I’ve finally managed to get a little ways ahead on Game Boy World, after surviving the past two utterly soul-destroying months, and as of this morning my Patreon supporters have access to both episodes 59 (Catrap) and 61 (Card Game). Episode 60 is in the works, but it’s a pretty brutal game (Cosmo Tank) and I need to take another crack at it before I have enough video… and enough opinions.

My goal for February is to hit Episode 65 (Amazing Spider-man), which will be the stopping point for Game Boy World 1990 Pt. 1. That brings us halfway through the year… actually, slightly more than halfway. Episode 64 (Volley Fire) will be the last game released through the end of June 1990, the halfway point of the year… but since I included Pipe Dream in the Blodia episode, and it’s the release immediately following Spider-man, it makes sense to dip briefly into July 1990 and pull Pipe Dream into the next Game Boy World book (and Spider-man along with it).

1990 will end up coming in three separate volumes; there were twice as many Game Boy releases in the second half of 1990 as in the first, and the 40-odd games per volume encompassed by this resulting three-way division will allow me to price each book at around $30 for color editions; anything beyond that, I’ve found, is the point at which people say, “Too rich for my blood.” (For those one-percenters who prefer gigantic, expensive books, I’ll eventually pull all the 1990 content into a single, 450-page, $80 omnibus somewhere down the line. Maybe I’ll add in the ’89 stuff and round it up to an even $100.)

After closing out Game Boy World 1990 Pt. 1, though… I kind of need a Game Boy break. The amount of research and analysis I’m investing in these videos, even for games that really don’t deserve it, takes a lot of time and energy. I’d like to switch over to NES for a few months, because those games are relatively easy and fun, even for something as exhaustive as the Wild Gunman episode. I’d also like to dig into Atari Lynx, which would be fantastic if I’m able to track down the people who worked on a lot of these games—unlike Game Boy software, most Lynx games were made in the U.S. and credited to people who are still working in the computer industry, and I’d love to let them tell their own stories. If they wanted to, of course.

I’ll get back to Game Boy again in a few months, though. Now that I’ve collected royalties on the surprisingly numerous Game Boy World 1989 sales made during the holiday discount period—thanks to everyone who picked up a copy!—I’ve been able purchase (or in a few cases, borrow from generous friends and readers) all but two titles from the second phase of Game Boy World 1990. All I’m missing is a complete copy of Monster Truck Wars and the box and manual for Fish Dude, which… yeah, I’m not sinking $900 into a single game, so Fish Dude may end up with a “portrait not available” silhouette in the yearbook. If you happen to know where I could get ahold of the U.S. packaging and manual for either of those games without breaking the bank, though, please let me know! I’m documenting, not collecting, so I’m not looking to keep any of this stuff. Oh, and I also need the European boxes for Palamedes and Pop ’N Twinbee, if anyone is able to help with those….

If you’re curious where I stand on gathering material for this venture, I’m keeping a Google spreadsheet which is filled out partway through 1993. When I have some free time I’ll wrap up the document, but that probably won’t be until the Retronauts DVD is finished. I was hoping to take some time off from work to sort out that particular obligation this week, but then I was summoned for jury duty next Monday, which preempted my “vacation” plans. Stupid civic responsibilities. The DVD-exclusive video episode (a full-length standard Retronauts podcast in video form) is done, but I intend to create a second feature for the disc as well. I just need to capture footage for it and edit it together, which I’ll do as soon as the gub’mint lets me out from under its oppressive jackboot heel. The Retronauts book is pretty much done—the final proof was lost by the post office during last weekend’s ice storm, but they’re sending a replacement copy. Once I’ve checked over the proof, we’ll be sharing a PDF of the book and a digital version of the video podcast with backers at the relevant levels while we wrap things up.

Anyway. If you can help out with Game Boy World sourcing, please drop me a line: My email address is toastyfrog at gmail dot com. I’m pretty much set (aside from the few aforementioned games) well into 2017, but I’m obviously playing the long game here, so no game is too far out for my purposes. Well, maybe stuff beyond the ’90s. I’ll be in my 60s before I get there at my current rate of production.

So, that’s that. For the few of you who have read this far, here’s next Tuesday’s Game Boy World episode a few days early as a small thank-you.