Blogspot
Yeah, it sounds odd title because everyone has done it. Also, there's the fact I still have this website anyway. So what's the issue is here? It's less of an issue but rather than epiphany/thought process I would like to share. I will start with a question.
Have you ever got bored with social media?
The answer should be obvious to some, I mean of course social media has always been the means of entertainment for a lot of people. But as of late for myself it's really become a shadow of its former self especially in terms of creative expression and overall fun factor. As someone who's grew up with a Web 2.0 version of the Web I've gotten quite accustomed to the idea that you need these platforms to express yourself especially with the death of websites which came alongside the early 2000s. It was for a lot of people of the nerdy variety to hang out. As of late it really has not been the case especially when everything has become monetized. The people started changing and I really did forseen this since the early half of the 2010s. But, this issue of not making content for the fun and self expression has reached critical mass. Not to mention, the humble creators have essentially become as corporatised as their mainstream media counterparts. Thus, lacking a lot of that authenticity. I miss when a lot of creators were average joes and becoming bigger than that was an option, not an requirement in order to survive. Also, miss the sense of community a lot of hubs of the internet used to inhabit and the wonderful/interesting (good or bad) characters.
Nowadays, it's drab and soulless, I have been watching a few videos on the topic which might not help as the alogthrim might be feeding this 'negative content'. However, I feel like there's a deeper underlying issue here. The mysticism which connected everyone together has pretty much vanished, it was inevitable but I can't help to shake off this lack of authenticity online. People sell out so much more often to maintain a career online and no one has integrity. The attention and views come first, than honesty/integrity comes second. Also, don't get me started on the idea of 'outrage culture' and the 'mass censorship' happening across the world. You just want to get away from the montony. The irony is, a lot of the people used to complain about real life has seeped into the internet, thus making things more mundane. I just got sick of scrolling across my feeds hoping for the next doofamine hit only to not really get anything at all the same cyclical behaviour that has been impeding a lot of my creative endeavours lately.
I initially made this site as more of a retreat or buffer between my social media usage now I think it's probably time to go full time with this website and just abandon socials entirely. As there's literally nothing to offer. Most of the time when I'm using it's mostly for news where I could find in other places. There's lies the problem, social media has centralised everything that I want to see so much there. So, its actually quite hard to leave anyway. You gotta thanks the death of forums and hopes for But that's another rant entirely.
On the flip side of this, thanks to this disconnect I found myself on Neocities, but I never fully dedicated to it. Truth be told I would work on it from time and time again, but not as much as I wanted. but thanks to this website I actually tried and experimented with newer hobbies, and found myself to be more creative than I thought. In fact, working on this site has forced me to actually find new things to talk about for the blog. So in a way, this has helped me a lot and added a positive change to my life. So I need to continue with it in the long-term. I think this would be slow detox unless the news itself is important. But, this will give me time to actually work on making content than consuming it.
In that case, I found myself some new game engines, which might be useful in that creative pursuit. As someone who likes retro games and or indies more akin to that notion. I've stumbled across Pyrite64 which basically Unity for Nintendo 64 games (yes, you can make these games play on OG hardware) and GBStudio which allows you to make Gameboy Games of your own, which is really damn cool.
Also, I found a couple of interesting games aswell, one of them Startron through this website. It's resource management games akin to the likes of Dwarf Fortress if you heard of that game. But, it's in space which seem like a very fun experience, and it helps that it's free. While I haven't gotten to try it out yet. The game 100% got me intrigued in what the game has to offer. Startron is on Steam and Itch.io if you want to take a look
Another game which seems very special to me, is Stray Children. It's very odd it went under my radar for some reason. I don't blame myself because I don't have a Nintendo Switch. Also learning that the original devs who made Super Mario RPG were behind this was insane. It really needs no introduction if you know what that game is and if you played an JRPG before. I would say from handdrawn style and the aesthetic, I will definetly pick this one up. It really seems up my alley while going on my indie streak.
Also, there's a lot of fan projects I would like to delve into. What I kinda love about the modern day internet. When it can be creative it can. Nothing shows it better is through fangames, I love gaming as much as the next guy. But I don't know in the last few years, a lot of projects have really skyrocketed into prominence. As you can see, as someone who like the Mega Man X games. Someone was finally mad enough to remake the one of the most infamous titles (next to Mega Man X7 which also had updated fan patch), Mega Man X6. But it's an fan remake titled Mega Man X: Viral Nightmare which is essentially adds quality of life improvements, improved level design, and can be played in widescreen. There's more on the site itself. But, one trend I'm loving is when fans are trying to fix games, which were previously notorious to give them new life. I've seen it with games like Sonic-P06 and Sonic Reignited. Now seeing it with Mega Man X is pleasant. I'm hoping this trend continues.
Another take on the fangame scene which I have been loving are recreations or fan engines. We have already seen this with the likes of Sonic The Hedgehog long time ago. But, I'm seeing it with the likes of my childhood game series (the first games I ever played) Spyro the Dragon. This is interesting case because if you haven't been following the scene, there has been attempts at fan games before with the purple dragon. But following the release of Spyro: Reignited remakes, a lot of them got C&Ded and disappeared from the internet. For years, there has been a drought until a few years ago. When a fan engine 'Spaghetti Spyro' was created, which made originally for the fangame Spyro: Crisis in Chronolia. What's good about this project isn't just the fangame made in conjunction. I would recommend it myself. It's actually because the game is a complete recreation of Spyro: Ripto's Rage and Year of the Dragon by the fans!
Everything about this, remakes the game as 1:1 to the original PSX game series as possible which anyone means anyone can make their own custom levels with the game! It's really damn cool, and there's already a bunch being made already. This one below is Spyro: Skybound Heist, which you can try today if you're interested.
