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John Andersen

@johnandersen.bsky.social

Video game history - researching how the games we love to play were made. Documentaries, game historian, writer, movies. Opinions are my own. LGBTQ ally. BLM. Portfolio!: linktr.ee/johnandersen

590 Followers  |  306 Following  |  457 Posts  |  Joined: 06.11.2024  |  1.9531

Latest posts by johnandersen.bsky.social on Bluesky

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From the VGHF's Mark Flitman collection (https://archive.gamehistory.org/folder/205c628c-5d0a-4de8-a5a5-782f31706ac0), here's 1994 internal Acclaim data on the (U.S.?) sales of their (many!) Simpsons games. Looks like Bart's Nightmare on SNES did the best....

08.02.2026 16:50 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 100    ๐Ÿ” 10    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 5    ๐Ÿ“Œ 8
Booth Boy at the Sega Booth at the 1990 CES.

Booth Boy at the Sega Booth at the 1990 CES.

Sega's booth at the 1990 CES.

Sega's booth at the 1990 CES.

Some neat cosplay at the Phantasy Star II area of the Sega booth at the 1990 CES.

Some neat cosplay at the Phantasy Star II area of the Sega booth at the 1990 CES.

A demonstration of Michael Jackson's Moonwalker at the Sega booth at the 1990 CES.

A demonstration of Michael Jackson's Moonwalker at the Sega booth at the 1990 CES.

Sega had a huge lineup for the 1990 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Moonwalker, Phantasy Star II, and Golden Axe were some of the gems on display. Images: Beep! MD.

08.02.2026 21:50 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 35    ๐Ÿ” 11    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 3    ๐Ÿ“Œ 2
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Display showcasing some books about video games. Japan has thousands of books like these just waiting to be translated.

07.02.2026 23:21 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 28    ๐Ÿ” 4    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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from Hamster's stream, some photos of the Cool Boarders team at UEP Systems circa '96, which was 6 devs at most (not counting outsourced helpers)โ€”all but one of em came fresh out of school with zero practical experience, but somehow managed to make Cool Boarders from scratch in ~6 months

06.02.2026 13:35 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 78    ๐Ÿ” 21    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 4    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

A must-watch.

06.02.2026 02:57 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 3    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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reminded of how Data East's Dragon Gun has boss backgrounds that are currently unemulated because... it's literal MPEG video being decoded by hardware on-board.

04.02.2026 16:02 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 115    ๐Ÿ” 44    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 2    ๐Ÿ“Œ 3

Hi Kate, I picked these up in Walmart. They might be either in the clearance aisle or still in the toy aisle.

04.02.2026 15:36 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 1    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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โ€œNo. No. I will not give in and buy these I already have a game backlog <looks at price> oh wait yes I will buy these.โ€

04.02.2026 05:44 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 10    ๐Ÿ” 1    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 4    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Pencil sketch sheet for the Las Vegas stage

Pencil sketch sheet for the Las Vegas stage

Seen faintly in reverse: ใ‚ขใƒกใƒชใ‚ซ๏ผœใ‚ฟใ‚คใ‚ฝใƒณ๏ผž America <Tyson>

Seen faintly in reverse: ใ‚ขใƒกใƒชใ‚ซ๏ผœใ‚ฟใ‚คใ‚ฝใƒณ๏ผž America <Tyson>

I went to the Capcom exhibition today; they had a number of original planning docs for SFII, Final Fight and Rockman. The SFII stages looked like they were stored 'gatefolded' since there was some writing visible in the back, eg. Bison/Balrog's stage had written "USA: Tyson"...๐Ÿคฏ

02.02.2026 09:45 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 31    ๐Ÿ” 5    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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Japanese TV commercials for:
Bomberman Land (PSX/Dec 2000)
Bomberman Kart (PS2/Dec 2001)

03.02.2026 00:41 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 22    ๐Ÿ” 10    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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Sony clearly shows it will not be disrespected or disregarded, and this is clearly on display here.
It looks like maybe a prototype controller or early button layout slipped through the presentation? (2/2).
Full 10 minute presentation via TBS News video here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZ-x...

