Dank Mini Zine #2 2024

ALMOST
ANK
LIKE A TV GUIDE
THE
ZOPHAR
ASHSAIDHI AT
TWITCHCON
JAN 24

DANK ZINE
ISSUE 66
IN THE DANK SHOP
Check out what is in this
Issue of Dank Zine
For more information, visit our web at agentannk.com

Zophar’s Domain
A discussion with Zophar from Zophar’s Domain:
About the beginning and end of the internet.
look.
We got this interview with Zophar. You don’t know who Zophar is?
Well, you should gather around the lemon tree, my kids, and hear a
tale of the 90s, when the internet was young, Netscape ruled, and
where the gaming scene first saw early sites like Zophar’s Domain
as their gateway to emulation and future game preservation. It’s all
in the current issue of the Dank Zine.

CHOSEN BY
THE ZOPHAR
I picked three games from three different
systems that I think are most
representative of my childhood. There are
so many good games, but Ann said I got to
pick three, so here they are!
These are the three that have had the most
profound effect on me. Two of the three
are my favourite games. One of them is not
necessarily the very top, but it's
representative of some of the best games I
have played.

The first one would be Faxanadu for the
NES. This is my favourite action RPG, or
adventure game (depending on your
perspective) of all time. I was nine when I
first got this.
And the soundtrack, in particular, is very
haunting in this game. One of the things
you're going to notice is true of all these
games I'm about to show you, all three of
them, is that they have amazing
soundtracks. For me, a game could be
amazing, but it needs a soundtrack to be
God-tier. I usually don't remember if the
soundtrack is not incredible, even if
everything else is. It's got to have a
fantastic soundtrack.
I'm big on Faxanadu for the NES, a great 8-
bit title! With its haunting music, a lot of
fun to play, and not super difficult either,
I’d say it’s highly recommended by me!
That's one.

The second one is the next era, the Sega
Genesis 16-bit era. And I picked Sonic the
Hedgehog, the original. Most people will
tell you this was not the best Sonic game,
but this was the one coming straight after
the Nintendo era. And there were a lot of
great Nintendo games. Then, all of a
sudden, you hear this FM music and see
these colourful graphics, 64 colours, and
Sonic’s moving fast... and blast
processing, right? That was stuck in our
minds. And Genesis does what
NintenDON'T.
The big game-changer right here. And this
made Nintendo realize that they could not
just rest on their laurels. They had to
compete.
It was the only company that really... They
did it first, right? Nintendo came in,
crushed Atari, and no one had anything
until the Genesis came out. It's an
incredible platformer and a great series of
games. Sonic 2 is amazing. Sonic 3 and
Sonic & Knuckles is a great series. Years
later, Sonic Mania did it all over again.
Amazing job. I highly recommend the
original Sonic The Hedgehog and the
other Sonic games.

And then this one's tough. This may be
controversial because I am picking the
game in the series that does not have me
in it. But because you're asking, I have to
choose three games for people who are
into retro.
Lunar, The Silver Star, the original Lunar,
predating Zophar and Zophar’s Domain.
Again, it has an incredible soundtrack and
amazing characters. This was the first
console RPG that had CD-quality sound
(“Red Book audio”). And the characters, it
looks like you're watching an anime when
I didn't even know what anime was. This
came out in 1993.
The closest I think there was then was
Dragon Ball Z? Maybe it had just come out.
I didn't even know what anime was, but I
wanted to play this game.
These are some cartoony but cool-looking
characters. This is the first time I've seen
something like this. And in the game, some
of them actually talk to you, and there's
audio, and Ghaleon, this evil dude, and
there's magic, and then you got to save a
whole town and all this stuff. Amazing
traditional turn-based RPG - Sega CD
showed you what was possible on a CDbased
system in 1993 when this came out.
So Nintendo, Sega Genesis, and Sega CD,
my three favourites, are three of the year's
best games.
CHECK OUT MORE OF
ZOPHAR’S CREATIONS
AND CONTENT ON
TWITCH.TV/ZOPHAR1
OR ON HIS YOUTUBE

