iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Pete Davison @moegamer.net · 29/09/2026

realised there were no DOS games in here, so here are 9 games just from DOS

9 MS-DOS games that shaped who I am:
Rise of the Dragon
Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis
Wolfenstein 3-D
Ultima Underworld
Descent
Wing Commander
Rise of the Triad
The Lost Files of Sherlock Holmes: The Case of the Serrated Scalpel
Strike Commander

Pete Davison @moegamer.net · 29/09/2026

being as old a fart as I am, it is too hard to do just 9 games. So I did 9 games for several "eras" in my life: Atari 8-bit, Atari ST, SNES, N64 and PlayStation, and "modern" (PS2 onwards). All of these have had a huge influence on me for one reason or another, and there are many, many others!

My 9 Games for Atari 8-bit:
River Raid
Rescue on Fractalus
Preppie!
Boulder Dash
Flip & Flop
Juice!
Pole Position
Diamonds
The Great American Cross-Country Road Race

My 9 Games for Atari ST:
Falcon
F-15 Strike Eagle II
Space Rogue
Flight Simulator II
King's Quest
Starflight
Rod-Land
Time Bandit
Buggy Boy

My 9 Games for 16/32/64-bit consoles:
Super Mario World
SimCity (SNES)
Starfox
Ridge Racer Type 4
Final Fantasy VII
Metal Gear Solid
Xenogears
Tetrisphere
Silent Hill

My 9 Games for PS2 onwards:
Silent Hill 2
Shadow of Memories
Ar Tonelico
Persona 3
Ace Combat 4
Nier
Atelier Rorona
Demon Gaze
Hyperdimension Neptunia mk2

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Pete Davison @moegamer.net · 26/09/2026

British schools programmes from the 1980s are an untapped vein of entertainment if you've never come across them

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Pete Davison @moegamer.net · 24/09/2026

Thrilled to be part of the elite. #Nighthawks

A Long-Winded Achievement
Nighthawks is a mature game for adults
0.7% of players have this achievement

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Pete Davison @moegamer.net · 20/09/2026

fuck's sake. is there no sodding escape

What's new in DaVinci Resolve 21.1

AI Assistant Control
Ask Claude or ChatGPT to organise media, create edits and batch render.

No, I don't think I will

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Pete Davison @moegamer.net · 18/08/2026

I know everyone was quite rightly dragging ScreenRant earlier, but it's worth noting that even "old guard" sites like Gamespot are constantly pulling shit like this daily also

Screenshot of a Gamespot headline that reads "An Exclusive Castlevania Game Is Shutting Down" with the subheading "Another lost soul", neither of which give any indication whatsoever which Castlevania game it is and on what platform. (It is the Apple Arcade-exclusive former mobile game, Castlevania: Grimoire of Souls.)

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Pete Davison @moegamer.net · 14/08/2026

why does my bloody web browser have Achievements now? fuck off

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Pete Davison @moegamer.net · 10/08/2026

super cool, now getting AI-generated comment spam on my blog that responds to something I said in the text then bolts a sketchy link on the end. Watch out for this if you have a blog.

sketchy AI-generated comments that are apparently "engaging" with my articles, with even sketchier links on the end

more sketchy AI-generated comments that appear to be genuine until the dodgy link at the end

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Pete Davison @moegamer.net · 09/08/2026

say what you want about The Algorithm, my YouTube recommendations are an excellent representation of the contents of my brain at any given moment

Screenshot of YouTube, showing it recommending me an old LGR video on Hocus Pocus, and a video by HumorBagel called FARTING ON DOGS in all caps

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Pete Davison @moegamer.net · 06/08/2026

I love Budweiser viaqotkiiiibior: Kine of Deers

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Pete Davison @moegamer.net · 06/08/2026

Presumption of innocence going real well over there huh

An image of the "Defendant Summary" icon, showing a stereotypical cartoon burglar wearing a silly mask and a pointy hat.

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Pete Davison @moegamer.net · 03/08/2026

These are all the versions I'm aware of. Mysterious! Oh well. Doesn't really matter. Just intrigued.

