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If you thought emulation drama ended with Yuzu’s takedown, think again. A brand-new project called Oboromi is shaking up the emulator scene with one bold claim: it’s a proof-of-concept Nintendo Switch 2 emulator built entirely in Rust. Yes, Switch 2 — not the current one. Developed by 0xNikilite, this open-source powerhouse focuses on clarity, correctness, and traceability over raw performance, meaning it’s not here to run games just yet… but it’s already… Read more

Nintendo’s Most Recent Alleged Hack Explained: What Happened, What Is Known, And What To Watch Next Flashpoint overview. A hacking crew calling itself Crimson Collective has claimed it breached Nintendo and walked away with a trove of internal material. Reports say the cache could include production assets, developer files, backups, and other folders, with early chatter centering on a headline number of about 570 gigabytes of data. Nintendo has not confirmed an… Read more

If you grew up tearing through Rainbow Road and tossing banana peels in Mario Kart 64, you probably never imagined that your favorite racing game once flirted with cigarette advertising. But that’s exactly what happened in the early versions of the game. Hidden in plain sight among the trackside billboards was a cheeky parody of Marlboro cigarettes, rebranded as “Marioro.” The red-and-white logo looked unmistakably similar to the real-life tobacco company’s branding,… Read more

The hum of CRT monitors, the click of cartridge locks, the glow of pixelated skies — these are more than memories to those of us who grew up with them. They’re emotional anchors, reminders of simpler days when the biggest challenge was beating the next boss, not managing inboxes or bills. That connection between nostalgia and happiness was at the heart of a thoughtful panel today at RetroGameCon in Syracuse, New York,… Read more

Flashback to the golden age of 16-bit gaming, where pixel art, catchy soundtracks, and side-scrolling adventures defined childhoods everywhere. Nintendo has just dropped three more SNES classics onto the Nintendo Switch Online service, giving fans another reason to dive back into the nostalgia of the Super Nintendo era. Watch Nintendo’s official announcement trailer here on YouTube. This new update for October brings a mix of action, puzzles, and competitive fighting into the… Read more

Origins and Opening Night The history of Galloping Ghost Arcade begins the way so many great gaming stories begin, with one person’s obsession carried further than anyone else thought possible. In the mid nineteen nineties, Doc Mack was not yet the steward of the largest arcade in the United States, he was just a young Chicago native trying to make a new fighting game. That project, Dark Presence, a digitized martial arts… Read more

This tutorial is for the glorious emulator frontend called Pegasus FE, and my goal is to help other android users, more importantly Nvidia Shield users, bask in all its glory. I had to repost this, because the OG post was lost. This is for those who requested it. I had to scrape data from the wayback machine, so it may have lost some formatting. I usually get my info for emulator frontends… Read more

Nintendo tracked down an alleged Switch pirate by following a trail of posts and repair orders, and now it’s asking a court to award $4.5 million in damages. According to court filings, Nintendo of America accuses James “Archbox” Williams of running multiple piracy storefronts, moderating forums that promoted pirated games, and offering paid access to stolen libraries. Investigators tied the Archbox name to email addresses linked to Nintendo repair orders shipped to… Read more

When it comes to video game bands, The OneUps have been doing this longer than most. Their official site says they have been performing since their first show in 2002, and over the years they have played events like PAX, MAGFest, and GDC while building one of the most recognizable sounds in live VGM. Their catalog on Bandcamp stretches from Volume 1 all the way to later releases like Volume 4, Arkadia… Read more

Super Mario Kart Horizons is one of the most ambitious ROM hacks in recent years, reimagining the classic SNES racer with twenty brand new tracks, four custom battle maps, an original soundtrack, and presentation elements like a custom manual and box art. The project, available at RomHacking.net and RomHackPlaza, represents the culmination of over a decade of tinkering, iteration, and dedication from its creator, Gridattack. Horizons has also been the subject of… Read more

The Arkadian was born in 2015 as the brainchild of Jon O’Neal, a musician with a passion for both heavy rock and the timeless soundtracks of video games. Influenced by artists like Stemage, Viking Guitar, Mega Beardo, and Master Sword, he began crafting arrangements that fused 70s and 80s-inspired metal with the melodies gamers grew up with. What started as solo experiments in a basement studio quickly grew into something bigger... a… Read more

When people talk about the greatest ROM hacks ever made, Super Mario Bros. 3Mix almost always comes up. Created by Southbird, this hack was more than just a simple remix of Nintendo’s NES classic... it became a sprawling tribute to Mario’s entire history. 3Mix included new mechanics like gravity flips, Yoshi integration, secret star coins, alternate exits, and even bosses and themes inspired by later entries such as Super Mario World and… Read more