DANK
D A N K
D A N K
DANK
D A N K
DANK
D A N K
D A N K

MARU
MARU IS A JACK OF ALL CREATIVE TRADES,
BUT WE GOTTA SAY, HIS DANK ART IS SIMPLY
UNBEATABLE!
ENJOY HIS WORK IN COMICS AND OTHER ART
FORMS BY CHECKING OUT HIS WEBSITE. AND
HEY, DON'T FORGET TO FLIP THROUGH THE
PAGES OF ISSUE 66 OF DANK ZINE TO WITNESS
THE GENIUS IN ACTION!

goemonsama
Lord Goemonsama switched up his
website for 2024, and you need to update
your bookmarks.
While the details of this new project
remain under wraps, we promise to
reveal them soon in the upcoming issue.
Stay tuned!

ASHSAIDHI
AT
TWITCHCON
Hi Dank readers! I'm Ash and I'm excited to share my latest
adventure. I attended TwitchCon in Las Vegas, met amazing
people, hosted panels, and explored the city. Enjoy my
story filled with sparkles, slot machines, and streaming
during the biggest party of the year!

HOW TO
SPEND
DANK TIME
ONLINE
ARE YOU STUCK IN A DOOM-SCROLLING LOOP?
CRAVING FOR A SHERPA TO GUIDE YOU THROUGH
THE LABYRINTH OF WEBSITES? HOW ABOUT GIVING
THIS CONTENT A SHOT, AND EXPLORING
SOMETHING TOTALLY DELICIOUS AND THRILLING?
REQUIREMENTS
DANK EXPERIENCE: MINIMUM OF 2
YEARS
MASTERY OF DANK PROGRAM
EXCELLENT EYE FOR DANK
AESTHETICS
STRONG PORTFOLIO (PREFERRED)

B E T W E E N T H E S C A N L I N E S
SharkaBytes's online zine, Between the
Scanlines, draws inspiration from fanzines of
the 90s dedicated to anime and video games.
They capture the spirit and enthusiasm of
those zines and reflect them in Between the
Scanlines. Readers can explore retro gaming
history, trivia, magazine covers, reviews and
retrospectives, personal stories, and
community contributions.
A S H T O N ’ S R E T R O C O M P U T E R R O O M
A Music Teacher's YouTube Channel
Showcasing and Celebrating Computers
from the Past. Very wholesome sort of fun
that will make you check back now and
then to see what he’s got cued up today.
Z O P H A R ’ S R E T R O R E W I N D
Zophar's Retro Rewind's debut episode delves into the video show
"Zophar's Underworld," which streamed emulation content in the
Windows 98 era using the RM format and RealPlayer before YouTube.

PLAY
GAMES
DAY
OF THE
SANDWICH
BY FRACTALMINDMIKE
FRACTALMINDMIKE LAUNCHED "DAY OF THE SANDWICH," A GAME
HONOURING LUCAS ARTS' "DAY OF THE TENTACLE." HE LIVE-STREAMED
THE DEVELOPMENT, OFFERING AN EXCLUSIVE LOOK INTO GAME
CREATION.
CRAPPY
GAME
BY DUKEDONUTS
DUKEDONUTS CREATED HIS OWN GAME INSPIRED BY MIKE'S BUT WITH
A RADICALLY DIFFERENT APPROACH. DUKE CALLS HIS CREATION
“CRAPPY GAME”, CRAFTED IN ROUGHLY 5 HOURS AND OFFERED "AS-
IS" WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR GUARANTEES OF PERFORMANCE OR
SAFETY.
PLAY THEM NOW FOR FREE
USE CODE “DANK” AT THE CHECKOUT TO GET 72% MORE FREE PHONE CREDITS

