The Retro Hour (Retro Gaming Podcast)

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 Spectrum, digitised graphics, Rob Hubbard’s incredible turnaround times, the truth behind the “Wolf” and “Samurai Dawn” confusion, and even the lost ThunderCats NES port. A proper behind-the-scenes look at one of the UK’s most fascinating 1980s game studios.
Stuart's current project: https://www.wireadmin.com
Contents:
00:00 – The Week’s Retro News Stories
50:41 – Gargoyle Games Interview
Please visit our amazing sponsors and help to support the show:
Bitmap Books – https://www.bitmapbooks.com
Check out PCBWay at https://pcbway.com for all your PCB needs
We need your help to ensure the future of the podcast, if you’d like to help us with running costs, equipment and hosting, please consider supporting us on Patreon:
https://theretrohour.com/support/
https://www.patreon.com/retrohour
Join our Discord channel: https://discord.gg/GQw8qp8
Website: http://theretrohour.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theretrohour/
X: https://twitter.com/retrohouruk
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/retrohouruk/
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/theretrohour.com
Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/theretrohour
Show notes
A1200 Delayed: https://tinyurl.com/yfzd3wdd
Tomb Raider Side-Scroller: https://tinyurl.com/msn72sab
Tomb Raider On N64: https://tinyurl.com/bdfz8zds
C64 And Spectrum Handhelds: https://tinyurl.com/mwv2bj88
Zapped To The Past: https://tinyurl.com/2rvzth58
Cancelled Simpsons Game Revealed: https://tinyurl.com/4444m3aa
Ask.com Shuts Down: https://tinyurl.com/mr467yby
Resident Evil Teaser Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJPu1spHqfk

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 gamble, to GameStop’s attempt to compete with Steam and Nightdive’s mission to bring classics like Turok, System Shock, Star Wars: Dark Forces and more back to life. We also dig into DRM, lost source code, game preservation, and why classic games are art worth saving.
Contents:
00:00 – The Week’s Retro News Stories
49:20 – Larry Kuperman Interview
Please visit our amazing sponsors and help to support the show:
Bitmap Books – https://www.bitmapbooks.com
Go to https://surfshark.com/retrohour or use code RETROHOUR at checkout to get 4 extra months of Surfshark VPN!
Nottingham Gaming Market:  https://www.nottinghamgamingmarket.com/
Check out PCBWay at https://pcbway.com for all your PCB needs
We need your help to ensure the future of the podcast, if you’d like to help us with running costs, equipment and hosting, please consider supporting us on Patreon:
https://theretrohour.com/support/
https://www.patreon.com/retrohour
Join our Discord channel: https://discord.gg/GQw8qp8
Website: http://theretrohour.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theretrohour/
X: https://twitter.com/retrohouruk
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/retrohouruk/
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/theretrohour.com
Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/theretrohour
Show notes
VCF Bomb Scare: https://tinyurl.com/c4k2kb27
Resi 4 On Dreamcast: https://tinyurl.com/ud4v8t69
Commodore 64C Returns: https://commodore.net/
GoatBeat Hits C64: https://tinyurl.com/4cebch5b
Majora’s Mask On Vita: https://tinyurl.com/8dzxj937
Warhammer Classics Return: https://youtu.be/crVfMM3by_k

