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Jeff “bsky Moderation is fucked” Peterson

@bdjeffyp.bsky.social

Today on @retroachievements.org has been truly disappointing. I recently reached a milestone on the leaderboard after many years of playing the games, helping improve sets, and making guides to help others master sets. I’m filing for account deletion and pulled my funding for the site.

Account settings page from RetroAchievements with my request to delete my account containing the following text:

Delete Account
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Your account's username will NOT be available after the deletion.
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You've requested account deletion.
Your account will be permanently deleted on
October 17.

October 4, 2025 at 12:09 AM

Jeff “bsky Moderation is fucked” Peterson

@bdjeffyp.bsky.social

I have my windows open because it’s a nice day out and I hear polka music come in. In the park across the street is an early Oktoberfest type event underway! Nice!

View of the park full of tents and people in the grass field from my balcony. Cars fill the park’s parking lot.

Down at the event, people sit among the trees on benches or stand at tables as they enjoy food and drink

My lunch: a giant hot dog, spicy pickle chips, and an IPA

Me, a mid-40s white dude, wearing a denim cap with The Prince from Katamari Damacy on it, drinking the IPA from lunch

September 27, 2025 at 6:44 PM

Jeff “bsky Moderation is fucked” Peterson

@bdjeffyp.bsky.social

Donated blood today, this time as a “power reds” donation. Very interesting as it gives more blood per donation by extracting the plasma/platelets and returns them to me with saline. It took quite a bit more energy out of me than a normal blood drive so I’m a bit tired but happy to help!

I, a mid-40s white dude, am reclined on a black chair next to the “power reds” machine. I’m wearing a blood pressure cuff on my left arm and you can see tape that is holding the needle in place just off the side of the photo.

August 19, 2025 at 5:53 PM

Jeff “bsky Moderation is fucked” Peterson

@bdjeffyp.bsky.social

Now you can:

A framed poster, drawn by Derek Yu for the Video Game History Foundation, that says “Play forever”. Above the words are two characters from UFO 50: a person in a red bodysuit with a round head, bulbous nose, and white skin named Pilot; and a similar shaped person with red pants and a dark gray hoodie named Isabell. They sit next to each other with controllers in hand playing a game on the fictional computer that the UFO 50 games were developed and played on. They sit in a solid light blue area.

August 13, 2025 at 12:39 PM

Jeff “bsky Moderation is fucked” Peterson

@bdjeffyp.bsky.social

I met Liz by chance while chatting with people at LI Retro and got to talking to her about her art book. After a great conversation and seeing some amazing pieces inside, I had to get one! The story of how these are made is fascinating. Here is one from early in the book that impacted me:

An art piece called “lost”.

A black silhouette of something vaguely humanoid shaped seemingly falling horizontally with a blur through a white space with blurring lines around the shape.

Below the piece, text says:

lost
december 2013
you've curated yourself into another dimension

August 12, 2025 at 2:54 AM

Jeff “bsky Moderation is fucked” Peterson

@bdjeffyp.bsky.social

Today I learned that the airport screening stations are called “ASL”. This made me chuckle having grown up during a particular era of the Internet.

A screen at a security station at JFK airport that is mounted on the ceiling so people can review the messages. It shows a series of four images with text below them about the “ASL Station” such as separating electronics from bags and queuing into the body scanner.

August 11, 2025 at 1:27 PM

Jeff “bsky Moderation is fucked” Peterson

@bdjeffyp.bsky.social

Final day of LI Retro was the Retronauts panel about early games that simulated 3D as well as some more shopping. I was exhausted by the end, leaving a couple of hours early and passing out in my hotel room for a couple of hours lol. I had a great time at the event and enjoyed meeting people.

Me, a mid-40s white dude wearing a black and green Kirby shirt with a black face mask, standing in front of a monitor announcing the upcoming Retronauts panel. The screen shows the four panelists discussed in the next photo.

The Retronauts panelists from left to right: Stuart Gipp, Diamond Feit, Kevin Bunch, and Jeremy Parish. They sit in front of microphones on a table with a yellow title slide above them on the IMAX screen. Stuart is looking toward the other panelists, Diamond is speaking into the microphone, Kevin is caught mid-blink in the photo making him look like he’s pondering Diamond’s words, and Jeremy is looking toward the center as well. Jeremy is the only one wearing a blazer and hat, while the rest are in black shirts. Diamond’s shirt says “Virtual Boy” on it.