Seeing this along with other sites I have been stumbling across this rabbit holes of websites on neocities made me realise how much creation is more important. The idea you can make anything online was the true essence of the internet which is truly lose in this modern age of self gratification and corporatisation of hobbies. I'm just hoping to follow suit and focus on making the media I want to see than just consuming things for the next dopanime hit. So, maybe I can start with improving this site and giving it some quality of life changes to start with. This site is far from finished anyway. So I can do that while playing games for the time being.
February 20th, 2026
Retrofuge
Hi, it's been a hot minute, how's everyone doing? I have been doing pretty decent for the last few months. Life as per usual has been pretty busy. I have actually missed my weekly update of the site. Also, getting over creative block while balancing many projects at once. It's silly but I like to do a lot of things. It's simply more fun for me to do so, pretty good to keep the brain occupied with the tumultanous world we live in. It seems like every day, the world gets more censored and rights that was once there are continually getting removed. That being said, I have been catching up on hobbies in the meantime.
Upcoming Games being played
There's a lot of games I have been playing and recording on my Elgato for footage for my Youtube, more on that later. I have been going through my Steam Deck library as I've promised myself to finish about 20 games, this year. It seems like a small task until I've came to the realisation, that procransition is a huge thing with me. Like, a game would played a good while, then it will abanonded for a long periods time, probably because I get busy and forget. There's a fond memory, I remember when there's so much free time to play games, before I've abandoned gaming for a good while. Now, back into the full swing of things, there's one thing every adult gamer has to face which is time management, it sort of sucks! Especially when there's so many games to get through, while I don't believe in the whole backlog, there's probably cases I would need to find a lot more gaming time to relax and luckily, it's very easy to get immersed into a game, though lately I do feel a need to record a lot of my gaming experiences. But enough about that, what games am I playing?
The first game on the list is Majogami which is an 2D action platformer created by INTI Creates, they were known for the Mega Man Zero series, which is particular favourite of mine. I wanted to try Azure Gunvolt Striker originally. But, if my memory serves me correctly, my interest in the game came from watching Summer's Game Fest which I didn't see much fanfare about, despite being an 30th Anniversary title. So far, it's very fun experience and the bosses really got me sprucing up my skills in action platformers, and it's very intense. While, the story of these games are pretty standard and supplementary. Like, your typical anmensia story, the gameplay seems second to none, and everything I expect from Inti Creates titles, knowing how much fun it is. It really makes me want to dabble in Zero series again and Azure Gunvolt Striker sooner or later.
Scott Pilgrim EX is an interesting case because it's a sequel to a game, which got previously delisted due to the licensing issues. The original Scott Pilgrim video was an beat em up which came back in the....oh god, like 7th generation of consoles, so like PS3 and Xbox 360 era. It's really back before Steam took off and I was more of console gamer in my teenage years. The original game was on PSN and then got delisted at some point and thus never got to own or play the game back in the day. So it was a shame because that game would be the year, I would have gotten into the Scott Pilgrim graphic novel and became a fan of Bryan Lee O'Malley work. Even read Seconds aswell (still waiting for the live-action adaptation). But anyway, a few years ago, Ubisoft finally bought back the rights for property and relisted. Fast forward to today, we got Scott Pilgrim: Takes off World and I assume the follow up to that game, Scott Pilgrim EX. As a fan of Scott Pilgrim this was a must play and I'm looking forward to go through this demo which came out a few days ago.
The Rayman 30th Anniversary need no introduction as I've been a fan of this platformer series for a good portion of my life probably next to other series such as Crash Bandicoot and Spyro the Dragon. I think it's more surreal that we even reach this number of 30 which is something I can never imagine ever since I was a child but here we and now there's a collection for it which include the PS1 version (the one I grew up with), MD-DOS version and the Atari Jaguar version, but no Sega Saturn for some reason. either way i'm not really there for the games as I played through every single one of them throughout the years However there is a one thing that have been concerning a lot of fans is that the original music by Remi Gazel, was removed which was probably for legal reasons, and I will be lying a lot of the new tracks almost break the vibe and atmosphere the original game had, it reminded me of other collections. but I think the difference was that the outrage wasn't that immense. It was a weird last few days just looking at that considering Rayman has been dead for a long time only to get review bombed. Either way, I wasn't interested in that but rather to my surprise there was one hour worth of interviews and the game design bible for the series was just dropped in there to my shock. It was a pleasant read learning more about the series that I grew up with and the little tidbits that I didn't even know myself. It could have been definitely made for good Youtube content in the future.
Nioh 3 was the interesting title as someone who didn't really indulge in the first two games that much. Not only that, I wasn't into soullikes not because of the difficulty and I just found not as entertaining. However, being in a Koei Temco mood, it really spoke to me and wanted to pick it up. The verdict is that I'm throughly enjoying it and it makes for a good game aswell. While, I haven't gotten too far into the game. It's something I would like to talk about more in the future, when finished if I don't procrasinate that is.
Romeo is A Dead Man would technically be my second Suda51 game as my only experience with them is with No More Heroes. It's because hack-n-slash is back, I couldn't help to try it out. It's not been played yet. But I'm sure I'm going to enjoy it when getting around to it.
