When I first got my Nintendo DS, I was incredibly thrilled to explore this new gaming device and what games I'll be able to play on it. Since we didn't really have a big budget to buy many titles, we opted to get the flashcart which the store sold. They offered to set it up as well and install the games onto the card.
Now, this was also the time when I had begun exploring the wonderful world of tech, tinkering, fiddling, and looking for solutions to life's most pressing concerns, from a kid's perspective. So, I searched online and found sources of information which helped me get what I needed.
Though I never became acquainted with RomHacking.net, I do have an idea of what they did. For those who want to repair their broken roms or experiment with them, this was like a depot for all of that. More than that, there was also a very active community who shared what they discovered or what they had been working on, so that others may enjoy it or even improve upon them.
It has been 20 years, and they have amassed a large collection of these games. However, it is time to say goodbye as the founder of the site decided to pull the plug on it. The reason wasn't immediately clear as to why Nightcrawler, the founder of RomHacking, turned the site over to the Internet Archive, but there have been hints of clashes between Nightcrawler and the community.
According to a member of RomHacking who had been there almost since the beginning, there had been issues with the way that Nightcrawler managed the site as well as his refusal to accept any help in administering. Apart from the financial burden from the maintenance and upkeep of the site, another member cited the contentious relationship between Nightcrawler and the site's administrators to be a source of difficulty in the site's operations.
Even though RomHacking will no longer be active, it will still be available as a read-only document or page on the Internet Archive. Moreover, other rom hacking sites have also emerged over the years and will most likely take the helm in RomHacking's stead.
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