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Nick Thorpe

@hkt3030.neocities.org

1.6K followers 780 following 2.7K posts

Struggling to pass as human since the mid-80s. Not fussy about my pronouns. Features editor at @retrogamermag.bsky.social with occasional bylines elsewhere. https://hkt3030.neocities.org/

hkt3030.neocities.org

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Nick Thorpe @hkt3030.neocities.org · Oct 17

Wow, hello new followers! If you don't know me from elsewhere, I tend to post about this stuff:

- Games, often old ones
- Retro Gamer
- Sonic the Hedgehog
- Wrestling, usually AEW
- Heavy music
- Anime, often old ones
- Funny little anecdotes
- A little politics (sorry, I do try to keep it minimal)

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Nick Thorpe @hkt3030.neocities.org · 10h

It sure was! It’s actually one of the first games I got for my 360 – I’d been hoping the game would come to Dreamcast so I knew all about it, and couldn’t believe it had been localised. I can’t imagine the new name and box art did much to attract anyone who didn’t already know what it was.

A PAL copy of WarTech: Senko no Ronde for Xbox 360. The blue and grey artwork, depicting two robots in combat, gives only the slightest hint as to the true nature of the game within.

Nick Thorpe @hkt3030.neocities.org · 12h

Society as a whole would be better off today if Ubisoft had embraced the weeb crowd back in 2007, promoting Senko no Ronde for what it was rather than scrubbing the box art of all personality and calling it WarTech.

unhinged eldritch abomination @rhymeswithk.bsky.social · 16h

Friends, #weebwednesday is upon us once again! You know the drill - quote-post with your weebiest hot takes, nothing racist, nothing intentionally inflammatory, have fun with it ♥

a girl with blue hair and a yellow hair tie in a red jacking, rearing back to punch someone with an angry expression on her face

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Nick Thorpe @hkt3030.neocities.org · 15h

As an attendee of Ministry's C U LaTour back in 2008, that would have saved me some money on tickets a little while back.

Anon Opin @anonopin.bsky.social · 15h

Anyone who attends a farewell tour is entitled to go to any future tour by that act for free.

Nick Thorpe @hkt3030.neocities.org · 20h

Endgame is where I tend to get a bit silly – often to amuse myself, as was the case with the tale of Johnny Tightend, the tragic American football player. There’s actually one that had to be totally scrapped, never to see print. One day, if the time ever becomes right, I might tell you all about it.

RetrogamerDaz @retrogamerdaz.bsky.social · 21h

262) EndGame is the only article (to my knowledge) that began life in the Live Publishing era of the magazine and continues in every issue to this day. It's effectively our final piece of editorial and is found on page 114.

Nick Thorpe @hkt3030.neocities.org · 1d

Gonna postpone my Sakura Wars stream until Thursday, due to the late realisation that I sort of tore up my streaming setup in order to take good screenshots of Xbox 360 games.

Nick Thorpe @hkt3030.neocities.org · 1d

It's even backwards compatible on later Xbox consoles! Well worth a shiny coin.

Nick Thorpe @hkt3030.neocities.org · 1d

Probably a common answer, but Sonic The Hedgehog. Whether we’re talking Mega Drive or Master System, they’re both comfort games that I regularly replay so I can do either with all the emeralds in under an hour, no problem. I actually did both back to back on stream for the series' 30th anniversary.

Nick Thorpe @hkt3030.neocities.org · 2d

Nah, scrap 'em. Literally not joking, I have zero desire to buy new hardware at this point in time, and what the heck is going to justify it?

VGC @videogameschronicle.com · 2d

Both PS6 and the next Xbox are planned for a 2027 release, according to separate reports.

www.videogameschronicle.com/news/ps6-and...

PS6 and next Xbox console are both aiming for 2027 release, separate reports claim | VGC

Both companies are reportedly planning to release their next-gen consoles within two years…

www.videogameschronicle.com

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Nick Thorpe @hkt3030.neocities.org · 2d

Do you like Pengo? Would you like a game like Pengo, but with a greater variety of obstacles and enemies? How about adding some boss battles, puzzle stages and flatulence? Then you should check out Ninku Gaiden: Hiroyuki Daikatsugeki for the Game Gear.

A screenshot of Ninku Gaiden for the Game Gear. In an icy stage, Hiroyuki has just lined up three diamond blocks without touching the stage's outer walls, earning 10,000 bonus points and temporarily stunning all enemies.

A screenshot of Ninku Gaiden for the Game Gear. In an ocean-themed stage, Hiroyuki has just kicked a block with a shell pattern into the top-right corner.

A screenshot of Ninku Gaiden for the Game Gear. In a forest-themed stage, Hiroyuki kicks a wooden block at the charging boss, a gorilla-like robot.