The Sharp X1 computer is playing the game Super Mario Brothers Special. The computer itself is black with two 5-1/4” floppy drives and a red power button. The monitor sits on top of the computer: a Sony Trinitron. The screen shows Mario with a fire flower power up which gives him a green shirt and hat in this game, looking like Luigi. He stands on top of blocks that are built up over a green pipe. Two mushroom shaped Goombas are on the right side of the screen, marching toward the pipe in the center. The game says Mario is on World 1-1 with 186 seconds remaining to finish the level.

Two people are playing computer games on a desk that is directly in front of a moon lander. One of the computer games is Space Invaders (a green monitor showing rows of aliens in the sky as they march toward the player on the bottom). The moon lander is part of the aviation museum display. It has an astronaut suit that is facing toward the lander, made to look like it is approaching the nearby ladder to climb inside.

August 11, 2025 at 1:34 AM

Jeff “bsky Moderation is fucked” Peterson

@bdjeffyp.bsky.social

I played trivia last night with @darrenhupke.bsky.social and then found him today selling the zines he published! Blaster Master and Final Fantasy Mystic Quest are great games and I look forward to the discussions enclosed about them.

Two small “zines” about the games Final Fantasy Mystic Quest and Blaster Master are held in my hand. The title of the zines is “Retro Gamezine”. On the left is the zine about Blaster Master, with a green cover and artwork showing the game’s tank hidden partially by the other zine on the right. The right zine is yellow in color, covers Final Fantasy Mystic Quest, and shows the main character of the game, Benjamin, composed of basic 3D blocks and holding up a sword in his right hand that shines on the blade. Benjamin has brown hair and a blue armored body.

August 10, 2025 at 6:28 PM

Jeff “bsky Moderation is fucked” Peterson

@bdjeffyp.bsky.social

Second day of LI Retro was great! @frankcifaldi.bsky.social’s panel about the history up to the release of the NES was excellent (and a packed house). @feitclub.bsky.social’s Neo Geo panel and quiz game were a ton of fun. Met a bunch of fellow Retronauts patrons. One more day!

Frank Cifaldi and Ian Ferguson discuss the events leading up to the release of the NES in America almost 40 years ago. Behind them is a massive picture of ROB the Robot from one of the first advertisements on the IMAX screen. Frank is wearing a blazer and button up shirt, holding a microphone while looking over to his right at Ian. Ian is wearing a black hoodie and pink shirt, looking up at the crowd with a smile.

The outside of the Cradle of Aviation museum and the Firefighting Museum next door. The aviation museum has an exterior made of glass panels and glass archway over the entrance. The firefighting museum has a large cartoon Dalmatian over the entrance. People mill about the outside of the building and the food trucks nearby.

A giant mechanical contraption that is made to look like Mother Brain from Super Metroid. An adult male stands next to Mother Brain, coming up to the creature’s forearms and giving the scale of it. Mother Brain has a biomechanical body, consisting of mechanical legs, a fleshy torso, mechanical arms, an extended neck that holds up a giant brain for a head. It has one eyeball. The eyeball is a digital screen that animates the eye so that it looks at the crowd walking by.

Some posters from the 40th anniversary of the NES display at the expo. This particular display is discussing the Nintendo Seal of Quality and the NES Lockout Chip.
Text follows:

A cornerstone of Nintendo's strategy was rebuilding trust. To do this, Nintendo implemented a proprietary "10NES" lockout chip in its consoles, which prevented unauthorized third-party cartridges from functioning. This directly addressed the bootlegging and "unchecked competition" that plagued the pre-crash market.
The Nintendo Seal of Quality, affixed to all licensed game packaging, served as Nintendo's endorsement. It signified that Nintendo had rigorously reviewed and approved the game, guaranteeing a technically functional product that adhered to their standards. While it didn't explicitly guarantee a game would be a "hit," it provided a crucial assurance of technical soundness and general adherence to quality guidelines, helping consumers distinguish legitimate, approved titles from potentially faulty ones.