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Pete Davison @moegamer.net · 28/07/2026

"I'm sorry, did you just say there was a Japanese-exclusive PlayStation version of the Hard Drivin' follow-up, Race Drivin', in which you can drive a frog and race through a minefield?" yes. yes I did

Screenshot from Race Drivin' A Go! Go! on PlayStation, showing a frog racing along a road on the Super Stunt Track at 120mph.

Screenshot from Race Drivin' A Go! Go! on PlayStation. The player's car is racing through a street which has warning signs all over it. If the car passes too close to these signs, the mines beneath them will explode.

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Pete Davison @moegamer.net · 27/07/2026

hey, uh, anyone from back in the day (@tolkoto.com and @grubb.wtf spring to mind) -- did you know that Bitmob is still online? Kind of, anyway; some internal links don't work and if you try and run a search it takes you to some weird Software as a Service (AI?) ad page. This feels... dodgy?

Dan Hsu's outgoing editorial from Bitmob's last day, still live online.

The homepage you get if you try and run a search on bitmob.com now.

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Pete Davison @moegamer.net · 24/07/2026

And baffling hyphenation decisions

Screenshot from Metal Marines. There is plenty of room in the dialogue box for the line "NOT BAD FOR A BEGINNER" but because it has been pushed over to the right so much, "BEGINNER" has been hyphenated so just the letter "-R" is on a completely separate line.

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Pete Davison @moegamer.net · 24/07/2026

Finally getting around to Terranigma. It pretty.

Screenshot from Terranigma, showing a pocketwatch approaching midnight with the caption "They came to be called 'God' and 'Devil'."

Screenshot from Terranigma. The hero, Ark, approaches a tower with a face on its gate.

Screenshot from Terranigma. The hero, Ark, explores "the inner world", which uses the SNES' Mode 7 to create an illusion of the world "wrapping around" a torus-like structure.

Screenshot from Terranigma. The hero, Ark, stands in a planetarium.

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Pete Davison @moegamer.net · 13/07/2026

when people ask why I don't really collect for original hardware pre-PS2 any more

a copy of the PAL version of Soul Blazer listed on eBay, complete in box, for £758 (plus £18.65 delivery)

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Pete Davison @moegamer.net · 27/06/2026

It is a day for close-up cats

Oliver, a ginger cat, up close, from another angle.

Patti, a black cat, up close from another angle.

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Pete Davison @moegamer.net · 24/06/2026

orange brain have no thoughts. head empty.

Oliver the orange cat being exceedingly undignified

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Pete Davison @moegamer.net · 20/06/2026

it's super cool that today you can't even post a heartfelt, emotional plea for help finding your beloved, lost cat without scammers attacking. I'm just surprised it's taken this long, honestly

Screenshot of an obvious scam WhatsApp message (phone number is from Nigeria) claiming to have found my missing cat.

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Pete Davison @moegamer.net · 08/06/2026

bein a classy chick this evening

Pink Hooch in a can. Alcoholic raspberry lemonade, beloved of teenagers circa 1999 everywhere.

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Pete Davison @moegamer.net · 01/06/2026

Oh frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!

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Pete Davison @moegamer.net · 01/06/2026

there's something in my bedside table

It's a black cat. A black cat is in my bedside table

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Pete Davison @moegamer.net · 30/05/2026

waiting for a boat... again

Screenshot from Final Fantasy XI. Our heroine is sitting on the end of a pier waiting for a boat and hopes she has not missed it in the time taken to post this.

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Pete Davison @moegamer.net · 29/05/2026

Here's just a little example of how AI enshittification makes even unrelated, simple tasks worse and more irritating. From Sprout Social, I present "the obnoxious Generate With AI button you can't get rid of, and which actually blocks part of the text box you're typing something into".

I am trying to write some alt text for this image to post on social media.

It's fine up until this point, but you can perhaps see a problem that is about to occur below.

