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SpriteCell

@spritecell.bsky.social
1.3K followers 144 following 563 posts

Making charts and graphs of video game data, and archiving video game history. spritecell.com

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Reposted by SpriteCell
Chris Chapman @savestate.site · 16h
Oops, made a video! Hey, remember that Blizzard scandal? No, not that one. Not that either. Or that. I'm talking about the Windows 95 registry snooping, obviously! If you're drawing a blank, I've got just the video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLFRa...
youtube.com
When Blizzard Shipped Malware | Save State
Almost thirty years ago, Blizzard took a step too far. All sources: https://savestate.site/when-blizzard-shipped-malware/ This channel is 100% Patreon-funded: https://patreon.com/savestatesite Music: Hazy Moon / Tokyo Xanadu ex+ / Copyright © Nihon Falcom Corporation Starcraft footage by JadedZerg @ World of Longplays: https://longplays.org/infusions/longplays/longplays.php?cat_id=2&longplay_id=3955 Diablo 4 footage by RavonixXx - No copyright gameplay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DB7fhi4Te0
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SpriteCell @spritecell.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
A very negative review of an imported Mischief Makers from Total 64. The reviewer uses a lot of space to compare it to Mario 64 and brushes it off as just another 2D game that does nothing new. He even hates the music. It's reminiscent of some Symphony of the Night reviews of the time.
Total 64 review of Mischief Makers.
Scan by OutOfPrintArchive.Total 64 review of Mischief Makers.
Scan by OutOfPrintArchive.Total 64 review of Mischief Makers.
Scan by OutOfPrintArchive.Total 64 review of Mischief Makers.
Scan by OutOfPrintArchive.
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SpriteCell @spritecell.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
This was the worst packaging for anything I've ever gotten in the mail. No cushioning at all, just a plastic bag. The disc had fallen off the spindle and was rattling around the case, but it still worked despite the punishment it must have endured.
A PS4 copy of Observer in its original shipping packaging: a clear, thin, plastic bag with the top part folded over and taped down.
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Reposted by SpriteCell
Supper Mario Broth @mariobrothblog.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Shigeru Miyamoto has claimed that Toad is his least favorite character in Mario Kart. Despite this, in all footage of him playing Mario Kart 8, he picked Toad every time. Whether he was joking or specifically picking a character he hates to challenge himself is unknown.
I have an important question. Nintendo has also just released Mariokart 7 for the 3DS. In every iteration of Mariokart, I've always preferred to play as Toad. Who's your favorite character?
That's the most challenging question! I'm sorry that I cannot come up with an interesting answer. Somehow, it's habit to me, but I play with Mario. He's a very balanced character.
Who's your least favorite character?
Toad. [Laughs]
My favorite character is your least favorite character?
I understand that he has some popularity. Somehow.
In a 2012 interview with Entertainment Weekly, Shigeru Miyamoto has claimed Toad is his least favorite Mario Kart character.
In December 2014, Shigeru Miyamoto and Bill Trinen played Mario Kart 8 against YouTuber Rosanna Pansino. Miyamoto picked Toad.
Also in December 2014, Shigeru Miyamoto and Bill Trinen played Mario Kart 8 against YouTuber iJustine. Miyamoto picked Toad again.
Finally, in January 2015, the two played Mario Kart 8 against YouTube group Smosh Games. Miyamoto picked Toad again.
Whether Miyamoto simply had an enormous change of heart about Toad in the intervening 2 years, or whether he was picking his least favorite to challenge or punish himself, is unknown.
Source: information compiled by @SpriteCell, x.com/SpriteCell/status/1653842781897474048 ew.com/article/2012/02/10/shigeru-miyamoto-zelda, youtu.be/DNUcDkNI24o, youtu.be/3Q2KxS32Q1g, youtu.be/untLD6z6aql
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SpriteCell @spritecell.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Nintendo also had at least three CompuServe conferences, with one in mid-October 1994 and one in February 1995. Unfortunately, I can't find a transcript of any of these and magazines mostly only had small summaries. These were found with help from VGHF's Digital Archive and are screenshots from it.
