Alex Custodio
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alexcustodio.com
Alex Custodio
@alexcustodio.com
PhD candidate studying videogame history at Concordia University. My dissertation focuses on the Game Boy’s afterlives, including hacks, mods, and emulation. Pixel artist and cross-stitcher. They/them.
I have two of these, which I bought at a flea market in Lisbon when I was 12 years old and didn’t know any better.

The cartridge labelled The Incredibles actually houses Titus’s 1997 Superman game (a tremendous disappointment at the time). The Donkey Kong 3 cartridge is even more confusing.
December 10, 2024 at 6:26 PM
Reposted by Alex Custodio
Video game history in action! 2024 was a big year for moving the conversation forward, preserving important artifacts, and building tools that make access easier for everyone. As our annual Winter Fundraiser heats up, let's look back at the year that was: gamehistory.org/our-2024-in-...
December 4, 2024 at 5:34 PM
Reposted by Alex Custodio
Now Live™️ (and asynchronous)! My interview with UAlbertaArts’s Playful Horizons featured speaker series about the past, future & artificial present of ✨🔮 livestreaming✨

🔮 youtu.be/gB7lhBAzE6M?...
✨ Meet Christine H. Tran! ✨ (Playful Horizons Speaker Series)
YouTube video by UAlbertaArts
youtu.be
November 11, 2024 at 2:07 PM
Reposted by Alex Custodio
Now online: my interview for the Playful Horizons featured speaker series at the University of Alberta!

💾Game hacking + preservation!
✊Industry labour!
🎮Creative modding in the university!

Thanks to @persephone.blue and @kenzitronic.bsky.social for having me in to talk about my research.✨
💾 Meet Michael Iantorno! 💾 (Playful Horizons Speaker Series)
YouTube video by UAlbertaArts
youtu.be
November 21, 2024 at 2:42 PM
Reposted by Alex Custodio
This massive review doesn't once mention that it's funded by Palmer Luckey, and it's not an oversight, considering the author (and site owner) is ignoring comments about it. This is the same author who gave Tommy Tallarico a big fluff piece to promote his Amico scam. I'm detecting a pattern.
November 21, 2024 at 2:45 PM
Need a reason to attend the last panel of CGSA? @hanine.bsky.social and I are presenting a paper on the troubling fact that you can cook squid in front of your octopus villagers in Animal Crossing and nobody bats an eye!

Come for the slides full of memes, stay for the critique of anthropocentrism.
June 18, 2024 at 12:15 PM
So proud to have worked with @ginahara.com and the team at Pink Triangle Press on this foundational research project.

The PTP Pink Paper is a first-of-its kind report looking at on-screen and behind-the-scenes 2SLGBTQIA+ representation in Canada's screen industries. 🏳️‍🌈

pinkpaper.ca
PTP Pink Paper - Pink Triangle Press
Many Canadians don’t see themselves reflected on screen. When they do, it’s often through stories that focus on stereotypes, trauma, or painful coming out
pinkpaper.ca
June 11, 2024 at 6:31 PM
Reposted by Alex Custodio
New piece up for The Conversation, where I contextualize the recent partnership between GWU Montreal and CSN and what it could mean for the Quebec game industry!
Game changer: A labour group in Québec is pushing for a province-wide video game workers’ union
No video game workers are currently unionized in Québec, but a new labour partnership is looking to change that.
theconversation.com
May 9, 2024 at 7:03 PM
Reposted by Alex Custodio
Join me and @alexcustodio.com at this year's Open Hardware Summit in Montreal!

We'll be tabling on May 3 with some cool modded Game Boys and showing folks how to swap the batteries on their cartridges.

