The Pixel Boy was a fantasy console I designed in 2003, along with a few games and prototypes.
© 2003-2016 Alexandre Renevey
The Pixel Boy was a fantasy console I designed in Adobe Flash (now Adobe Animate), complete with its own lineup of virtual cartridges, all programmed in ActionScript. The first version debuted in 2003, but like any (good?) piece of hardware, it went through multiple revisions over the years. Each new iteration brought changes - sometimes a redesigned console body, other times a larger screen - often making older games and prototypes less compatible with the latest version.
Interestingly, the earliest prototypes were in color, but as the design evolved, I eventually settled on a monochrome display. Most models featured a greenish-tinted screen, reminiscent of the classic Nintendo Game Boy, released in 1989, and displayed a limited 5-color palette.
Now, let's take a trip down memory lane, exploring the evolution of its design and, of course, the (few) games and (many) prototypes that kept it alive!
The Pixel Boy saga began in February 2003, when I was experimenting with a platformer prototype starring a blue ninja, titled "Little Shinobi". The prototype itself didn't get too far - our stealthy hero could run left and right, maybe throw in a jump for good measure, but that was about it. Still, I was oddly proud of one particular detail: the way his belt swayed when he came to a sudden stop. That little animation alone made the whole thing feel alive! Looking back, this is probably the earliest appearance of Pixel Boy - a humble beginning for what would later evolve into a full-fledged fantasy console (or at least, that's what I was hoping back then).
At one point, I had the idea of designing my entire website to run inside the Pixel Boy screen. A tiny, retro-styled portal to all my projects... how cool would that have been? Unfortunately, I quickly realized I didn't have nearly enough content to justify launching it, so it never made it past the concept stage. But hey, at least I took some screenshots!
The real highlight of 2003 was the development of Escape the Planet, a shooter game that I actually completed (woohoo!). You can read my detailed article about it here, because there's a lot to say. This is when I decided what to do with the Pixel Boy: it would be a fantasy console running games at a fixed resolution (192*160px) and with only 5 greyish colors, just like a Nintendo Game Boy.
Fun fact: If you take a close look at the Escape the Planet screen, you'll notice "R-001" proudly displayed at the top. Meanwhile, the ninja prototype is labeled "R-002". Here's the catch: I'm pretty sure I actually worked on the ninja prototype before Escape the Planet. So how did the numbering end up like this? Honestly, it's a bit of a mystery. Maybe at some point, I thought it would make more sense to present them in a more "chronological" fashion, transitioning from grayscale to color. Or maybe past-me just wanted to mess with future-me. Either way, it's a small but amusing inconsistency in the Pixel Boy timeline!
Fun fact: Look closely, and you might spot a relic from the past - the URLs of my very old (and long-forgotten) websites at the bottom of the Pixel Boy. A little throwback to the era of chunky websites and quirky personal pages!
In november 2004, I started working on a sequel to Escape the Planet: it was called Meteor Busters. From my perspective, it was a better game in every way: it really defined the kind of game I wanted to develop for the Pixel Boy: a quick, good looking, engaging and challenging game, enhanced by a beautifully retro soundtrack.
I'm sharing many more details about Meteor Busters here.
Back in 2005, I toyed with the idea of rebranding Pixel Boy as People Boy - a version where folks could contribute their own games, or at the very least, supply art and assets for me to turn into games. The thought was simple: more content would mean a more "alive" virtual console (or at least, that was the dream!)
In the end, the plan never quite took off, but it did lead to something cool: some seriously talented artists, like Markus 'Junkboy' Toivonen and Charlotte Niedzviecki, got their hands on Pixel Boy and created some fantastic mockups. You can check out their amazing work below!
Since People Boy was meant to be a platform for different games created by others (or at least with a little teamwork), I designed a sleek, computer-like interface to tie everything together. Players could browse menus, set up profiles and usernames, configure controls, tweak per-game settings, and of course, launch "installed" games. It's actually pretty much what modern game consoles do today.
But in the end, only one game made it across the finish line: Meteor Busters. (I'm not counting Escape the Planet, since that one ran on an earlier, smaller version of Pixel Boy). With just a single finished title, the grand vision of People Boy didn't quite pan out, so I ditched the name and brought it back to what it was always meant to be: Pixel Boy.