Accompanying these technological and branding safeguards were strict licensing terms for third-party developers. Companies eager to develop for the booming NES platform had to agree to rigorous conditions: they were often required to develop exclusively for the NES for a period of two years, commit to ordering a minimum of 10,000 cartridges per title, and were limited to a maximum of five game releases per year to prevent market flooding. Beyond
these development constraints, Nintendo also retained sole manufacturing control over all NES cartridges. Publishers paid for their cartridge orders in full upfront, and crucially, these cartridges could not be returned to Nintendo. This business model ensured that publishers assumed all the financial risk associated with a game's market performance, while Nintendo secured its profitability regardless of individual title sales. This unprecedented level of control, including a standard 30% royalty fee for Nintendo, eventually became the blue…

August 10, 2025 at 1:58 AM

Jeff “bsky Moderation is fucked” Peterson

@bdjeffyp.bsky.social

LI Retro has a lot of merch booths selling retro games, consoles, and controllers. There is a lot of art as well. My first day was spent mostly attending panels and a concert. Also, everything is mixed in with aviation! Tomorrow, I’m planning to check out the NES 40th anniversary museum.

Overhead view of the merch area at LI Retro Expo where a Blue Angels plane is suspended above

A person playing a match in Capcom vs. SNK 2 next to a sign about the F-14 Tomcat

Inside the main theater, an IMAX dome screen room. Most of the screen is lit with a purplish hue and shows a thumbnail from Jeremy Parish’s Genesis Works YouTube videos. The title on the thumbnail is “The Wild World of Japanese Game Tapes”. The panelists for the discussion from left to right: Stuart Gipp, Jeremy Parish, and Kevin Bunch.

A path in the museum that the expo is held in is dark with displays of planets and stars arching over the path. Many arcade cabinets line both sides of the path and people crowd around the various machines.

August 9, 2025 at 1:14 AM

Jeff “bsky Moderation is fucked” Peterson

@bdjeffyp.bsky.social

I got to meet @laceyjohnsonmusic.bsky.social at LI Retro before the set, which was awesome! Loved all the Persona songs, the Metroid medley, and the world premiere Mega Man X track! Thanks for the merch and music!

Lacey Johnson, with blue hair and a big smile, points at me, a dude with thinning hair and a masked smile. Lacey is at the merch booth full of their great music, shirts, and stickers!

Lacey rocks out on the stage while video above shows X, a blue armored robot character from Mega Man X, firing shots from their weapon in time to the music

Close up of Lacey, wearing a green and black outfit with head reared back for a headbang, right hand on the keys and left hand on the pitch shifter

August 9, 2025 at 12:55 AM

Jeff “bsky Moderation is fucked” Peterson

@bdjeffyp.bsky.social

In a spur of the moment decision (a week ago 😅), I am heading to Long Island for the LI Retro Expo. Looking forward to meeting some fellow Retronauts and VGHF people.

Me, a mid 40s white dude wearing a black mask, gray hat and blue shirt, sitting in an airport gate waiting to board

August 7, 2025 at 4:59 PM

Jeff “bsky Moderation is fucked” Peterson

@bdjeffyp.bsky.social

That’s a wrap on SGDQ!

$2.43M raised for MSF! Seven days of fun with friends, making new friends, playing games, and getting a closer look at speedrunning. It truly fills my heart to be a small part in something like this and see us come together for a common cause. Looking forward to doing more!

A water cooler that has a poster sized drawing of the Pokémon Squirtle (a blue turtle with a red shell) wearing sunglasses and holding a glass of water. Words above the Squirtle say “Stay hydrated”.

Hands holding a black PS5 controller, belonging to authorblues, are playing a game shown on the monitor in front of him. The game is “Wonder Trek” and the player character is fighting a giant squid.

A dinner plate containing brussel sprouts, mash potatoes, schnitzel, and a sweet and spicy sauce

A selfie of me, a mid-40s white dude wearing a black KN95 mask and bags under my eyes, stands near the large projection screen in the main hall for the Summer Games Done Quick event finale. The screen shows the nearly final donation total of $2,435,954.

July 13, 2025 at 7:42 AM

Jeff “bsky Moderation is fucked” Peterson

@bdjeffyp.bsky.social

Day 6 of SGDQ

A very full day of friends, food, and fun! I was supposed to go to The Megas concert tonight but I’m just worn out and needed to recharge my battery. 😂
The escape room was a great time, the Mario Maker relay was so exciting, and great food and convo was had at The Melting Pot.

Our group of ten people pose together with props from the escape room. The bottom of the photo shows our team name (Brain Genius) and the time it took us to escape (29:28).