Tickets and details available here: 2024.oshwa.org
April 22, 2024 at 3:15 PM
Reposted by Alex Custodio
Come join me at the OHS, where @alexcustodio.com and I will teach you how to fix/break/mod Game Boys!

www.oshwa.org/2023/08/21/o...
March 13, 2024 at 9:35 PM
While I'm not surprised to see Yuzu down, I'm sad to see 3DS emulator Citra go down with it. The 3DS was discontinued in 2020 and the eShop in 2023. On April 8, Nintendo will close their online features, leaving few avenues to play or study 3DS games as they are now.

www.pcgamer.com/software/nin...
Nintendo 3DS emulator Citra taken offline as collateral damage in Yuzu lawsuit settlement
Yuzu's developers also founded Citra in 2014, forcing them to discontinue "Yuzu's support of Citra" after Nintendo lawsuit.
www.pcgamer.com
March 5, 2024 at 3:04 PM
Tomorrow morning, I'll be talking about solar-powered Game Boys and eco-modding practices as part of the hybrid Green Software Foundation meetup. Join us online (or in Ottawa) for some larger conversations around greener software practices.

www.meetup.com/gsf-canada/e...
Ottawa Green Software Foundation Meetup (Hybrid Event) - Feb 2024, Tue, Feb 13, 2024, 9:00 AM | Meetup
This is the 3rd Green Software Foundation meetup in Ottawa. The event will be hybrid (in-person or online). Don't miss out on this opportunity to learn, connect, and engag
www.meetup.com
February 12, 2024 at 3:08 PM
Reposted by Alex Custodio
Dissatisfied with the way a retro past is remade? Feeling a nostalgic disjuncture? Want to mod a new past the way it was? Where is hometown in nostalgia?

Listen to @alexcustodio.com @marclaje.bsky.social and @bowmanspartan.bsky.social’s panel at TIME IN A BOTTLE

youtu.be/HZolsjRhqi0?...
Playing with the Past - Panel Discussion from "Time in a Bottle" Symposium
This panel discussion is one of four panels from "Time in a Bottle", a symposium and research-creation showcase featuring works related to nostalgia by stud...
youtu.be
February 9, 2024 at 5:58 AM
New modding guide! This time, @michaeliantorno.com and I tackled the GBA Consolizer.

This was the most complex mod we've done so far and a great learning experience. Here, we document the process and reflect on the mod's technical and aesthetic priorities.

www.alexcustodio.com/mod-guide-gb...
November 23, 2023 at 3:35 PM
Reposted by Alex Custodio
New modding guide up this morning, this time for the FunnyPlaying IPS LCD for the Game Boy Pocket!

@alexcustodio.com and I have been making these to document our work at the Residual Media Depot and to question what makes a "good" mod tutorial.

michaeliantorno.com/mod-guide-ga...
October 16, 2023 at 2:21 PM
Excited to be talking about eco-modding practices alongside the Green Software Foundation next week!

Join us online or stop by in person if you're in Montreal. Details below! 👾

www.meetup.com/gsf-canada/e...
We're hosting a panel by the Green Software Foundation next Wednesday, October 4 at 6pm.

Join us online/in person at Dawson college to learn best practices for reducing the carbon impact of software and game development.

Full details and free tickets available below:
www.meetup.com/gsf-canada/e...
September 27, 2023 at 8:36 PM
Reposted by Alex Custodio
This Friday is the MTL launch event for "If You Don’t Like the Game, Change the Rules", a comic and white paper that discuss worker co-ops, unions, and labour issues in the game industry.

Join @omarieclaire.bsky.social and I as we host a panel with @seemo.bsky.social, Jess Marcotte, & Carolyn Jong!
Change the Rules Launch
We will be launching our comic and white paper on alternative modes of videogame production Friday Sept. 29 4-6pm in Montreal at Concordia (LB-103, 1400 De Maisonneuve Blvd. W.) (Facebook event). Phys...
gameartsinternational.network
September 27, 2023 at 3:28 PM
Ever wanted to backlight your Game Boy Pocket?

@michaeliantorno.com and I have you covered! As part of our research at the Residual Media Depot, we're writing a series of straightforward tutorials.

Our first post walks you through backlighting an MGB: www.alexcustodio.com/mod-guide-mgb-backlight
September 25, 2023 at 7:13 PM
Hi Bluesky!

I'm a PhD student who researches handheld videogame platforms and the communities that hack, modify, and play with them.

Recent projects also include cataloguing early home computing systems and exploring the affordances of solar energy in gaming.

You can find more at alexcustodio.com
Alex Custodio
alexcustodio.com
September 17, 2023 at 4:59 PM