I love reminders that there are still many people out there who love classic video games. What’s happening over at Cook & Becker right now is an excellent example of this.
“Cook & Becker asked some of the hottest artists working in entertainment and video games today to draw and create a print of their favorite classic SEGA games. The idea was to create a series of beautiful prints under direction of SEGA that would capture the heart of these classic brands, their aesthetic and what they meant for people playing them and growing up with them.” – www.candb.com
The fact that a company like Cook & Becker are selling video game related artwork/prints shows that many of our old favorite games are not forgotten. And that new material is still very desirable by many of us.
Golden Axe by Gerald Parel
Golden Axe by Gerald Parel
Golden Axe and Shinobi are my personal favorites of these first five offering from Cook & Becker. For prints they are very expensive at $115 USD each. However they are quite large (36 x 24 inch) and exceptionally well crafted. I don’t yet know if I would buy them for myself. It’s hard to redirect money that could otherwise become actually retro video games but I am very tempted. And I do want to give credit to Cook & Becker for posting relatively large (1029×1600) versions online that will allow everyone to enjoy them. Thank you Cook & Becker!
Phantasy Star by Kilian Eng
Jet Set Radio by Roman van der Haven
I’m looking forward to summer 2015 when Cook & Becker promises more art from new artist to add to this first excellent wave.
Streets of Rage by Julien Renoult
And if you just can’t wait for the perfect piece to show up for your all time favorite game; don’t you worry! The Internet is a wonderful place. A little while ago I discovered poster called ‘Classic Women of Gaming’ featuring every strong female characters in gaming up until 1995.
Classic Women of Gaming by Ashley Riot
You can read more about the artist and this beautiful piece at kotaku.com. This is how I found Ashley and she has already drawn Alis from Phantasy Star for me. I feel that her drawing brings my little blog to life with Alis being ever vigilant as an amazing backdrop 🙂
Alis on Retro Megabit by Ashley Riot.
Alis (Mega Drive) by Ashley Riot
Be sure to check out more of Ashley Riot’s work at Deviant Art. Ashley is currently working on Odin for me right now and my good buddy Kalman the super talented comic book artist is also working on a Phantasy Star poster for me. These are exciting times! 🙂 New love for old stuff abound!
And of course thanks to geelw from Destroy All Fanboys! for bringing us this news 🙂
Retro Megabit 
As usual, you did the Sega name justice! I just realized that some of that art is done up in the style of some of the original art for the games or pays homage to the techniques used. Yeah, I’m looking at that Golden Axe, Shinobi, SoR and Phantasy Star art. I’m not surprised to not see a Sonic piece yet as he’s been the subject of LOADS of great artwork (fan and otherwise) over the decades.
Hmmm. I wish I still has my old Sega game cover art book (long out of print) as it was full of awesome cover art from many MD and GG games. I’ll have to try and track down another copy one of these days…
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Do I come across as too Sega crazy? lol!
I only focus on Sega because that’s where gaming really hit home for me. Technically my very first video game system was a Texas Instrument IT 99/4A personal computer.
I actually spend a fair bit of time searching the net for video game artwork and this tidbit that you sent my was is very exciting.
I think I know the Sega game cover art book that you’re talking about. I wish that kind of thing was easier to find. I’d also love a copy.
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Oh, your obsession is fine with me, E. It’s just great to see someone do something cool like your site and get it right. That Sega art book didn’t cost me a lot and I think I didn’t sell it for that much. But I looked up a copy last year and i think it was approaching north of $100 for a new-ish one. Yikes. I’ll take a pre-owned copy for a third of the price, thank you! 😀
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That artwork is AMAZING. So totally nostalgic! Thanks for sharing!
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No problemo! That’s how this Interweb thing works 🙂 I’m glad you like them.
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