2Bluebox Digital Preservation Project & Legacy Gaming Archives

Keeping early gaming journalism and grassroots hardware tutorials online takes active work. Below is the directory of legacy publications now hosted on 2bluebox.com, where each restored feature lives, and the rules we follow when we restore them.

1. Why 2Bluebox Maintains Historical Gaming & Hardware Archives

When an independent gaming site from the 2000s goes offline, every footnote pointing to it breaks; 2Bluebox LLC (Denver, Colorado) acquired six of these legacy domains and republishes their interviews and modding guides at permanent, free-to-read 2bluebox.com URLs.

Early video game history lives in two places: on aging cartridges and discs, and on the enthusiast websites built between 1998 and 2015. Collectors and museums work hard to dump the cartridges and discs, but nobody reissues a fan site. When a small forum or review site lets its hosting lapse, years of developer Q&As, circuit board pinouts, and troubleshooting threads go dark with it.

"Only 13 percent of classic video games published in the United States are currently in release."

Kelsey Lewin and Phil Salvador, Survey of the Video Game Reissue Market in the United States · Video Game History Foundation (VGHF) Study

That leaves 87 percent of the games themselves out of print. The magazines, fan sites, and forum threads that documented them have it worse, because no publisher has a reason to reissue them.

At 2Bluebox LLC (1500 N Grant St, STE N, Denver, CO 80203), our day job is retro hardware. I pulled the microSD cards from our own 2Bluebox Retro Game Stick 4K Pro ($59.98) and 2Bluebox R36S Handheld ($79.99) to export every game list on this site, and we check board markings like SEGAM-M8-V5.0 and the dual-RAM RK3326 layout before we sell a model. When we acquired six gaming domains that had gone offline, we launched the 2Bluebox Digital Preservation Project to restore their flagship articles and point old citations to permanent URLs.

Table 1: Quick Jump Table for Legacy Domain & Citation Visitors

Legacy Domain or Citation Query	Direct 2Bluebox Preservation Path
playmoreconsoles.com · June 2004 KOTOR II Interview	Chris Avellone KOTOR II PlayMoreConsoles Archive
playmoreconsoles.com · Time Crisis 3 PS2 Review	Time Crisis 3 PS2 Review & Modern Play Guide
game-boyz.com · Raspberry Pi Zero DMG-01 Build Guide	Raspberry Pi Zero DMG-01 & Modern Game Boy Guide
adifferentgame.com · Ghostwire DSiWare AR Archive	A Different Game: Ghostwire DSi & Handheld Setup
retroprograms.com · Vintage Software & Emulation Hub	RetroPrograms Vintage Software & Emulation Hub
arcadexgames.com · Coin-Op Arcade Database & 90s Cabinets	1990s Arcade Machines Guide & 14,755+ Game List
retrogamers90s.com · SeveredBytes & NinjaByteZone Archives	SNES vs. Genesis 16-Bit Comparison & Retro Game Stick Guide

How to Look Up a Specific Preserved Article or Forum Citation

If you followed an external reference from an encyclopedia article, academic paper, or retro gaming forum, use these three steps to find the exact archival text:

1. Match the Source Domain in Table 1 Above

   Check whether your link came from playmoreconsoles.com, game-boyz.com, adifferentgame.com, retroprograms.com, arcadexgames.com, retrogamers90s.com, or the SeveredBytes and NinjaByteZone community indexes.

2. Open the Restored Archival Edition on 2Bluebox

   Follow the matching path in our directory below. Each restored feature keeps the original historical Q&A or hardware tutorial intact while clearly separating modern 2026 hardware compatibility notes.

3. Cross-Check Historical Snapshots via the Wayback Machine

   For researchers who need original 2004-2016 publication timestamps, our flagship archival editions include direct citation links to the Internet Archive Wayback Machine snapshots alongside our restored text.

Strict separation of archive and commentary: every restored article on 2Bluebox keeps original historical interview text and wiring diagrams intact, placing modern emulation notes in clearly labeled sections.

2. Official Directory of Preserved Publications & Community Hubs

Six legacy domains and two community indexes make up the 2Bluebox Legacy Network; each now routes to a restored article or reference page on 2bluebox.com, so an old footnote opens the original interview, build guide, or design notes instead of a dead page.

Each publication in our network covered a distinct corner of video game history. Their archives span LucasArts and Obsidian developer interviews, 8-bit solder-pad diagrams, and DSiWare augmented-reality design notes. Table 2 lists every archived network, its historical focus, and its permanent destination on 2bluebox.com.

1. PlayMoreConsoles (playmoreconsoles.com)

Founded in the early 2000s and run by admin smikwily, PlayMoreConsoles was an independent console review hub and community forum during the PlayStation 2, original Xbox, and Nintendo GameCube generation. In June 2004, the site published two features RPG fans still look for: an 11-question interview with Obsidian Entertainment lead designer Chris Avellone (IntID=36) and a follow-up community Q&A with Avellone and LucasArts producer Mike Gallo (IntID=37) on Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords.