Back in February 2006, I decided the Pixel Boy needed a total makeover: something sleeker, more handheld-friendly, and ready to fit in your (virtual) palms like a tiny tech marvel. The inspiration? Well, it was kinda floating around in my mind, but the GP2X - a Linux-powered handheld console that came out just a few months before - was definitely waving at me from the sidelines.
I didn't stop there, though. I went full customization mode and whipped up a bunch of skins so players could totally personalize their Pixel Boy experience. Some of those skins were straight-up homages to Bubble Islands, one of my top games at the time. Because why not add some extra flair? ;)
Fun fact: I threw in 4 buttons: A, B, X & Y. By nowadays standards, it seems logical... but here's the kicker: none of my games (or prototypes) ever needed all those buttons, except for the Fight Boy prototype. It was like I was just waiting for an excuse to use them!
Fun fact: The hands gripping the Pixel Boy in the image below? Well, plot twist: they were actually holding a Sony PlayStation Portable. Yes, I snatched them right out of a Sony advert. Gotta get those hand models where you can!
In January 2006, I kicked off Fight Boy, a fighting game engine and prototype that I was pretty hyped about. But honestly, this wasn't my first rodeo when it came to fighting game engines: I had already written a tutorial on the topic, which got published on gotoandplay.it, an absolute goldmine of Flash game dev resources back in the day. Fun fact: I just checked, and somehow, it's still online. Mind blown!
At one point, I was even approached by Brandon 'Death Adder' Cobb from the Super Fighter Team to port the classic MS-DOS game Super Fighter to Flash. The catch? They wanted online play. And, well... let's just say networking code wasn't my specialty. So, the project ended up in the hands of a German team called Eville. (Would I have done a better conversion? Yeah, probably. Anyway, water under the bridge...)
Back to Fight Boy: this was the final evolution of my fighting game engine, and it played buttery smooth. It was fast, super responsive, and even had AI-driven fights, so players could throw down against a computer-controlled opponent. The sad part? No full game ever got released with it, which is a shame because, in my totally unbiased opinion, it was probably the best fighting game engine ever built in Adobe Flash.
This time, I wasn't working alone: the incredible Claude 'Yota' Tachnakian handled the design, pixel art, and animation for the main character, Kouji. His work was nothing short of stunning, and combined with my engine, the results were chef's kiss - absolutely perfect.
"Wow, that's a hell of a fighting game engine there, I'm mighty impressed!"
"That fighting game engine is f***ing nuts! Really inspiring stuff."
Back in January 2006, while also juggling Fight Boy, I whipped up a puzzle prototype called Bubble Boy. The concept? A block-pushing brain teaser heavily inspired by the Japan-only Sony PlayStation gem, Lupupu Cube: Lup Salad. (Okay, the title might be a tongue-twister, but the game? Absolute fire).
Once again, I brought back Pinky, a character who might as well be my official mascot at this point. If you've spent some time looking through my portfolio, you've probably seen him before - most notably in Bubble Islands, one of my best releases. In Bubble Boy, Pinky found himself in a side-view 2D puzzle world, where the goal was to clear stages by shoving blocks around and matching three or more of the same symbol.
Physics mattered: Pinky could push any number of blocks in a row, but the ones stacked above? They stayed put… until gravity did its thing. If Pinky carelessly removed a supporting block, everything above it crashed down - sometimes right on his head. Also, Pinky was surprisingly nimble: he could jump across a single gap, hop up one level, or even combine those moves for extra agility. But reaching certain spots required some serious puzzle-solving skills, so players had to be strategic about when to clear blocks and when to keep them around.
To add an extra layer of depth, each level had two exits: a regular exit for your standard puzzle-solving satisfaction, and a hidden exit that unlocked secret paths on the world map. If that sounds familiar, it's because I totally took inspiration from Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES, 1988) and Super Mario World (SNES, 1990) - because who doesn't love a good branching path system?
The engine was pretty much done, and the prototype was fully playable. It had everything it needed to become a full-fledged game. But, as with many of my passion projects, it sadly never got the full release treatment. A shame, really - I think it could've been something special.
By February 2009, I was back at it again: redesigning the Pixel Boy for yet another evolution. This time, I didn't base it on any existing handheld console. I went straight for the big leagues and took inspiration from the sleek, futuristic iPhone 3G, Apple's hot new smartphone that had hit the market in July 2008.
This redesign came with some pretty radical changes:
• Bye-bye buttons! The familiar face buttons and directional pad? Gone. The only thing left was a solitary on/off button, kind of like a throwback to one of the very first Pixel Boy design, 6 years earlier.
