iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

new review posted to the Web Site, on lurruna: the island of towering automatons! i really needed a game like this to knock me out of a bit of burnout with games in general. it helps that lurruna is concise, challenging, and rewarding in all the right ways! herzogzwei.neocities.org/reviews/lurr...

Lurruna: The Island of Towering Automatons / herzogzwei

A Real Blast

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Lurruna: The Island of Towering Automatons / herzogzwei

A Real Blast

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work can eat the big one for cutting my hybrid days, but at least there's nearby arcade games for my lunch break i've never tried robotron 2084 before, but i can tell it's a Good One because it whoops my ass in like 90 seconds but i keep coming back for more...

a photo of a robotron 2084 arcade cabinet. a game just ended with a score of 53150, entered into the high score table with the initials "HI"

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SaltMarsh @herzogzwei.neocities.org · 17/09/2026

it finally happened, after reading how "common" it is, i found a ps1 with a mod chip in it i cannot figure out what it does or if it works lmao, all i can get it to do with a burned disc is boot to the SCEA screen which it then hangs on

an original playstation, turned on and with a controller plugged in. a piece of tape is taped to the disc lid that reads "FOR PARTS OR REPAIR, NO POWER"

the underside of the same playstation's PU8 motherboard, zoomed in and cropped to a mod chip that was installed on the board. the chip in question is a microchip 12C508A, with 4 wires soldered to it that are routed to various places on the board

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today's thrifting post really should've been posted on 9/11, but i forgot herzogzwei.neocities.org/thrifting/wa...

the front cover of a book of 'george w. bush out of office countdown postcards'. the cover is a cropped photo of george w. bush holding a microphone and laughing against a colored stripe background, with extra text reading 'Hang in there, it's almost over! The reckless rhetoric and daring doublespeak of our 43rd president on 24 hilariously harrowing postcards'

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SaltMarsh @herzogzwei.neocities.org · 17/09/2026

i feel like society failed when there exists roving groups of seniors with phones and IR scanners strapped to their arms, going to thrift shops and scanning every DVD, CD, and book UPC to see if it's worth flipping yall should be at home with social securities watching archie bunkers place reruns

Gabriel Jones @pepsimanvsjoe.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Reposted by SaltMarsh

Today's look is at Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts - Artoria Edition. pepsimanvsjoe.blogspot.com/2026/09/2026... (I can't think of anything to add) #retrogaming #capcom #snes

pepsimanvsjoe.blogspot.com

2026 Special - Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts - Artoria Edition

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SaltMarsh @herzogzwei.neocities.org · 15/09/2026

welcome to super fucking piss world, i guess

a CRT photo over RF of the super mario world attract demo, but all the colors are wrong. the bushes and yoshi are red, the soil is green, mario is green, and the background is a very off-putting green-ish yellow

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SaltMarsh @herzogzwei.neocities.org · 13/09/2026

i actually do need to get back into crazy taxi 1 so i can get to $100,000... i need to learn the patterns better and not keep going in circles around the 2nd half of the loop and draining all my time

ziad 🇱🇧 @ziaddd.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Reposted by SaltMarsh

was asked about my lack of interest in discussing crazy taxi world tour again earlier today, and i'm like... the fact y'all are not putting that time into crazy taxi 1 instead shows you're more interested in zeitgeist discourse FOMO than game design

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HPRshredder @hprshredder.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

youtu.be/SSi7cKvyQ3w Just sharing this again because it's close to 20k and it would make me happy to hit it.

youtu.be

This Game Will Give You Nightmares

YouTube video by HPRshredder

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SaltMarsh @herzogzwei.neocities.org · 12/09/2026

enjoy a #RandomGameSaturday with what is probably the type of all time

the hucard, jewel case, and manual for r-type on the turbografx-16. the manual art is a stylized drawing of a setpiece in the first stage with the player's ship flying between two mechnical arm-looking extrustions. the hucard is simply the cyan text "r-type" in the turbografx tradedress font on a solid maroon background

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lex luddy needs a nap @lexluddy.xyz · 10/09/2026

Some more Gamescom reporting from me. When pushed to elaborate on what using Generative AI "as part of the ideation process" meant for those unfamiliar with the process, the Crazy Taxi series creator told me, "Today I would like to talk about Crazy Taxi: World Tour, and the time is limited."

shacknews.com

Crazy Taxi series creator does not want to discuss what World Tour's AI usage entails

When pushed for details, Kenji Kanno stated, 'Today I would like to talk about Crazy Taxi: World Tour and the time is limited.'