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 behind-the-scenes stories about working with Clive Sinclair, Jeff Minter and the Tramiel-era Atari team, and reflects on the technical ideas, challenges and missed opportunities behind some of gaming’s most fascinating machines.  
Contents:
00:00 – The Week’s Retro News Stories
53:08 – John Mathieson Interview
Please visit our amazing sponsors and help to support the show:
Bitmap Books – https://www.bitmapbooks.com
Go to https://surfshark.com/retrohour or use code RETROHOUR at checkout to get 4 extra months of Surfshark VPN!
Nottingham Gaming Market:  https://www.nottinghamgamingmarket.com/
Check out PCBWay at https://pcbway.com for all your PCB needs
We need your help to ensure the future of the podcast, if you’d like to help us with running costs, equipment and hosting, please consider supporting us on Patreon:
https://theretrohour.com/support/
https://www.patreon.com/retrohour
Join our Discord channel: https://discord.gg/GQw8qp8
Website: http://theretrohour.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theretrohour/
X: https://twitter.com/retrohouruk
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/retrohouruk/
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/theretrohour.com
Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/theretrohour
Show notes
Stunt Car Racer 60FPS Update: https://tinyurl.com/48auryjz
Stunt Car Racer Multiplayer: https://tinyurl.com/4juw2a99
Pokémon Adventure Demo: https://tinyurl.com/2bcntp4u
Crystian And The Lost Crystals: https://tinyurl.com/4ju936w9
DS And PSP Screen Fix: https://tinyurl.com/4mphcth5
SuperSega Creator Returns: https://tinyurl.com/5eezr29v
Sega RPG Returns: https://tinyurl.com/nw8jupxa

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 insider’s view of one of Britain’s most beloved computer scenes.
UK Amstrad Group: https://www.ukag.org.uk/
Contents:
00:00 – The Week’s Retro News Stories
49:16 – Amstrad Group Interview
Please visit our amazing sponsors and help to support the show:
Bitmap Books – https://www.bitmapbooks.com
Go to https://surfshark.com/retrohour or use code RETROHOUR at checkout to get 4 extra months of Surfshark VPN!
Nottingham Gaming Market:  https://www.nottinghamgamingmarket.com/
Check out PCBWay at https://pcbway.com for all your PCB needs
We need your help to ensure the future of the podcast, if you’d like to help us with running costs, equipment and hosting, please consider supporting us on Patreon:
https://theretrohour.com/support/
https://www.patreon.com/retrohour
Join our Discord channel: https://discord.gg/GQw8qp8
Website: http://theretrohour.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theretrohour/
X: https://twitter.com/retrohouruk
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/retrohouruk/
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/theretrohour.com
Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/theretrohour
Show notes
New Neo Geo Hardware?: https://tinyurl.com/n8eheyw9
Mac OS X on Wii: https://tinyurl.com/4rzxpk76
Eclipse Blade Emerges: https://tinyurl.com/23eewcua
Miracle Boy on Atari ST: https://tinyurl.com/453duhke
Ground Zero Terror: https://tinyurl.com/42me5wh8
Mario on Master System: https://tinyurl.com/4bn4zzpx

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 look at arcade history, preservation, and the passion that keeps these classic games alive.
Ghostlord movie: https://www.ghostlordsquest.com/
Galloping Ghost arcade: https://www.gallopingghostarcade.com/
Contents:
00:00 – The Week’s Retro News Stories
46:30 – Galloping Ghost Interview
Please visit our amazing sponsors and help to support the show:
Bitmap Books – https://www.bitmapbooks.com
Go to https://surfshark.com/retrohour or use code RETROHOUR at checkout to get 4 extra months of Surfshark VPN!
Play Expo Blackpool: https://www.playexpoblackpool.com/
Check out PCBWay at https://pcbway.com for all your PCB needs
We need your help to ensure the future of the podcast, if you’d like to help us with running costs, equipment and hosting, please consider supporting us on Patreon:
https://theretrohour.com/support/
https://www.patreon.com/retrohour
Join our Discord channel: https://discord.gg/GQw8qp8
Website: http://theretrohour.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theretrohour/
X: https://twitter.com/retrohouruk
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/retrohouruk/
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/theretrohour.com
Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/theretrohour
Show notes
DVD on Dreamcast: https://youtu.be/ntj_tUHKAaE
Castle Adventure for Amstrad: https://tinyurl.com/29dt5k46
PS1 Emulator Adds VR: https://tinyurl.com/2hzn7e6x
Pond Versus Bond: https://tinyurl.com/yau26n3j
C64 Impossible Mission Sequel Announced: https://youtu.be/lMvGh1azQ7o
Dolphin Adds Game Boy Player: https://tinyurl.com/ycy3rdnp