Early video game typefaces

More video game nostalgia. You would think that having to fit an entire set of fonts into tiny, 8 x 8 grids would result in some unimaginative typefaces. Think again.

The 8-bit arcade font, deconstructed – Vox
In his book Arcade Game Typography, type designer Toshi Omagari breaks down the evolution, design, and history of arcade game fonts. In the video above, he guides us through this delightful 8-bit world and breaks it down pixel by pixel.

Want to read on? Here’s a link to the book’s publisher.

Arcade Game Typography – Thames & Hudson
Arcade Game Typography presents readers with a fascinating new world of typography – the pixel typeface. Video game designers of the 70s, 80s and 90s faced colour and resolution limitations that stimulated incredible creativity: with letters having to exist in an 8×8 square grid, artists found ways to create expressive and elegant character sets within a tiny canvas.

You can try these fonts out for yourself with this arcade font writer, and for more video game nostalgia, check out this collection of vintage arcade games you can play online.