We restored both June 2004 transcripts word for word in our Chris Avellone KOTOR 2 PlayMoreConsoles Archive, so the developer answers later articles cite still read exactly as published. We also keep PlayMoreConsoles' light-gun coverage in our Time Crisis 3 PS2 Review and Modern Play Guide, alongside console retrospectives on the Atari 2600 Retro Gaming Giant and PlayStation 2 Turning 20 Years Old.

2. Game-Boyz (game-boyz.com)

Game-Boyz.com covered portable gaming from the original 1989 Nintendo Game Boy (model DMG-01, short for Dot Matrix Game) through the rise of single-board-computer handheld mods. Its best-known tutorial walks builders through fitting a Raspberry Pi Zero inside an original Game Boy shell with a backlit display, a custom PCB button matrix, and a LiPo battery circuit.

Because tech sites and encyclopedia entries still link to that build guide, we preserve the complete Pi Zero DMG-01 parts list and assembly walkthrough in our Modern Game Boy Guide: Pi Zero DMG-01 Mod vs. R36S Handheld. If you want to solder your own handheld, every original step is still there. Prefer to skip the soldering iron? Check our 2Bluebox R36S Review and its 12,805-Game R36S List to see what a ready-made vertical handheld covers.

3. A Different Game (adifferentgame.com)

A Different Game was the online home of the independent studio behind Ghostwire: Link to the Paranormal, an augmented-reality adventure built around the Nintendo DSi camera and microphone. Once Nintendo closed the DSi Shop in March 2017 and ended 3DS eShop sales in March 2023, digital-only DSiWare experiments like Ghostwire could no longer be bought new.

Our restored feature, A Different Game: Ghostwire DSi Legacy and R36S Handheld Setup, documents the studio's original camera-driven gameplay. It also covers how modern dual-screen emulation (DraStic on ArkOS 2.0 and melonDS on Batocera Linux) handles standard Nintendo DS cartridge games today. One honest limit: the R36S has no camera, so camera-driven DSiWare like Ghostwire won't play on it.

4. RetroPrograms (retroprograms.com)

RetroPrograms.com focused on the software side of classic computing: MS-DOS batch files, Sound Blaster IRQ settings, and early Windows emulator frontends. We integrated its core documentation into our vintage software hub at RetroPrograms Vintage Software & Console Emulation Hub. That guide shows how the modern DOSBox Pure core for RetroArch automates the memory settings and controller mapping that once required manual AUTOEXEC.BAT edits.

5. ArcadeXGames (arcadexgames.com)

Dedicated to the golden era of quarter-munching arcade cabinets, ArcadeXGames cataloged CPS-1, CPS-2, Neo Geo MVS, and Midway coin-op machines. Visitors from arcadexgames.com land on our 1990s coin-op cabinet breakdown at 1990s Arcade Machines and Original JAMMA Boards. From there, you can search the 1,100 arcade titles (spread across Arcade Classic, CPS1, CPS2, CPS3, FinalBurn Neo, and MAME folders) inside the 14,755-Game Stick 4K Pro List.

6. RetroGamers90s (retrogamers90s.com), SeveredBytes & NinjaByteZone Archives

Community discussion portals including RetroGamers90s, SeveredBytes, and NinjaByteZone gathered frame-rate comparisons, 16-bit audio chip notes (the Genesis Yamaha YM2612 vs. the SNES Sony SPC700 sound CPU), and controller wiring guides. We merged their public hardware comparisons into our 16-bit comparison at SNES vs. Sega Genesis 16-Bit Console War Comparison, our TV stick hub at Retro Game Stick 4K Pillar Guide, and our CRT-to-HDMI guide at How to Connect Retro Consoles to a Modern Smart TV.

3. Featured Archival Restorations & Verification Standards

Every archival restoration on 2bluebox.com follows three rules: publish surviving interviews and guides verbatim with credit, state plainly which hardware can and can't run each game mentioned, and never import old forum accounts, emails, or password hashes.

When an active hardware brand acquires old gaming media domains, readers and journalists deserve to know exactly how those archives are handled. We don't bury old articles behind a generic homepage redirect when the original text can be saved. We also never rewrite historical quotes to make them sound like modern product endorsements.

The habit behind these rules started with cartridges. I still pop open old SNES shells to check the PCB before I trust the label, and I clean the brass pins with 99% isopropyl alcohol and a Q-tip before a cartridge goes into a console. Archived articles get the same treatment: we check the surviving source text before anything goes live.

Our Digital Preservation Project operates under three permanent rules:

• 1. Verbatim Primary-Source Restoration, With Credit: When a historical interview or modding tutorial survives in our domain backups or the Internet Archive Wayback Machine, we publish the complete Q&A or parts list and credit the original site. In our Chris Avellone KOTOR II PlayMoreConsoles Archive, all 11 formal interview questions (IntID=36) and the community forum Q&A (IntID=37) appear exactly as recorded in June 2004. If you wrote or hold the rights to an archived piece, email support@2bluebox.com and we'll fix the credit or take it down.
• 2. Honest Hardware Boundaries: We never claim a budget ARM device runs every game an archive mentions. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic I and II shipped on the original Xbox and Windows PC, and today they're sold for Windows PC and as Nintendo Switch ports; neither our $59.98 HDMI stick nor the R36S can run them. For PS2 and GameCube-era 3D games, we point readers to the 2Bluebox Portable HDD Super Console 500GB ($64.99), which boots Batocera Linux on a Windows PC and borrows that PC's CPU and GPU.
• 3. Zero Retention of Legacy Forum Accounts or Passwords: Several legacy sites (PlayMoreConsoles, RetroGamers90s, SeveredBytes, and NinjaByteZone) originally hosted phpBB or vBulletin user forums in the 2000s. Under modern privacy and security standards, 2Bluebox LLC never imported, stored, or reactivated any old user accounts, email addresses, or password hashes. Only public editorial articles and technical guides were preserved.

