Thread by @SethAbramson

(🔓) RETRO UNLOCKED: The RETRO Top 250 NES Homebrews

This is the largest, most comprehensive assessment of video gaming’s fastest-growing retro subculture ever done.

That said, it’s a dynamic work-in-progress still seeking—and taking seriously—all input. retrostack.substack.com/p/the-retro-to…

1/ The purpose of this research is to honor the art of some of the most talented creators working in America today. They’ve revitalized and expanded upon the historic influence of (IMO) the greatest video game console in history—the console that made modern video gaming possible.

2/ I hope any gamers who read the above article—not to mention the #nesdev and #nesmaker folks who have made the NES homebrew scene run for years and years and years—will RETWEET it, as America really deserves to discover this absolutely fascinating new ecosystem of 8-bit gaming.

3/ Tags re: the RETRO Top 250 is up! @ecmyers @Wallmasterr @FistaPro @RogerBidon @dyannleroy @TurtleRescueNES @Checkoofilm @FerrisonNA @CrazyGroupTrio @Convoy_Avenger @matthughson @jimmyalto @johnblueriggs @KeriGergich @BeachBoogeyman @FrankenGraphics @SamMaloneChamp @koenkivits

4/ Tags re: the RETRO Top 250 is up! @simplybenlogica @nailogical @PatTheNESpunk @pxlsicle @GGGamesShow @HagensAlley @Gamester81 @nathanpoopshaw @alteredimension @Tekniskamuseet @Catchupnerds @dale_coop @SuperNatetend0 @Arb_and_Delish @nathantolbert @TheMichaelGant @cross_cutter

5/ Tags re: the RETRO Top 250 is up! @MichiganYeti @homecompmuseum @PixelAmbacht @wrytersview

I hope those tagged in this thread will consider sending this article on (it is free!) to your friends in the retro gaming world. You undoubtedly know 1000 times more people than I do!

6/ In creating this report, I not only played hundreds of homebrews but spoke with countless devs and spent countless hours watching reports, livestreams, and interviews focused on the NES homebrew scene. It’s a scene so big that it’s almost impossible to ever be an expert in it.

7/ This ranking is dynamic—meaning it’ll be updated and change over time in ways both small and profound. This is just its beginning. One of the things I’ve learned over the months I worked on this is that the scene is expanding *so fast* that *no one* has a handle on it anymore.

8/ That’s not a knock on anyone—not even close! There are gurus out there who know a ton about this scene; in relative terms I’m 100% a newcomer. But what’s happened in the last 3 years has clearly outstripped anyone’s ability to say they fully comprehend this sphere of activity.

9/ There were times I found absolutely extraordinary games that I had never—not even *once*—seen an American gamer talk about. Some were from Scandinavia, Eastern Europe, or Japan, but others were from American devs simply working below the radar *or* who left the scene long ago.

10/ I realize this will take a lot of time for folks to work through, as it’s the product of months of research and that shows. The good news: I’ve optimized it for reading on *either* desktop or phone, so it should be pretty easy to navigate once you understand how it’s set up.

UPDATES/ So many updates have already been made, e.g.:

💢 A new Special Citations section
💢 A new Special Thanks section
💢 A new Dedication section
💢 Edits to images, links, and attributions
💢 Additions to the Games to Be Reviewed shortlist

Many thanks to all those helping!