(Wondering where the name came from? Look here.)

Welcome to “You Found a Secret Area,” a blog all about the obscure, the odd, the unknown and other miscellanea about the world of pop culture. Mostly video games, but sometimes of other forms of entertainment.

You will not find this at You Found a Secret Area:

• Sizzling reviews and previews for the hottest new games. (Doesn’t mean this blog is strictly about retro games only, I play all generations of games.)
• YouTube shows with obnoxious hosts. (I’m more a writer than anything.)
• Scalding hot political takes. (Doesn’t mean this is strictly a No Politics zone, but you’re not gonna hear me talk about the state of United States politics.)
• Articles about clothing. (Bit too silly for a place like this.)

What you will find is this:

• Info about game modifications (like someone remaking the first episode of Doom and porting it to Doom 3) and retail game addons (like this third party Quake level set called Aftershock.)
• Talking about obscure budget games you might not have heard of, like a video game version of a classic game show like Concentration.
• Talking about times where video games and TV combine into some mish-mash of mediocrity. Wanted to hear my take on how CSI: Miami depicted gaming in such a ridiculous way?
• My travel experiences at gaming conventions such as PAX, Portland Retro Gaming Expo, and many others.
• Occasionally stuff in the physical realm, like a Pokemon-themed Monopoly game, travel Trivial Pursuit or an electronic The Price Is Right handheld game.
• Covering the world of music, such as how accurate NES adaptations of game shows got the theme right, to how your favorite composers love recycling their old tunes.
• Whatever else comes to mind, usually blogging junk I find at thrift stores.

I hope you enjoy what the site has to offer. This idea was in my head for years before I started it on January 2012, as there was a dire lack of places that cover some of this stuff. I’m not the first to tackle this kind of subject matter, but I hope you find what you see here interesting.

There’s also a Facebook page as well as a (currently dormant) YouTube channel.

I do this strictly as a labor of love, and don’t get paid for my work. If you love my work, leaving a comment, sharing or liking the post helps, but if you really want to support my work, I have a Ko-Fi and a Patreon that you can support. Every little bit helps!

Logo, header and background by Cassidy of the Bad Game Hall of Fame.

About the webmaster: Beverly Jane Brown (she/her or they/them) is a Portland, Oregon native who likes silly things like video game junk, outdated media formats, and dumb television.

If you wanna get in touch with me, I’m often on most social media platforms under TonicBH. Of course, you could also email me. Because this is the internet, and email will never truly die.