M O S T W A N T E D D A N K
B I G C I T Y N I G H T S
So, basically, there's this dude, but he's a
dog, and his leg is busted, and he's walking
around the streets of New York with a big
old-school ghetto blaster. Some folks have
been trying to read into it, thinking it's some
statement about how we all need to get
along and live in harmony in the city. But
honestly, there's no deep meaning or
message behind it. It's just a dude who’s this
dog jamming out to some tunes. Although,
who knows, maybe there'll be a follow-up
book someday.
P R I N C E O F P E R S I A
A P P L E I I
Have you played Prince of Persia? It's a classic game that
was first released for Apple II. Can you believe that it
wasn't popular? But it got super popular later as it was
ported to different platforms that were not Apple
computers.
It's credited as the first cinematic platforming game,
inspiring many other games in the same genre.
Not bad for 1989 or for the Apple II either. I'm not saying
you don't play enough Apple II games (or Apple anything),
but try this version out and marvel at how good it feels.
H O R R O R
H O U S E
B O A R D
G A M E
Japan is a weird place, and they adore the 80s horror movie “House.” However, the
Japanese people are also very embarrassed about this, or they couldn't get the licencing
rights and slapped whatever name on this board game. However, get a few of your friends
together and suddenly it’s all “oooooh!” It's legit spooky and ridiculous as you go room to
room fighting monsters. It features a skull box speaker that “ohs” and “ahs” and screams
at you while you stab it with a crucifix. Anyways, Japanese “not House” the board game.
C H E C K N O W

How To Achieve
Dankness
Tips
Steps
Pizza
Discover yourself.
Start writing that blog,
making that game,
draw that art
Spend Less
& Save
Continuously learn
and adapt
Make a plan
Start investing in your
Dankess
START NOW
www.agentannk.com

START NOW
Who has time for all this worry? Not you, oh
no- you have it together. You dressed
yourself this morning, and at least that was
motivating. Now go cover yourself with
some DANK stuff and start inspiring.

APPLE 95 4EVER
The Apple 95 Oversized T-shirt: the ultimate blend
of hip and retro for the discerning tech enthusiast.
Sure, everyone's flaunting their latest Apple gear
like a badge of coolness. Still, some people think
wearing a diamond-encrusted facemask in public
places is high fashion and not look like they are on
the way to robbing the Gucci bank.
This shirt is a wink to those in the know, those who
appreciate the irony of vintage tech nostalgia in a
world obsessed with the latest and greatest, or
those who just like a good meme.
So, if you want to make a statement without taking
out another loan or selling your soul to the Apple
overlords, slip into the Apple 95 T-shirt and let your
inner geek shine brighter than a Macintosh
monitor.
OH NO...
MORE PINS ...
YOU SAID YOU
WANTED ONE...
YOU ALSO WANTED
THIS BACK???

NEW COLLECTION
PIXEL ART
NEW ANIMATED ANNK_ EMOTE
COLLECTION
MADE BY THE TALENTED
ZETSUBERA
REQUEST YOUR OWN CUSTOM-
MADE EMOTES WITH THE MASTER
TODAY!
KBUTZKORNER.COM

DANK EVENTS FOR
FEBUARY
LIVE ON TWITCH.TV/ANNK_
OR IN THE DANK DISCORD
Morning Twitch Streams
7 AM EST
MONDAY
TUESDAY
FRIDAY
Sunday Funday Twitch Stream
12 Noon EST
SUNDAY
Dank Events in the Discord
7 PM EST
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
Sunday Cartoons in the
Discord 8:30-ish AM EST
SUNDAY

REPORT
MECC was a pioneer in educational
technology, founded in 1973 with a
focus on education over profit. It
assembled small, diverse teams to
create software that engaged and
educated rather than simply
entertained. MECC's influence grew as
personal computers became more
affordable, and its site licensing model
shifted education from mainframes to
personal computers.
MECC was committed to making
quality educational software fun, with
iconic titles like The Oregon Trail and
Lemonade Stand. Despite facing
challenges and acquisitions that
shifted focus towards profit, MECC's
legacy endures as an educational
computing pioneer.

MECC partnered with Apple to
provide computer access to K-12
students in the US, leading to
widespread use of personal
computers in schools. MECC
developed over 300 educational
software products, including the
iconic "The Oregon Trail" series.
However, after being sold to
SoftKey in 1995, the company
shifted focus and stopped
operating as a separate entity in
1999.
MECC introduced educational technology in classrooms
and created popular interactive computer games that
inspired students to learn in the 80s and 90s.

NEXT DANK ISSUE
67
COMING
SOON
24
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