A difficult to read wall of text from GameFan April 1995 about Nintendo's February 1995 CompuServe conference.GamePro January 1995 news item about a Nintendo CompuServe conference.EGM's April 1995 coverage of a CompuServe conference held by Nintendo.
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SpriteCell @spritecell.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Sega was apparently quite happy with the attention they received on CompuServe (more than 200 people downloaded Tom Kalinske's "Sega" scream!) as per this press release. www.usenet-rewind.com/message/M2Y0...
A press release from Sega about their activity on CompuServe and their internet presence.
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SpriteCell @spritecell.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
In late 1994 Tom Kalinske held a conference on CompsuServe where the public could ask questions about Sega. Topics include RPGs, 32X, Sega CD, and Saturn. Thankfully, a transcript was posted on Usenet. www.usenet-rewind.com/message/MTcy...
A question about why games are released last in the U.S. and a question about Phantasy Star IV's release date, both answered by Tom Kalinske of Sega.
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SpriteCell @spritecell.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
www.youtube.com/watch?v=IeNE... This starts with a Data East rap. Unfortunately, it gets cut off before the end.
youtube.com
Consumer Electronics Show CES June 1990
YouTube video by HikikomoriDev
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SpriteCell @spritecell.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
I looked at this for so long thinking "they planned to release Mortal Kombat 3 on the NES???"
An ad for Mortal Kombat 3. It lists the systems it is coming out for but there's a big vertical space between "Super" and "NES".
From Next Generation December 1995. Scan by RetroMags.
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SpriteCell @spritecell.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
I looked through every occurrence of "Shigeru Miyamoto" in magazines to find new interviews and quotes I wasn't aware of.
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SpriteCell @spritecell.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
Does any 2D game have wider ladders than Mega Man 7? Show me a game where the ladders take up more than 18.75% of the horizontal space.
Screenshot of Mega Man 7.
There is text on the image showing that the ladder is 48 pixels wide, comprising 18.75% of the total horizontal space.
This screenshot is from Mobygames: https://www.mobygames.com/game/6586/mega-man-7/screenshots/snes/732277/
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SpriteCell @spritecell.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
This one will likely only appeal to a small number of people who are interested in video game history, it's very much not about anything current, but I hope you will give it a look when it is done.
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SpriteCell @spritecell.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
For a while I was working on two projects at once, but I am now focusing on one, code named Horizontal. Today I finally finished collecting the fourth, quite large, data set. There are still two to five more to go, so it will be a few more months before it is finished.
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SpriteCell @spritecell.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Some PS3 games have doubled or tripled in price on the secondhand market since the announcement of the PS3 store closure. I don't see any PSVita games with such dramatic price changes.
PriceCharting graph of CIB copies of Puppeteer for the PS3, showing a dramatic selling price increase recently.PriceCharting graph of CIB copies of Asura's Wrath for the PS3, showing a dramatic selling price increase recently.PriceCharting graph of CIB copies of 3D Dot Game Heroes for the PS3, showing a dramatic selling price increase recently.PriceCharting graph of CIB copies of Folklore for the PS3, showing a dramatic selling price increase recently.
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SpriteCell @spritecell.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
But if the emerging art of game design wasn't ready to birth such an idea, would consumers also not be ready to accept a game like it? Or are the mechanics timeless and fun to any market that recognizes a deck of playing cards? How much of game design is a chain that has to be built link by link?
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SpriteCell @spritecell.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
I think it's interesting to think about how Balatro would have been received if it had been released in 1991 for the SNES or Genesis. With some smaller number caps it should have been technically possible to make something very similar.
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Reposted by SpriteCell
Hyrule Interviews @hyruleinterviews.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
5000 Years of The Legend of Zelda... V2! I've added major branches like Conan, CS Lewis, Star Wars, a lot more Japanese influences, and the lineage of early video games. The chart's organization is also improved. Click through for the full-size: namelessquality.com/5000-years-o...
