iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Gideon Zhi @aeongenesis.net · 05/10/2026

Hey @remedygames.com would it be too much to add a "silent dog" accessibility toggle to Control Resonant? She is a very good girl but my actual irl dog starts barking whenever she makes noise, and having cleared her questline this is happening more often.

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Gideon Zhi @aeongenesis.net · 03/10/2026

That's not how math works, todoist

A todoist banner that says "5 tasks completed, 8 more than yesterday"

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Gideon Zhi @aeongenesis.net · 03/10/2026

This week for #RetroGameSaturday I have, u... "Merriment Carrying Caravan" for PS1. Found it in the bargain bin at DPad Retro in Renton WA for $2 in almost-new condition -- the manual is still crisp, even! This is apparently some kind of simulation game that takes place on a colony planet.

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Gideon Zhi @aeongenesis.net · 02/10/2026

Just getting around to listening to last week's Post Games podcast from @plante.bsky.social and... Is that a Drac's Night Out mention? I'm probably one of the few who can legitimately say this but that game ended up being a significant piece of my childhood!

Drac's Night Out prototype cartridge, frames and hung on the wall of my office.

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Gideon Zhi @aeongenesis.net · 29/09/2026

I contributed compression support for the intro font!

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Gideon Zhi @aeongenesis.net · 26/09/2026

Been a while since I did #RandomGameSaturday so here's something that caught my eye from my NES library: it's The Magic of Scheherazade, which is a Zelda-ish action rpg except for when it becomes a Final Fantasy style turn-based rpg!

NES cartridge, The Magic of SCHEHERAZADE. Someone has scribbled "MG" in marker along the right side (fortunately not on the label though.)

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Gideon Zhi @aeongenesis.net · 26/09/2026

Fergus gets excited about rides

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Gideon Zhi @aeongenesis.net · 25/09/2026

Except for the Mariners :/

Bluesky's trending. #1: "MLB playoff race heats up"

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Gideon Zhi @aeongenesis.net · 17/09/2026

All this GN talk of multinationals hoovering up our personal information has got me in the mood again, this has been turned off for a while cuz it was interfering a bit too much with day-to-day stuff, but going to be experimenting with it again this weekend. Just updated the software.

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Gideon Zhi @aeongenesis.net · 15/09/2026

(And yes these are actual wholly-self-contained board games, at audiocassette scale. Though 13-18 are themed after film reels instead of audio cassettes.)

CassetteGame 11 case with its game board unfolded next to it.

CassetteGames 11, 13, 14, and 17 unfolded next to their open cases.

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Gideon Zhi @aeongenesis.net · 15/09/2026

If you're at all interested in travel-sized board games, Takara's CassetteGame line is usually reasonably priced if you can find one! Rarity ranges from "relatively common" (1-6) to "relatively uncommon" (7-10+12) to "fairly rare" (11+13-16) to "cryptid" (17/18)

All 18 Takara CassetteGames in the same place

17 of 18 Takara CassetteGames (#11 is missing, but the photo is old and I've since acquired it)

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Gideon Zhi @aeongenesis.net · 12/09/2026

Welp, there goes the contact. The good news is that it looks like it was just surface-mounted fins and there's plenty of metal underneath, if I can find an even vaguely similar part it should be replaceable

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Gideon Zhi @aeongenesis.net · 12/09/2026

Pinball game needs a *lot* of help. That battery terminal pad lifted and half the time I don't know whether I'm scraping away corrosion or soldermask.

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Gideon Zhi @aeongenesis.net · 12/09/2026

A single qtip fixed up bomberman and it works great! DDG!2 powers up but I can't get it to reset or anything, so I might need to clean the button contacts. It also came with its box and manual though so I'll be looking through those too. GA-852 doesn't start up at all, but I haven't tried much.

The Bomberman and Densha de GO! 2 games, powered up.

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Gideon Zhi @aeongenesis.net · 12/09/2026

So these guys arrived yesterday. Three of them still had batteries; two of those (Bomberman and Pinball) had leaked. Bomberman was relatively easy to clean once I pryed the batteries out, but Pinball needs help. It's getting a deoxit bath now, gonna charge my dremel in case I need to grind the rust.

Mini LCD games. From left to right: Bomberman, Key Pin Ball, GA-852 (appears to be Tetris), and Densha de GO! 2.

Key Pin Ball's internals. The battery terminals are soaking in Deoxit D100L.

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Gideon Zhi @aeongenesis.net · 11/09/2026

I had a fun idea for a shitpost once I connected that image, the fact that The Ocarina Of Time acronyms to TOOT, and that one E1M1 horn remix but I can't really afford to spend more time on this

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Gideon Zhi @aeongenesis.net · 10/09/2026

Updated desk now that work computer needs to share monitors with personal laptop (via kvm switch; displays are showing personal laptop in these photos.) Details in alt text.

My desktop! Two monitors and a laptop off to the left side. Also on the left: Zelda Color G&W on clock mode, a 3D printed Bender head cup containing pens, screwdrivers, etc, and a boom mic with SRW mini keychains (Gunbuster, Great Mazinger, Bryger, VF-1G, VF-1B (Skull), Xabungle) hanging from it. On the right, a fan, a bluetooth speaker/clock, the LEGO Gameboy, and a coffee mug that needs washing. Center detail in the other photo.

