On April 20, 2006, artist Paul Robertson released a video. It was like nothing any of us had ever seen before.
Inspired by the frantic energy of retro video games, the clip’s style was...well, I dunno, like someone injected an old SNK game with anime and then took a load of acid.
If you’ve never seen it, here it is in full:
Phew.
Two years later, he’d release a similar clip, called Kings of Power 4 Billion%.
And from there? Well, you’ve probably seen Robertson’s work somewhere, whether on the official Scott Pilgrim game, Mercenary Kings or even TV, like his cameo on Gravity Falls.
I remember watching Pirate Baby in 2006 and having it blow my mind. In hindsight, and not wanting to place too much importance on a 12-min fake video game clip, it ended up playing a big role in defining what I’d do for a living over the next decade. I’ve written a ton of news and reviews for this site, sure, but my biggest passion has always been in covering and showcasing the ways fans express their love for video games, whether through cosplay, design, music or whatever. And this video was one of the first things I’d ever see that introduced me to a world where fans didn’t just play games, but create whole, amazing works of art around them.
You can see more of Paul’s work at his Tumblr.