Some time ago I saw this joke and it seemed as cruel as it was real:

Last year, for some reason, I found myself playing Final Fantasy I on the PSP 3000 and the fact that I could see the pixels on that small 480x272 screen filled me with happiness.

Pixel art is that. It’s being able to see the pixel, being able to enjoy it, it’s part of the art. What was once a technical limitation today determines a wonderful aesthetic. More and more sophisticated games and media will continue to come out, but those that are left behind don’t disappear, they’re not discarded, they don’t die… they generate a specific aesthetic.

Phone manufacturers strive so we don’t see them, the icons on my iPhone 6s have rounded edges, you can’t see a single pixel. I suppose many will be happy. I myself waited for the iPad to have a retina display to buy it… and when I had it I couldn’t believe it had 2048x1536 pixels in just 9.7 inches… same with the iPod touch. I was happy, you couldn’t see the pixels. But no, it’s a mistake. Not seeing them can be interesting, but seeing them can be even more interesting.

Last weekend I was at a videogame museum, I saw all the computers I had in my childhood and adolescence, I played with an Atari 2600, with a Commodore 64, I played arcade games like Asteroids and Space Invaders. I saw many pixels, some hidden behind old tube televisions, others molding the typography of games like Zork or The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, pixels at last.

I’m happy, the pixel can no longer be killed. The pixel is seen, and it will continue to be seen.

Update (8.9.2017)

Apple announces that pixels are not visible… say no more.

Update 2

Later on I managed to make the videogame Pixel !