About

What this is

Retro Unintended is about playing old games however actually suits me now, and writing about it honestly.

A lot of the time that means real hardware pushed somewhere it was never quite meant to go: a modded console, a backlit screen, a flash cart, saves I actually control. But I’m not precious about the platform. There’s an emulation handheld in the mix too, probably a Pi build down the line, and room for whatever else earns its place. The through-line isn’t the hardware, it’s the approach. Get the game into my hands with the least friction, be honest about the trade-offs, and don’t pretend there’s one correct way to do any of this.

Who’s writing

I go by Dingiest Splash, a gamertag an Xbox handed me years ago that I never had the heart to change. It’s the only name you’ll need around here.

Own your cartridge

There’s one principle under all of this, and it’s the one thing I am precious about. Own your cartridge. This site will never point you toward downloading a game. Not a link, not a source, not a nudge. When I write about ROM hacks I’ll point you to the patch and trust you to bring your own copy. Play what you own, preserve what you own, and if you go down the flash-cart or emulation road, do it with games that are actually yours. That’s the deal here, and it isn’t up for negotiation.

Taking it slow

This is a side project, and a deliberately slow one. It’s allowed to sit quiet for a while without being over. I write when I’ve actually played the thing I want to write about, not to hit a cadence.