Production Update February ’26 - GBA eReader, UDUG, Phil Spencer (Patreon)

Hey Skele-Fam!

Hope you’re good. Hope you’re warm and dry! Here’s updates on some video I got cookin’ for yall!

I’m focused on the GBA eReader home brew games from Retro Dot Cards. Yes, new scannable game cards for the GBA eReader! I got some product shots and captured gameplay footage earlier this week, and I was able to stream it on discord! Had fun chilling and chatting with a couple skele-buddies while I scanned and played the games. These eReader home brews have been on my radar since last fall (actually, I played one game at Midwest Gaming Classic last spring!) and it’s maybe worked out that I waited on this project because the next series of cards has hit a production snag and has been canceled. This is all to say, I interviewed the dev Matt Greer yesterday and we talked all about this eReader journey he’s been on the last few years!

The cards and the games he and his cohorts have produced, though such a cool achievement, aren’t very substantial for a full video. And as I was putting the video together I was concerned there wasn’t much meat on the bone in terms of interesting things to talk about. But we talked for 90 minutes and afterwards I realized, now I have a video! Because the cards themselves are really cool but the story and development are far more interesting. But the video won't just be the interview, but it’ll be woven in like the interviews for the Super Monkey Ball iOS video. So reviews and discussions of the games but also background on their development and what the future may or may not hold. Might not have the happiest ending but it’ll at least be a beefy and informative video. And maybe an extended interview exclusive for Patreon? Depends on how much I use for the video.

In the interview, Matt also told me that there’s maybe been some other big developments with the GBA eReader since we covered it in… holy shit, in 2018??? For example, all the Pokemon TCG eReader games and content has been somewhat documented now? That was a shock to me at the time, that the super fans of Pokemon hadn’t given all that eReader content hardly any attention. So it might be a topic worth jumping back into and Matt could be a nice resource for that, we’ll see. One thing at a time, my ADHD brain, one thing at a time.

Speaking of other things, the UDUG poll closed "Weird / Useless Playstation Gadgets" won pretty handily! This will be a fun video and also not a really insanely deep rabbit hole like a lot of the recent UDUG videos have been haha.

Later today I’m sitting down for an interview with smaller youtube channel for an interview about my career. I haven’t done anything like this in a while, but I am fastly approaching the 20 (!!!) year anniversary. And I’ve got some stories to tell or maybe tell again.

Also, this literally just happened but Phil Spencer is stepping down from Xbox!! I’ve been researching and shaping a “Phil Spencer Years” follow-up to the Xbox One video for a while. That needs to become a bigger priority now that it’s fully a proper era of Xbox. A long, long standing goal of mine is to have a more-or-less complete history of Xbox with a video on the original Xbox, another short video or two on the 360 era, and then post-2013 when Xbone launched and Spencer took over, which could be maybe two whole videos. Maybe three videos because in the last few years it’s more and more felt like the real story is about Microsoft and the moves Nadella has been making, and how it’s effected Xbox and Spencer down stream. And I assume the Activision acquisition was not a popular move with a lot of Spencer’s bosses. Maybe Phil will spill some tea later this year!

So that’s on the docket for now, but I want to get back to the Konami Rebirth Wiiware games and dig into iOS emulation after that. Also had a fun brainstorm session in the discord about a potential video topic - “Oh! It’s Good Now?” second chance games, like the second Castlevania 64 game or Dark Souls 2 Scholar of the First Sin. A lot going on! It’s been nearly 20 years and there’s still so much to talk about. But first I need to finish stuff!

That's it for now. Have a good weekend! Again, stay warm, stay dry, and as always, stay powerful.-d