02.02.2026 01:44 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 5    ๐Ÿ” 1    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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1994: A month before the PlayStation launch in Japan. Sony plays a marketing video. Shells of the SEGA Mega Drive and the Super Famicom are laying in the dust. An ERROR message appears as Nintendo's Super Famicom is scanned. Sony unveils its literal game plan.
Full TBS News video in reply (1/2).

02.02.2026 01:44 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 12    ๐Ÿ” 5    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 2    ๐Ÿ“Œ 1
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Forget Winter Storm Gianna.
Let's talk Giana Sisters and its remake from Black Forest Games. This news report from 2014 goes into details about its history and sequel. Featuring Level Designer Stefan Schmitz, composer Chris Huelsbeck and the studio co-founders.
Watch here: www.dw.com/en/the-comeb...

01.02.2026 23:03 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 5    ๐Ÿ” 2    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 1
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10 minutes of unedited February 1988 Japanese TV news footage of Dragon Quest III release day in Shinjuku. The long lines outside stores and the cold weather! What's even more profound are the YouTube comments of those that remember their Mom or Dad buying it for them.
Link: youtu.be/sLnXaSEcwzU?...

01.02.2026 17:52 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 167    ๐Ÿ” 65    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 4    ๐Ÿ“Œ 2
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A glimpse of a Hi-Tech Land SEGA game center in Akihabara from 1993, one that would be rebranded to a bright-red Club SEGA and then just SEGA Akihabara before it was sold off and rebranded to GIGO in 2022.
Check out more of 90's Akihabara here Via Vintage Rider: www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUQz...

01.02.2026 04:35 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 24    ๐Ÿ” 11    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Kotori Yoshimura

Kotori Yoshimura

Star Cruiser - glorious polygons on PC-98 (1988)

Star Cruiser - glorious polygons on PC-98 (1988)

Knight Arms the Hyblid Farmer (1989), X68000

Knight Arms the Hyblid Farmer (1989), X68000

Omega Boost, PlayStation (1999)

Omega Boost, PlayStation (1999)

The Sharp X68000 may have been the single most defining game system ever. Being Japan only, itโ€™s an unsung hero and so are the incredible pioneers behind its ground breaking games.

Chief among them Kotori Yoshimura (@urdcat.bsky.social), who made the first Japanese polygonal game and so much more!

01.02.2026 00:47 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 32    ๐Ÿ” 6    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Mockup image of the night flight stage of the unreleased Super Famicom Dragonfly

Mockup image of the night flight stage of the unreleased Super Famicom Dragonfly

Mockup image of the desertish stage of the unreleased Super Famicom Dragonfly

Mockup image of the desertish stage of the unreleased Super Famicom Dragonfly

Magazine image from 1989 showing these stages in the unreleased Super Famicom game Dragonfly

Magazine image from 1989 showing these stages in the unreleased Super Famicom game Dragonfly

I found the locations on the SFC Dragonfly in-development maps where some magazine screenshots were taken, so how about some Mode 7 pixel mockups?

01.02.2026 01:30 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 24    ๐Ÿ” 3    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Blank Reg and the Big Time TV bus, a Max Headroom series staple of underground TV programming.

01.02.2026 01:21 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 3    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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Max Headroom behind-the-scenes photos from the 1987 sci-fi/cyberpunk TV series, with Matt Frewer, Amanda Pays, W. Morgan Sheppard and Chris Young. The first two are from the episode "Grossberg's Return". The others show how the View-Phone shots were done utilizing a close-up with a video camera.

01.02.2026 01:02 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 5    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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It's over! The retro game floors in Nara's legendary CUE arcade are history. Buncha locals showed up to play until midnight. For the final 15 minutes me and another dude jumped on the two Tetris The Grandmaster machines and tore it up until they kicked us out, and we rode our dad bikes home.

31.01.2026 15:19 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 47    ๐Ÿ” 11    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 7    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Thanks, I always enjoy finding clips like this also, this is a somewhat rare look within Atlus, as seen by the blurred out view of the development office.