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Reposted by SaltMarsh

ᴄʜᴀʀʟᴇʏ★ᴘɪʀᴏᴛʜ @charlespiroth.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Serhii Vasylkivsky (1854–1917) Sunset over the Lake

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SaltMarsh @herzogzwei.neocities.org · 10/09/2026

oh no... bb hood don't do that, you're scaring the dog...

a CRT photo of the end of marvel vs. capcom 2's arcade mode. a team of strider hiryu, spider-man, and b.b. hood just beat the final boss and are all doing victory poses. spider-man strung up a camera to take a photo of himself giving a thumbs up in front of b.b. hood who is fist-pumping directly into spider-man's ass as strider hiryu watches stoicly and b.b. hood's dog cringes in fear

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SaltMarsh @herzogzwei.neocities.org · 10/09/2026

new "bowl and a movie" post, on 1993's falling down bill foster may have been completely irredeemable and traumatized and scarred so many people for an ultimately misguided goal, but he hates golf courses and rich people so he can't be /that/ bad herzogzwei.neocities.org/wl/special/f...

SaltMarsh @herzogzwei.neocities.org · 06/09/2026

#weed log / herzogzwei

Falling Down

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the flea markets have been a bust for several weeks in a row despite me waking up at 5:30 to go, so today was a welcome change only $15 for all the games! and a lava lamp that looks much better in real-life than on camera, i swear

games i got from the flea market today. included is super baseball 2020 for the sega genesis, hot shots golf open tee for the PSP, balan wonderworld for the PS4 (sealed! lol), a loose cart of astyanax on NES, codename s.t.e.a.m. on 3DS, pac-man world on PS1, and dead to rights 2 on PS2

a magenta-ish lava lamp resting on a chair. the colors are all wrong in the photo when compared to real-life cause the liquid looks more purple-y and less cloudy and the wax goop is more red-ish but i could not get it to photograph correctly so whatever

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SaltMarsh @herzogzwei.neocities.org · 05/09/2026

what is #RandomGameSaturday? well, it's today, probably... is playing what is probably the slowest version of home console jeopardy worth it for full-motion video of mustached alex trebek?

a boxed copy of jeopardy for the sega CD. early 90s-era alex trebek with his glorious mustache sits in a kneeling position in front of three columns of jeopardy clues in the categories of art, literature, and the movies

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SaltMarsh @herzogzwei.neocities.org · 04/09/2026

finished lurruna, and MAN after kid chameleon consumed so much time to write that article, it felt refreshing to play a game so concise! i'd like to write about this too, but for now, it's a healthy challenge and rewards experimenting with your tools in all the right ways. definitely recommend!

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SaltMarsh @herzogzwei.neocities.org · 02/09/2026

i've been thinking a lot about how i'm going about trying to improve on writing about games i know the only way to improve how one does anything is to keep doing it, and i've written almost 60,000 words in the last 9 months, but i never know if i'm reinforcing the right things or not [1/?]

SaltMarsh @herzogzwei.neocities.org · 30/08/2026

Reposted by SaltMarsh

new game review article! on 1992's kid chameleon! after spending dozens of hours in a video game whose mission statement is to inflict pain and misery, i grinded out a superplay-worthy run to really try and find the fun. was it worth it? herzogzwei.neocities.org/reviews/kid-...

Kid Chameleon / herzogzwei

A Real Pain in the STI

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Reposted by SaltMarsh

Dan Johnson will design games for food @coil.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

SEGA wants to reassure you that they're only using genAI to replace concept artists on Crazy Taxi.

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SaltMarsh @herzogzwei.neocities.org · 30/08/2026

Kid Chameleon / herzogzwei

A Real Pain in the STI

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SaltMarsh @herzogzwei.neocities.org · 29/08/2026

door door would've been perfect for the #RandomGameSaturday two weeks ago, considering koichi nakamura's birthday was two weeks ago, but then it wouldn'tve been random...

