iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Nick Thorpe @hkt3030.neocities.org · 01/12/2025

It’s amazing that I thought of it really

A photo of five siblings in a back yard. The oldest is 18 years old, the youngest is 7 months old, and all of them are ginger.

010

Nick Thorpe @hkt3030.neocities.org · 30/11/2025

#ScanlineSunday Alex Kidd in Miracle World (Master System, 1986) Pacific PTV141 RF

A close-up photo of a CRT TV displaying Alex Kidd in Miracle World for the Sega Master System. Alex is underwater, swimming through a narrow passage between the ground and green blocks. Due to the aspect ratio squash seen on PAL Master System consoles, the blocks look more rectangular than square.

4648

Nick Thorpe @hkt3030.neocities.org · 29/11/2025

Hey, it’s random game Saturday! WWF Wrestlemania: The Arcade Game arrived at a rough time for the promotion, but drew players in with digitised sprites, chaotic multi-man brawls and over the top interpretations of signature moves. The Mega Drive version is a pretty impressive rendition of the game.

A PAL Mega Drive copy of WWF Wrestlemania: The Arcade Game. The front cover appears to be sun-faded in places.

2130

Nick Thorpe @hkt3030.neocities.org · 27/11/2025

You thought I’d forget Dreamcast day? Tish and fipsy. Here’s something I meant to repost weeks ago and, uh, didn’t. Anyway, Border Down was the first game I ever imported myself, and I also hope it comes to modern platforms so people can own it without having to spend silly money.

My copy of the standard edition of Border Down for Dreamcast, which I ordered way back in 2003. It has gone with me as I’ve moved around, so there’s a crack in the front of the jewel case.

0191

Nick Thorpe @hkt3030.neocities.org · 27/11/2025

When you see this, post an image from your gallery to describe your mental health

Timeless Toni Storm, with worn face paint and smeared lipstick, is slumped in a backstage corner after losing a wrestling match. As an off-screen interviewer holds a microphone to her face, she offers no response, staring expressionlessly into the distance.

090

Nick Thorpe @hkt3030.neocities.org · 26/11/2025

I’m the kind of wrestling fan who actually used to watch Velocity. It was essential if you ever wanted to see the cruiserweight wrestlers not named Mysterio.

A photograph of an LCD TV, showing a VHS recording of an episode of WWE Velocity. Akio, accompanied by Sakoda, is making his ring entrance.

340

Nick Thorpe @hkt3030.neocities.org · 26/11/2025

Looking at more VHS recordings. Here’s WWF Vengeance 2001, the first PPV after the Invasion story concluded. This Matt vs Jeff Hardy match didn’t do much for me then or now – honestly, I don’t think they were good opponents outside of the Final Deletion. People didn’t want to see them fight, either.

A photo of an LCD TV, showing a VHS recording of WWF Vengeance 2001. Matt and Jeff Hardy stare each other down in in the ring ahead of their match, while Lita stands in the middle as the assigned special guest referee.

130

Nick Thorpe @hkt3030.neocities.org · 26/11/2025

You know, I came across this magazine cover for something I'm working on, and I thought those days were behind us. Silly me. At least this one kept a model and a photographer in work.

The cover of the February 2003 issue of Xbox Gamer, which is "The smarter read for Xbox" apparently. The main cover image is of a lingerie model, laying on her front and looking into the camera, while holding an Xbox Controller S.

230

Nick Thorpe @hkt3030.neocities.org · 25/11/2025

I'll never forget the Gizmondo booth at Game Stars Live 2004. It had an "under construction" theme, and there was playable hardware - but for some reason, the PR people had it hidden away! You had to chat to them for a good while to play it. Even back then, it all felt weird - how little we knew…

A photo of the Gizmondo booth at Game Stars Live 2004, at London Excel. The booth has an "under construction" theme, with barricades surrounding haphazardly stacked pallets with a mock fire in the centre. Scaffolding is visible in the background, as well as a single screen showing a promotional video. No consoles can be seen in the shot.

162

Nick Thorpe @hkt3030.neocities.org · 23/11/2025

Got recommended this YouTube video earlier. Only British kids remember the N64? Toxic "we were the last to really live" nonsense? All from a channel called Dear Old Blighty that cranks out a video like this every day and a half? Ugh. I really can't stand this kind of nostalgia slop.

A screenshot of a YouTube video link from the channel Dear Old Blighty titled "Growing Up in 1990s BRITAIN - We Were The Last To Really LIVE". The thumbnail has the text "1990s - 18 Things only British kids remember" and an image of a child and a Nintendo 64 with Mario Kart cartridge inserted in it.

