Interviews 🎤

Steve Ince remembers Beneath a Steel Sky, Broken Sword, freelance life, and the craft of writing games that give players room to shape the story.

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

There are guitarists who cover video game music and then there is FamilyJules. For more than fifteen years Jules Conroy has taken the melodies that defined childhoods and pushed them through soaring leads, relentless rhythms, and full scale metal productions that feel as big as any arena show. His journey started in western Massachusetts where he first picked up a guitar after years of dabbling in piano and drums. What …

The ROM hacking community has produced countless creative projects, but few figures are as consistent and ambitious as pacnsacdave of Pacnsac Games. His library of NES hacks and homebrews stretches across genres, often transforming familiar titles into something entirely new. Dave has done A LOT! I first encountered his work through Mr. Gimmick 2, a fan-made sequel to Sunsoft’s cult platformer. You can read my full review of the game …

The Mother series has always held a special place in the hearts of retro role-playing game fans. In Japan it was known simply as Mother, while in the United States most people only experienced the second game in the series, which was released on the Super Nintendo under the title EarthBound. That game gained a reputation for its quirky humor, heartfelt storytelling, and unusual modern-day setting. Over time it became …

For those that don’t know Limited Run Games [LRG] is a hot and young game developer taking the video game collecting hobby to a completely new level. In a nutshell, they do this by publishing games once only available on digital format, or older games otherwise lost in the sands of time. The catch is how limited these games actually are. They usually print anywhere between 3 and 5 thousand …

Its safe to say HyperSpin is the best looking front end there is. We had a little chat (question and answer) with one of the hyperSpin authors BadBoyBill. You can also read our HyperSpin review here. 1. What are some of your first video game experiences? The first games I played were on the TI-99, we had a few in the house with a lot of cartridges. I remember games …

Scott Jarvis is the creator of Puppy Arcade, a Live Distribution of Linux Geared towards making emulation under Linux fun, simple and easy. We grilled Scott with a few questions for fun. Before the interview we had a chance to review Puppy Arcade 8 and fell in love with it. Read the review here. >> 1. What are some of your first video game experiences? Amstrad CPC – we only …