A screenshot a huge flowchart. At the top are listed things like mythologies and histories; at the bottom is the title screen for The Legend of Zelda. Between the two are numerous influences, ranging from ancient board games, to Tolkien, to 1930s pulp adventure films, and way more.
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SpriteCell @spritecell.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
This person uploaded their PS2 demo discs to Internet Archive. They got "restricted" and he e-mailed IA asking for them to be unrestricted, they said "no" with no further explanation, and then removed his uploads and banned him when he kept asking what the deal was. www.youtube.com/watch?v=N25C...
youtube.com
The Internet Archive Deleted My PS2 Project
YouTube video by MProductions GAMING
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SpriteCell @spritecell.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
There's so much variety with these guides. Dozens for challenge runs, pre-English release translation guides, two or three part FAQs, plot analysis, mechanics FAQs. Three debug room guides for FF7 published in 1999. Song lyric FAQs! How many of those has GameFAQs published in the last decade?
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SpriteCell @spritecell.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
Final Fantasy and GameFAQs are closely linked in my mind. I've spent so much time reading all kinds of guides for the series, every game has so many, which made me curious which had the most. The 2D games and FF12 often have a separate map for each area, so there's also a graph without them.
A graph showing the total number of guides published for each mainline Final Fantasy game on GameFAQs, broken down by type of guide.A graph showing the total number of guides published for each mainline Final Fantasy game on GameFAQs, this time they are not broken down by type, but do not include Maps and Charts.
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SpriteCell @spritecell.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
They took the time to render Mario's reflection on the table.
Cover of Game Players January 1995. A scraggly Mario and Sonic are rendered in early 3D and are about to arm wrestle and there is an intense ball of light where their hands will meet.
Scan by Retromags.
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SpriteCell @spritecell.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
In this interview he says he specifically didn't want Zelda to be like Hydlide. Maybe the speculative designation covers that, but he seemed to at least be familiar with it. Love this though, and I had the same problems trying to share a huge image. shmuplations.com/miyamoto2000/
shmuplations.com
Shigeru Miyamoto – 2000 Developer Interview - shmuplations.com
This lengthy interview with Shigeru Miyamoto focuses on his early work at Nintendo, including Donkey Kong, Mario Bros., and Super Mario Bros.
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Reposted by SpriteCell
Hyrule Interviews @hyruleinterviews.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
I present: 5000 Years of The Legend of Zelda A flowchart of the media that influenced Zelda. Ranging from mythology and historical sources to ancient board games, D&D, 1930s pulp adventure films, and way more! Click through to see the full-size chart. namelessquality.com/5000-years-o...
A screenshot a huge flowchart. At the top are listed things like mythologies and histories; at the bottom is the title screen for The Legend of Zelda. Between the two are numerous influences, ranging from ancient board games, to Tolkien, to 1930s pulp adventure films, and way more.
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SpriteCell @spritecell.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
New record, 402nd on the Guild Wars 2 North American achievements leaderboard. I probably won't be able to get much higher than this, I've done most of the PvP stuff and playing Crab Toss and Sanctum Sprint by myself is slow going.
Screenshot of the Guild Wars 2 North American achievement leaderboard.
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SpriteCell @spritecell.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
Editorial from Hyper about the difficulty of communicating with Japanese developers and publishers.
Editorial from Hyper magazine by Cam Shea.
Probably found on Sega Retro, but it's not loading right now and I don't think they really scan things themselves but also don't credit the original scanner.
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SpriteCell @spritecell.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
Data is course from the excellent Megami Tensei Fusion Tools: aqiu384.github.io/megaten-fusi...
aqiu384.github.io
Megami Tensei Fusion Tools
Fusion tool framework for Megami Tensei games.
