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8-bit artwork and musical recreations inspired by modern games are nothing new in anyone's books; most have a healthy (or unhealthy) nostalgia for the past and that can be encapsulated by the limitations of one or more 8-bit gaming machines. If you take that technology back a step or two further you can get even more retro bragging rights, and that's what we think former Teletext artist Steve 'Horsenburger' Horsley has managed to achieve with his penchant for 3-bit artwork.

For the uninitiated, Teletext was (and still is, in some countries) a service that functioned somewhat like a TV-based internet service where you could check news, weather, sporting results, and even bamboozle yourself with some "hilarious" jokes. The severe limitations meant creating images was a long and painful process, and as such the majority of the service was exclusively text-based.

We reached out to Steve and he agreed to produce the entire cast of ARMS in this highly tricky format with frankly staggering results. The entire image set took him nine hours to produce which should give you an idea of the system's complexities, and for anyone who thinks this looks easy, we invite you to have a go yourself using the same tool as he did. More than just a pastime, Steve only recently returned to the art, and had this to say on the matter:

I only started doing Teletext again after a break of 20 years because of the Digifest back in October 2016 which I was invited to speak on the artists panel by my old friend Paul Rose (Mr Biffo); the event celebrated Teletext and Digitiser and the turnout was amazing. Since July last year I've created almost 700 images, which is quite a task, but I've been using it as therapy for my depression. The response is amazing, I've got over 1100 followers on twitter which I never thought I'd get for such an old form to tech.

I use Edit.tf which was designed by Simon Rawles as an opensource free to use Teletext editor which works on any web browser. There are a couple of editors out there which are so faithful to the systems we used to use back in the days of Teletext, but the original software was so expensive to licence, now it is free for everyone.

The fun with teletext is working with the limitations of the 3-bit graphics, limited pixels (each block of 6 pixels is called a sixel) and you also have to work around placing command codes for the effect you need to place and you cannot work on a sixel that contains a command block. If you want to check out more of Steve's work you can find his entire collection of Teletext art on his website, or follow him on Twitter.

Which of the 3-bit transformations is your favourite? Let us know with a comment down below.
 Ha, those images have a very Teletext Digitiser vibe to them:


I used to love Digitiser as a kid.

Edit: HAHA! Actually reading the article . . . I now see why.

Edit 2: Also, just a wee plug: My own app, Pix Picas, also has similar vibe too (there's even a direct nod to Digitiser in one of the example images): This makes me wonder why they all wear masks though. Never paid attention to it before. @Ryu_Niiyama Interesting observation. Maybe the creators were trying to give them all a kind of superhero look/feel; it might have a subtle and almost subliminal effect of making them more appealing to many people without them even knowing why (everyone wants to be a superhero). @impurekind Haha, yeah I was going to make a comment on it being some sort of super hero bash or like WWE within this world. I mean the fans wear their masks and wrestling/sports fans are SUPER into their choice of entertainment...so...

Although the morbid part of me wonders if they are trying to hide their gene modification therapy that resulted in springy arms and hair. Mechanica is just trying to fit in. @Ryu_Niiyama wanna wonder some more? All the characters with ARMS have swirls in their eyes. Mechanica, Byte and Barq don't have them Ah. This scratches a nostalgia gland I didn't even realise I had.

Digitiser. Such a great service, brimming with personality and that annoying feeling when the page would flick forwards before you'd read the crucial last paragraph. Still it'd always come back around again 5 minutes later.

There are a few Digitiser articles that have really stuck with me down the years. The "make me feel like a cockroach" and the "unlock everything from the beginning - it's supposed to be a game not hard work" articles in particular. @Gregory123 Yeah that part I noticed. I figured it was because of whatever reasoning makes them have springy arms/hair. Alien interbreeding? Gene modification? Mutants? (except helix who is an experiment) so many possibilities! @Gregory123 Wow! I didn't even notice that before. Man, the attention to the little details like this is definitely part of the "Nintendo difference". I was eleven years old brat.

A gaming magazine published an article about a teletext based multiplayer rpg that would be published in our national broadcasting channels teletext pages.

It would be published at 4am and would be up for four hours at the first go, you could participate via phone.

So I woke up at 4AM with our telephone in hand, trying to find it.

For three hours I sat there waiting and trying to figure out what I was doing wrong. Until I realized that it was the dawn of April that day.

Arceus damnit.

edit: I wasn't eleven, it was 1989 so I was nine. This looks incredible! I love it! Love this. Also kudos for the 'bamboozle' reference. Used to love playing that on teletext 🤓 @Ryu_Niiyama Well, I don't think it's because they were all burned by acid or something like that. Maybe it's because they're terribly comfortable and maybe everyone will be wearing them in the future. @Gregory123 Mechanica's unaltered and is just using a mech suit, while Byte and Bark are full robots. Damn I loved Digitizer. Used to religiously read every day. Mr Biffo & all are sadly missed. I've always thought the art style was somewhat inspired by Overwatch, & the use of masks, too. Looks cool. I was always accused of 'potentially' breaking the telly if I read Teletext back in the day so I used to have to stealth it. 😎 "and as such the majority of the service was exclusively text-based"

Lol: The porn adverts weren't! I was always fascinated by Teletext. My mum used to use it to check the weather, and I was really disappointed when it was no longer supported. @samuelvictor No need to miss Mr Biffo! See http://www.digitiser2000.com

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16th Jun 2017, $59.99 (US/Canada)