A screenshot of Ninku Gaiden for the Game Gear. In a rocky, mountainous stage, Hiroyuki has kicked a stone block to squash an enemy against a bumper with a question mark on it, which will rebound the block in a random direction.

Nick Thorpe @hkt3030.neocities.org · 2d

Thank you both for that recommendation - I took a look and I think it could be a lot of fun to try with my niece.

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Nick Thorpe @hkt3030.neocities.org · 2d

Yeah, I knew it was going to be my kind of game being a spiritual successor to Rez and all, so I enjoyed it with a standard controller on a 14" CRT TV. I'm looking forward to revisiting it with Kinect and the kind of display it was built for.

Nick Thorpe @hkt3030.neocities.org · 3d

I've got access to the original captures from that era, and boy were they dreadful. But hey, sometimes the allure of low-res, blurry Mr Domino was just too much.

A low-resolution composite screen grab of the supermarket stage in No One Can Stop Mr Domino for the PlayStation - as seen in a real PlayStation magazine!

Nick Thorpe @hkt3030.neocities.org · 3d

Interlaced PS2 screen grabs

🏰meg⚔️ @Birthright Audiobook! @impavid.us · 6d

In honor of spooky month, share a 4 word horror story that only someone in your profession would understand

I'll go first: Six page commercial lease.

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Nick Thorpe @hkt3030.neocities.org · 3d

I bought a Kinect for my Xbox 360 today. I figured £1 is a reasonable price to pay for the opportunity to wave at Child Of Eden.

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Nick Thorpe @hkt3030.neocities.org · 3d

#ScanlineSunday

Sonic The Hedgehog (Mega Drive, 1991)
Sony KV-28HX15U
RGB SCART

A close-up photo of Sonic The Hedgehog for the Mega Drive, displayed on a CRT TV. Sonic has his arms up and a shocked expression on his face, as he travels down a water slide in the Labyrinth Zone.

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Nick Thorpe @hkt3030.neocities.org · 4d

“Next time, I guess I'll have to afford the act of shooting dinosaurs with exploding brain drills the gravitas it deserves.” - A rather annoyed me, ten years ago

Nick Thorpe @hkt3030.neocities.org · 4d

Ah, see I love Flicky. I never cared too much for Altered Beast, and while I've got a huge amount of affection for Alex Kidd overall, I don't really rate Enchanted Castle.

Nick Thorpe @hkt3030.neocities.org · 4d

Good stuff! I've kept this tiny Yohane on my desk for a good few years now

A tiny figure of Yoshiko Tsushima (Yohane!) from Love Live Sunshine, sitting on the rim of a can of Monster Ultra.

Reposted by Nick Thorpe

Raven Paine @ravenpaine.bsky.social · 4d

my friend just shared this with me

Dr Eggman Robotnic drawn in two images, Designed with Gamers in mind: Caked up Robotnic, Designed with activists in mind: no ass Robotnic looks sad

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Nick Thorpe @hkt3030.neocities.org · 4d

Provided in the spirit of seeing more smiles: "Did you hear they've made a smart knife now? Apparently, the firmware was written in C#"

(Don't worry, I'll see myself out.)

Nick Thorpe @hkt3030.neocities.org · 4d

See I say that sort of thing too, but I'm pretty sure I see Yohane lurking there…

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Nick Thorpe @hkt3030.neocities.org · 4d

It does seem to be a bigger deal there! I'm very fond of it myself, I remember being fascinated with it ever since I first read about it in a Mean Machines Sega review guide. I didn't really think about how much I've played it until I set a decent score on a cabinet at Arcade Club years ago.

A photo of the high score table on a Flicky arcade cabinet. The entries are as follows:

1: NIK - 92,690 (Round 10)
2: Blank - 59,980 (Round 8)
3: Blank - 26,110 (Round 5)
4: A - 20,530 (Round 5)
5: Blank - 20,050 (Round 4)
6: Blank - 16,130 (Round 4)
7: Blank - 13,020 (Round 2)

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Nick Thorpe @hkt3030.neocities.org · 4d

I think that's what makes this one fascinating to me - Mega Games ones were generally just "here are some great games" but by the time Classic Collection came around, they were doing more coherently themed ones like Sonic Compilation, Sega Sports 1 and the Castle Of Illusion/Quackshot cart.

Nick Thorpe @hkt3030.neocities.org · 4d

Yeah, I doubt I'd have Gunstar Heroes without this cart having been released. We got quite a few compilation carts over here, most under the Mega Games brand. Later on we started getting themed ones like Sonic Compilation, Sega Sports 1 and the Disney Collection, but this one doesn't seem coherent.

Nick Thorpe @hkt3030.neocities.org · 4d

What's even better is that Classic Collection doesn't have the region lock code that solo Gunstar Heroes carts have, so you can start it up at 60Hz with no problem.