The Retro Hour (Retro Gaming Podcast)

Synth musician, performer and self-described “bleakwave” artist Paulee Alex Bow joins us. We explore dark ’80s music and an love for the Commodore Amiga. Paulee reveals how OctaMED became the heart of a modern hardware-synth setup, why original machines can't be replaced, and what it takes to perform live with two Amigas in tow. We also hear about the Arcade Dreams soundtrack, haunted synths, Amig...

This week, we’re joined by legendary documentary makers Ant and Nic Caulfield, the team behind From Bedrooms to Billions, The Amiga Years and The Rubber-Keyed Wonder, as they return to celebrate one of the most iconic home computers ever made: the Commodore 64.  Commodore 64: The Birth of a Cultural Icon on Kickstarter: https://lnk.ua/TRJ0cmHX1 Contents: 00:00 – The Week’s Retro News Stories 56:23...

This week we’re joined by Brian Watson, formerly of DMA Design who worked on the Atari ST version of Lemmings 1 and 2, and porting it to the Atari Lynx.  He later worked for Iguana Entertainment, Acclaim, working on Turok, N64 audio drivers and clever memory systems used across dozens of games. Brian shares brilliant stories from the trenches of 16-bit and 32-bit development, the challenge of maki...

Rob Landeros joins us to share the incredible story behind Trilobyte and The 7th Guest, from discovering the Amiga and working at Cinemaware and Virgin, to teaming up with Graeme Devine and helping ignite the CD-ROM revolution with one of the most iconic FMV horror puzzlers of the 1990s.  The 7th Guest Remake: https://the7thguestremake.com/ Diddly on Kickstarter: https://lnk.ua/9XeHAcgxM Contents:...

This week we’re joined by veteran programmer Colin Porch, whose career took him through some of the biggest names in British gaming history, including Imagine, Software Projects and Ocean Software. Colin shares stories of Imagine’s dramatic collapse, converting arcade hits like Dragon’s Lair, Operation Wolf and Gryzor to home micros, the infamous lost Parasol Stars C64 port, and the technical wiza...

This week we’re joined by video game music expert Matt Ombler, head of music and gaming partnerships at Laced, to explore the incredible world of game soundtracks, from Sonic on the Mega Drive and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater shaping a generation’s music taste, to Wipeout, Halo 2, retro sound chips, vinyl reissues and the growing importance of preserving game music history. Matt also shares stories from...

This week, we’re joined by Wingham Rowan, creator and host of the pioneering ’90s ITV show cyber.cafe . Long before YouTube, Twitch, Tinder and social media, cyber.cafe explored the strange, funny and sometimes shocking human stories emerging from the early internet, from chat room romances and online communities to JenniCam, alien abductees, moral panics, bizarre websites and late-night web cultu...

This week, we’re joined by Elite Systems co-founder Steve Wilcox for a journey through one of the most important names in British gaming history. Steve shares how a family business in the West Midlands evolved from mail-order cassette games into a major force of the 8-bit era, publishing hits like Airwolf, Commando, Ghosts ’n Goblins, Bomb Jack and Paperboy.  Chuckie Egg for iOS: https://tinyurl.c...

Inside Psygnosis: WipEout, PlayStation and the Rave Generation - The Retro Hour EP531 This week we’re joined by former Psygnosis PR manager Glen O’Connell for a brilliant journey through one of the most exciting eras in British gaming. Glen shares stories from Liverpool’s arcade and computer shop scene, his move from rave music promotion into games, and his time at Psygnosis during the huge shift...

This week, we’re joined by Stuart Cox, artist at the legendary Midland studio Gargoyle Games, for a brilliant trip through the golden age of British 8-bit development. Stuart shares how he went from the Dragon 32 and early arcade obsessions to working on Scooby-Doo, Light Force, Shockway Rider, Hydrofool, ThunderCats and more, with stories of rapid-fire development, clever tricks to push the ZX Sp...

This week, we’re joined by Larry Kuperman, former VP of Business Development at Nightdive Studios, former Business Development Manager at GameStop, Stardock veteran, and co-founder of the IGDA Ann Arbor Chapter. Larry shares incredible stories from the business side of games, from discovering Wolfenstein 3D on a mighty 486, selling custom PCs in the ’90s, and Stardock’s early digital distribution...

This week, we’re joined by John Mathieson, the hardware designer best known as the father of the Atari Jaguar. John takes us through an extraordinary career that began at Sinclair Research on the ZX Spectrum, before moving through ambitious and often misunderstood projects including Loki, the Konix Multisystem, Atari’s Panther and Jaguar, and later the Nuon. Along the way, he shares brilliant behi...

