In the context of GP's article, it's fun reading through the comments on the page:

    I actually prefer the crisp pixels
    of emulated 8 and 16 bit games,
    I have no desire to emulate
    the crappy monitors we used to use
    to play said games. - lordofultima

    I actually enjoy gigantic, crystal clear pixels.
    - rateoforange

You'd have to imagine that actual graphics artists during the 8-bit era viewed low resolution as a limitation to overcome, not a purposeful feature of their artwork.