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Reposted by SaltMarsh

LAKESPIRIT @lakespirit.love · 28/08/2026

NEW ARTICLE! lakespirit.love/posts/2026-0... Denshattack! i played the new indie game. i didn't like it. my b i am trying a slightly new style here... i used to write silly-mean critique, but i guess i wanted to be respectful. so i am wrote dry instead. hopefully it is interesting and not boring

lakespirit.love

Blog Post

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SaltMarsh @herzogzwei.neocities.org · 27/08/2026

today's thrifting post is a real "letdown of the year" contender herzogzwei.neocities.org/thrifting/te...

a sony rear-projection SXRD television (model KDS-50A2000) as seen directly head-on from the panel, sitting on a huge pile of clothes. the bezel is black and the lower control panel is silver with a receeding door that hides an extra composite and component input

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Reposted by SaltMarsh

pang @birthbydrip.neocities.org · 27/08/2026

I've got some longer arcade reviews in the works (puzzle bobble, the monkey balls, elevator action, and night striker), but I wanted to give some love to some older platformer. playing these for score in the early stages recently has helped me gain a new appreciation for their design. link below!

first paragraph: Recently I discussed some of the arcade clubs I have participated in over the last couple of years. Part of the reason I’ve really enjoyed these is that I’ve gotten insight into some games where I haven’t pushed into a 1CC or 1-ALL, but I’ve still put effort into scoring and early-game routing. Today I’ve got three different ’80s arcade staples that fall into this boat: hugely important in their own ways, but not ones I’ve decided to really hone in on for a clear and a full review.

first flicky paragraph: I was shocked going in at just how dynamic and bouncy Flicky is, especially in improvisational scenarios. As a necessary disclaimer: if one had the wherewithal, they could easily chart out optimal routes for each level, as the enemy AI is relatively deterministic. However, doing that across 40 levels (for a single loop) takes quite the time investment, and I was pretty enthused at the more improvisational elements approaching the halfway mark. Flicky collects small, yellow chicks around the level, but instead of disappearing, they trail her in a line, which increases as more chicks are scooped up. The cats and bugs that chase Flicky around scrape off a life upon contact, of course, but by contacting the chicks in the trail, the affected chicks run off and scatter. This creates some nice interplay with the chick depositing mechanic, where Flicky returns the chicks to the starting door (the level ends once all have been returned) with a scaling bonus based on the number of chicks deposited at once. In a routing situation one would solve this, but in freeform play a constant pull between stacking up chicks and returning the current set affects the player. Taking them back “safely” one at a time isn’t necessarily best, as letting the level soak in the background gives time for the full roster of enemies to spawn and centralize on your position.

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SaltMarsh @herzogzwei.neocities.org · 27/08/2026

learning to make more vegan stuff in the kitchen

a stir fry in a bowl on a kitchen counter. the stir fry has sauted cabbage, shiitake mushrooms, yellow onion, green onion, garlic, spaghetti (sorry i have so many boxes of spaghetti to use instead of lo mein), and tempeh that was marinated in soy sauce, spicy chili crisp, and maple garlic vinegar. the marinade was then combined with toasted sesame oil, brown sugar, and ground ginger in the pan

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SaltMarsh @herzogzwei.neocities.org · 25/08/2026

i never know what kind of video game discourse is happening on this website, but man if discourse happens about kid chameleon in the next 2-3 weeks or so i'm so fucking ready

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SaltMarsh @herzogzwei.neocities.org · 22/08/2026

for #RandomGameSaturday, a gambling simulator targeting a portable device that's ubiquitous among younger age groups? how forward-thinking

a photo of the box, manual, and cartridge for "sega casino" for the nintendo DS. the box art is a CG rendering of a close-up of a blackjack table in the middle of a hand being played with chips and cards placed on it

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SaltMarsh @herzogzwei.neocities.org · 19/08/2026

boy kid chameleon sure is a game that was made

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SaltMarsh @herzogzwei.neocities.org · 18/08/2026

it just dawned on me that i have 230 gigabytes over 19 hours of capture footage for starflight on genesis, and 90% of it is probably just some variation of this single screenshot

a screenshot of starflight on sega genesis. the player is flying their spaceship inside a solar system at coordinates (151, 119). besides the HUD showing vital statistics like the solar system map and various gauges for fuel, shield, armor, damage, and current cargo being carried, there is nothing else on screen besides the spaceship and the empty black void of space