State of Play
This year, I decided to Watch the State of play this usually I have no interest in it. However for some reason I just felt like doing so being a long avid fan of Sony's consoles I decided to do so.it was surprisingly good showcase and it had a lot of games where I was looking forward to for the most part in addition with a lot of other games which were revealed literally a few days ago I was really surprised by how well done this presentation was and so many bangers all coming out. I feel like finally console gaming especially on the Playstation 5 is taking off because for the first six years of this console's release there has really been no games that I've been looking forward to or it's just been remakes. As for the games revealed, a few I have shown massive interest in. Project Windless, A new Kena sequel, Crimson Moon, Dead of Alive 7 is coming back! A new John Wick game, Marvel Tokon (finally), Control Resonant and others. It was very strong to my shock as most gaming presentations have been on the weak side as of late. It seems like Sony is finally getting back to their original routes and showing actual games, instead of the cinematic rubbish they used to push out every generation. Most importantly no life service games anymore which is a relief. At this rate alongside my upcoming games I'll have a lot more to play which is a bonus because there's a huge backlog to go through. I would contain my excitement for these titles and can't to see more
Making Video Content
This is a weird one, because it's always been a hobby, I've always wanted to do but never got around to. But that would be content creation, this was suggested by a friend as a creative means expression for myself. Since, there was always an nagging feeling in the back of my mind telling me to do. But never had the confidence or willpower to do recently. The first video tackled about if nostalgia actually harms the 3D platformer genre from evolving. It's kinda something I never seen mentioned a lot, so it was decent topic for a video and also, it was an excuse to practice how Elgato capture worked and how to use Kdenlive for video editing. The crazy part was more or less how powerful the software was. Also, from editing a bunch, I have gotten a good grip on how to make videos and feel encouraged to make more with the decent reception it got. While, I'm not aiming for a career, and I got other things to worry about. It's a good means of unwinding and giving myself a hobby which has been achieved so far. Getting over perfectionism and creative block were great practices. There's already many ideas following in my head, it's so exciting to do this stuff. Finding yourself and what you like is so important in my honest opinion. It's healthy to try out new things once or twice to see if you like it.
February 17th, 2026
Retrofuge
Hi, there's another update here. It's been a good few weeks, despite not doing much. It's really focusing on work and everything for the most part. I had a good conversation over the week, with a friend of mine, prompting me to get into content creation. Since, it's been something that has been debated in my mind for a long time. But, I thought taking the plunge and decided to put myself an Elgato Capture card for the hell of it.
Since, it was discounted, console recording is something that has been of interest of me. While, testing for the console recording, I've tried all three of my consoles, Xbox, Dreamcast and PS2. But, while trying my Xbox again to go through my backlog. It just died mid session! Yes, I can't escape dying consoles ooof. The worst part, I was planning to remove the clock capacitator for the Xbox this weekend in fear this would happen. But, it seems like the guy wanted to blow for time now.
I'm slightly relieved because it means it was going to blow at any time, and it would have slurged everywhere if I was going to take it apart, and those capacitors contain very strong acid! So, I missed a potential injury, if it was that violatile. But, in the admist of this, there was some recording that was saved before that blunder. It did remind me of the time, that my old YLOD Playstation died. Just not that violent hehe. Also, spare Xbox consoles are cheap. So I'm not losing sleep. But at least for next, that clock capacitor is getting removed asap, or somehow I can stumble across a V1.6 OG Xbox which is less faulty (for reference was that was V1.0 model yikes)
Anyway, these are some test recordings, which might lead to video content in the future. However, some settings would need to be fixed first. Like knowing when to use mono or stereo audio. But, learning new things very day.
In other news, I have been trying to get Bleemshell to work. For reference, it's basically a loader for the short-lived Bleemcast which was just unofficial PSX emulator for the Sega Dreamcast, for the tech savvy out there. There's a good video on it, if you want to know more. While I got to the boot screen with some test games, the guide to getting the PSX emulator started up was terrible. Not to mention, the original poster didn't really have the most helpful guidance. I don't get programmers who are terrible at explaining how their own stuff work. Some of the games, I want to try out on Bleemshell doesn't show up or work which is a shame. So it's back to the drawing board on that one. You think with all the expertise of making the damned tools, people would have an idea how to make better guides. But hey, at least I'm looking forward to doing more other projects with this capture card though. That's it from me.
January 21th, 2026
Retrofuge
Well I didn't take too long. It's really just a minor update. I don't really know what to say outside trying to fill up the quota of keeping up with the site, among other in real life things. I have been trying to make it an effort, and trying to get back into the gaming side of things. I have been playing games such as Street Fighter 2nd Impact, Jet Set Radio, Ecco the Dolphin and Otogi this week. While I have been sorting out finding methods of storing my personal PS2 collection. Outside that, I have just been enjoying some anime, as Jujutsu Kaisen Season 3 and Hell's Paradise Season 2 just came out. So that would be treat to watch, I would love to keep on working on this website in the meantime. But it really has been lazy week, which was mostly adjusting to work. I hope to hit the ground running in the next couple of days.
January 11th, 2026
Retrofuge
Well, the end of the year has come around which I can't believe myself, as its nearly been half a year since I started up this website. It's pretty much insanity, as I never would have imagined maintaining the website as long as I did due to generally low motivation. It was nothing short of an achievement, especially considering how much of a rollercoaster this year was. So I wanted to just catalog my yearly review.
The Humble Beginnings of Retro Haven
The idea of Retro-Haven as concept was something that was in the cards in mid 2024. I knew I wanted to make a website for ages, even starting some dead sites which were never uploaded or even having an old wordpress site, Dragocorner (that was deleted) back in the early 2010s. That was my own source of inspiration as there was always an need to find a means to express myself without the montony of social media.
I have distinctly recalled trying up some fansites as a kid. But, making websites was difficult and wasn't easy. A lot of people use websites as a way to express their artistic talent. But, seeing Neocities I can see why it would be an avenue for artists to express themselves. However, I'm not an artist far from it, I'm more on the technical site of things. So it made it a lot harder to come up with designs. But after seeing how a lot of people start out. It didn't feel so bad with the design.
While, for an first attempt in years, I'm pretty proud to how this site turned out. It's far from complete. But, I am proud of how turned out. It makes me wonder how much further, this can be taken. Especially with all the promises of keeping certain pages up. But, it wasn't even pure procrasnination because in the way, I have been doing much more in the background when I wasn't doing something for the site.
I remember when the site literally started out, with very simple, concepts. Fun fact, this site was originally called Retro's Attic, but I decided against it, since, it didn't really suit the vibe going for this site. Also, haven sounds cooler and describes this place as way to refuge or retreat from the present-day internet and social media. You know that has made me a lot happier for sure.