01.02.2026 00:35 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 1    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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A 1999 visit to the Atlus office in Tokyo featuring Atlus R&D 1 director and producer Kouji Okada. We get a look at a cutscene being made for Maken X on the SEGA Dreamcast. A DC dev kit and a SGI Visual workstation is seen.
Via Dreamcast Express Vol 3 and ใŠใ˜ใƒใƒฃใƒณใƒใƒซใฎใƒฌใƒˆใƒญใ‚ฒใƒผใƒ ๅš็‰ฉ้คจ: youtu.be/IGD_jWreMPs?...

31.01.2026 23:25 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 31    ๐Ÿ” 9    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Rest in peace Catherine Oโ€™Hara.
We lost one of the greats.
I totally remember this clip of her character Lola Heatherton, the over-the-top singer, unhinged about her love life, comedically lashing out, all on display for the audience.

30.01.2026 20:43 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 1    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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Digging through parts this morning and I found these Hudson HuC6201 chips again. I kinda want to frame them.

30.01.2026 19:18 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 25    ๐Ÿ” 2    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 2    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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My favorite annual announcement from Koei Tecmo is when they ask their fans not to send their favorite video game character or staff members a real valentines day gift to their head office, which leads to fans being upset at them because they take it personally.

30.01.2026 19:20 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 162    ๐Ÿ” 34    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 4    ๐Ÿ“Œ 2
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Here's a quick look at the 'Video Boy' โ€”ย a tool, made by Intelligent Systems, for viewing Virtual Boy games on a TV/monitor. Used to record video and screenshots.

โžก๏ธ hcs64.com/video-boy-vue/

28.01.2026 16:13 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 119    ๐Ÿ” 31    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 3    ๐Ÿ“Œ 1
Profile of Aicom in Famicom Hisshoubon magazine

Profile of Aicom in Famicom Hisshoubon magazine

Aicom was established in 1979. (Famicom Hisshoubon, 1989/9/14)

29.01.2026 08:50 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 9    ๐Ÿ” 2    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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The upcoming Retrocade by @resolutiongames.bsky.social looks like a very promising collection of classic games on iOS via Apple Arcade. Games like Bubble Bobble, Pac-Man, Asteroids, Haunted Castle (Castlevania), Galaga, Frogger, Track & Field, and Space Invaders.

apps.apple.com/us/app/retro...

29.01.2026 16:10 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 7    ๐Ÿ” 1    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 1
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่ผธๅ…ฅใ‚ฒใƒผใƒ ๆฉŸๅคงๅน…ๅ€คไธ‹ใ’ใฎๅบƒๅ‘Šใ‚’่ฆ‹ใฆๅฝ“ๆ™‚ใฎใƒ‹ใ‚ฏใ‚ฝใƒณใ‚ทใƒงใƒƒใ‚ฏใจๅค‰ๅ‹•็›ธๅ ดใฎๅฝฑ้Ÿฟใ‚’็Ÿฅใ‚‹โ€ฆใ€‚ใใ‚Œใพใง1ใƒ‰ใƒซ360ๅ††ใ ใฃใŸใฎใŒ70ๅนดไปฃๅพŒๅŠใซใฏๅŠ้กใซใพใงใชใฃใฆใ„ใŸโ€ฆๅฝ“ๆ™‚ใฎๆฅญ่€…ใฏใชใ‹ใชใ‹ๅคงๅค‰ใใ†ใ ใชโ€ฆ(ใ‚ขใƒŸใƒฅใƒผใ‚บใƒกใƒณใƒˆ็”ฃๆฅญ่ชŒ1972ๅนด7ๆœˆๅทๅบƒๅ‘Šใ‚ˆใ‚Š)
#KillerShark #SEGA #1972

27.01.2026 12:49 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 16    ๐Ÿ” 3    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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The Strong is honored to announce the acquisition of the Curt Vendel Atari Collection. Curt was a pioneer in video game preservation. The collection contains retail material, schematics, documentation, prototypes, and more.

www.museumofplay.org/press-releas...

27.01.2026 16:06 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 160    ๐Ÿ” 47    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 12    ๐Ÿ“Œ 6

@johnandersen is following 20 prominent accounts