A packed crowd sits in the ballroom watching the Mario Maker 2 relay race, which is shown on a large projector screen.

An overhead view of a cheese fondue pot with trays of various breads and fruits. One person is using a skewer to grab an apple to dip in the cheese

A hot pot holds a bunch of skewers that are cooking meats. A tray of mushrooms, potatoes, and cucumbers sits near by.

July 12, 2025 at 3:19 AM

Jeff “bsky Moderation is fucked” Peterson

@bdjeffyp.bsky.social

Day 5 of SGDQ

I got only 4 hours of sleep after the start of Silly Block so I stocked up on some soda this morning. I got an excellent ribbon for my badge, watched amazing Super Mario World Kaizo and Super Metroid speedruns, then went to a bar and made even more new friends!

A fridge full of Diet Coke and Baja Blast Zero Sugar soda bottles

My SGDQ attendee badge has a green ribbon attached to the left side that has a picture of Yoshi and the phrase “Commit tax fraud”, based on the Super Mario World ROM hack about Yoshi evading taxes.

A speedrun race of Super Metroid is underway at 6:32.4 into the run. The picture is from the seats in front of the stage, showing the crowd in front of me, the stage with the runners and their commentators, and a screen showing the game in progress.

Part of my dinner tonight: a grilled steak taco topped with a crema, cilantro, and radish, a squeezed lime nearby, and a pint of beer.

July 11, 2025 at 5:00 AM

Jeff “bsky Moderation is fucked” Peterson

@bdjeffyp.bsky.social

Day 4 of SGDQ

I had lunch and dinner with friends, one friend introduced me to two new rhythm games that were a ton of fun, and I’m REALLY glad I stayed up for Silly Block because the AEW game prior to that was hilarious thanks to the crowd and even a bit of wrestling drama on site! Amazing day!

Sushi travels around on a conveyor belt at a restaurant

An arcade game called MaiMai which looks a bit like a front loading washing machine: it has a white panel with a circular screen in the center and eight evenly spaced buttons around the screen to make it look like the door of a washing machine.

A friend is playing Chunithm. The picture of the game is from overhead while she plays. The main interface is a touch sensitive bar that is lit up yellow (and pink where the player touches it) and it looks somewhat like piano keys. Notes travel down the screen toward the bottom where the keys are and the player touches the key in time with the note. On the sides of the arcade cabinet are walls to help keep in the game’s sound (and keep out other game sounds) which also hold infrared sensors. Certain notes in the game require you to lift a hand up in time with the music and these sensors detect that. It all leads to hand movements that very much look like playing a piano.

During SGDQ’s speedrun of “AEW Fight Forever”, the crowd in the seats near the stage are chanting and holding up signs, similar to real pro wrestling shows. The projection screen shows the wrestling game in progress with a time of 22:58.3 elapsed. A view that typically shows the runners and commentators on the screen next to the game is displaying a sign that one of the crowd is holding that says “Is it glitchless, or glitch less?”

July 10, 2025 at 12:52 PM

Jeff “bsky Moderation is fucked” Peterson

@bdjeffyp.bsky.social

(Belated) Day 3 at SGDQ

I tried out some licorice candies from Finland (courtesy of @hempuli.bsky.social and @authorblu.es), played some DDR/other games in the arcade, and watched a couple of great speedruns in the main room.
I’m enjoying all the friendly people and events! I’m just wiped out 😂😴

Selfie of me, a mid-40s white dude, grimacing in anticipation of eating the honeycomb patterned black and salted licorice candy held between my thumb and index finger

The scoring screen on a Dance Dance Revolution cabinet. It shows that I scored an A rank on the song “B4U” by Naoki on the Difficult difficulty level.

Pretty happy with that for being so out of practice.

The main stage at Games Done Quick. From my position in the crowd, I have a much better view of the stage itself and the players and commentators. The left side of the stage is where the current speedrun is underway and shown on the projection screen in the middle. The runner is playing Octopath Traveler and is currently in menus in preparation to face the final boss. The right side of the stage is being set up for the next speedrun: a race of Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep. The runners are setting up their games, the commentators are on the couch, and the tech team is setting up the camera and the stream appearance before the race starts.

The Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep race is underway and close to wrapping up at 38:28.3 in the speedrun. The racer on the right (appears left on the screen) is fighting the penultimate boss, and the racer on the opposite side just finished that boss and is on the world map to head to the final boss rush.