On this week’s podcast, we celebrate 42 years of the Amstrad CPC with special guest Jo Cook, who takes us deep inside the Amstrad scene of the late 80s and 90s. From growing up with a CPC 464 and helping run the legendary King Arthur’s Domain PD library and Merlin-Serve, to writing for Amstrad Action and seeing the community evolve into the modern day, Jo shares a warm, funny and fascinating insid...

On this week’s podcast, we’re joined by Galloping Ghost Arcade owner Doc Mack and filmmaker Craig Bass to explore the story behind one of the most legendary arcades on the planet. From Doc’s earliest memories of Pong and the golden age of the arcade, to rare prototypes like Primal Rage 2 and the making of Craig’s upcoming documentary Ghostlord and the Quest for Dark Presence, this is a fascinating...

On this week’s podcast, we’re joined by Alexander Danielian, the Electronics Boutique retail manager whose Sunset Galleria store became Sega’s official US Dreamcast launch location on the legendary 9/9/99 release day. Alexander takes us inside one of the wildest retail events in gaming history, from building Dreamcast hype against all odds and working directly with Sega and Bernie Stolar, to the m...

Step back into the underground world of 90s dial-up piracy as we’re joined by Beast of Quartex, SysOp of Arcadia, once the largest pirate bulletin board system in the UK. From trading disks in the post to running a five-line elite BBS packed with the latest cracked Amiga games, Beast shares how the scene really worked: the hierarchy, the rivalries, and the race to release first. Plus, the secret w...

Alex Sulman joins us to share his journey from typing in code on the ZX Spectrum to designing major titles at Sony, Blizzard, DICE and beyond. We hear about his early days in QA at Sony Cambridge, working on classics like Medievil, Frogger and Primal, and hear behind-the-scenes stories from PlayStation’s golden era, the launch of the PS2 and PS3. Alex also discusses developing 24: The Game, contri...

This week we’re joined by Vincent Bitetti, former CEO of TDK Mediactive, for a fascinating look at one of gaming’s most unusual industry journeys. Starting in the early days of BBS networks and sound-effect licensing, including iconic properties like Star Wars, Star Trek, and Babylon 5, Vincent helped pioneer digital media distribution before leading TDK’s push into video games during the CD-ROM b...

This week we’re joined by David Oghia, the man behind the upcoming Vectrex Mini. We explore his journey from discovering the ZX81 in the early 80s to working on official Star Wars publications and visiting Skywalker Ranch, before diving into the revival of one of gaming’s most unique consoles. David explains why the original vector-display Vectrex remains so special, the challenges of recreating i...

This week, we’re joined by Core Design artist and animator Billy Allison, whose incredible career spans hand-drawn children’s TV classics like SuperTed and The Forgotten Toys through to iconic 16-bit games including Chuck Rock, Wonder Dog, Bubba 'n' Stix and more. Billy shares how he went from experimenting with animation on a ZX Spectrum and Deluxe Paint to pushing early 3D on Shadow Man and revi...

This week we’re joined by Hilary Goldstein and Dave Clayman, two of the voices behind IGN’s legendary Three Red Lights podcast, the loud, chaotic and gloriously irreverent Xbox 360 show that helped define mid-2000s gaming culture. From sleeping on office couches and playing Halo 2 before anyone else, to Don King promos, 50 Cent interviews and the early days of podcasting when you had to manually d...

This week we’re joined by Todd Hayes, original US CEO of GameShark, the device that changed how a generation played games. From arcade beginnings to building a $252 million video game empire, Todd shares the story of bringing Action Replay to America, battling Sony in court, navigating Nintendo’s lockout chips, and launching the ambitious SharkWire online service for the N64. We also hear aboutthe...

This week we’re catching up with Andy Robert of the legendary Thalamus Software, for a chat about one of the most fascinating careers of the 8-bit era. From discovering computers via library games and typing in listings, to writing for Zzap!64 and Commodore Format, Andy shares incredible stories from the golden age of the Commodore 64. We dig into Creatures, Mayhem in Monsterland and that infamous...

This week on The Retro Hour, we’re getting hands-on with the unsung heroes of gaming: video game controllers! We’re joined by Christian Wenk, author of Trigger Happy, a stunning visual celebration of over 200 iconic (and sometimes downright bizarre) controllers from gaming history. From mushy Commodore joysticks to the ergonomic oddities of the N64 and beyond, Christian shares the nostalgic storie...

What makes a truly great gaming community? Sean Baptiste, who helped grow Harmonix’s forum from a dozen diehards to hundreds of thousands of fans, shares what it really takes. From the secret struggles behind QA on Karaoke Revolution, to rocking out with the stars at the Grammys, Sean reflects on how fan feedback shaped Rock Band, how social media changed the game, and why authentic engagement sti...