I usually just question zoomed images if the artist is new, because they're often unaware of the zoom function. Met's been here a while so it's understood this was his artistic intent. I do think it's a poor choice aesthetically though. half this size seems plenty. but it's your call, of course, so it is what it is.
certainly, i do have a thing for a rather blocky, hard-edge pixel art where you can actually see the pixels on each aspect. i enjoy it more over other pieces that strive for a more accurate anti aliasing and/or realistic(as much as i hate that word) product.
though in this particualr case i am sure that me, as the author, would rather display it in this fashion as the piece's standard resolution for the sake of me wanting to display it in such fashion because i do want to do it for purely aesthetical purposes, rather than zooming it at the lack of a system that could allow users to naturally zoom in and out to examine the details on a piece.
tl;dr its zoomed because i want it zoomed and not because i ignored the site's built-in zoom function.
Because there are zoom buttons below the picture, and also there is a general concensus on the site to not post zoomed pics. Admins used to make a fuss over it in the past.
Personally I don't mind the zoom, as each pic has a zoom level that fits best. I guess if nobody bothers you about it, then just leave it.
dunno. considering this aimed to somehow resemble atari's aesthetics, i though wide and blocky was the right way.