8 bits is dead, long live 8 pins
Not sure if 8 bitters are dead - people have been saying that for years.
I think there is a case to be made that there is always a need for 8-bitters (or 16-bitters). The rush to 32-bitters is driven primarily by software development costs + time to market, in my view. A common platform allows better deployment and more robust code.
The new 810 from NXP is quite interesting, with its fully remapable pins. That's the one to watch for people wanting to use 8pdip packages.