Social media detoxing and finding new hobbies
My mental state has been pretty rocky, especially at the first half of the year. While, I can't get into details. But let's say it wasn't really the best time to be alive. If I learnt anything from that half, not everything was the end. You know coming out on the other side better than ever was nothing I really expected. After taking years of introspection and many practices to improve my mental health. I can finally say I'm proud of where I am currently. Not to mention, somewhat quitting social media is a major plus that lead to more productivity on my end. Also, the second half felt like a speedrun of getting things back together. Especially with taking up new interests and hobbies such as:
- Starting up Retro Haven, and consistently updating it.
- Finishing off my personal game's collection, including getting into new consoles, mainly the Xbox and the Dreamcast
- Trying out game development for the first time.
- Learning how to actually mod retro consoles (always wanted to learn this)
- Improving on my social skills and getting to know other people.
- Taking up audiobooks reviving my love for science fiction
Console Modding Journey
This is the fun part, not only I learnt how to mod my old black PSP-1000 and then went on to same for the OG Xbox for the different reason than to access, the superior NTSC, video options which was locked out of the PAL Xbox. That looks beautiful on some games by the way, just read my previous post on that. I was able to end off the year with my first hard modification of the Dreamcast. The crazy part about it. It's the same Dreamcast which was bought for a hefty price mind you, with the broken laser? Yes! I didn't let take me down. Seriously, to be real. I have never taken an electronic or machine as long as I lived. I always watched other people do it. But never did anything myself, so the first thing to tackle was replacing the GD-ROM optical drive with the dead laser.
There was a lot of research which was done over the month to see how to revive this Dreamcast. as I will tell you first time there was a lot of options to choose from which was beyond my realm of expertise considering it was my first attempt at a hard mode in the system. keep in mind I have never sold it before nor I was interested I just wanted a simple fix just for console to start up again. To cut it Long story short the power supply wasn't much of the issue. so I've gotten myself an GDEMU, which was a optical drive emulator, in less technical speak, it was just a system which allowed you playgames from your MicroSD card.
The hard part was mostly knowing how to fit the peripheral and knowing which vendor (independent, Amazon and Ebay) to go for because I've learnt there was a lot of clones and I didn't want to spend my money too much on a faulty unit or wait too long. It was anxiety inducing waiting for this thing, despite being close to christmas.I thought my equipment got stuck in transit thankfully it wasn't the case. While, my mind was eased by the fact, I finally got a copy of Marvel Vs Capcom and Street Fighter Alpha 3 for the Dreamcast (great games btw!). Frankly it came through quicker than I expected. Since, products shipped from China I only heard horror stories about, especially with the courier in question, Evri!. However, to be fair I haven't gotten such bad experiences but there's always the first time. Spoilers: It wasn't.
My kit came with a few prerequisites which wasn't really a part of many normal sets in fact I got the most unconventional one which has no documentation on how to put it together (no bracket or plastic feet). Also did I mention my kit didn't actually come with a manual so I was just learning as I went. It's more painful than you think, also, the day I got my GDEMU kit, I didn't have the right screwdrivers
Don't ask me why I didn't have a phillips screwdriver, so I went out in the bleeding cold weather to get one, which I begun the teardown of the console. There was a lot of resources, which were gathered prior to dissassembling the console, even down to knowing how to format the microSD card to load games with SDCardManager.After many eons of looking for the right teardown video, I came across this video by chance which had the exact kit I had for it, which was brillant.
After all that headache, I was able to take the optical drive apart, which was surprisingly easier than expected. The Dreamcast has a very modular design which speaks to the how well made the console is. Unforunately, like with many older systems, they get older and break. It did take a bit of fiddling to get all the components including the ribbon cable in tact. But, after that, it was a pretty simple install. Even can keep the faulty drive as sounvier I guess. I don't know hahahaha. But it was pretty cathartic experience, and the internals wasn't so bad either. It was so cool to look inside a console. But, it was more impressive to how clean it was, as most systems have been known to "yellow" over time, especially with the case. I wasn't sure if the owner ever cleaned the system. But it was one problem down.
The end result was actually getting a very neat system, and I got the white colour as it fits the most with my Dreamcast colour, and the SD Card is very plug and play too. It was mostly impressive to be able to do my first hard mod without any prior experience. Frankly, it was the easiest of the bunch. But, it means my money was worth it in the end. As I did see a lot of modded systems get marked up pretty significantly, but if you can learn to do it yourself. You will actually save a lot more. It's cool to jump into the world of modded systems this year. It's a prospect which seemed so far out of reach at the time. But the tools have gotten more accessible and with the state of modern gaming at the moment, there couldn't be better time to get into retro gaming consoles. It's just more surreal most of this childhood classics are over 20 years old. The install was pretty sleek and now, I really want to replace the power supply unit for better performance, it's called the DreamPSU (original I know), but it will allow for longer play sessions without the risk of overheating the unit.
That being said, the GDEMU does look nice, and there's other options to make it even better which can be looked into in the near future.
What's Next?
That's a hard question, because there's a lot of things I want to do. But there's also prioritising life opporunities and seeing where to from there. However, I love the internet and thinking of making this site my home. While, I can't make any promises, there's probably going to be some aims to revive the reviews section of my site, I do have the notes for them. But, it's matter of posting them. Moreover, I feel like there's a lot of personal projects I will like to work on.
One of them is modding my childhood Playstation 2, for the core reason to using as a media hub. I have collected a lot of PS2 games over the years, with some being pretty rare finds, but I want a means of perserving my whole games collection from 2020-2024. It took a bit of research into learning how to mod said system and finding the right hard drive for it. I will like to think, this one isn't faulty but only time will tell. That's a goal for new year to perseve my collection. Then, it can be taken anywhere, so it would basically taking my collection with my in spirit if anything was to happen to it. The collection is pretty important to me, and defines a part of my character in a lot of ways.
