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.

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.

The Complete Guide to Phantasy Star III

Maps, generation walkthroughs, and pretty much anything else you'd ever want to know about Phantasy Star III.

Converting .bin audio files to .wav in Java

February 28, 2021
Somehow you acquired images of old-school CD games that use Red Book audio but are in bin/cue format. I'm not asking any questions about where you got them. I just want to help you listen to the music if that's a thing you're in to. Here's a hastily written program to convert .bin audio tracks to .wav files using the built-in Java Sound APIs.

Revisiting Dragon Slayer: The Legend of Heroes

February 15, 2021
In this aimless article I replay the first Legend of Heroes to see which elements are present in the modern series.

Ys III Walkthrough and Version Comparison

January 9, 2021
This guide goes through the four console versions of Ys III and compares strategies for each of them. There are a little over 1,000 screenshots total here so it will either break your browser or perhaps this site itself.

My Exclusive Quarantine Xmas Party

December 18, 2020
With all my usual plans canceled I'm forced to hold a very exclusive quarantine xmas party this year. The good news is you're invited, even if just virtually. So grab a festive ale and enjoy this gallery of nerdy ornaments and reflections on the past year.

Electronics Boutique August/September 1997 Catalog

November 14, 2020
Let's take a mental break from 2020 for a couple minutes by teleporting back to late summer 1997. It was a time when the Nintendo 64 and PlayStation were doing well while the Saturn was flailing. Also, for some reason, it was the era of interactive Barney toys.

J.B. Harold Murder Club for the TurboGrafx-16 CD: Save RAM Analysis and Unintentional Speedrun Guide

October 18, 2020
October is usually a busy month for me. With all my usual plans canceled I decided to dig deep into my video game backlog. That led me to play J.B. Harold Murder Club on the TurboGrafx-16 CD. It was OK until I somehow got into an unwinnable state. Rather than give up, I looked at the save RAM to determine which actions are required to complete the story. Along the way I might have figured out the fastest path through the game.

Electronics Boutique UK Star Wars Catalog

September 27, 2020
Let's travel back to the summer of 1999 when we were excited about new Star Wars movies instead of cynical. This little catalog from the UK is dedicated to Phantom Menace games and merchandise.

Fine, I guess I'll make Dungeon Explorer maps since no one else will

September 23, 2020
I really didn't want to make maps for Dungeon Explorer and apparently neither did anyone else. That left me with a choice - leave this classic game unmapped or power through them until I never want to think about Dungeon Explorer again. I chose the latter and only slightly regret it now.

One way to disable Skype autostart on Ubuntu

September 20, 2020
A brief tutorial on how to prevent Skype from constantly setting itself as an autostart application.

The bizarre, thirsty world of Ultra Box magazine

August 29, 2020
After going through all the Hyper Catalog CDs I decided to try the Ultra Box series. About halfway through I questioned why I thought this was a good idea for a review/gallery type thing. This series is just so... well, bizarre and thirsty.

Ys V Save State Hacking

August 16, 2020
In an attempt to stave-off quarantine madness for another week, here's a guide to hacking Ys V save states. It covers HP, MP, XP, and items at least.

Differences between Tombs and Treasure and Asteka II

August 8, 2020
Many years ago I wrote a walkthrough for Tombs and Treasure on the NES. I'm aware of at least one person who read it, making it one of the most popular things on this site. Tombs and Treasure is a port of Asteka II for the Famicom. For no particular reason I decided to see what was different in these two versions.