When it comes to fusing heavy metal with the 8-bit sounds of classic gaming, few names resonate louder than VomitroN. The project is the brainchild a Massachusetts-based musician, producer, and lifelong gamer whose work has turned the nostalgic bleeps of the Nintendo Entertainment System into sprawling metal epics. What started as an experiment in the late nineties while playing Contra in a college dorm became a full-blown passion project, and by the… Read more

The Super Mario World hacking scene is filled with passion projects, but few creators have managed to balance accessibility, creativity, and ambition quite like xMANGRAVYx, the driving force behind LetsTalkGames. I first came across his work through Castlemania II, a gothic and atmospheric sequel that brought Castlevania inspired storytelling into the Mario universe. That game opened my eyes to how far a ROM hack could push the SMW engine. The final boss… Read more

VisualBoyAdvance-M Git (2026/09/22) is a Super Game Boy Color/Advance emulator available for Windows, Linux, and Mac. This release includes updates such as dropping _Float16 support on riscv64, ceasing the build of the DLSS NR Vulkan layer, and linking static MoltenVK dependencies. New additions include shaderc, glslang, and Vulkan to the dependency lists, and Metal DLSS NR support for macOS. Linux DLSS NR has also been fixed. Users can find information on the… Read more

FB Neo Git (2026/09/22) is a newly compiled emulator for arcade games and select consoles, built on previous versions of FinalBurn and MAME. The latest changelog includes various updates, fixes for issues #2752 and #2754, improvements to darkseal, and modifications in d_megadrive.cpp, d_nes.cpp, and d_ngp.cpp. Users can download this update from the provided source link. FB Neo Git (2026/09/22) has been compiled. FinalBurn Neo serves as an emulator for arcade games and… Read more

DOSBox-X Git (2026/09/22) is an updated version of DOSBox, designed to emulate Intel x86 PCs for running legacy MS-DOS games on modern operating systems like Windows and Linux. The latest changelog includes fixes such as preventing crashes during specific operations, resetting MSCDEX and drive allocations on BIOS boot for better IMGMOUNT command functionality, and addressing mouse input issues caused by recent PS/2 changes. Additionally, it implements a flag to mitigate problems when… Read more

PadForge v4.5.2 has been released as a modern controller mapping utility for Windows. It allows users to map any controller, keyboard, or mouse to emulate virtual Xbox 360, DualShock 4, custom DirectInput, or MIDI controllers. This is accomplished through ViGEmBus, vJoy, and Windows MIDI Services, making the devices appear as real hardware to games and applications. For details on the changes in this release, users can refer to the changelog on GitHub.… Read more

The Ymir Git emulator for Sega Saturn was released on September 21, 2026. It's in progress and allows loading games from various file formats, automatic BIOS detection, and region switching. It supports two players with customizable keybindings and features like save states, rewinding, and turbo speed. A backup memory manager helps import/export saves. The update includes several fixes for the D3D12 renderer, VDP issues, and game crashes, along with improvements in documentation.… Read more

Xenia Git (2026/09/21) has been compiled as an experimental Xbox 360 emulator, although it does not yet run games. Recent updates in the changelog include the addition of missing exports and parameter names, as well as fixes for GPU issues related to tiled resolve offsets and sample layout for host depth copies. The ZPD has also been rewritten as a running sample counter. For further details, the latest version can be downloaded… Read more

What if Super Mario Kart got the sequel we always dreamed of on the SNES? Horizons delivers 20 new tracks, new music, and pure nostalgia. From grassy plains to abandoned mines, Super Mario Kart – Horizons takes the SNES classic to new places. It feels like Mario Kart 2.0… and you can play it today! Super Mario Kart – Horizons: The Romhack That Feels Like a True Sequel. Watch the video or… Read more

The Super Mario World hacking community has produced everything from sprawling cinematic adventures to bite sized experimental projects. Smoked Fish and Cabbage, created by LetsTalkGames and the coder known as xMANGRAVYx, stands out as a compact yet polished introduction to the Kaizo style. Released in July 2023, the hack is short by design with seven carefully crafted levels, but within that small footprint it manages to deliver challenge, variety, and accessibility in… Read more

The Super Mario World hacking scene has always thrived on experimentation, but few projects push the envelope as boldly as Castlemania II, created by LetsTalkGames and coder xMANGRAVYx. Released in July 2025, this sequel builds upon last year’s Castlemania with even more ambition, blending Super Mario World’s platforming with Castlevania’s gothic spirit. The result is a hack that feels familiar in its controls but completely fresh in its tone and structure. From… Read more

When it comes to ambitious ROM hacks, few projects can match the scale and polish of Super Mario Bros. 3Mix, created by the talented developer Southbird. Released more than a decade ago (2014), 3Mix is not simply a reworking of Super Mario Bros. 3 but a complete overhaul that pays tribute to Mario’s past, present, and even future. The hack introduces new mechanics, new worlds, and a staggering amount of secrets while… Read more