Yes, indeed, the "Generate by AI Assist" icon does indeed block the text field, so as I continue typing I can't actually see what I'm doing, as they
GENERATE BY AI ASSIST

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Pete Davison @moegamer.net · 27/05/2026

I've had two actually *nice* comments on my site today. Two! The heat must have people in a good mood. Or they're bots. But I choose to believe these are actual people saying actual nice things.

Screenshot of a blog comment:
"Great review, very well-written and delves deep into what makes the game tick. The review has me interested in trying Pragmata; before I had casually dismissed it as generic 3rd person Capcom action game AKA 'Dead Space, but AI'. Perhaps I was wrong?"

Screenshot of a message sent via my blog:
"Thank you so much for working this site! It's hard to believe that such kind of sites still exist today - a real player writing articles to share their real experience. It triggers my nostalgia of the blogs two decades ago.

Thanks again. Your work is like a saint for gamers."

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Pete Davison @moegamer.net · 25/05/2026

this is the best Final Fantasy

Nomad Moogle: Same deal as last time. Got it, kupo? And today, we'll also be recruiting the services of a very special guest!

Palika-Poranke: Howdy-ho, fatty-watties!

Nomad Moogle: Ladies and gentlemoogles, I proudly present Parike-Poranke, esteemed researcher of enterological magic from the Windurstian Orastery, who was kind enough to take time away from his data-gathering for this especial occasion, kupo!

Maat: (Parike-Poranke? The self-styled brown mage? Why do I get the feelin' we're in for a real mess this time...?)

Parike-Poranke: Honored to be here, my pudgy purple-winged friends!

Nomad Moogle: ...Very well. Come and kneel down right before me, Amarysse. Parike-Poranke, you may take your position over there.

Parike-Poranke: Alright!!! Prepare to have your innards turned inside out!

Nomad Moogle: And you, my friend, prepare to unleash the most vigorous volley of moogle magic you can manage, kupo.

Magian Moogle: ...Understood. I am ready whenever the rest of you are.

Nomad Moogle: Now! Now, kupo! ...

[Amarysse feels a gushing fount of power explode from her bowels, coursing through her veins and limbs...!]

Parike-Poranke: Success! Ahahaha, glorious success!!! The last time I tried that one, I was scrubbing my lab clean for a month!

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Pete Davison @moegamer.net · 20/05/2026

There's a demon under my desk

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Pete Davison @moegamer.net · 15/05/2026

recommended to me by YouTube today: a channel that has gone so hard on AI-generated thumbnails that it has, impressively, managed to completely misrepresent almost everything about every game they have covered. Box art, screenshot, cart label, publisher, features -- everything. Easiest block ever.

A screenshot of a YouTube channel that has recently started using AI-generated thumbnails for its gameplay videos of Atari 2600 games. Every thumbnail includes the wrong box art, publisher, game features, cartridge format and a screenshot of graphics that would not be possible on the Atari 2600.

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Pete Davison @moegamer.net · 15/05/2026

This party's strength is {impossible to gauge}!

A screenshot of a group of Final Fantasy XI players, including "Fudonari", "Internetmommy", "Peggingqueen" and "Estrogenexpress", all marked as Trial players.

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Pete Davison @moegamer.net · 13/05/2026

I find it difficult to believe I haven't seen this comparison yet

some white dudes talking about some shit, I guess

some white kids talking about some shit, I guess

("Is Fortnite Actually Overrated?" meme)

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Pete Davison @moegamer.net · 03/05/2026

And that's what I am considering a first milestone reached. Feeling *strong* hyperfixation energy on this right now, so taking advantage of it while it lasts!

Shot of the WordPress At a Glance dashboard, showing 2 Posts, 27 Pages and 16,826 Words written in the site's 4 weeks of existence.

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Pete Davison @moegamer.net · 02/05/2026

Slow and steady wins the race. Still a hell of a lot of work ahead but I am chipping away at this project a day at a time, and it's working.

A screenshot of WordPress' "At a Glance" dashboard, showing 1 Post, 20 Pages, 11,150 Words and 4 weeks.

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