492: “My Teacher Said I Wasn’t That Good” – The Story of Worms with Andy Davidson - The Retro Hour EP492
This week, we chat with Andy Davidson, the creator of the legendary game Worms. Andy shares how a quirky artillery game made on a school Amiga evolved into one of the most recognisable franchises in gaming history. From ripping sprites out of Lemmings for a laugh, to a five-minute pitch that landed him a publishing deal with Team17, plus some updates on the upcoming Worms Director's Cut 1.5 for the Amiga!
Andy Davidson on X: https://x.com/totalwormage
Contents:
00:00 - The Week's Retro News Stories
35:31 - Andy Davidson Interview
Please visit our amazing sponsors and help to support the show:
Crawley Gaming Market: https://www.crawleygamingmarket.com/
Bitmap Books - https://www.bitmapbooks.com
Take your business to the next level today and enjoy 3 months of Shopify for £1/month: https://shopify.co.uk/retrohour
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
Get your Retro Hour merchandise: https://bit.ly/33OWBKd
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
Rare's 40th Anniversary Blue Plaque: https://tinyurl.com/yfvut7sc
Rare Evercade Collection: https://tinyurl.com/bdd3emcb
Rare Vinyl Set: https://tinyurl.com/4puzktvw
Rick Dangerous Mega Drive Port: https://tinyurl.com/ydr25k9f
Zelda Homage NES-Style Spin-Off: https://tinyurl.com/4ahudfru
Groundbreaking Game Descent’s Anniversary: https://tinyurl.com/tddfybfa
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1:40:59
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1:40:59
491: Croc Was Meant to Be Yoshi - Then It All Changed! - Matt Porter, Argonaut Programmer - The Retro Hour EP491
This week we’re joined by Matt Porter, former programmer at Argonaut Software and one of the key developers behind Croc: Legend of the Gobbos. Matt shares inside stories from the development of titles like Creature Shock, Scooby-Doo Mysteries, and SWAT: Global Strike Team, delves into the challenges of porting games across wildly different platforms, and teases some fascinating lost betas and unreleased gems he’s been finding on 30-year-old hard drives.
Dovetail Games: https://dovetailgames.com/
Contents:
00:00 - The Week's Retro News Stories
37:40 - Matt Porter Interview
Please visit our amazing sponsors and help to support the show:
Sheffield Gaming Market: https://www.sheffieldgamingmarket.com/
Bitmap Books - https://www.bitmapbooks.com
Take your business to the next level today and enjoy 3 months of Shopify for £1/month: https://shopify.co.uk/retrohour
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
Get your Retro Hour merchandise: https://bit.ly/33OWBKd
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
James Pond Revival and AI Campaign: https://tinyurl.com/9wafa3zx
Bitmap Bureau Terminator Game Delay: https://tinyurl.com/yry357hp
Game Gear Camera Mod Using GBC Hardware: https://tinyurl.com/msrus64r
Rare 3DO M2 Console Withdrawn from Sale: https://tinyurl.com/4z6hv5h7
Super Mario Bros. Remastered Coming to PC: https://tinyurl.com/4dmy62vk
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1:39:11
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1:39:11
490: "I Only Found Out My Game Was in a Magazine Years Later" Rob Smith, Retro Inventor - The Retro Hour EP490
This week’s guest is Rob Smith: the mad‑scientist of the retro scene. Rob takes us on a tour of his wild inventions—from a disco‑themed floppy‑disk cleaning workstation that actually plays tunes, to a full‑scale whack‑a‑mole game controlled by an Amiga via Arduino and AMOS, and his glowing levitating Boing Ball built with magnets and LEDs. He also talks about the Retro Directory, disc backup stations, and his journey from VIC 20 BASIC to making modern retro PD titles.
Rob Smith's website: https://robsmithdev.co.uk/
Contents:
00:00 - The Week's Retro News Stories
47:48 - Dave Isherwood Interview
Please visit our amazing sponsors and help to support the show:
Sheffield Gaming Market: https://www.sheffieldgamingmarket.com/
Bitmap Books - https://www.bitmapbooks.com
Take your business to the next level today and enjoy 3 months of Shopify for £1/month: https://shopify.co.uk/retrohour
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
Get your Retro Hour merchandise: https://bit.ly/33OWBKd
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
Atari Classics in Volkswagen Vehicles: https://tinyurl.com/wfner8j2
Paprium Flash Cart Release: https://tinyurl.com/2ucerftm
Metro’s Top 20 Amiga Games: https://tinyurl.com/ftz5y86h
Grant Sinclair Gamercard: https://tinyurl.com/nzc9uuem
Atari x Pac-Man Collection – Limited Edition 2600+: https://tinyurl.com/47ar835w
Atari 50 Namco DLC: https://tinyurl.com/bd8xczzs
Modern SNES Handheld in Development: https://tinyurl.com/45c8u3jn
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1:31:06
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1:31:06
489: “Don’t Press OK – It Will Destroy Your PC!”: QA Testing at Virgin with Dave Isherwood - The Retro Hour EP489
his week, we go behind the scenes of ’90s game testing with QA veteran Dave Isherwood! From the chaos of Virgin Interactive’s wild office parties to uncovering show-stopping bugs just hours before launch. Hear about the day Virgin fell apart, the mystery of the deadly red screen, and why he had to fake losing video game tournaments.
Contents:
00:00 - The Week's Retro News Stories
37:37 - Dave Isherwood Interview
Please visit our amazing sponsors and help to support the show:
Bitmap Books - https://www.bitmapbooks.com
Take your business to the next level today and enjoy 3 months of Shopify for £1/month: https://shopify.co.uk/retrohour
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
Get your Retro Hour merchandise: https://bit.ly/33OWBKd
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
Commodore 64 Ultimate Edition: https://www.commodore.net/
Rare Sega Genesis Re-Release: https://tinyurl.com/5n6ftw5a
Worms Forever Game Boy Mod: https://tinyurl.com/8j86zb7b
Beat ’Em Up Collection – QUByte Classics: https://tinyurl.com/mr4nuuxk
YouTuber Copyright Lawsuit: https://tinyurl.com/jbdjdmr5
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1:31:08
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1:31:08
488: "My Spectrum Caught Fire on Boxing Day!" - RetroBytes - The Retro Hour EP488
This week, we’re joined by John from the awesome YouTube channel RetroBytes - a creator who dives into the obscure corners of computing history. From his childhood memories of a flaming Spectrum, to restoring Unix workstations, the beauty of operating systems that time forgot, and why Gopher might’ve beaten the web, if not for one fatal mistake.
RetroBytes on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@RetroBytesUK
Contents:
00:00 - The Week's Retro News Stories
40:03 - RetroBytes Interview
Please visit our amazing sponsors and help to support the show:
Bitmap Books - https://www.bitmapbooks.com
Take your business to the next level today and enjoy 3 months of Shopify for £1/month: https://shopify.co.uk/retrohour
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
Events:
The Amiga at 40: https://tinyurl.com/4wu2866h
NottsVGE: https://www.nottsvge.com/
RetroMessa: https://www.retromessa.no/
Show notes
Xbox Mass Lay Offs: https://tinyurl.com/47t45sum
New Jazz Mag: https://www.supercellphonegamer.com/
GameCube to Switch 2 Dock: https://tinyurl.com/5k32x59t
Flipping Good Game: https://tinyurl.com/bddecmvz
3D Print with Accuracy: https://tinyurl.com/37t6zwsz
UK