The walls of our home won't be complete until one of them sports a pixelated portrait of Ellen Ripley from Konami's Aliens arcade game

I've had a bit of a "thing" for the Alien and Aliens films since I watched them for the first time as a teenager.

You'd think that would mean I've long had a similar thing for games inspired by those flicks, but it doesn't.

There have been a few exceptions, of course. Sega's Alien Syndrome and Alien Storm are two examples. Xenophobe is another.

None of the above compete with Konami's Aliens quarter-muncher from 1990, however. OK, so it takes some liberties with the source material. It's such a blast to play, though, that I don't have any problems overlooking those "creative differences."

It's also gorgeous, of course, with wonderfully detailed backdrops and sprites that evoke the 1986 movie that spawned it.

Apparently Atlanta-based artist Ashley Anderson agrees with that last tidbit. After all, he recently referenced the above-mentioned Aliens arcade game in the acrylic painting that can be seen below.

Before you go and think this is just some paint-by-numbers copycat, consider what Anderson said about it on Instagram:

"I limited my palette this time to traditional portrait colors, prussian blue (to mix with umber to make chromatic blacks), titanium white (for opacity), and zinc white (for warmth and translucence)."

As much as I like this piece, I like this next one, which Anderson calls "Ellen (Withering Heights)," even more.

For the curious: Anderson made "Ellen (Withering Heights)" using color pencil on toned paper.

I'm also quite fond of the similar "Sigourney Weaver," below, from 2010:

Anderson produced it using graphite on paper.

As for what prompted him to go down this particular path eight or so years ago, the artist shared the following explanation on Flickr:

"In keeping with my interest in pixellation's relationship with painting and its mechanics [and] traditions, I have begun collecting images of recognizable personalities as they are depicted in games and drawing them as one might create a portrait drawing from a photograph or a live sitter."

Want to see more of Anderson's pixelated depictions of the Aliens protagonist? Check out "Ellen (Ms X #1)" and "Ellen as April as Ellen."

Consider scouring his Instagram and Flickr photostreams, too. Both are filled with fascinating, game-inspired works of art.

Manual Stimulation: Ghostbusters 2 (GameBoy)

There are all sorts of reasons to like HAL Laboratory's Ghostbusters 2 for the GameBoy. This Japan-only title features some surprisingly unique--and fun, for the most part--gameplay and also sports some pretty snazzy packaging (see photos of it in this previous post).

Best of all, in my not-so-humble opinion, is the instruction manual that was included with every copy back when the game was first released in 1990.



Its first few pages aren't anything to write home about, although I'd hardly call its cover imagery disappointing.



The fifth page is where the Ghostbuster 2 manual hits its stride, thanks in large part to the juxtaposition of the film's in-character stars with their in-game, pixelated counterparts.



Is it me, or is the 8-bit-ified Dana Barrett (Sigourney Weaver's character) the worst of the bunch? Also, who--or what--on earth is that "thing" in the upper-right corner supposed to be? Creepy, regardless.



And here we have two of the manual's best pages. It looks like they detail the game's three stages? I've yet to get to the third one, I have to admit, so I can't say it for sure, but I'm pretty sure that's the case.



Don't you just love the screenshot included in the right-hand page below? Those sure were the days, weren't they--when companies literally had to snap photos of their games running on TV screens if they wanted to show off their wares in instruction manuals or elsewhere.



Behold, my favorite Ghostbusters 2 enemy: the little blob-like thing shown in the screenshots on the left. How could such an adorable creature be "bad"?

8-bit Ellen Ripley

You know what my office--i.e., our rarely used guest bedroom--is missing? A pixelated portrait of Sigourney Weaver (aka Ellen Ripley) as depicted in Konami's Aliens arcade game from 1990.

Unfortunately, although it seems my favorite Atlantan artist, Ashley Anderson, has created just what the doctor (me) ordered, I doubt I can afford the graphite-on-paper portrait (below) he produced. (Assuming it's even up for sale, of course.)

Oh, well, at least I can look at it--via Anderson's Flickr photostream--whenever the fancy strikes me.

See also: Other examples of Ashley Anderson's abilities