• Bigger screen (bigger problems)? The resolution got an upgrade, which was great… except for the fact that it made all previous games and prototypes incompatible. You could still technically play them, but they wouldn't use the full screen. And resizing them? Absolutely not, unless you wanted to see pixel art turn into a blurry, distorted mess.
So, in many ways, this was a fresh (re)start for Pixel Boy: a bold, minimalist redesign that ditched the old-school console look in favor of something more modern. It may have broken compatibility with the past, but it was a glimpse into the future of Pixel Boy... dayum! :D
After designing Pixel Boy v2009, I took a huge break... but not from being creative, of course. I was still deep in other projects and working as a Game Designer and all-around artist at digiDingo (I put together a dedicated page about it here). Fast-forward to July 2014, and the itch to prototype something new hit me again.
This time, I started working on Ninja Boy, which was essentially a Pixel Boy-style version of a prototype I originally developed in 2003 called Kiki Kaikai: Cyclop Madness. Yep, you read that right: Kiki Kaikai, as in the Japanese name for Pocky & Rocky, the classic SNES game whose soundtrack I had the pleasure of reorchestrating in 2022. Full circle moment, right?
Back to Ninja Boy! The gameplay was beautifully simple:
• You played as a badass ninja girl (despite what the prototype's name might suggest).
• Your mission? Defeat every enemy on screen.
• Once all enemies were gone, a new, tougher wave appeared: stronger, faster, smarter, or just more of them.
I had all sorts of enemy ideas, but in the prototype, I only managed to include two:
1. A round little goblin who either went straight into attack mode or took a pre-battle nap... only to wake up and charge at you like he had unfinished business.
2. A sneaky magician who could teleport and had to focus before launching deadly energy missiles.
Fun fact: The Cutscene That Never Was!
At the start of the game, there was an adorable but unfinished cutscene: a love story. Our heroine stood next to her would-be lover, when suddenly, two goblins appeared. Terrified, her so-called "man" panicked and ran off-screen, leaving her behind. But surprise! Instead of crying, she transformed into a ninja on the spot, ready to annihilate the incoming enemies. Now that's a power move.
Fun fact: The Ultimate Difficulty Mode!
I had a wild idea for the final game's difficulty selection. Normal Mode: You play as the ninja girl, slicing through enemies like a pro. Hard Mode: You play as… the defenseless, cowardly boyfriend instead. No ninja skills. No weapons. Just pure, unfiltered survival panic. Beating the game in this mode? Next to impossible.
Fun fact: A Grey Area!
This time, the prototype had a plain grey color scheme instead of the usual green tint. A small change, but it definitely gave the game a different look and feel.
And that, my friends, is the story of Ninja Boy, the game that never made it to full release - but definitely had potential to be a chaotic masterpiece. (Or maybe a total disaster. Who knows? :D)
In 2016, during my tenure as Senior Game Designer at Witchlake, I unveiled the final iteration of Pixel Boy. This version embraced a sleek, modern aesthetic, drawing inspiration from Apple's minimalist design philosophy, particularly the iPhone. Even now, in 2025, I believe it retains its contemporary appeal.
Building upon the 2009 model, I introduced a variety of skins to enhance customization. Some were simple color swaps: Electric Blue, Watermelon Pink, Lime Green, while others paid homage to classic gaming consoles like the Nintendo Game Boy (Fun fact: the original idea for Pixel Boy was basically to be a portable, Game Boy-like virtual device), Sony PlayStation, and Sega Game Gear. You can explore these designs in the example below. Personally, I have a soft spot for the Nintendo GameCube-inspired skin. The 'Green House' design also stands out, inspired by Nintendo's Game & Watch device released in 1982.
Reflecting on Pixel Boy's evolution, if I were to revisit the design today, I would maintain this 2016 version's aesthetic. Its blend of modernity and nostalgia continues to resonate, even after nearly a decade.
Electric Blue
And so, despite all the design changes and ideas that came to life over the years, the Pixel Boy saga ultimately saw only two fully released games on the system (Escape the Planet and Meteor Busters), with plenty of demos and prototypes that never made it to the finish line. Who knows if I'll continue developing for it in the future, but one thing's for sure: it's been an incredible journey.
From its humble beginnings to the final 2016 iteration, Pixel Boy was a passion project that taught me a lot about design, creativity, and the joy of experimenting with new ideas. No matter what happens next, I'll always look back on it as a rewarding chapter in my creative journey.
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