April 19, 2005 Bit by Bit Was a joystick your only childhood joy? Is retro-gaming your next big thing? Either way, you're not alone in your love of 80s video games. A hundred artists from around the world pay homage to the games that started it all in the exhibit "i am 8-bit" opening tonight. The venues: two fitting retail spaces side by side on Melrose, Gallery Nineteen Eighty Eight and the Acme Game Store. The artists were given carte blanche, so long as their video game references kept to "pre-1995 influences, a decadent time when games were flat and flourishing with creativity." The results range from oil-on-canvas character realizations (Q*Bert in the clutches of a boa, for instance) to sculptures (a Pac-Man hand-grenade), to stuffed dolls (a hand-stitched Donkey Kong and barrel). Tonight's opening party features a bar tended by the Suicide Girls, a DJ spinning 80s tunes and first dibs at the best of the artwork. Catch it from 7 - 11pm. Leave the PSP at home and rock out your games, old-school style. Catch "i am 8-bit" at Gallery Nineteen Eighty Eight and the Acme Game Store at 7018 & 7020 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. RSVP for tonight at 323.937.7088