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SpriteCell @spritecell.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
In Megami Tensei games your skills don't list damage coefficients. Agidyne (single) and Maragidyne (all) will both just say "heavy fire damage". But actually the damage they do can vary wildly, depending on the game. The smaller the number the less multi-target skills do compared to single-target.
A graph showing how much a skill that hits all enemies does compared to a skill that hits a single target in Megami Tensei games.
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SpriteCell @spritecell.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
The 55 contestants got a copy of S&K. The two finalists received “every Sega product released for the next year” (some sources say two years). Chris Tang also received $25,000. The MTV special of the event is on YouTube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiI1... More info: segaretro.org/Rock_the_Rock
youtube.com
MTV and SEGA: Rock the Rock – Sonic & Knuckles
YouTube video by SEGAbits
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SpriteCell @spritecell.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
The winner was Chris Tang, who had earlier won the Hawaii and Los Angeles division of the Nintendo World Championships. He started working for Tengen at 14 years old and may have still been an employee during Rock the Rock. More about his career on Sega Retro: segaretro.org/Chris_Tang
Chris Tang winning Rock the Rock with 153 rings, to Mark Guinane's 123 rings.
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SpriteCell @spritecell.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
They really leaned into the theming, the contestants were put into limos by actors playing cops, which were followed by armored cars. Many of the contestants were children, but they were put in something resembling prison uniforms and had suitcases with a copy of the game handcuffed to their wrists.
Picture of a child playing Sonic and Knuckles in an Alcatraz prison cell.A young person in a kind of prison attire being escorted by two people dressed as body guards perhaps.A group of people facing open jail cell doors in Alcatraz.
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SpriteCell @spritecell.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
Rock the Rock was a promotional event for Sonic & Knuckles where 55 people were taken to Alcatraz Island to play the unreleased game and try to get as many rings as possible in three minutes. The two top scorers then faced off head to head in a dome.
Report on Rock the Rock from GamePro's January 1995 issue. Scan by Retromags.Report on Rock the Rock from EGM's December 1994 issue. Scan by Retromags.Report on Rock the Rock from EGM's December 1994 issue. Scan by Retromags.
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SpriteCell @spritecell.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
This is the third "Hello 'Moto" headline I've seen used for an interview or article about Shigeru Miyamoto from a European outlet.
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SpriteCell @spritecell.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
Many of Nintendo's European websites have become lost, but thanks to the efforts of several people on the Lost Media Wiki forums the flash-powered Mario Megasite has been partially preserved, and a Miyamoto interview was found within the files. forums.lostmediawiki.com/post/159257/...
forums.lostmediawiki.com
Nintendo of Europe's Mario Megasite Web Portal | Forums - The Lost Media Wiki
Opened around November 2004, The Mario Megasite was a web portal that acts as a information point. It once belonged to ms.nintendo-europe.com
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SpriteCell @spritecell.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
The ideal order for a video game magazine is: Staff credits/housekeeping, table of contents, editorial, mail, news, interview, cover feature, previews by system, reviews by system, tips/codes, comic/puzzles/quizzes, back issue orders/legal text, preview of next issue.
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SpriteCell @spritecell.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
I'm currently working on two projects at once (code names Fire and Horizontal), something I haven't done before. Hopefully this helps prevent me from getting tired of working on the same thing for an extended period, but it will also be longer until either is finished.
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SpriteCell @spritecell.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
The Gantt chart was made with this site and importing an excel file: www.onlinegantt.com#/gantt The graph was made with Google Sheets. My website is made with WordPress. Thank you for the kind words.
onlinegantt.com
Free Online Gantt Chart Software
Free Online Gantt Chart Software. No Signup and No Download Required. 100% Free Forever.
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SpriteCell @spritecell.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
shmuplations.com/miyamotoxeno/ When I first saw this new shmuplations discussion between Shigeru Miyamoto and Kenji Eno I thought I was finally going to see a translation of Super Hit Game Studies, but no, it's an entirely different thing I didn't know about, which is also great.
shmuplations.com
Shigeru Miyamoto x Kenji Eno (1996) - shmuplations.com
In July 1996, Kenji Eno visited Nintendo HQ to speak with Shigeru Miyamoto as the first of his "cross-talk" series.