Pacnsac Games, the prolific ROM hacker known as pacnsacdave, has built a name for transforming beloved NES titles into something wholly new while staying true to the spirit of retro gaming. In March 2020 he released The Crow, a complete hack of Sunsoft’s Batman: The Video Game. Rather than a simple cosmetic swap, this project reimagines the 1994 cult film starring Brandon Lee as if it had received its own 8 bit… Read more

When you talk about hidden treasures on the Nintendo Entertainment System, few games are as respected and mysterious as Mr. Gimmick. Released in 1992 by Sunsoft, this platformer was known for its stunning physics, demanding level design, and a soundtrack that pushed the NES sound chip to its limits. While it never reached wide audiences outside Japan and Scandinavia, it has become a cult favorite among retro enthusiasts. Fans have been asking… Read more

Nintendo has announced the boldest, most innovative move in gaming history: charging you up to two hundred dollars for the privilege of replaying a pair of Wii games you already own. Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario Galaxy 2 are officially coming to the Switch 2, and the bundle clocks in at a cool $150, edging toward $200 once you factor in collector’s editions, amiibo, and whatever random plastic accessory they force… Read more

An Innocent Gesture with a Dark Twist For more than two decades, fans of Super Mario World believed Mario was simply pointing forward when Yoshi stuck out his tongue. It looked playful and harmless. Mario gave the signal, Yoshi obeyed, and the duo worked together as partners. That illusion shattered in 2017, when Nintendo veteran Shigefumi Hino, the designer who created Yoshi, revealed that the original concept was very different. According to… Read more

Every Controller I Have Smashed In Rage, Ranked By The Quality Of The Meltdown There are difficult games, and then there are the ones that melt your brain until the only solution is to weaponize the nearest controller. We tell ourselves it’s just a game, but anyone who has stared down Alma in Ninja Gaiden Black, crawled across spikes in Celeste, or been betrayed by the blue shell in Mario Kart Wii… Read more

A Consistent Cutoff Leonardo DiCaprio has built a reputation for consistency in his personal life, and it appears that this rule now extends to his gaming habits. According to sources close to the Hollywood actor, he has officially stopped playing Final Fantasy IX after the game reached its 25th anniversary. Released in 2000 for the original PlayStation, Final Fantasy IX is widely regarded as one of the greatest entries in Square Enix’s… Read more

A Garage Sale Becomes a Legal Battlefield What began as a quiet Saturday morning in Saratoga, New York quickly escalated into what some neighbors now refer to as “the day Nintendo declared war on suburbia.” Local resident Robby Thompson held a simple garage sale in his driveway, offering old household items, clothing, and a box of retro video games. One of those games happened to be a sealed copy of Super Mario… Read more

A Feature Masquerading as a Flaw Since its release in 2017, the Nintendo Switch has been celebrated as one of the most successful consoles of all time. It blended handheld convenience with home-console performance, revitalized franchises like Zelda and Mario, and sold over 140 million units. But along with this success came something else: the infamous Joy-Con drift. What began as a flood of user complaints, characters walking off cliffs without input,… Read more

Is It Illegal to Play Emulated Nintendo Games? If you've ever wanted to relive classic games like Super Mario Bros., Super Metroid, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, or Zelda: Ocarina of Time using an emulator, you're definitely not alone. Emulation has become one of the most popular ways to revisit older games, especially as original hardware becomes more expensive, harder to maintain, and increasingly inconvenient to connect to… Read more

Retro Replay: Pixel Panic has officially made the jump from the Nintendo Entertainment System to the Sega Genesis, and this new 16-bit version is a much bigger, louder, faster, and more complete version of the original homebrew idea. What started as a small NES homebrew experiment has now grown into a full Sega Genesis homebrew release with 50 unique levels, new sprites, updated gameplay ideas, new sound effects, music, breakable walls, bombs,… Read more

Retro Replay: Pixel Panic is now playable as a work-in-progress Nintendo Entertainment System homebrew release. Built from Shiru’s open-source Chase demo, the project has grown into a fast-paced arcade maze game starring the Retro Replay skull mascot in a chaotic digital world filled with enemies, glowing pickups, power-ups, and score-chasing action. Heads up: this game has been ported to the Sega Genesis and that is where I update the game. In Retro… Read more

When it comes to video game bands, The OneUps have been doing this longer than most. Their official site says they have been performing since their first show in 2002, and over the years they have played events like PAX, MAGFest, and GDC while building one of the most recognizable sounds in live VGM. Their catalog on Bandcamp stretches from Volume 1 all the way to later releases like Volume 4, Arkadia… Read more