Gaming
While I don't have as much time to play as I used to, I'll always love video games. They've consistently served as a place of creativity and refuge for me throughout every stage of life. I've fostered countless memories, friendships, and experiences over the years since I first picked up the controller of my father's Sega Genesis.
Emulation and Game Preservation
Hack the systems that you own and dump/back up those games that you bought.
All storage mediums have a lifespan and that 25-year-old disk drive on your Playstation 2 is probably going to stop working soon.
Emulation is legal, despite Nintendo's best efforts, and we cannot rely on companies to preserve their games nor ensure they're properly accessible and playable forever. Do your part.
Console Modding
The fact that consoles are simple and purpose-built devices is very appealing to me.
It should also come as no surprise that I enjoy hacking and installing custom firmware on my owned consoles whenever possible in order to unlock their full potential. I even like using them to play music!
Check out my detailed list of Modded Consoles to see my favorite exploits, mods, homebrew, and more!
Local Multiplayer - Split Screen and Couch Co-Op
I grew up playing split screen and going to LAN parties, switched to playing tons of online multiplayer, and have ultimately come full circle back to local co-op experiences later in life.
Whether for a party setting or relaxing on the couch with a partner, I've compiled a detailed list of split screen / couch co-op games that I've enjoyed over the years.
Gaming on Linux - Proton and Wine
I also do a fair amount of gaming and game hosting on my Linux PCs and servers. The progression of Wine and Valve's Proton over the years has been incredible and has cemented Linux as a viable OS for gaming - just look at those Steam Deck sales!. it's up to each user to decide what's personally a deal-breaker for them.
Dual booting Windows on a second SSD is completely valid and I will never knock it. At the end of the day people just want to play games and not mess with configuration files during their ever-depleting free time.
Games by Me
Poser Pummel is a terrible 2D platformer/shooter written purely in Python (PyGame), has hand-made pixel graphics, and a chiptune soundtrack all by me.
It sucks, but I was young. Check out a bad web port here. which uses a really cool Python to Web Assembly build tool called PygBag.