iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Dan Salvato @dansalva.to · 13/07/2026

Debunking the "you look like SmallAnt" myth once and for all. It's just the glasses and the nose and the smile and the facial hair and the eyebrows and th

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Dan Salvato @dansalva.to · 10/06/2026

See you at Anime Expo! I'm doing a panel where I talk about how I wrote the characters for DDLC, and how I approach character writing in general.

Anime Expo
Room 403AB
July 2, 2026
12:00pm-12:50pm
Writing the Doki Doki Literature Club Characters, with Dan Salvato

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Dan Salvato @dansalva.to · 14/05/2026

Welp, I caused an integer overflow in Mewgenics. It wasn't enough that I killed my own unit by healing NEGATIVE 744 million health—imagine my confusion when I was awarded the "Bug" item after winning the fight. Took me a moment to process that it was just a ridiculous coincidence

A screenshot from Mewgenics with a tooltip that says "Basalin's Leeches. Drains -744669674 health at the end of Basalin's turn and gives it to Basalin."

A screenshot from Mewgenics of the inventory with a tooltip for the "Bug" item.

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Dan Salvato @dansalva.to · 07/05/2026

Nintendo fans waiting for the report on what studio is developing Star Fox so that they can calibrate their confirmation bias subsystems before launch

Screenshot from Star Fox (2026) in which Fox and Peppy are standing over an empty hologram terminal

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Dan Salvato @dansalva.to · 12/03/2026

I had to go to this party at a bar for like networking or whatever but it's so loud and I just want to play Melee please send foxes

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Dan Salvato @dansalva.to · 23/02/2026

Out of curiosity, I was looking around at old Pokemon print material to see if Feraligatr was ever spelled "Feraligator" and that the name was simply shortened in-game due to the character limit. Then the Prima Strategy Guide delivered what feels like a punchline aimed exactly at my specific musing

A page from the Pokemon Gold Prima Strategy Guide book showing Feraligatr misspelled as "Feraligtr"

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Dan Salvato @dansalva.to · 20/02/2026

I discovered a new, unpatched method of escaping without a starter in Pokemon Scarlet on Switch and Switch 2. (Old save/load displacement method was presumably patched.) Detailed instructions in this thread, as well as some things I haven't yet tried but would like to find out if they're possible.

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Dan Salvato @dansalva.to · 07/02/2026

Here are the kinds of sketches I'm giving to my sprite animator for Magicore on a regular basis. Using phrases like "Whiplash her spine like a noodle" and "that downwards power pose chibi magical girls do" and "0-10-50-90-100 motion curve". Really a language that only humans can actually understand

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Dan Salvato @dansalva.to · 16/01/2026

"Luigi, we need your approval on this scented deodorant. Here, I'll put a little drop on your finger, let us know what you think of the scent" Luigi:

Stock image of Luigi with his index finger held to his nose

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Dan Salvato @dansalva.to · 05/01/2026

If you're at #AGDQ, I have a brand new Magicore demo up and running in the practice room. It'll be here all week. I worked incredibly hard to get this demo done in time for the event, so I hope you take the time to check it out!

A photo of an Amiga 500 next to a monitor displaying a title card for the game MAGICORE ANOMALA

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Dan Salvato @dansalva.to · 10/12/2025

Surprise, Doki Doki Literature Club is now available on iOS and Android! iOS: apps.apple.com/us/app/doki-... Android: play.google.com/store/apps/d...

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Dan Salvato @dansalva.to · 22/11/2025

Now that I've spent like 2 hours on this sticker formation, Kirby Air Riders is a certified good game

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Dan Salvato @dansalva.to · 19/11/2025

The real story here is in the comments

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Dan Salvato @dansalva.to · 10/11/2025

It also demonstrates how Monster Hunter used to be absolutely dripping in silly and sarcastic humor at every turn, from quest descriptions to NPC dialogue. I think we lost most—not all, but most—of this flavor in MH's recent shift to a more serious tone.

A screenshot from Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate. The player is talking to Moga Sweetheart, whose dialogue is "How goes the hunting? Me, I've been absolutely swamped standing here waiting for you to get back."

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Dan Salvato @dansalva.to · 10/11/2025

In Monster Hunter Generations, the default message sent to the chat when planting a bomb is "I set up us a bomb!" The guts on that localization decision. Most players likely took it as an unintended grammatical error, not knowing the original meme, which was like 20 years old at this point.

A screenshot of a multiplayer quest in Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate. The players are planting bombs, and a player's message in the chat log reads "I set up us a bomb!"

A screenshot of the intro sequence to Zero Wing. The narration text reads "Mechanic: Somebody set up us the bomb."

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Dan Salvato @dansalva.to · 06/11/2025

Every time you rank up in Pokemon Legends Z-A

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Dan Salvato @dansalva.to · 06/11/2025

Magicore gameplay loop The loop in the loop represents the cooking pot, which also kills you

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Dan Salvato @dansalva.to · 22/09/2025

Happy birthday Akiha Source: www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/...

A portrait illustration of Tohno Akiha from Tsukihime

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Dan Salvato @dansalva.to · 22/09/2025

Happy birthday Monika and happy 8th anniversary to DDLC! Artwork by @satchely.bsky.social

An illustration of the club members from Doki Doki Literature Club. Monika is leaning out of a Ferris wheel cabin and smiling at the camera while holding a colorful set of balloons. Sayori is inside the cabin, making a funny face that's pressed up against the glass. In the background behind the Ferris wheel, Natsuki and Yuri are facing each other, both eating cotton candy. Yuri is standing on the ground while Natsuki is sitting on the guardrail enclosing the Ferris wheel's boarding platform.

