8-bit Mission

We here at the Burrito Justice 8-bit bureau have long focused on the artistic merit of 8-bit 80’s games in the neighborhood. Behold Space Invaders in da Noe:

Thus we were rather satisfied to see that biking artists had GPS’d the 8-bit 80s onto Mission streets laid out in the mid 1800s.

SF Weekly covered this back in May:

With the aid of a GPS — and nary a can of spray paint — San Francisco graphic designer Vicente Montelongo has created a series of bike trails in the city shaped like videogame heroes of yore. What’s his rationale? He tells SF Weekly, “I’m just doing it for the love of 8bit, San Francisco, biking, and the need to create.”

I love this set of hand drawn directions, and the cut through the middle of Dolores park.

(Sadly he missed Shotwell’s but did pass right by Bender’s, hmmm…)

Even the NYT is in on it, publishing this story last week:

Pedaling the rectangular city blocks in San Francisco, Vicente Montelongo, 32, a graphic artist, realized the street layout lent itself to the pixeled shapes of vintage 1980s video game characters like Pac-Man, Q*bert and Donkey Kong. Back home with a printed-out Google map and a pencil, he drew Pac-Man chasing a ghost over in the Sunset District and then set out on his bike, iPhone in tow, GPS mapping application on. After riding 8.6 miles in an unwavering line, he uploaded the GPS track data from his phone, and had his picture.

“It’s a good way to get exercise and see the city,” said Mr. Montelongo, who is working on a series of GPS drawings based on the beloved video games of his youth. “You end up going on these streets that you would never otherwise go down.”

Adventure!

More maps by mexist over at EveryTrail.