5160

Nick Thorpe @hkt3030.neocities.org · 23/11/2025

#ScanlineSunday Super Bomberman: Panic Bomber W (Super Famicom, 1995) Wharfedale CTV1428 RGB SCART

A photograph of a CRT TV displaying Super Bomberman: Panic Bomber W, a falling block puzzle spin-off for the Super Famicom. Bomberman heads in various colours are stacked on top of blue bricks and bombs, with stars showing that a match has recently been made.

0254

Nick Thorpe @hkt3030.neocities.org · 23/11/2025

Getting ChatGPT messages from you would just come across like this…

A screenshot of Black Books. Bernard Black is in the shop, forcing an unnatural, over the top smile that would ridiculous on anybody, never mind a reclusive misanthrope like him.

110

Nick Thorpe @hkt3030.neocities.org · 22/11/2025

Hey, it’s random game Saturday! Here is NieR: Automata, which I’ve clearly never played before as it’s still sealed in the photo. I have a bad habit of calling it NieR: Automato. I’ve now opened it and the game is currently installing, so I’ll soon get to see if it’s my sort of thing.

A PS4 copy of NieR: Automata Game of the YoRHa Edition. It is still sealed.

2130

Nick Thorpe @hkt3030.neocities.org · 20/11/2025

Bad headache has subsided and it’s new issue day, so I’m treating myself to a favourite album as I work this afternoon.

A screenshot of the Volumio control app on an iPhone. The current song is Self Bias Resistor from Fear Factory’s album Demanufacture.

030

Nick Thorpe @hkt3030.neocities.org · 18/11/2025

The Master System is to blame for, well, me in general. You shouldn't hold that against it, as it has plenty of cool games. Seriously, it kept me going until other kids had PlayStations.

A living room filled with discarded wrapping paper from birthday presents. A young ginger boy in loose-fitting blue and green pyjamas is opening a plain box, which contains a Sega Master System II with Alex Kidd in Miracle World built in. GamesMaster can be seen on the TV in the background.

A living room filled with discarded wrapping paper from birthday presents. A young ginger boy in blue and green pyjamas (green hidden, hole visible in knee) is proudly holding a Sega Master System II with Alex Kidd in Miracle World built in.

2140

Nick Thorpe @hkt3030.neocities.org · 17/11/2025

Silly VHS bunker would be stupid VHS bunker if there was no room for company! Also cassettes are to be played~

A copy of The Prodigy - Experience on cassette.

010

Nick Thorpe @hkt3030.neocities.org · 16/11/2025

I gotta know what’s on these.

Unlabelled VHS tapes are stacked up in a cupboard, surrounded by boxes for video game stuff including a PS2, a PSP, a Game Boy Micro, and the Sakura Wars Complete Box for Dreamcast.

180

Nick Thorpe @hkt3030.neocities.org · 16/11/2025

I found 19 cassettes in here and another one sat atop my Mega Drive games. The ones I’ve checked so far are E180 tapes recorded in LP mode, so if the same holds true for all of these… oof, 120 hours of recordings to check? Yeah, this certainly will take weeks.

000

Nick Thorpe @hkt3030.neocities.org · 16/11/2025

#ScanlineSunday Time Crisis (Namco System 22 arcade, 1995) Unknown monitor RGB via JAMMA

A close-up photo of a Time Crisis arcade cabinet's CRT monitor. The game's attract mode is introducing Rachel Macpherson, who looks worried - probably because she's been taken hostage.

0203

Nick Thorpe @hkt3030.neocities.org · 15/11/2025

A lot of times, something would happen and I’d think “huh, that was weird – let’s never think about that again.” And I just didn’t until 2024, and now I’m trying to find a level of self-acceptance After that, not buying Panzer Dragoon Saga for £50 and missing AJ Styles vs Jody Fleisch in Broxbourne

An anonymous question via NGL: “Biggest regret from your younger years? Top 3?”

110

Nick Thorpe @hkt3030.neocities.org · 15/11/2025

Hey, it’s random game Saturday! Here’s Hatsune Miku: Project Diva f for the Vita. It has World’s End Dance Hall on the song list, which is enough to make me happy. This was part of a recent order from @japanretrodirect.bsky.social, whose reasonable prices and good service deserve shouting out.

A Japanese copy of Hatsune Miku: Project Diva f for the PlayStation Vita.

1242

Nick Thorpe @hkt3030.neocities.org · 14/11/2025

Yeah, it certainly wasn't the best watch, but that was wholly uncalled for. It's important to point out that Darren Malcolm, co-host alongside Jamie Atiko, responded to a YouTube video criticising the show with considerably more class. Definitely worthy of respect. www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzCT...