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Dan Salvato @dansalva.to · 14/09/2025

Reminder that this game somehow exists: Just Dance 2020 for the Wii. An officially-licensed retail Wii game featuring Billie Eilish, who was like 4 years old when the console released. Absolutely incredible

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Dan Salvato @dansalva.to · 03/09/2025

What the hill you're dying on looks like after TI-99/4a enters the chat

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Dan Salvato @dansalva.to · 05/06/2025

It's funny how I have to keep my Switch 1 around, because I use homebrew mods to play Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate at 60fps. So now I have a Switch 2 and next to it a Monster Hunter machine screaming at the limits of its overclock to run a 3DS port at a good frame rate

A screenshot from Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate featuring a character in a chef outfit with a frying pan sheathed on their back

A screenshot from Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate featuring a character in a chef outfit wielding a frying pan as a weapon

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Dan Salvato @dansalva.to · 22/05/2025

You mean the latest masterpiece of fantasy storytelling from Lucasfilms™ Brian Moriarty™? Why it's an extraordinary adventure with an interface of magic, stunning high-resolution, 3D landscapes, sophisticated score and musical effects. Not to mention the detailed animation and special effects, elega

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Dan Salvato @dansalva.to · 17/04/2025

Yoo they added my favorite Mario level, Adjective Adjective Alliterative Noun

A screenshot from the Mario Kart World Direct video showing off the "Salty Salty Speedway" course

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Dan Salvato @dansalva.to · 27/03/2025

golfing in a red cap and overalls 😒 golfing in C U T E skirts 👀👉🏻💵

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Dan Salvato @dansalva.to · 03/02/2025

Yesterday I watched the original Godzilla (1954). It really exceeded my expectations. Thinking about how the actors all lived through the atomic bombings just 9 years prior, how the scenes of devastation were meant to capture that hellscape. With that in mind, some parts had me feeling choked up.

A screenshot from Godzilla (1954). Yamane is front and center. The subtitles quote him, saying "If nuclear testing continues..."

A screenshot from Godzilla (1954). Yamane is front and center. The subtitles quote him, saying "then someday, somewhere in the world..."

A screenshot from Godzilla (1954). Yamane is front and center. The subtitles quote him, saying "another Godzilla may appear."

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Dan Salvato @dansalva.to · 16/01/2025

I see that there is this interesting optical sensor-looking thing on the inside edge of each Joy-Con. Some are speculating that it's to be used as a mouse, but I feel skeptical about that. It could just be similar to the Switch's IR sensor? Maybe it *could* be used as a mouse if devs really wanted.

The inside edge of the Switch 2's left Joy-Con

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Dan Salvato @dansalva.to · 16/01/2025

I predicted they'd eliminate the right joycon's IR sensor on the Switch 2, in favor of some new feature. I guess we don't yet know the full feature set, but they did in fact retire the IR sensor. That note about some Switch games not being compatible with Switch 2 is likely just for IR sensor games.

The bottom of the Switch 2's right Joy-Con.

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Dan Salvato @dansalva.to · 14/01/2025

Yes, there is in fact an Ocarina of Time of wireless routers. It is the Linksys WRT54G. Thank you for asking.

A picture of the Linksys WRT54G wireless router

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Dan Salvato @dansalva.to · 26/11/2024

As for myself: I discovered roguelikes back in 2008-2009 when Rogue was released as a free game on iOS. I thought it was awesome and searched around for "games like Rogue". That's when I discovered NetHack, the original Rogue clone, and fell in love. I still play it extensively 16 years later.

A screenshot of the NetHack "game over" screen. The cause of death written on the headstone is "choked on a fortune cookie"

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Dan Salvato @dansalva.to · 26/11/2024

The Binding of Isaac store page describes the game as "a randomly generated action RPG shooter with heavy Rogue-like elements". It's not "A roguelike" because in 2011, the term hadn't fully proliferated yet as a genre. Instead, it has "heavy Rogue-like elements", i.e. gameplay inspired by Rogue.

A screenshot of part of the Steam store description for The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth

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Dan Salvato @dansalva.to · 21/11/2024

The unfortunate thing about The Last of Us getting a gazillion remakes is that it's being forgotten how much of a technical marvel the original PS3 game was. We really got to see the endgame of PS3 where the Cell CPU architecture was pushed to its limit. This is a game console from 2006

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Dan Salvato @dansalva.to · 20/11/2024

New blog post: Shattering the Magicore 8-color limit dansalva.to/shattering-t... #Amiga #retrocomputing #retrogaming #retrogamedev

A screenshot demonstrating the “color regions” feature in the game Magicore Anomala. The background is a vibrant moonlit mountainscape with trees. In front is a cyan-colored Boing Ball with a small character standing on top of it.

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Dan Salvato @dansalva.to · 11/11/2024

In Magicore, the entire level data (graphics, audio, rooms, events, script, attacks) is stored in an external file, like Doom WADs. So mods and custom levels are just drag-and-drop. They can even hot-load code and can access the game's ENTIRE codebase and memory space. #Amiga #gamedev #retrogamedev

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