Another goal is to develop my hobbyist game development, I did a few things in the beginning of the year, but due to how busy and turblent life was. Tackling hobbyist game development has been pretty tough, prior to 2025, I was able to get some practice into 3D modelling as my aim is mostly to make 3D games as that's the games I am most fond with, so I have a few ideas of games to make. But, like with any skill, it's a matter of getting better, and with no programming experience, it will be a long shot. However, seeing how I was able to pick up some technical skills, my self confidence has significantly boosted. So with enough patience and determination, hobbyist game development might become another hobby of mine. Following game development, I would really want to go through my gaming backlog to give me more insight into games and there's so many series I want to experience, since there's been a huge hiatus from the hobby. It's actually time to become hardcore and go through the whole years of collecting. A lot of collectors don't play their games. But I aim to as hence the collection started in the first place. It's going to be real treat.
Lastly, along with getting the life together and making more opporunities to meet people. The website I would like to improve on aswell. It's simple and nice, but I want to make it a bit more lively and with the followers I have gotten lately. It's really encourages me to keep going my thing. Thanks a lot for the support. I never imagined this site would get any traction as I didn't really try to promote it as much. Since social media has been abandoned now, it would mean, my site would take higher priority and I will look forward to getting into my routine. I'm so excited to what would come from it, as it expands in scope.
So, that being said, I really wish a happy New Year of 2026 for anyone who reads this. We nearly through the 2020s, while it's not most exciting decade. For myself, it seems a gateway to new opporunities and possible interesting journey ahead. It does tingle my curiosity.
December 31st, 2025
Retrofuge
Honestly, the shortest post of the month, due to the Christmas season and festivies. There's not much to say outside I have been playing my retro gaming consoles lately. Remember, that PAL Xbox which had no access to the video modes, well I was able to mod my OG Xbox with the Rocky5 softmod thanks to this tutorial, and since then has really worked like a charm, getting seeing the games with higher quality without the flicker filter added. I used the Enigmah-X (to switch regions) and changed my layout of my system a bit. But overall, I'm starting to realise that the Xbox was pretty special console. I do find it a shame, it's only talked about when it comes Halo nowadays. I don't blame people, but I really forget how strong of a start it had, not on the level of PS2 and Gamecube, but it gets my praise. Especially after going through Dead or Alive 3, Otogi and Jet Set Radio Future.
That being said, I was able to set up my consoles with the apporiate components. I felt like I have achieved my ultimate setup. As for the game collection, it was a hell of a blast. While it's not the biggest collection, as for the personal value, I felt like I gotten most of what I wanted, which might mark an end to the game collecting journey. At least in a hardcore sense, since a lot of retro games are getting really expensive now. I have been really exploring alternatives to really experience the hobby without breaking the bank. So, modding has become more appealing. There's plans of modding my PS2 with external hard drive to backup my whole collection when the time games. I'm already doing that with the Dreamcast, when my GDEMU arrives, not only that there will be a chance to play the GTA III Dreamcast homebrew which makes me glad to have the original hardware to try it out. The goal was always to keep the longetivity of these consoles and perserve my games. So it's been a joy to feel like proper retro gamer through and through.
All there's left is really go through the collection, which was the ultimate aim from the start which has been my incentive ever since there collection journey has started. For now, I feel like it marks the end of the personal game collecting journey. Never been interested in full sets or collection for the prestige which a lot of content creators do. Now, there's a lot of entertainment to consume. There's personal projects that can now be worked on.
All I can say, Merry Christmas to everyone reading this post and see you in the next year probably.
December 24th, 2025
Retrofuge
Hello, it's pretty short life update, I haven't been on the blog or the website for a while. I have been really busy with work. But the good news though, I gotten myself a new Dreamcast after CEX wasn't able to fix the old one I bought. However, I found out you could mod these systems, with the GDEMU mod which allows to play these games without the disk drive and still experience the new system. Something I could learn to install in the future.
Outside that, I find myself enjoying the Dreamcast, which has so many bangers; the games I have been really playing lately has been original Sonic Adventure, Soulcalibur and Dead or Alive 2. But, I gotten some other games added to the collection such as Crazy Taxi, Power Stone, Blue Stinger and so much more. It seems like the collection just gets bigger
Also, I even managed to get copy of Sonic Adventure 2 for the original Dreamcast (costed a forutune btw), as I always had issues with the re-releases of the games which only available on Steam. So, I felt like to get the most authentic experience without mods. This was the best option. So far, the Dreamcast has been a great system to get to my list of consoles and I don't regret the investment at all.
As for the new additions, I did something very unusual which I never done before. For the first time ever, it's been decided my next console to collect for would be surprisingly the Original Xbox. Not the 360, Xbox One or even series consoles. The OG release from 2001. Why? It's actually pretty simple, there was I am a lot of potential or ongoing Sega Dreamcast exclusive games which made their new home on Microsoft's console.
It was a weird revelation for myself as the Xbox family, I never really followed until now. Not to mention, the system feels like an odd spritual successor to the Dreamcast and I couldn't pass up on all the great games which came on to the Xbox console. Some which were exclusives which went on to have PC ports. So, for now, there has been a few games which have been picked up to try out.
So there was that aspect which was interesting. While, the Xbox hasn't arrived yet, since it was ordered online recently. While, there's a lot of exictment for myself to hook it up to my scaler and TV. Apparently, it came to my attention, PAL Xbox didn't come with the same resolution features as the NTSC version strangely enough, which is a bit disheartening. But luckily from one video on the topic. It's been possible to get this back, if I softmodded the console itself. It's pretty funny everything, I want the best out of these systems comes back to modding hahaha.
This is really giving me a reason to learn how fix my own consoles and modify them for the best experience possible. There's a joy in giving your old systems you grew to love some new life. Also, with the rise of retro gaming, it's probably the best time to learn the craft! Since the holidays are around the corner. This would give me a lot more time to dabble into the world of console modding properly. Also, Pragmata and Super Meat Boy 3D demos came out. So I gotta play those aswell. :)
December 14th, 2025
Retrofuge
Well, I went to the London Gaming Market last weekend, which I have been anticipating since September (shortly after the website launch lol.) which I went for a lot of game hunting. I would finally complete my set of PS2 games I would love to collect for now, which the last games added were Drakengard 2, Gungrave and Tak and the Power of Juju. So I now, I had my sights on the Dreamcast console. For context, this is a console I always wanted to attain since I was kid or my teens. This is because I would hear so much stories about it if I was from researching online, friends and release which come with it. One of them being Soulcalibur, the second entry of the Soul Edge series (Soul Blade for home releases), which is still locked to the console. Before, you say anything dear reader, yes it was re-released on one point......only for the phones and Xbox Live Arcade for some reason. But never on Playstation Network or even Nintendo E-Shop. For some reason, Namco just hated re-releasing the game. Of course, there was emulation but it wasn't the same experience.
