About The Memory Core

The Memory Core is an independent publication covering the latest in emulation, retro gaming, and gaming handhelds. I started it because I was tired of having to sift through Discord, Twitter, YouTube, Bluesky, Weibo, GitHub, and various forums just to find relevant emulation news.

Why a newsletter? Well, like many of you, I'm exhausted by the state of the internet, and a newsletter is the best format I've found to return to a simpler time.

Here, there are no ads, no algorithms, and no sneaky third parties stealing your email or data. No affiliate links or sketchy promotion deals. It's just me writing stories that I hope you find interesting.

I chose Ghost as a platform because it's open source, independent, and built from the ground up specifically for newsletters. However, it's not free to host the website and send thousands of emails every month.

If you want to help support my reporting and keep the site online, please consider dropping a small tip if you have the means.

What to expect from The Memory Core

The Memory Core is your premier source for emulation and gaming handheld news, publishing original content that you won't hear about anywhere else.

Whether these are breaking scoops, reviews, in-depth features, or interviews with developers, you should come out of every newsletter feeling like you've learned something you didn't already know.

Every weekend, I also send a roundup of the week's most important news, with added context and analysis.

About me

Hi! I'm Rowan, and I've been experimenting with emulators since the tender age of eight. In hindsight, I definitely shouldn't have been unsupervised on the internet at that age, but I (mostly) turned out all right.

I've been writing professionally online for more than a decade, covering everything from general tech news to guides for some of my many hobbies. I got back into the emulation community in a big way a few years ago, and it's been a wild ride ever since.

I don't spend much time on social media (you can guess why if you've read this far), but you can get in touch via Bluesky. Subscribers can also just hit reply on any newsletter email. I read every message.