. 

Feelings and emotions are boring, and boring isn't good art. Art is strange and prompts the individual to think in new ways. 

But generally, I think, people are too closed-minded to really think about art and adding video games to the equation only further complicates the problem. Your typical "art game" looks like a painting no matter how you move the camera, and while that's fine, that's not all art can be. Games like Dwarf Fortress and Minecraft prompt real problem solving and creativity in the mind of the user. That's infinitely more interesting than a pretty commercial and orchestral soundtrack.

Yet the same individual who will appreciate say, the beauty of a Skyrim field, will probably be quick to denounce a De Kooning painting as trash.

So my real argument here is that the cultural difficulty facing video games is not about video games at all, but about all art in general. Humans prefer easy art that is quick to process and that which does not upset our understanding of the world (including our definition of what art is and can be). Humans, in this aspect, are much like apes for whom any change is always met with frustration and anger.

It's been years since critics could accept "pretty"/"beautiful"/"moving"/"serious"/"emotional" games as art. Society still needs to confront the artistic illiteracy enshrined at its core, and shed its limited capabilities based upon highly conservative definitions of art. How to do this? It'll probably have something to do with the internet.

Pixel Art: Zelda Atari

Because I did Zelda II in Atari-style the other day, I decided to give the original a try as well. Atari mock-ups are great fun, and I expect to do more of these in the future.

Will.i.Am sums up retro gaming

"I remember Joust and then Q*BertC, right with the graphics started getting better and then there was Pole Position and Mike Tyson Punch-Out. That's when Nintendo started coming in. I loved Duck Hunt. Do you remember Gyromite? What was that all about? And then Zelda came out. That's when I was like it's all about video games. Zelda. Did you save the princess yet? Did you get the fairy? Where's the fairies at? Wow, that was like the dopest. And there was that little pond that you had to go to get some more lives and stuff. I loved that. I mean, that's my childhood from just video games."

My favorite part is when he says, "Wow, that was like the dopest." He also discusses a back alley "arcade" his "friend" used to scam people out of pocket change.

Cool interview, you can read it on http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/17/tech/gaming-gadgets/will-i-am-video-games/index.html?hpt=hp_bn6 of all places.

Pixel Art: Zelda II Atari

Most people don't know that a prototype of Zelda II: The Adventure of Link was developed for the Atari 2600.

Awesome 8-Bit Zelda Pic

I didn't make this picture, but it was so awesome I had to post it. This would make an epic T-shirt... my current Zelda NES shirt is getting a little ratty.

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword Screenshot Gallery

Here is a collection of some of the more artistic Skyward Sword screenshots from around the web. Special thanks and credit goes to www.videogamer.com for these screenshots. You can click on this link to see their gallery as well.

These represent the best screenshots, in an easy-to-navigate format.

It's about time the Wii got it's Zelda update. I have to admit, after looking at the screenshots I have some high hopes for the game. The Wii party might be coming to an end, and it won't be long before all the Wii releases will be fair game for sites like 8-Bit City.

The systems, they come and go so quickly.

Skyward Sword Launches in America

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword for the Nintendo Wii launches, and once again it's time for gamers to journey around what is hopefully a much-expanded Hyrule. Many gamers have been waiting years for this game. It might be the last great game to come out for the Wii. It might be the last great Zelda game ever created. Then again, it might just be more of the same. I want a game that captures the adventure, challenge, and sense of exploration in Ocarina of Time, The Legend of Zelda, and Zelda II: The Adventure of Link--not a formula-grown fetch quest.

I assumed stores were packed and/or already sold out. Still, I hate ordering things online this close to Thanksgiving and Christmas, and hopefully I'll be able to grab a copy after I finish this post!

I won't be reviewing Skyward Sword for some time. I'm just not going to hammer out a generic review; I'll get to it when I have the time. Also, I'm not going to be reading any online reviews or looking at many screenshots.

The art style has been part of the online controversy, but last I heard most gamers seemed okay with the Ocarina-inspired artwork. Personally I like the darker side of Zelda (Twilight Princess and Zelda II) but I'm willing to be open minded.

Has anyone purchased the game? I'd be interesting in any first impressions readers have of it. My only expectation is that it has some new stuff. I really feel like the Zelda series as a whole has stagnated, but I haven't lost hope entirely.

The Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past Nintendo Power Scans

What can one really say about such classics that hasn't already been said? I'll let these Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past Nintendo Power scans speak instead.

These are from Nintendo Power Issue 34, 1992 - the same year Link got his 16-bit update on American shores.

I've been in a Link to the Past mood lately. Although this game takes a while to really get started, once you can explore the world it's a really great adventure. It would have been nice for less linearity, but the puzzle and dungeons were some of the best!

I think everyone got stuck at least once playing this game, if only for a few minutes.

Even though I didn't have the game as a kid, I had this Nintendo Power and I would read about the items and get a feel for the quest. Eventually I'd play it of course, as well as every other game I read about in Nintendo Power.

This was the very first game I emulated.

When I got a job at 16, it was also the first game I bought for my Super Nintendo.

Nintendo Power was filled with LttP curiosities, and as I track them all down, hopefully I can upload them for everyone. In particular, the Link to the Past comic book, which spanned 12 issues (or more?) should probably be my next project! It's over 100 pages so I'll have to think of something more clever than PNGs.

Enjoy the gallery!