Went to my first Record Store Day today. IT SUCKED. Queued for an hour to make virtually zero progress, only to be told the disc I wanted was sold out. Took my vinyl money down the road to a comic shop and spent it on lovely vintage comics instead!

This is super cool. The new carts are a total steal. £70 for an official Metal Slug that works on original hardware?! That’s cheaper than a repro! I snagged myself a Neo Turf Masters and Mark Of The Wolves.

There's very little info about this online, but apparently back in 1979 there was a Lupin III popsicle that you could buy to get a chance to win a Nintendo Block-Kuzushi machine. I only learned about this when I saw that one of the winning machines was for sale, so I decided to buy it:

This is the life… Child is back from nursery school, chilling in the half finished snug and watching some anime

Should I?

My Super Mario 64 post got a bunch more views today. Turns out it’s featured in @jank.cool’s weekly round-up. Neat! This one seems to have resonated with folk much more than I expected, which is a pleasant surprise. www.jank.cool/the-lie-in-11/

Old post! Taito’s collection of Laserdisc games is as no-frills as it gets but is nevertheless a beautifully restored trio of lesser played arcade games. gamesfromtheblackhole.wordpress.com/2024/02/11/t...

Where’s the anime?!

This week’s new arrivals… The Outrunners is a knock-off cart I bought from a retro gaming shop in Lanzarote that had a surprising number of pirated cartridges. I hope it works!

Just snagged myself a Virtual Boy book. Think it will make a great companion to this year’s NSO releases. The sale price is a total bargain, but I wish Limited Run operated local fulfilment centres for the UK/EU. The international postage is a killer.

After the rather excellent Videoverse, I’m prepared to try anything Lucy makes. Bonus points that this covers a subject I have no knowledge or understanding of, and will in all likelihood demystify the topic and help build empathy along the way.

Also worth noting that, surprisingly enough, Kishimoto was apparently a big fan of Rogue, even going as far as directing/producing two Roguelikes under his Plophet moniker. First was The Dungeon RPG on PS1 for D3's Simple Series, followed by Rogue Hearts Dungeon on PS2 for Compile Heart. RIP

RIP Yoshihisa Kishimoto. I’ve loved his games ever since I discovered “Street Gangs” on NES at Wakefield’s second hand market in the late Nineties. I really enjoyed playing through and writing about every Kunio Kun game a few years ago… gamesfromtheblackhole.wordpress.com/2021/02/21/k...

Think I chose the perfect game to play on holiday…

New blog! I never used to see the point of receiving 100 extra lives from Yoshi at the end of Super Mario 64. Who needs them?! But now, having collected all 120 stars, I have a whole new appreciation for the journey, as much as the destination. gamesfromtheblackhole.wordpress.com/2026/04/05/s...

If only anyone had invented some sort of “controller” for playing games on PC back then

No One Knows by Queens Of The Stone Age. Heard it in the Underworld club in Camden Town as a student. Immediately turned to a stranger and asked “WHO IS THIS?” like a displaced time traveler asking what year it is.

This is ace! I love finding other players’ notes in their games.

New blog! I never used to see the point of receiving 100 extra lives from Yoshi at the end of Super Mario 64. Who needs them?! But now, having collected all 120 stars, I have a whole new appreciation for the journey, as much as the destination. gamesfromtheblackhole.wordpress.com/2026/04/05/s...

Tomorrow…

One new arrival this week… This is the Japanese release of X2, the sequel to Amiga shoot-‘em-up, Project X. For this release, Team17 worked with Capcom to re-balance the game, making this the best version available.

I left The Super Mario Galaxy Movie wishing there was a Star Fox anime film, and then I remembered there kind of is! youtu.be/wA2-0nTxaGg?...

Tomorrow…

Got to stop by Pink Gorilla in Seattle for the first time in a long time, and saw (and kinda had to buy) DONKEY GORILLA, a Donkey Kong clone by eventual Thunder Force developer Tecno Soft! Today, Sega owns this. Rerelease Donkey Gorilla you cowards

This podcast is about to cover GIANT ROBO: THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL. Which I seriously consider to be the greatest work of visual fiction ever created. Happy!

Must admit I'm a bit confused by the blue cartridge for the Banjo collection. That would usually denote that it only works on the new hardware sku but the packaging suggests otherwise and Banjo-Kazooie is already playable on the Evercade compatible Super Pocket.

After Shining in the Darkness turned 35 a few days ago, I had an urge to play it again. It´s been YEARS after all. So I went for it on Switch - it´s not on NSO, but on that older Mega Drive collection. So I got out some graph-paper, a pen and... see for yourself! It was a ton of fun so far!

When I learned a few weeks ago that there would be a new Red Dwarf novel this year - something I’ve wanted for decades - I decided to re-read all the originals. Well, I just finished book one for the first time in a long time and nearly cried with joy… [1/2]

Bring back print media!

wouldn't it be funny if EVERYONE blocked this Attie AI account @ bsky.app/profile/atti... before they could do anything with it

Today is the 35th anniversary of Sega’s Shining series, marking the release of its first game, Shining In The Darkness. Don’t know where to start with the series? Check out my ranking of every mainline Shining game to date… www.timeextension.com/guides/every...

Grab a seat, friend. Here, have this, a mug o' the finest on the house. Let's celebrate the 35th anniversary of Climax's SHINING IN THE DARKNESS in Japan. Happy birthday, SiTD. You added globs of charm to dungeon crawling in '91 💜

Old post… The Amiga isn’t exactly known for great shoot-‘em-ups, but Banshee by Core Design is one of its finest, and still worth playing today… gamesfromtheblackhole.wordpress.com/2021/06/13/b...

Shining in the Darkness is turning 35 today. The first game by developer Climax was released as Shining and the Darkness in Japan and is a graphically impressive dungeon-crawler with an amazing soundtrack. The world seems tiny - a village, a castle and a dungeon, but it still has a profound sense...

One more to go!

This week’s new arrivals… A nice dose of shmup related goodness.

Next month it will be TEN YEARS since the last Star Fox game

STUNNING

Built on the success of Shining in the Darkness, Shining Force is still considered a true Genesis classic to this day, and it spawned a series of its own that still has fans. Join us as we examine how this beloved game was conceived, developed and released. www.sega-16.com/2026/03/behi...

Half star reviews of my Letterboxd top four. (There’s only one half star review for Giant Robo, amazingly)

Old post! Happy 25th birthday to the Game Boy Advance! I don’t know if Mother 3 is the best GBA game but it’s definitely the funniest! gamesfromtheblackhole.wordpress.com/2023/02/26/m...

This week’s new arrivals… Kai Magazine Software reprinted a number of their rare MSX titles, so I ordered three of them. Wish I could have justified getting them all. I love what this team does with limited hardware.

In the run up to the GBA’s UK launch in June 2001, I worked at GameStation and they had a nationwide contest to see which store could take the most pre-orders. I already had the Japanese console, so we demoed it to customers for weeks and won the contest by miles! Very fond memories of that time.

Can’t believe there’s a game that references Nirvanna The Band The Show

This is the most stars I’ve ever got in Mario 64. Can I go all the way?

I just scored 33960 on today's One Life Left: Chuckie Egg. Play here: stecurran.com/chuckie/

One of my favourite 8-bit micro games. I must get around to writing about this some day!