Speedrun Tower

Speedrun Tower is a Sega Genesis demo specifically designed for speedrunning. It's set in a building with pseudorandom floor connections. Your goal is to reach the top floor in the fewest steps possible.

My Loser Phase

Reflections on Video Game Retail from 1992-1997

A look back at the 16 and 32 bit wars from the perspective of a lowly retail clerk. Relive all the highs and lows of the era - from the Sega CD launch to the rise of the Sony PlayStation and everything in-between.

Retail Clerk '89

Retail Clerk '89 started as a personal exercise to learn Sega Genesis programming. It's now a complete, albeit short, game demo.

Why are so many sites using the Dummies font? (but are they really?)

February 4, 2023
It's another rambling article where I try to figure out why some weird browser thing is happening. This time around I'm going to solve the mystery of why so many web pages are rendering with the Dummies font.

Electronics Boutique Summer 2004 Catalog

January 28, 2023
This is the second of three catalogs I recently acquired. Unfortunately this isn't in the best condition. If you can get past that you'll find some good things in here. The PlayStation 2 vs Xbox vs GameCube battle is in its 3rd year and there many important new game releases. There are also some amazing deals on previous-gen games.

Electronics Boutique October 1993 Catalog

January 16, 2023
Very recently I acquired some Electronics Boutique catalogs I haven't scanned yet. There are fewer of these left and I will eventually run out for real. Until then, here is the October 1993 catalog. In a time when Mortal Kombat was the hottest home game... this catalog does not mention it at all. That is one of the odd choices in this catalog, there are some others. It's still fun to look back at anyway.

2022 Virtual Xmas Card

December 17, 2022
2022 was a perfectly normal boring year and that's great. I couldn't have asked for anything more. Here's a look at this year's crop of ornaments and mini reviews of the games I played.

Destroying a perfectly good Windows 98 virtual machine with Xmas sampler CDs

November 25, 2022
It's officially the start of the holiday season. Let's celebrate by traveling back to the late 90s and trying every Xmas sampler CD we can find.

Speedrun Tower

June 11, 2022
Here's a beta of my second Sega Genesis game. It's called Speedrun Tower. As the name implies it's a game designed for speedrunning. It's set in a quirky office building with randomized floor connections. The first demo is a complete game with three endings. Think of it as being functionally complete but not fully skinned. The final version should be out later this year.

Midwest Gaming Classic 2022

May 7, 2022
This is something like the 15th Midwest Gaming Classic gallery I've posted and maybe the 17th event I've attended. In that time my ability to take pictures has not improved. Neither has my ability to describe things at the show. These minor issues will not stop me from highlighting the things from the 2022 show that were new or interesting to me.

Electronics Boutique March 1997 Catalog

March 8, 2022
I'm rushing this catalog scan out since it turns 25 this month. This is the most 1990s catalog I've found yet. It looks like what would happen if you asked someone to create a 1990s video game catalog today.

The only things I found interesting in a pile of mid-90s Egghead catalogs

March 6, 2022
This is likely the most boring thing I've posted on this site.. and that's after skipping the most boring pages in these catalogs.

Sega Genesis Programming Part 24: Pseudorandomness

February 21, 2022
In this installment I introduce a new cast of characters and take them on a journey through a completely absurd building.

My most played Wii U and 3DS games (sort of)

February 20, 2022
When Nintendo announced the end of the Wii U and 3DS eShops they launched a personalized tribute site. On it we could all see what our most played games were for these two systems. In this feature I question the accuracy of my lists and pay brief respects to the Wii U and 3DS.

Sega Genesis Programming Part 23: A Simple Project Template

February 19, 2022
This is cramming all my various Genesis programming tutorials and code generation tools into a project template. It contains a four room demo that shows how to use all the actions & events in the Retail Clerk game engine. I don't particularly like that name but can't come up with anything better. Anyway, if you're interested in code to build simple games that are halfway between adventure and interactive fiction on the Genesis then you should check this out.