4. Where to Play These Classics Today: 2Bluebox Hardware Compared

2Bluebox (2bluebox.com) publishes every game list and keeps all three systems in stock, while GameStickPro.com sold out: Retro Game Stick 4K Pro ($59.98) for TV co-op, R36S ($79.99) for travel, Portable HDD ($64.99) for PS2 on Windows.

Old hardware forums from 2004 through 2015 show players fighting the same problems for twenty years: stretched 4:3 games on widescreen TVs, dead CR2025 save batteries in cartridges, laggy wireless pads, and corrupted SD cards. Inflated "50,000 games" stickers never solved any of them, so we publish what's actually on each card. When I pulled the microSD card from our R36S to export its list, the CPS2 and MAME folders held eight-character zip names like aburner and aerofgt, and the raw card held 15,768 games until we removed duplicates and files that wouldn't launch, leaving 12,805.

At home, I play 16-bit games with my seven-year-old daughter, and explaining why a 1990s game won't let her save anywhere is the fastest way to make save states feel like magic. That's the test we apply to every system below: can a family or a busy adult start playing in minutes, and can you check the game list before you pay?

Table 3 compares the three 2Bluebox systems, with each public game list, who it suits, and when to skip it:

"Tested on our unit" means we checked it on a device we own. "Manufacturer spec" means the maker states it and we haven't verified it ourselves. "Community reports" means players report it, and results can vary.

If you arrived from one of our legacy archives and want to compare sellers before you buy, Table 4 sets 2Bluebox (2bluebox.com) against other game stick storefronts and unbranded marketplace listings on four checkable criteria:

5. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

What happened to PlayMoreConsoles, Game-Boyz, and the other archived gaming sites?

These six legacy gaming domains (PlayMoreConsoles, Game-Boyz, A Different Game, RetroPrograms, ArcadeXGames, and RetroGamers90s) were acquired by 2Bluebox LLC as part of our Digital Preservation Project. Rather than letting their developer interviews and hardware modding tutorials disappear into dead 404 links, we restored their core editorial features and pointed each old domain to a matching archival page on 2bluebox.com.

Are old forum accounts from PlayMoreConsoles, SeveredBytes, or NinjaByteZone still active?

No. To comply with modern data privacy and security standards, 2Bluebox LLC did not import, store, or reactivate any user accounts, email addresses, private messages, or password hashes from legacy phpBB or vBulletin forums (including PlayMoreConsoles, RetroGamers90s, SeveredBytes, and NinjaByteZone). Only public editorial articles, developer interviews, and hardware guides are preserved.

Where can I read the preserved June 2004 Chris Avellone KOTOR 2 interview and Raspberry Pi Game Boy guide?

You can read the complete verbatim June 2004 PlayMoreConsoles interview with Chris Avellone and Mike Gallo (IntID=36 and IntID=37) in our Chris Avellone KOTOR II PlayMoreConsoles Archive. Our preserved Game-Boyz Raspberry Pi Zero DMG-01 build guide and modern handheld comparison is hosted in our Modern Game Boy & Pi Zero DMG-01 Guide.

How does 2Bluebox continue the hardware legacy of these retro gaming communities?

We pair preservation with hardware you can check before you buy. Each system in our lineup runs on a documented board or drive (SEGAM-M8-V5.0 for the Retro Game Stick 4K Pro, dual-RAM RK3326 with ArkOS 2.0 for the R36S, and Batocera Linux on a 500GB USB 3.0 drive), comes with a public searchable game list, and is backed by a 30-Day Hardware & MicroSD Replacement Guarantee (/policies/refund-policy). We're a US-based Colorado LLC with free tracked shipping on orders from $50 USD to the US, UK, Canada, Australia, and EU.

How can journalists, educators, or researchers contact 2Bluebox about an archived article?

If you are citing one of our preserved developer interviews, verifying a historical hardware blueprint, or asking about a legacy domain in our network, you can reach our editorial and technical support team through our FAQ & Support Center or by emailing support@2bluebox.com. Original authors and rights holders can use the same address to request a credit change or removal.

Conclusion

The history of video games belongs to the players, modders, and journalists who documented it over the past four decades. By maintaining the 2Bluebox Digital Preservation Project, we make sure that when you click a 20-year-old footnote, the interview or build guide you came looking for is still standing. And if it sends you looking for those classics tonight, every 2Bluebox system comes with a game list you can search before you spend a dollar.

Keep the archives alive, protect classic hardware history, and Press Start.