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SpriteCell @spritecell.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
If you mean remaking the chart with certain magazines combined that Retromags counts separately, I won't be doing that. There's only a handful, DieHard GameFan/GameFan is the only other example that comes to mind.
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SpriteCell @spritecell.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
I had to use a special website to make the Gantt chart so it looks a bit weird in places and it has some compromises. Retromags' list is not totally comprehensive and is lacking some magazines launched in the last 10 years and some active magazines haven't been updated in one or two years.
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SpriteCell @spritecell.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
I made a Gantt chart showing when U.S. gaming magazines were active, and then charted how many there were by year. This uses Retromags' database, minus a few that were only peripherally related to gaming. Here's the 2327x8580 original Gantt chart: spritecell.com/wp-content/u...
A Gantt chart of U.S. gaming magazines showing when they were active.A bar graph showing how many active gaming magazines there were by year. It peaks at 42 in 1995.
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SpriteCell @spritecell.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
It's in Japanese, but this site has every game Famitsu scored at least 35 (maximum is 40), up through 2015. web.archive.org/web/20161024...
web.archive.org
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SpriteCell @spritecell.bsky.social · 12/07/2026
This is what UK gaming magazine Zero called their handheld game review section.
Page of UK magazine Zero, featuring the title "hand jobs", with reviews of Ax Battler and Rampart.
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SpriteCell @spritecell.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
Trying to figure out what my next project will be so I made a spreadsheet.
A screenshot of potential future projects by their code name. There are columns for my enjoyment, other's enjoyment, and difficulty/time. Each cell has a number from 2-10.
There is also a section scored in the same way about completed projects.
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SpriteCell @spritecell.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
Another place I never would have looked for a Miyamoto quote, great find.
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SpriteCell @spritecell.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
I would appreciate that, sorry I can't narrow down the time period any more. Please take your time.
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SpriteCell @spritecell.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
Something I found while researching was that the full performance of Mario & Zelda Big Band Live, from 2003, was uploaded to both YouTube and Internet Archive less than two years ago. Music and Nintendo developers talking in Japanese. www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvBl... archive.org/details/mari...
youtube.com
Mario & Zelda Big Band Live (Nihon Seinenkan Hall. 14 Sep 2003)
YouTube video by phillai
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SpriteCell @spritecell.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
If you would like to help preserve web history it’s as easy as installing the Wayback Machine add-on/extension and making two clicks when you see something interesting to save it. Firefox: addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefo... Chrome: chromewebstore.google.com/detail/wayba...
addons.mozilla.org
Wayback Machine – Get this Extension for 🦊 Firefox (en-US)
Download Wayback Machine for Firefox. Welcome to the Official Internet Archive Wayback Machine Browser Extension! Go back in time to see how a website has changed through the history of the Web. Save ...
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SpriteCell @spritecell.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
It was shocking to see how many web pages I linked to were no longer live less than three years after I last visited them. Thankfully I’ve made sure they were all included in the Wayback Machine, but it’s really atrocious how news sites and gaming press will remove their own content.
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SpriteCell @spritecell.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
In compiling all of this and re-trying to find all of these interviews I of course discovered many new interviews to add to the archive. In fact, it’s getting close to 1,000 total entries, which has become my goal. A few improvements have also been made, like archiving X posts with screenshots.
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SpriteCell @spritecell.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
For the past couple months I have been working on compiling a list of Shigeru Miyamoto interviews that are lost, may or may not exist, are incomplete, unscanned, and/or untranslated. There are over 200 on this page, maybe you can help in some way: spritecell.com/shigeru-miya...
spritecell.com
Lost Shigeru Miyamoto Interviews
This page of the Shigeru Miyamoto Archive collects interviews that are lost, suspected, incomplete, unscanned, or untranslated to English.
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