Episode 138: Playing Faceball 2000 With 15 of Your Closest Friends

Episode 138: Playing Faceball 2000 With 15 of Your Closest Friends

Author: Video Game History Foundation August 21, 2025 Duration: 1:17:35

Host Phil Salvador is joined by Derek Alexander, of the YouTube channel Stop Skeletons From Fighting, and Zarithya, of the YouTube channel Zarithya, to talk about the fan-restored 16-player mode for the 1991 Game Boy game Faceball 2000 as laid out in My 2 Year Journey to Solve the 30-Year Myth of Faceball 2000 | SSFF. In this bit of video game archeology, Derek and Zari take us through the collaborative effort, the technical expertise required to create custom adapters and controllers, and the investigation into historical claims to execute this endeavor. But in the end, did it even work?


You can listen to the Video Game History Hour every other Wednesday on Patreon (one day early at the $5 tier and above), on Spotify, or on our website.


See more from Derek Alexander:

Bluesky: @stopskeletons.bsky.social

YouTube: /StopSkeletonsFromFighting

Twitch: /stop skeletons from fighting

Patreon: /StopSkeletonsFromFighting


See more from Zarithya:

YouTube: @Zarithya

Twitch: /Zarithya

Bluesky: @zarithya.online


Video Game History Foundation:

Email: podcast@gamehistory.org

Website: gamehistory.org

Support us on Patreon: /gamehistoryorg


Ever wonder how the stories behind your favorite games actually get uncovered? Video Game History Hour pulls back the curtain on that process, hosted by Frank Cifaldi from the Video Game History Foundation. Instead of dry lectures, each episode feels like you’re overhearing a fascinating conversation between experts. Frank invites game developers, historians, and storytellers to share their discoveries and the real, often messy work of preservation. You’ll hear about the frustrating dead-ends that make researchers want to bang their heads against the wall, followed by those incredible breakthroughs when a forgotten piece of history suddenly clicks into place. This podcast is built on the genuine thrill of sharing a find, capturing the human side of digging through old code, tracking down obscure prototypes, or interviewing pivotal developers whose contributions have been overlooked. It’s a casual, engaging dive into the layers of an industry often focused only on the future, reminding us that every game has a past worth saving. Tune in for a refreshingly authentic look at the passion and persistence required to keep video game history alive, one surprising story at a time.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

Video Game History Hour
Podcast Episodes
Ep. 80: The Strong National Museum of Play [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

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Jon-Paul Dyson, the Director of the International Center for the History of Electronic Games at The Strong, where he is also the VP of exhibits, shares all about the museum and its 2022 World Video Game Hall of Fame fina…
Ep. 79: Nintendo’s Page Boy [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

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Gaming historian Liam Robertson returns as almost a sequel to Ep. 16 to share how Nintendo’s Page Boy was almost a sequel to their unreleased Work Boy, as shown in his recent video Page Boy: Nintendo's LOST Game Boy Add-…
Ep. 78: Fan Culture Through Final Fantasy V [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:17:44
Author Chris Kohler explores the evolution of niche fan culture from analog to digital through stories from his book Final Fantasy V (Boss Fight Books Book 18). “Young Chris” learns uploading to America Online makes it l…
Ep. 77: A Life of Game Design: Noah Falstein [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:21:40
Veteran game designer Noah Falstein looks back on his 42 year long, and counting, career and reflects on the evolution of both the role and industry over these four decades. We find Noah’s cassette tape, Simon is in Sili…
Ep. 76: C:\>QBASIC /run GORILLA.BAS [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 49:38
Benj Edwards - journalist, tech historian, and recovering retro computer hoarder - teaches us a little about MS-DOS and QBasic through their How-To Geek article: GORILLA.BAS: How to Play the Secret MS-DOS Game From Your…
Ep. 75: Nintendo Power Reunion [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:25:36
A couple months ago we hosted a ticketed event as a fundraiser we called Nintendo Power Reunion - Stories from the Original Nintendo Power Staff. Nintendo Power was one of the most popular and iconic video game magazines…
Ep. 74: Pokémon’s Translator: Nob Ogasawara [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:13:29
Translator, localizer, and writer Nob Ogasawara shares highlights of his career working with the Pokémon franchise and at EGM. He shares his birthday with two funny coincidences, gets called a “god,” inadvertently create…
Ep. 73: What is Source Code? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:10:22
Dimitris Giannakis, well-known for creating excellent videos on the technical aspect of video game preservation, explains. Luckily, he wears a T-shirt as a perfect example, we ponder at what point the code becomes Michae…
Ep. 72: Happy 5th Birthday! [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:16:29
Join us in our celebration of the Video Game History Foundation’s 5th birthday! Let’s take a ride through history as we retrace the long road to how the VGHF came together, what we’ve been up to for these last 5 years, a…
Ep. 71: Meet Our New Library Director! [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:17:18
Phil Salvador - video game historian and librarian - has not only joined the Video Game History Foundation as its new Library Director, he’s also joined the show this week to tell us all about what he’ll be doing in this…