Because we live in an age where our virtual presence is just as important as the real one, the images we project online, our digital avatars—like our clothes and changed just as frequently—have become extensions of our selves. Our digital attire, if you will. There are many forms the avatar can take: favorite TV/film character, musical icon, photo, meme, or a modified version of yourself like the Wii’s Miis. A recent popular addition to this last category, which you’ll be familiar with if you have a Twitter account, is people turning themselves into a rudimentary blocky form that, when stared at closely, resembles them in some way. Some indicator betrays their likeness—that quiff, glasses, some stubble. Chances are, unless they’re a pixel artist, they visited Eightbit.me and got 8-bit me’d.You can understand the popularity of this site—generations reared on video games are highly susceptible to anything with a lo-fi, retro appeal, not to mention, the site’s pop culture curiosity factor ranks up there with seeing yourself Simpsonized, South Park’d or Mad Men’d. In a way, this latest avatar trend seems almost inevitable. The 8-bit aesthetic has never been more popular, permeating everything from web browsers to Hollywood films.Recently the site has gone public with its demaking pixel abilities after emerging from its beta status, and now anyone can create a crude low-res version of themselves. To keep it interesting, they’ve added an additional layer to the project, taking it back from whence it came by adding in some gaming elements. The game is location-based using Foursquare and Twitter and lets you earn coins for checking in at different places, which in turn can be used to further customize your avatar. And for maximal promotional impact, it’s running a competition at SXSW where you can check in to various spots to win an external hard drive designed to look like an old NES cartridge (which does actually look pretty awesome).Like most things on the internet, the Eightbit.me phenomenon has created a backlash from its very ubiquity. And now a site has emerged that lampoons the Eightbit.me style, along with the aggressive way it invades your Twitter profile. The site is called Eightshit.me and uses MS Paint to create a hand drawn picture of you with some text, in customary glaring colors and scribbled words, by one of their expert artists. You can even become an Eightshit artist yourself, should you have the technical, and artistic, capabilities.
FYI.
This story is over 5 years old.
Eightbit.me Adds A Gaming Element To Their Pixelated Avatars
Those omnipresent 8-bit avatars are about to get even more ubiquitous as Eightbit.me announces new features and a contest.