Hi @ Stuart, I found your take on our show absolutely hilarious. Myself and Jamie literally came from the world of modelling, to the TV studio. No training, just thrown into the deep end and told to present 209 hours of TV. We learnt as went along. We were and still are best mates. The most important thing we tried to do was have fun and enjoy the ride, because we knew it wouldn't last. The only thing I'll say to those who hated us. We meant no harm, we genuinely loved games, and we did our best to present a positive vibe. I was 28 when this aired, next year I'll be 50 with a wife and 2 kids. I'll always look at this time of my life as a great opportunity to do something I loved with my best friend. Sorry to those we offended. And to those who enjoyed the show, I appreciate the kind words. We didn't have scripts, just bullet points about the games. so lots of adlibs were required to keep the conversation going. Hence why we usually repeated words to fill in gaps. I still play Gran Turismo competitively, and I have a little replay channel of my races. It's still my favourite game, as it was during gamezville. Great video, and thanks for highlighting the show. Even if you didn't like it. Take care all. Daz from Gamezville. ❤

140

Nick Thorpe @hkt3030.neocities.org · 13/11/2025

Oh damn! Episode 26 of Excel Saga, Going Too Far, was deliberately designed to be unfit for broadcast. I knew the Sci-Fi Channel in the UK had actually aired it in the early hours, but I didn’t realise I had recorded proof of that fact. It seems to have gone out uncensored, too.

250

Nick Thorpe @hkt3030.neocities.org · 13/11/2025

I’ve got a stack of unmarked VHS tapes to go through, with no idea of what’s on them. I probably should have expected wrestling – I’ve hit the Raw after Backlash 2004. Gail Kim makes a ring entrance but doesn’t actually get to wrestle, which is pretty much her WWE runs in a nutshell.

A photo of an LCD TV, showing Gail Kim walking to the ring on WWE Raw in 2004.

030

Nick Thorpe @hkt3030.neocities.org · 13/11/2025

I’ve never seen Roujin Z before, so I’ve decided that’s what I’m going to watch. Yeah.

040

Nick Thorpe @hkt3030.neocities.org · 13/11/2025

When I initially bought my Neo Geo MVS board, it had a problem where it would display jailbars through all of the sprites. The culprit turned out to be a dodgy connection between the NEO-ZMC2 chip and the motherboard, which was rectified with a quick soldering session.

A Neo Geo MVS connected to a Samsung LCD TV via Supergun. The Super Sidekicks 2 title screen is displayed, with prominent graphical corruption in the form of evenly spaced vertical lines running through all sprites.

030

Nick Thorpe @hkt3030.neocities.org · 13/11/2025

It really can be as simple as Kimimi says! Here's my first setup from 2016 - the PSU, SCART cable and speakers were all spare parts I just had sitting around, so all I needed was the Supergun, a board to connect to it and a controller. (Ignore the repair work I had to do on the untested board…)

A Neo Geo MVS connected to a Samsung LCD TV via Supergun, playing Metal Slug. A Neo Geo joystick and Super Sidekicks 2 cartridge are also visible.

2121

Nick Thorpe @hkt3030.neocities.org · 10/11/2025

Ah, it's always fun when games keep the player character in the centre of the screen, making it really awkward to print a screenshot nice and big across a spread. At least I can still make a respectable-looking link number appear.

A screenshot of NiGHTS into Dreams for the Saturn. NiGHTS is flying through the air collecting stars in the Frozen Bell stage, and has accumulated a 34 Link.

050

Nick Thorpe @hkt3030.neocities.org · 09/11/2025

#ScanlineSunday Gunblade NY (Sega Model 2 arcade, 1995) Unknown monitor RGB via JAMMA

A photo of a CRT monitor displaying the attract mode from the arcade version of Gunblade NY. A muscular enemy with a ginger mohawk, metal mask and combat gear stands in Times Square, brandishing a rocket launcher.

0204

Nick Thorpe @hkt3030.neocities.org · 08/11/2025

Quote something random from your phone I miss crimer

LOOKEING FOR A ARGUEUEMENT? NOTHINGE BETER TO DO ?
TRYING NOT TO PUNSH SOEMTHINGE FOR ONSE?
CAL US FOR A GOODE TIEM* & SHOUTE UNTILYU PASS OUTE

fon figts
*GOODE TIEM NOT GAURANTIED

042

Nick Thorpe @hkt3030.neocities.org · 08/11/2025

Hey, it’s random game Saturday! This is Screw Breaker, better known as Drill Dozer in English-speaking regions. I bought Game Freak’s charming platformer in 2007 when exchange rates were favourable, so it cost me just £7.67 brand new. I always liked the addition of a rumble motor in the cartridge.

