Unexpected Wii (U) encounters: I went to a local supermarket I normally don't go to (just a bit far from me) and what´s that? Games for Nintendo Wii and Wii U? Actual good games? Too bad only they´re still very expensive and not sealed anymore. I'm pretty sure these have been around forever!

Is it #randomgamesaturday again already? Okay, then here's Space Channel 5 Part 2 for PS2 - I really like the series and I think the second game really profits from the jump the realtime-backgrounds.

I love this kind of article-research!

Food-Adventures! I found Surströmming intriguing for a long time - and yesterday, I tried it. The proper-way. Not they pukey-barfey way some YouTube- and influencer dimwits do it. I baked my own Tunnbröd, got sour cream, red onions and cooked potatos. So last night, we assembled a fearless group...

Post a game you remember playing that nobody else remembers

vertical shmups have names like "Understated Sadness" and sidescrolling shmups have names like "Glorbian"

It's a multiple 8-Bit anniversary! 42 years ago, Tennis for Famicom was released, 39 years ago it was The Adventure of Link for Famicom Disk System (German NES-version pictured here) and then 38 years ago, it was Konami's Wai Wai World. All of those are pretty cool!

Why would I order a Big Ben/Midas PS2-game from France, no less one with a cover like THIS? Well, because in reality, this is Taito's Battle Gear 2 - a pretty good arcade-racer, that even comes with a 60Hz-mode in this weird-ass EU-release.

If you read german, please don´t miss out on my review of @mtwo-game.bsky.social 's Night Striker Gear - and make sure to give this wonderful game a try! It's on Switch and Steam. www.maniac.de/tests/night-...

I had two days of game history courses in Offenburg and one of the student-presentation got me a serious flashback by mentioning PC Player - without question the best PC-game-magazine Germany ever had.

It's #randomgamesaturday and here's a random Samurai Shodown. To call this game awesome is an understatement.

A nice evening in Strasbourg after a long day of teaching game history hits juuuust right.

This is lovely! A new year's postcard from those fine people at @falcom.co.jp ! Thank you!! Really looking forward to Trails 2nd chapter in autumn!

Just finished the demo of Dragon Quest VII Reimagined and found it quite excellent. It often reminds me of the wonderful remake of Star Ocean 2 a while back. And it does some rather wild things (for Dragon Quest at least) with the battle- and menu-system!

Wichtig.

Dragon Quest HD2D.Remake is done - and I had a pretty good time with it. It's wonderful to actually be able to finish an RPG within 20 hours...

Oops, almost forgot about #randongamesaturday! This is Tekken 6 in PSP - an amazing port of a pretty nifty fighting game. I like Tekken 5 better, but that's more of a personal preference, I guess.

I only recently learned about Urban Myth Dissolution Center from a ton of japanese devs putting it on their GOTY-list. So I bought the game to take a look and some 11 or so hours later, I reached the end and yes - I can absolutely see where they're coming from. I had a good time in the first half...

Thanks to the wonderful Video Game History Foundation @gamehistoryorg.bsky.social, I can experience the american Sega Channel for the first time - as a European, this was never a thing where I lived, so it's very, very cool having this preserved and made accessible on MiSTer now!

Ah, those fine M2-folks uploaded a fun, little video of Kubota-san in his famous christmas-tree-costume. And a preeeetty interesting card for the new year… youtu.be/VUjBEw22XeI?...

Borb Games Team wishes you a happy new year! Look forward to Wyrm Saga updates in 2026! 🐲 Biblically accurate angel from: Rothschild canticles c. 1300 https://collections.library.yale.edu/catalog/2002755 #gamedev #indiegame #medieval #dragons #wyrmsaga

It's funny because it's true!

This is funnier every time I watch it.

I've quickly gathered together the articles I've written on Chinese and Taiwanese RPGs in one convenient category, if you'd like to take a look :) kimimithegameeatingshemonster.com/category/chi...

Framing Sword and Fairy 4: Remake as "first Clair Obscur like" says a lot about an authors horizon and prejudices. I don't want to share that waffle and will instead comment with an appropriate gif.