Anyway, enough with that tangent. This was the moment, it was finally decided that the time was now to get myself a Dreamcast console. So, as per usual, as it was only one around from a vendor. I helped myself to the console and took it home with me, as shown with the picture below. I was told it worked and everything was fine. There was one issue! Actually there was multiple. One I didn't have CRT which could be easily fixed using Open Source Scan Convertor (OSSC) which I had for years that already hooked up to the TV. Then I realised due to not using it for a hot minute. I needed a SCART Cable because the box doesn't actually support composite video output. In plain English, the AV cables are worthless!
I was going to use the same component cables I used with the Sony Playstation I've connected already. But those cables are only supported for Sony systems. Also, Dreamcast component cables must be unicorns, because they are impossible to find. I was going to use VGA cables (Dreamcast surprisingly supports it), but I heard it causes a lot of visual issues. So I was left with the SCART cables as the best option. But I had to wait a few days to come over from Ebay shipping.
That must be end right, hahahahaha WRONG! The controller I was given didn't work, so I had to get a new one. I was beginning to think I was scammed, but I kept positive because controllers are easy to replace. So I tried again. Everything seemed fine, with the awesome boot screen and started with one of my favourite sonic game, Sonic Adventure as I always wanted to play how it was definitively played back in 1998.
As mentioned before, everything seemed fine, A-OK right?.....right? If the case, it would actually been the end of this post! As Sonic Adventure had really and mean really bad audio issues. At first I thought it was my SCART cable or my OSSC was damaged. So I tried again. I still audio issues which didn't make sense. Then, I gotten to the biggest culprit. I would try out my other games, Viruta Fighter 3tb and Tomb Raider Chronicles. Then it didn't read the discs at all. My worst fears I have been answered. I GOT BLOODY RIPPED OFF! I would complain but I didn't have the details of the person who sold it, and I can see why now! God dammit!
So I had to take it to the CEX Repair Service which I never used before because after research, it was 100% a disk laser issue. At the moment, I was so mad! But pray to the gods out there, it gets fixed. Not to mention, since I have no DIY console fixing skills. I'm just going to leave it in the hands of others. But at least, I don't have to pay if nothing happens to it.
For the time being, there's a lot of focus drawn to Sony Playstation 2 Modding. I already did the same for the PSP about a month or so ago. So at the same event, I got myself FreeMcBoot Card with M4XISO, it which was a way to give my second PS2 a bit more life, and play it region-free which is a good prospect. I might install OPL (Open PS2 Launcher) to play some homebrew at some point. Even if I'm skilled enough do some PS2 homebrew myself as I love this system a lot.
As I forgot to mention last month due to how packed it was literally! I got to watch two movies which I have been anticapting for a long time. One of them being Tron Ares being huge into franchise with the original, legacy and the short lived tv show. As well as, Chainsaw Man: Reze which adapts the Bomb Girl arc from the manga of the same name. I might write a bit about them in the reviews. But honestly I have been so busy these days, it's been a bit difficult to write these things down. Moreover, working on other personal projects taking up my time. It's not a big deal. However, it would be nice to give this site a bit of life when I get the free time again. This is probably it from me, might even be only post for the month.
So I will see everyone then. Also, the site passed 9000 views! (on Neocities). So thank you so much for keeping interest.
November 16th, 2025
Retrofuge
Hello again, it's not really an update, but I wanted to just post what I have been doing for the last week of October. The week has been pretty good and have been on my break at the current moment. In the meantime, I have been working on a few hobbies of mine and aswell as developing new ones. as someone who's always been getting into video games as evidence from playing Ninja Gaiden 4 and Visions of Mana recently. one hobby that always eluded me is actually the art of game development. Although it was one of the bucket list of things I would want to do anyway I decided to dabble in the Godot engine.
Why the Godot Engine instead of Unity or Unreal? It's actually an engine have been pretty familiar with. So there's that aspect to. Also I like the intuitive nature of it as well as its open source nature, as of the Unity controversy, a lot of support has been made for the 3D side of the engine which I couldn't pass up. It's list of hobbies which always caught my interest. But, like most hobbies, it was a lot of work. The hobby wasn't my first rodeo either as I did start with some small projects back in the 2010s with some smaller games, made with something called Pygame (if you remember that), which has been lost to time.
I got inspired by a few games and fan projects recently, which one of them was Spyro: Crisis in Chronolia by Bunbaroness which was with Spaghetti Spyro Framework in Unreal. It was a very impressive fan effort which embolden to start my own game development journey. But difference is, I'm starting from square one, a lot of videos recommended to start small and learn from there. However, that method doesn't suit me and rather start with something which I'm fond of. So why not start with simple platformer series, Gex? It's really just a base game to practice my skills and nothing really special. Not to mention, I'm not a good programmer, so better late than ever right. The game development is something that has been on-off hobby. But feel like the practice can be done this time. It's all about consistency and finishing at the end of the day. Who knows, this simple test project might evolve into something better. The reviews and general things with the site won't stop. As I'm only aiming to be hobbyist dev nothing professional, it's just a means of exploring passions at the moment. The work done has been pretty basic using the templates and default settings. I'm dreading the programming aspect hahaha. But, this would be a fun experiment.