Center detail. Starting from the left, PS1 games (Assault Suits Valken 2, Crime Crackers, Crime Crackers 2, Cyber Org, Getter Robo Daikessen!, iS internal section, Real Robots Final Attack, Ridegear Guybrave, Ridegear Guybrave 2, Super Hero Sakusen, Super Robot Wars Alpha.) On top of those, Fortified Zone 2 and Shantae Advance. Moving further right, Undeadline (MD/GEN), Kunio Ball & Brawl Bundle (NES), Toaplan collection 1 (MD/GEN), Assault Suits Valken (SNES), Dottie Flowers (SNES), Always' Awakening (NES), Full Quiet (NES), Phantasy Star Adventure (GG), and a Pac-Man LCD mini arcade game. Also on the right are some Crime Crackers laminated "trading cards" in a case, an Anbernic RG Rotate, a Shadowgate coin, and a soldering iron peaking out behind them.

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Gideon Zhi @aeongenesis.net · 03/09/2026

Was listening to the latest @insertcredit.com podcast and they were talking about good implementations of social media in games, I'd offer Ridiculous Fishing. @frankcifaldi.bsky.social @brandon.insertcredit.com

The Byrdr timeline. Maddie Avian (@ByrdrForBirds) notes "I need some fresh air. Smells like old nest in here." Jana Bealsmen (@vicebeak) notes "LOVE. THE. NEW. LOOK" (main character must have just put on a new hat.) Billy (@RodAndGunMan, the main character) notes "These lures don't have enough stink on 'em."

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Gideon Zhi @aeongenesis.net · 29/08/2026

Pulled this off the top of one of my fabric games overflow bins, in there mostly because I haven't had the opportunity to reprioritize my cassette case selections. For #RandomGameSaturday this week it's After Burst, a Japanese puzzle platformer mech game for the original Game Boy!

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Gideon Zhi @aeongenesis.net · 22/08/2026

Grabbed this off the shelf for #RandomGameSaturday. It's the @retrobitgaming.bsky.social release of Undeadline for the Sega Genesis, which I hacked into English!

Undeadline for Sega Genesis. It's still in its plastic wrap so just the outer box is shown. The art features a grim reaper and a dragon.

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Gideon Zhi @aeongenesis.net · 22/08/2026

AGTP Major Release Update for Project srw4 ~ Super Robot Wars 4, out now! Link: aeongenesis.net/news?date=2026-08-2…

An image showcasing the Aeon Genesis Major Release update on project srw4

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Gideon Zhi @aeongenesis.net · 20/08/2026

I got a second so I could play with it. It's basically a tamagotchi and it plays the theme through the tiny beepy speaker.

Pepsiman Power Gym LSI game. It has four buttons arranged in a diamond shape, plus two extra on the left above them. The screen has a clock showing 6:55 t the top. Pepsiman is running, and there's some vertical text along the right side that says "SHWAAA!"

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Gideon Zhi @aeongenesis.net · 20/08/2026

I did finally put stickers over the eproms, btw. I also put it in a frame for safety, dust protection, and display (3d printed, acrylic window, closed with magnets so it can still be opened and the cartridge removed for actual use)

Drac's Night Out prototype in a frame, hung on a wall.

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Gideon Zhi @aeongenesis.net · 14/08/2026

Hey, trying to identify the font I used for Shiren SNES's large graphic text back in the day. No exact matches on fontsquirrel, identifont, etc. Anyone have any idea? The font would have to be from 2006 or earlier.

Shiren the Wanderer SNES's opening text:

'Tis said that a City of Gold can be found where the Golden Condor dwells. The men endlessly seeking this place are known as "Wanderers."

It's a highly stylized handwriting-ish font.

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Gideon Zhi @aeongenesis.net · 11/08/2026

This little guy was in my last buyee box :)

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Gideon Zhi @aeongenesis.net · 01/08/2026

Holistically speaking, I'm more about sandwiches.

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Gideon Zhi @aeongenesis.net · 30/07/2026

In the (private) discord beta testing channel! Getting closer folks

A screencap of a Discord message. The text reads:

@everyone SRW4 v0.99 Release Candidate 1. Please update if you're playing.

Major fixes:
* Minor garbage when customizing input
* Minor garbage on extremely long character/robot database entries
* Pressing B to erase a letter from character name entry now correctly inserts a _ into the name instead of a blank space

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Gideon Zhi @aeongenesis.net · 27/07/2026

Those purple fansub tapes though

A purple VHS cassette. "Kodocha" is emblazoned on it in gold cursive lettering on the left edge of the top dust flap.

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Gideon Zhi @aeongenesis.net · 27/07/2026

(I prefer the B&W version but this was the only screenshot of this line I could find. This line is *permanently* seared into my psyche.)

A portrait of a walrus saying "Indubitably!"

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Gideon Zhi @aeongenesis.net · 22/07/2026

Issued a new SRW4 beta to testers with a few more fixes. Getting close, I think -- there haven't been many new tickets, and the issues are getting smaller or more esoteric; just fixed a race condition with Getter 2's Mach Special dodge popup that appears even in the JP version of the game.

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Gideon Zhi @aeongenesis.net · 19/07/2026

Protip: If you're going to spam my email with "Your take on living in Seattle", you can hide the fact that you're trying to scam me by simply recognizing that Seattle is in Washington State, not Washington DC.