July 9, 2025 at 1:12 PM

Jeff “bsky Moderation is fucked” Peterson

@bdjeffyp.bsky.social

Day 2 of SGDQ

I forgot my mask so I was thankful that MSF has some on hand for attendees. I got the par time on the SMW speedrun, watched some Magic x Final Fantasy play, and enjoyed the heck out of an amazing Link’s Awakening speedrun! I also picked up all the Artist Alley items I wanted to get.

Monitor showing a level clear scene in Super Mario World with the overlay showing “Par cleared!” and “New best!”

A large projection screen showing the stream output from Games Done Quick while the speedrunner is playing The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening DX. The crowd in the ballroom is seated watching the action on the screen.

July 8, 2025 at 3:40 AM

Jeff “bsky Moderation is fucked” Peterson

@bdjeffyp.bsky.social

Day 1 of SGDQ

Watched the preshow and first run of the event, met even more people, and played a bunch of games in the arcade! The artist alley is incredible and I look forward to supporting the talented people there and send gifts to people.

The crowd and stage as the preshow is about to kick off. The stage is brightly lit up and large projection screens are showing the stream for the audience.

A Pop’n Music arcade cabinet. The monitor shows Sans from Undertale/Deltarune in the Pop’n style. The controller consists of 9 large buttons of varying colors that are pressed in time with the notes of a song.

A Rhythm Tengoku/Heaven arcade cabinet. This variation of the original GameBoy Advance game has one or two players using large buttons shaped like a GBA controller (directional buttons and a B and A button) pressed in time to prompts that follow the beat of a song. The cabinet itself is bright yellow with some red accents and the monitor is showing the Samurai Slice minigame with a shadow of a swordsman slicing across a red background.

Many posters from one of the artist vendors at SGDQ. They depict characters from Kirby, Metal Gear, Dungeon Meshi, Baldur’s Gate 3, Katamari Damacy, and more.

July 7, 2025 at 2:27 AM

Jeff “bsky Moderation is fucked” Peterson

@bdjeffyp.bsky.social

Day 0 of SGDQ

Picked up my badge, saw a tiny bit of the city for the first time, played the Speedrun Gauntlet games and got the par times for SMB1 and Metroid, and met a couple of people for the first time. Looking forward to meeting many more people during the week!

Selfie of me, a mid-40s white dude wearing a black shirt and KN95 mask, holding up their attendee badge for the event.

The skyscrapers of downtown Minneapolis as seen from outside the Hilton hotel that the event is taking place

A monitor showing the end of a level of Super Mario Bros 1, level 5-1, completing the level under the par time of 25 seconds. The screen shows an overlay that says “Par cleared!” and “New best!”

A monitor shows completing a challenge in Metroid, shooting Mother Brain once and succeeding in finishing under the par time of 45 seconds. The screen overlay says “Par cleared!” and “New best!”

July 6, 2025 at 1:28 AM

Jeff “bsky Moderation is fucked” Peterson

@bdjeffyp.bsky.social

Stars N Strides 5k

Celebrating the best way I know how, because I sure as hell am not going to any fireworks displays or celebrations today. I can’t wait to get some food in me and take a nap. 😂
The humidity and heat were brutal! It was a decent course with plenty of shade though.

Selfie of me, a mid-40s white dude, barely managing a smile after getting super sweaty in the race. I have my race number slung over my shoulder and a medal that looks like the state of Minnesota around my neck.
Race statistics line the bottom of the photo: 3.22 miles, 42:21 time, 13:08 pace.

July 4, 2025 at 2:31 PM

Jeff “bsky Moderation is fucked” Peterson

@bdjeffyp.bsky.social

Up early to beat the heat and run this 5k! For some reason, I went to bed early but woke up early too. I’ve been awake since 3am… 😴
It’s beautiful out here with the breeze across the lake, helping to mitigate the humidity.

A look out over Lake Harriet and the fancy looking snack shop/restroom area. People are milling about the grass or seated as we wait for the race to start.

Selfie of me, a mid-40s white dude, in my runners attire with a bunch of benches in the background for a stadium

July 4, 2025 at 12:59 PM

Jeff “bsky Moderation is fucked” Peterson

@bdjeffyp.bsky.social

I have my first race in many years tomorrow. It’s “only” a 5k but some traditions still stand in order to ensure a smooth morning. I’ve got everything I need and I’m ready to go!