That's really it, I hope this journey of learning the ropes of hobbyist game development would be a challenging but fun experience. :D
October 30th, 2025
Retrofuge
Not much of a post. I wanted to write that, Ninja Gaiden 4 which was another game that was anticipating for has finally arrived. The bad news, I learnt as of 16th October 2025; the series creator, Tomonbu Itagaki is no longer with us. It was.....very sudden and shocking to say the least. Seeing how much of an icon he was for the not only the fighting game scene, competing with my favourite series Tekken. But also, the mastermind behind the revolutionary hack-n-slash series, next to Devil May Cry. It's very conflicting for me, as an onlooker to his works, with my first exposure being DOA3 for the OG Xbox and recently getting into the Ninja Gaiden series itself. Koei Temco pretty much lost one of its primary figureheads which put the company on the map. Just as it was making its comeback, Itagaki passes away, it's very huge gut punch, even talking to a friend who was huge fanboy of his work, and seeing the euologies across social media. It's very surreal to see, and wasn't really that old too (aged 58), he really had a lot in him.
Even reading his last message was truly sad, as he really felt like he was letting his fans down by going like this. But, honestly it feels like the oppposite, he did hella lot. But sometimes, life can have his methods of getting in the way. I can't get over he didn't live to see the release of his magum opuses
“The flame of my life is finally about to go out.
If this message has been posted, that means the time has come - I am no longer in this world. (This final post has been entrusted to someone dear to me.)
My life was a constant battle. And I kept on winning.
l also caused a lot of trouble along the way.
I take pride in having fought through it all, following my own convictions.
I have no regrets.
I only feel deep sorrow that I couldn't deliver a new work to all my fans.
That's just how it goes.
So it goes.
Tomonobu Itagaki"
Honestly, think despite not always being into his whole catalog, he was a creative really driven by passion. Moreover, being very unapologetic in his approach to artistry, which is something I admire as appericator of the medium. I do think it would encourage me to live life to the fullest. Whatever passions, you have to just have to commit to them and do as much as you can. You never know when your time can run out. As for the Ninja Gaiden 4, it really makes me wonder to the future of Koei Temco. However, do think it's good time to start appericating this series. That being said, rest in peace you legend. Your influence cannot be understated.
Tomonobu Itagaki
April 1st, 1967 - October 16th, 2025
You were a true videogame rockstar.
October 21st, 2025
Retrofuge
Hello there. Long time, no blogpost. Yes, I have skipped the month of September which wasn't really my intention but here we are. It's kinda been a story and half. As when I made this website initally had a lot of spare time due to my work schedule. But, I had to change jobs and had a lot of many transitional periods/growing pains during that process. That led me to moving away from the website, even missing my at least a monthly post of my blog. But, since it's earlier days, it's not much an issue. But, the good news, it wasn't without some work done. Despite, my constant procransination. A lot happened during the month of September and leading a bit up to October. I would just go over them with the respective images below. I will go from the first thing.
While away I have dabbled into the world of PSP softmodding which started with using ARK-loader with homebrew and so on, it was pretty much a fun process. Not to mention, gave a good reason to dust off the old PSP-1000 again, it was really great and can't wait to do more with it. I would love to some homebrew development one day, if the skills I can attain for it.
The month of September was really packed with major game releases, even from the indie game scene. Yes, I heard about the long awaited Hollow Knight: Silksong. Meanwhile, I was looking forward to the next entry of the Dying Light series, which was my favourite zombie games, which is coming from someone who wasn't really huge into the genre that much. I loved original Dying Light, I was a bit let down by the second game. But playing through Dying Light: The Beast, it was major return to form, and Techland really delivered on nearly every facet of the game. I was really having a blast with this, while I haven't completed it. It really looks like 100% playthrough might become a possiblity, but we have to wait and see. In conjunction with Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds, it's been my picks for the Autumn.
Another quirk, which I never really mentioned, I am pretty much an collector of videogames and manga. When it comes to videogames. The consoles which I mostly collect for was mostly for the Sony Playstation series of consoles. As not only the consoles which holds a lot of nostalgia for myself. Also, it's the only few series of consoles, I got every single iteration for. That being said, in terms of retro games, I was able to pick up the some classic RPG series, starting with the //.Hack RPG series. This brings me back, especially for the 2000s franchise, which I remember growing up with its anime //.Hack SIGN. I would murmurs about the RPG series over the years, but never got around to it. Since, I had the good Open Source Scan Convertor (OSSC) and classic PS2 hooked up, it was a good time to play them, it did cost an hefty price. Thanks to COVID and the retro videogame market. But I couldn't put it down. So I was willing to take the plunge. I can't wait to through these games, Since there was a lot of praises said about them.
The next game was Alundra for the Sony Playstation, which I found at a local CEX which I got on my way to a meet up on the weekend. But, boy I wasn't expecting to see this game in the wild. Usually for games like these, they mostly at local conventions like, the Retro Videogame Market or Comic Con. But for some reason, I was able to stumble across it. You have no idea how much I wanted this game, it was pretty much an series, I wanted in my collection, yes it was an series, sort of. I did have the Alundra 2 for a long time, which is a good game by the way. However, original Alundra was the one I had my eyes on for a good while. Since childhood/teenhood, but being able to have it in my hands was cathrtic, and there's no need for emulation anymore! Yay! That was great.
As for the website updates, you're in luck as I did make some changes to do, I have finally gotten to the The Archive page got it started for the most part, there was a lot more to add. But, I gotten an idea which direction to take it in. Not to mention, there was finally written reviews available. Yes, that one was struggle, my written communication wasn't the best, I would admit getting a bit of help with my writing, as I always been a verbal communciator, and a lot of things don't really translate well into text.
But as a result, the September quota is kinda done, a lot of the things I wanted to do in September wasn't really much of a waste. I know it's really not an obligation to post as much on the website. But, it's personal project which of mine. Not to mention, gives me something to do. Along with other projects I would love to post about in the future (thinking of updating the projects page). It's really good way to share my thoughts and try do something somewhat creative and productive as a hobby I guess. As for the reviews, they would be for Corn Kidz 64, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night and Hi-Fi Rush. So please check them out, if you have the time. I would try to develop this reviewing style in the future, and see what things can be done with website, as I feel like there is some plans for it which I can't wait to commit to. Hopefully, the next update wouldn't be too long, if so, there will be some smaller blog posts of any happenings, or thoughts to share. As to be honest, there's never enough to talk about.
