Happy that Stranger Things didn’t flub the landing. Using Return of the King as a blueprint was a smart call.

Portland Retro Gaming Expo was a blast, as usual. Scored some good games, had some great conversations, and “met” some “celebrities”…

I’m coming around on Final Fantasy Tactics, mostly because Ivalice Chronicles is truly a beautiful game. Just, every time I start getting into it, I read “marquis” and hear “marquess” which makes me wonder how these fictional, doughy British people with no noses were influenced by real world French.

Back from a trip to Japan and looking through photos. I don’t think I’ll ever top this one.

Tokimeki Memorial gachapon? Well there goes all my cash. Didn’t even get Shiori, just like every time I play the game.

where were u when AOL die?

No NES black box collection is complete without this classic!

The good news is streaming PC-FX games is working great! The bad news (for me) is that the game I chose to stream first, Pia Carrot, is quite goonery. I love a good dating sim though, and this one is pretty decent, but my reflexes to change scenes in OBS are 99th percentile now. twitch.tv/dextrose

Since when did we start calling VCRs “VHS players”? Is this some sort of regional dialect, Mandela Effect, or just AI slop made manifest?

Found a nice asthetic piece for my 90’s 486 recreation setup today! Now to give it some attention so it doesn’t do something silly like, oh, burn down my house. It’s in better condition than the one I had in the 90’s too! Just one piece to go (the right CRT), and my back is in no hurry there.

Got some sweet 3D printed SNES game stands from a friend recently. They’re quite sturdy and look great! Now to clean up the rest of the shelves and have them all look this good (an endless struggle)

I just finished warching Tim Rogers’s masterpiece of a video about Tokimeki Memorial (a few years late), and I’m super grateful that the SFC fan translation exists. I can’t wait to dive into this game, although I know it’ll just leave me wanting more. youtu.be/xb-DtICmPTY...

ACTION BUTTON REVIEWS Tokimeki Memorial

youtu.be

Looks like my next project will be building my first Slot 1 system. Now to get to the ewaste shop and get the rest of the parts for it, which will likely result in additional new projects. This board is pretty interesting, lots of on-board components. What to do with it…

Interesting stuff at the antique mall today! Only ended up getting FF12 and a Babylon 5 figure. The temptation was high though. Also, Morse Code Thing.

Me IRL

Now we’re cooking! PC-9821 with a PC-FXGA.Time for some dual screen gaming! If you could call it that, the PC-FXGA has its own video out for playing PC-FX games independent of the rest of the system (CD-ROM aside). The PC is unusable while gaming! Its so bizarre and I absolutely love it!

Finally got my PC-9821 up and running! Now to add all the C-Bus cards I have for it. And find an appropriate monitor. Probably should clean it up a bit too.

I swapped a gigabit switch for a 10baseT hub today and after about 40 minutes of troubleshooting, I realized I needed a crossover cable. Auto negotiation has truly spoiled us all. Worth it though. When’s the last time you saw such a colorful piece of network gear? A discussion piece for my rack.

Added a prehistoric Netscreen 5 to my dial-up ISP infrastructure tonight. Slowed it right down to 10Mbps but now I’m safe from Ping of Doom! Haven’t touched one of these in nearly 20 years, and I now remember why I prefer Cisco hardware instead. But that #netro feeling when it all starts working..

Some pics from eSpot in Richmond, BC taken this past weekend. Vintage NeoGeo arcade games, multiple Initial D versions, and a great selection of import machines. Taken with a Sony Mavica FD88 (direct onto a floppy disk!) If you’re in the area and have some time to kill, I’d recommend stopping by!

Ok, now we’re surfing! Opera 3.62 and mIRC. What more could I possibly want? FrogFind is pretty awesome! Actually lets this old rig browse well enough. Thanks @actionretro.bsky.social I’ll occasionally be using this extensively.

Spending the day on my 486 dialed-in to the internet at 2400bps and browsing with Netscape 1.0. I think I might need to update my browser. #retrocomputing

Finally got around to organizing my Instix photos from my Japan trip in March. Really happy with how some of them came out! Seeing the cherry blossoms was special, something I’ll never forget. Can’t wait to go back!

Finally fired up my Packard Bell Legend 610 and it’s a beaut! Stock setup, looks like its had minutes of use, and it just works. Amazing! Up next, break the warranty seal(!) and image the hard drive. Got to preserve that PB Windows splash screen! Then to bring it up to my personal 1996 specs.

I’m starting to realize that I may have an actual superpower, which is winning at crane games. Pretty happy with my haul today, especially the Mofusand!

Finally found the #retropc that I had as a teenager! 486 SX 20, 2 MB of ram, 150 MB hard drive and a 2400bps modem. Packard Bell, you outdid yourself with the Legend 610! Now to max it out and have fun with Kings Quest games and Trumpet Winsock. After removing the factory seal and battery first.

I’m rewatching Family Matters (for… reasons) and in Season 7, Urkel is absolutely jacked! Those old CRTs were doing some heavy lifting to keep the nerd fantasy alive.

The end of Season of Discovery is so bittersweet. I’ve accomplished everything I set out to do and more, built a successful raid team full of great people, and had the most epic 18 months. And now, after a great final raid tier, its over. These memories will last a lifetime. Ty @aggrend.bsky.social

17 months of work in Season of Discovery, and I’ve achieved my one and only goal, getting the true Ashbringer. What a journey it’s been! Now to finish SoD by getting the remaining pieces for my BiS. And then that new Shockadin set…

That’s a wrap for my Sakuracon this year (unfortunately). Registration and fire aside, it was a blast. Met some great people (at the expense of TBATE lol), Artist Alley was S tier, and overall had a great time. Even got some Neurosama stickers from Mori - amazing! Cant wait for 2026 with better reg!