Work by pioneers of the Britsoft movement, Bitmap Brothers, documented in a new book

Date
15 November 2016

The Bitmap Brothers: Universe is a new book published by Read Only Memory that documents the pioneering work of the software house. Written by Duncan Harris, the 360-page hardback book tells the story of Bitmap Brothers and reproduces never-before seen artworks from hugely popular games such as Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe and The Chaos Engine.

The games were produced during the 8 and 16 bit eras and the in-game imagery, printed on glossy paper stocks, has been reworked by graphics engineer Timothy Lottes, to reflect the CRT displays in print. “The CRT’s line pattern and mask pattern serves much the same purpose as the line pattern in print: to provide a distraction-free pattern which the mind easily reinterprets as something more detailed than the media can reproduce,” he explains.

Alongside the imagery, contributions from Mike Montgomery, founder of Bitmap Brothers, and a wealth of artists, programmers and musicians ensure the book is a comprehensive overview of a company that were the vanguard in the fantastical and violent world of video games.

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Read Only Memory: Bitmap Brothers: Universe
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Read Only Memory: Bitmap Brothers: Universe
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Read Only Memory: Bitmap Brothers: Universe
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Read Only Memory: Bitmap Brothers: Universe
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Read Only Memory: Bitmap Brothers: Universe
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Read Only Memory: Bitmap Brothers: Universe
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Read Only Memory: Bitmap Brothers: Universe
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Read Only Memory: Bitmap Brothers: Universe
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Read Only Memory: Bitmap Brothers: Universe

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About the Author

Owen Pritchard

Owen joined It’s Nice That as Editor in November of 2015 leading and overseeing all editorial content across online, print and the events programme, before leaving in early 2018.

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