It might seem like laziness and procrasination. But, I would love to do big updates at points, than just drip feeding all the time. But, seeing how my website development skills are improving. The process might got a lot more quicker and smoother. Anyway, that's it, I will see you guys later. Hopefully, no more month and half long hiatuses.
October 7, 2025
Retrofuge
Ummmm. That was awkward. Gamescom 2025 just happened and they had thier Opening Games Night, which for the most part, I didn't have much interested in. Modern gaming has always been pretty hit and miss for the me as a whole. I couldn't believe it when it happened. Bubsy is actually back. But the game looks good and by the developer of Demon Tides! I would say I'm really excited for this, I have a history with Bubsy games. I always felt like they had so much potential to be good game series. Now, Bubsy 4D is going to be that game, we are so back guys! If you don't mind me, I would be wishlisting it on Steam and GOG I love 3D platformers too much it's criminal, and seeing one of the most infamous examples get a good shot at it is so catharic. Also, it's coming out on Nintendo Switch 1/2, PS5 and Xbox Series X. It looks so great though, can't wait to play it!
August 20th, 2025
Retrofuge
Welp, that's all she wrote folks. This week has been tumtulous to say the least, especially considering the amounts of censorship happening across the board. Spanning from the Online Safety Act, KOSA, Austriala internet censorship, Mastercard and Visa pulling from Steam and Itch.io. So many events have been occurring so quickly, it feels like everyday there's new wave of censorship. Also, as of the 13th August, Youtube would be rolling out ID verification for their viewing their content, under the guise of 'protecting children from harmful content'. But, what makes it jarring they already made Youtube kids and have so many restrictions, which they barely moderate. Now, they have want you have send over your ID to 'verify' your age. The interesting part is, they are going to use AI to 'estimate' based on your viewing habits.
Might I say, with this all this censorship happening, this is has been the most hamfisted way to control others and eliminating free speech, I'm pretty baffled but not as shocked at the same time. How all this really just comes down to bad parenting and lack of moderating browsing habits. It never made sense why this slippery slope of NSFW content and protecting children, is used as means to advocate for censorship. Not to mention, how a lot of people are willing to hand over personal information to browse sites, wouldn't that defeat the purpose of anonymity. I feel like I'm going through facebook syndrome. So many people are so comfortable giving off personal information, so they can do the most basic things. No one likes having a sense of privacy anymore and it's digusting, how many people don't respect their rights. Of course, there has been pushback as shown by fellow internet netizens and some of big tech. But for most part, a lot of individuals are just bending the knee. I know the internet was bad and all. But this is just pathetic to how apathetic the whole world is becoming. This nonsense wouldn't have been happened a decade or so ago, when SOPA and PIPA was nearly rolled out.
But I guess the difference is now, these laws were rolled out behind the public's back with no fanfare. I can see why our governments would do this. But what I'm surprised by is how many people genuinely support this. At this point, why do these inidviduals try to play the anonymous game or even hid behind usernames, if they can't respect their own privacy. The amount of worship, people have for corporations is beyond scary. Considering the fact, a lot of them just care about their bottom line so much, they don't even hide their deciet anymore. The internet is truly dying at this point. At least the surface web as we know it, Web 2.0 was declining for a while. But not like this, it's very clear social media is no longer a place for freedom of expression, and it feels like every day the walls close in more and more.
A lot of this is genuinely exhausting to deal with, to the point even leaving social media for hosting personal websites are for the best. It's so bad, I've seen one video about someone making their own internet protocol to combat the censorsed internet, and now it's being taken down by thier own hosting provider. Not to mention, hearing people criticising the new Youtube update getting forcily buried under the youtube's algothrim. It's truly a mess at the moment. The internet I truly grew up with is dying. If it wasn't for the social media aspects corroding our minds. The mass censorship was truly the nail in the coffin. Yes, not everything is as black and white. But this is too extreme and everyone suffers in the end. But knowing the current state of online affairs, this might become another change, normal people will adapt to, which I hope not. Oh yeah, did I forget to mention that Wikipedia was getting censored by the UK government, they tried to sue and lost!
At this point, where does this end. Where's the line drawn? The internet was pretty much as free as you can get. Why should it get controlled now, and there's so much invasive AI models, tracking us anyway. This feels very Orewellian's to me. At least we have the indie web as our last safe haven. At this point, going back to basics might be the best option.
Honestly, I'm glad I somewhat made the decision to move off that side of the internet to my own corner. That said, I would probably post more fun things in the future. If there's any time to express yourself, I would encourage joining the indie web. Now, if you don't mind me, I got Battle Royale and some game reviews to work on. :)
August 15th, 2025
Retrofuge
Alright, this is my first post blogpost on this site. All I can say, Yay!, it's finally done, after a few weeks on refreshing myself on learning HTML and CSS, I got at least the V1.0 or, probably v0.5 rather of the website done. I would say, I have been pretty rusty with this skillset as it's been a long time, since I worked on any site on this scale. I'm so used to committing to site builders, I forgot how to build things from the groundup, while it's not the best looking in terms of presentation, I'm pretty sure, I would learn a lot of this as I'm going along. As it's far from finished a lot of more pages I could add. Even down to simple tidbits such as a visitor counter, a jukebox and other miscellanous things which make things more interesting.
However, in it's current state I'm more than satifised and probably got more in the pipeline to go through, it might take a bit of time, since I have been working on this endlessly for 2 weeks now, and I just wanted to come out with something more functional than pretty. I would like to welcome any newcomers to the site, which would get updated with more things over time. I'm pretty excited to go forward and hope you enjoy your stay.
August 11th, 2025
Retrofuge
