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Pixel art as we know it now is mainly influenced by old video games, notably iconic arcade games like Space Invaders and Pac-Man, as well as 8-bit platforms like the Nintendo Entertainment System and Sega Master System. Pixel art, though not yet considered an art at the time, was a method for developers to produce images with minimal graphics and computing resources.
Pixel art became less popular as 3D games got more popular in the 1990s. But why is pixel art so trendy these days? Nostalgia is the most apparent explanation. Because the majority of early games were created in this manner, there is a strong link between pixel art and the feel of old-school gaming.
Pixel art is fundamentally an abstraction. Artists carefully select which aspects of a subject are the most important to the piece and how to portray those aspects using as few pixels as possible. Pixel art pushes you to focus on what is most important in an image without allowing the finer control that a more complex drawing technique would.
Pixel art has seen a revival in the last decade, mainly to the success of indie-developed games such as Celeste and Eastward. Pixel art persists, but in more moderate quantities than at its peak. Despite its declining popularity, pixel art is continuously improving.