A boxed Japanese copy of Screw Breaker for the Game Boy Advance.

3250

Nick Thorpe @hkt3030.neocities.org · 07/11/2025

Ah, this is where my repository of educational video content comes in handy!

A thumbnail of Henning Wehn & Otto Kuhnle - 1000 Years Of German Humour.mp4

100

Nick Thorpe @hkt3030.neocities.org · 06/11/2025

I was at NQ64 the other day. I’d have mentioned it before but I’ve been kind of out of it this week. Best bit: seeing a friend I’ve not seen in years. Second best bit: fondling a washing machine (playing Maimai).

NQ64 Soho, London. Arcade machines can be seen in a dark room with neon-painted walls, including Daytona USA 2, Point Blank, Star Wars Trilogy Arcade, Space Invaders and OutRun 2 SP.

061

Nick Thorpe @hkt3030.neocities.org · 03/11/2025

Oh yeah, makes sense. It’s interesting because they actually did briefly give Batista the full-name treatment too, early on in that brief post-Deacon, pre-Evolution period.

Batista making his entrance on WWE Raw in 2002, with “Dave Batista” as his name on his entrance graphic.

110

Nick Thorpe @hkt3030.neocities.org · 01/11/2025

No random game Saturday from me this weekend, because I’m at Sonic Con UK.

TJ Davis on stage at Sonic Con UK, singing the hits from Sonic R.

2200

Nick Thorpe @hkt3030.neocities.org · 30/10/2025

I am not exaggerating when I say I have taken about 8,000 screenshots of Xbox 360 games over the last month. So, here are some of the ones that are nice but also won't be making it into the next issue of Retro Gamer.

A screenshot of WarTech: Senko No Ronde for the Xbox 360. Two robots are fighting in the air, high above a city. Changpo is being hit by Cuilan's yellow projectiles.

A screenshot of Gears Of War for the Xbox 360. In a devastated city environment, a shotgun-bearing Marcus Fenix pops out from behind cover to take aim at a Locust enemy.

A screenshot of Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood for the Xbox 360. Ezio is leaping athletically between narrow beams high above the ground, in a dimly lit indoor space.

A screenshot of Hydro Thunder Hurricane for the Xbox 360. A red and white speedboat is boosting toward a narrow exit in an abandoned building overgrown with tropical vegetation.

0181

Nick Thorpe @hkt3030.neocities.org · 28/10/2025

I actually managed to play Halo 3 for half an hour last night, which is quite a lot given that I can suffer from fairly severe motion sickness issues when playing first person games. I did feel a bit queasy after some rapid camera movements, but overall felt pretty okay.

A screenshot of the first mission in Halo 3, for Xbox 360. The player is aiming at various enemies in a grassy area next to a large, grey building.

050

Nick Thorpe @hkt3030.neocities.org · 26/10/2025

There's recent evidence of this, too. It's easy to forget that Ed Miliband's Labour led the polls for most of 2010-2015, with a year of sustained 10 point leads in 2012-2013. The press then didn't push the inevitability rhetoric that they're pushing with Reform now, and the Tories won a majority.

The BBC poll tracker for 2010-2015. Labour leads the Conservatives for the majority of the period, most notably by margins of 10 points for most of 2012-2013. The leads gradually begin to narrow after May 2013, until the parties are neck and neck by the time of the general election.

Graph from https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/politics/poll-tracker

060

Nick Thorpe @hkt3030.neocities.org · 26/10/2025

#ScanlineSunday Final Fantasy VIII (PlayStation, 1999) Pacific PTV141 RGB SCART

A cropped photograph of Final Fantasy VIII being displayed on a CRT TV. In a scene from the FMV intro, Rinoa Heartilly is standing in a flowery field, looking at a white feather as it blows past her and toward the camera.

0479

Nick Thorpe @hkt3030.neocities.org · 24/10/2025

Imagine watching someone play this game. Now imagine that person is Tobias Fünke from Arrested Development during his Blue Man Group era, but wearing a Sonic hat. If you can visualise this, you will have imagined something similar to the YouTube video that made the whole game worthwhile.

An anonymous question submitted via NGL: “why is the best Sonic game, Sonic Free Riders?”

010

Nick Thorpe @hkt3030.neocities.org · 21/10/2025

First time visiting The Cheese Barge tonight, a short walk from Paddington station in London. So many awesome dishes to choose from – highly recommended.

The exterior of The Cheese Barge, a restaurant on the river near London Paddington station, at night.

031