Noirlac take stills from videogames and layers frames on top of them to create GIFs. Image: Noirlac The movements are so subtle you can hardly tell they're there in some cases. Image: Noirlac Hell yes. Image: Noirlac The artist's process blurs the line between curation and creation. Image: Noirlac The landscapes are hazy and softer than in modern-day videogames. Image: Noirlac Noirlac has uploaded around 10,000 images and GIFs since 2010. Image: Noirlac Image: Noirlac Image: Noirlac A screen grab from Final Fight 3, a Japanese videogame that was released in 1995. Image: Noirlac Another dreamy landscape. Image: Noirlac Image: Noirlac OK, not all. Image: Noirlac Image: Noirlac

Today’s videogames can look so lifelike they’re borderline creepy. But years ago, before computers were capable of creating photorealistic images, games were filled with pixelated characters making their way through hazy imaginary lands. The lack of refinement was a result of the era’s technology, but the images were the opposite of unsophisticated—actually, they were quite beautiful in that dreamy, otherworldly way that too much realism often kills. So beautiful, in fact, that a Paris-based designer decided to dedicate an entire tumblr to them. Noirlac, a videogame developer for Ubisoft, is the curator responsible for an expansive collection of gorgeous stills and GIFs from long-forgotten videogames.

The anonymous designer takes screenshots of landscapes, characters, monsters or abstract images and repurposes them as standalone images. He begins by highlighting one beautiful detail from each shot and from there layers in slight movements that previously didn’t exist. “I like to add some little glitches on my GIF to emulate life moments,” he explains. He’ll add a twinkling light at the top of a skyscraper’s spire, a rippling effect to a sunset over water, or a flickering to a computer or TV screen. The movements are so subtle it can be hard to tell the images are moving at all — “Most of the time it takes no more than two to four frames, and it’s done,” he says — but that simplicity is the reason Noirlac’s work is so charming.

Since 2010, Noirlac has created more than 10,000 pixelated works of art, though the word “create” might elicit disapproving sighs from his detractors. The designer doesn’t credit the original game or artists, which has led to another GIF tumblr solely dedicated to sourcing the images Noirlac uses. His process certainly blurs the line between curation and creation, but the self-described pixel art fanboy says he only has good intentions. “I want to show everybody that pixels in games is already art,” he says. “I’m only here to highlight all those beautiful and cool things for the world to see.”