Shinkansen Retrogamer Shutdown FAQ
Questions about Shinkansen Retrogamer’s future
When will Shinkansen Retrogamer close?
We have made the difficult decision to cease publication on Shinkansen Retrogamer. We will continue to serve retro gaming and retro anime until June 11, 2026. The last anime review will be March 20, 2026, and the last video game review will be April 21, 2026, one year after Pope Francis’ death.
Video games or anime with adult ratings containing graphic images or content (such as any games made by id Software) will not be reviewed due to graphic images/violence in accordance with the Substack Guidelines (with a few exceptions).
Retro gaming and retro anime will stop being served on this newsletter on June 11, 2026.
Are there any plans to go paid on this newsletter?
Since this is technically a hobby blog/newsletter, writing about retro gaming and retro anime is not a business, in any sense of the word. Medium and Substack have discouraged all Patreon and Ko-fi URLs, wanting all writers to use Stripe instead. I’m a digital illustrator and manga artist who makes art and webcomics for a living since many millennials (Gen Y) and zoomers (Gen Z) quit their day jobs, and no one seems to be manning the ship.
Many Substack and Medium publications have paywalls, which will be much more difficult for those who prefer free reads, and the blogging platforms use Stripe for payments instead of PayPal, which is not ideal for those who are online content creators (digital artists and webcomic creators), and many content creators use PayPal for both Patreon and Ko-fi instead of Stripe.
I’m the original photographer who has my picture(s) featured on this Substack newsletter.
This newsletter will continue to use pictures from Unsplash, Pixabay, Wikimedia Commons, and Pexels (either CC-BY, CC-BY-SA, or the Unsplash, Pexels, and/or Pixabay license) as described in the “About” page. No permission will be needed if the pictures are under the terms of either Creative Commons or the Unsplash, Pexels, or Pixabay license, including the public domain, as the pictures are automatically attributed to the original photographers in the captions. An email will be sent to the original photographers when it’s necessary.
For Wikimedia Commons administrators, including the Wikimedia Foundation staff: If the pictures are removed from Wikimedia Commons, please email me (which can be found in this newsletter’s “About” page), and I will remove the pictures from this newsletter accordingly. If you are concerned about your personality rights and have a right to maintain privacy, please email me and I will blur/pixelate your faces in the pictures accordingly. Please note that Shinkansen Retrogamer is run by one person and is not a commercial site.
What happened?! No plans for moving to Canada at all when you are going to live abroad?
Shinkansen Retrogamer is not growing fast enough to continue its journey because Medium’s and Substack’s audiences are becoming less interested in non-paywalled articles and newsletters and Medium’s and Substack’s algorithms now favor paywalled articles and newsletters, as the respective blogging platforms’ audiences prefer them since free reads are never going to be forthcoming. A retro gaming and retro anime hobby blog on Substack, at its core, needs to show interested people who don’t want to be faced with paywalls and don’t want to use Stripe for payments at all and we have not managed to find the right people to make it happen.
Reasons were given for the closure of this retro gaming and retro anime newsletter, including rapidly declining free reads on Medium and Substack, an increasing number of blogging platforms that do not have paywalls, the requirement to see the support coordinator every three months to help both my nieces pay for their tuition and keep them in college and university until they graduate (which will end in 2030), the GOP dominating the political landscape (house / senate) following the Democratic Party’s failures in the 2016 and 2024 presidential elections, high tariffs during the second and final Trump administration, FIFA’s accusation of sportswashing such as Morocco, Spain, and Portugal in 2030 and Saudi Arabia in 2034, surveys show that free reads on both Medium and Substack was no longer one of the reasons why the bloggers/readers prefer paywalls, the requirement to be a gentleman, no options available that involve violence, and the only option to not see the support coordinator every three months anymore is to either leave the US state or leave the country permanently. You can read this post for more information.
Americans will have to reconsider moving to Canada since the Canadian federal government has banned foreign buyers (alternate link) until the end of 2026 and is taking bold action and working with all orders of the Canadian government to build more homes and apartments faster and put homeownership and renting back within reach for more Canadians, and “moving to Canada as an American” and “how to move to Canada as an American” must be heavily downplayed on ALL search engines, including Google, in order to comply with the Canadian government’s said foreign buyer ban (I have cousins who live in Canada). The 10-year wait (Japan only, and possibly other countries) is for those who are not married or are in a civil relationship, which will be difficult if you have a family/friend emergency or a family member or friend from your native country has passed away, unless it can be shortened if married to a Japanese national. I intend to keep my American citizenship and use Japanese for Japanese friends but English for close friends and family in my home country, including Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese (I still write in English, but I will need a translator for foreign languages).
We are heartbroken to cease publication of this Substack newsletter. I hope there are other retro gaming and retro anime blogs (those that are free to read instead of having paywalls). I’ve seen people planning for a permanent US exit for Japan, Canada (after the end of 2026), the UK, France, Italy, and/or Germany, including Spain and/or Portugal, for better lives, as there are no options available that involve violence.
I’ve heard that you have been expressing interest in Tokyo, Japan, as you plan to leave the country next year, rather than taking any more vacations. You’re saying that the only option to stop seeing the support coordinator every three months is to leave the country permanently?
Yes, I have been citing interest in permanently moving to Tokyo, Japan, next year, as that country is known for anime, manga, and video games, and the country has a much lower crime rate and higher quality of life. Canadian type designer Ray Larabie of Typodermic Fonts moved to Nagoya, Japan, in 2008. The only option to not see the support coordinator every three months is to leave the country permanently.
Discussions about permanently leaving America and planning to live abroad have been ongoing since mid-April. I had to prevent my father (and not allow any person to travel with him) from going there due to me being an atheist (as Christian fathers and atheist sons don’t mix) and a fear of wasting a country to travel to following the requirement to stay in America before the 2028 presidential election.
Update: Close to final decision of moving abroad, which is the only option to stop seeing the support coordinator every three months so I can have freedom and independence.
Can I unsubscribe from this newsletter?
You can unsubscribe from the Shinkansen Retrogamer newsletter at any time by clicking the “Unsubscribe” link at the bottom of any email you’ve received.
Shinkansen Retrogamer does not have any plans for a Discord server or a subreddit on Reddit, and it is not on any other social media platforms except for a Spoutible account and a Facebook page.
Last updated 2025.10.24