Time to think about 2025 and some of the games I played or stuff I did. This could be considered sort-of a #goty- list - as always in no special order. One thing I noticed: My list is very "retro"-heavy - pixel-art, remakes, remasters... the "big" releases interest my less every year. Which is fine.

Oops, almost forgot about #randomganesaturday. So, uhh, how about The Legend of Heroes: A Tear of Vermillion for PSP? It's a rather cromulent RPG.

Here's a Christmas treat, from me to you (via @pcgamer.com) :D www.pcgamer.com/games/relax-...

Just before Christmas, the new issue of M! Games came out! In there is a lot of fun stuff like my colleague @pixelpino.bsky.social 's Metroid Prime 4 review. From me, there's a nice interview with former Disgaea-writer Sohei Niikawa. And a fun look back at Phantasy Star IV.

A new expansion to the Taito Egret II mini has become something of an annual tradition by now. This year, it's not Taito-games, but five from each Data East and Jaleco, the highlight here clearly being The Great Ragtime Show. As always, it comes with a small magazine and instruction cards.

I guess I'm just physically incapable of resting. Instead of taking it easy this morning, I made cookies for the nephews and Mersu for everyone else.

Steam Sale Recommendation #2: Tavern Talk If you're a fan of tall, strong wolfgals and medieval fantasy visual novels, then this one will serve you up a fine time. It's not a tavern simulator; what mechanics there are, such as drink mixing and serving, are just another vehicle for conversation.

Don't you just love it when your relatives feed pictures of their kids into the AI-grinder to produce kitschy Christmas-pics, everyone else goes "aaaw" and you are too tired to explain why and how exactly this is so shitty? Yay. Merry Christmas, eh? #fuckgenai

Square's and DreamFactory's The Bouncer is turning 25. It's a fascinating early PS2 tech-showcase and shares mechanics with the Tobal-games. But it also became a bit of an object of mockery. It's short, simple and unapologetically Nomura. When it came up in my PS2-elective, the students LOVED it!

Got an end-of-year recommendation list here for people with a refined gaming palate: www.pcgamer.com/games/i-play...

Between the Escapist Blue Prince piece and that Retro Dodo war-machine Game Boy not-advertorial, it's sure easy to see in just a few days how Experience Leaving the Games Media is having an effect. I know it's been like this for years - but even two, three years ago, these pieces don't run.

I say this with zero irony: if you are even tangentially a part of a retro video game community, it is your civic duty to push back against this company and shun anyone who doesn't. This is fascism tapping gently at the door and as soon as you let it in, it's going to invite its friends.

25 years of Phantasy Star Online! I bought the Japanese version right when it came out - the game was a revelation. Fighting my way through Ragol with friends and strangers was mindblowing. Today, I avoid online-multiplayer, but the PSO-days were certainly quite special.

It's a shooting-game for #randomgamesaturday! Last Resort for Neo Geo is a beautiful side-scrolling STG that borrows liberally from R-Type, but also anime like Akira. It's said to be made by former Irem-people, but I couldn't find any proof of that. Anyway, it's great and the cover-art rocks.

The new UK-issue of Retro Gamer is out and I contributed four beautiful pages on an old favorite: QuackShot for Mega Drive. I went through the whole game, explored every nook and cranny, made a lot of screenshots and had a great time. Read all about it in Retro Gamer 280! @retrogamermag.bsky.social

Fuck ModRetro

And that's it, I guess. The final text for 2025 is written, I survived the christmas-party and this year's last elective-session is also done. We talked about a... very special game.

Isn't this just a lovely morning?

If you want to communicate your idea to an artist all you need is 30 seconds and the basic ability to grip a pen

No! Stop it! Bad! Bad Falcom!!

Crunch time with adorable Ume! The 10-month-old tapir now weighs 483 pounds. 💗 📹: Keeper Katie

Holy cow! Namco's The Outfoxies is coming to ACA Arcade Archives this week... and it's not even their big 500/christmas-game! Amazing!! youtu.be/VxTaxcJpD50?...

Actraiser, one of my all-time favorite games, is turning 35 today. Graphics, music and the incredibly smart combintion of action- and sim-elements really make this game an all-time classic. Interesting enough, not only the cover, but also difficulty and other elements vary wildly between regions.