517: From Zzap!64 to Thalamus: How a C64 Legend Came Back - The Retro Hour EP517

517: From Zzap!64 to Thalamus: How a C64 Legend Came Back - The Retro Hour EP517


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 100% review score, the realities of magazine bias, late-night map drawing, and the risks of going indie before “indie” was a thing. Plus, we fast-forward to the modern Thalamus revival, deluxe boxed releases, Amiga hits like Roguecraft, and why nostalgia still needs to be done properly.

Thalamus: https://www.thalamus.shop/

Contents:

00:00 - The Week's Retro News Stories
41:26 - Andy Roberts Thalamus Interview

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Show notes

Sonic R Platformer Mod: https://tinyurl.com/mu6e538j
Lemmings Reloaded On C64: https://tinyurl.com/hh856em2
Lost Beavis & Butt-Head Game: https://tinyurl.com/h8wt9um9
The Last Of Us Demake: https://tinyurl.com/2abjtn6c
Gamebox For Classic Mac: https://manticore.nz/gamebox

Jaksot(500)

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511: Retro Gaming Christmas Quiz 2025 – The Retro Hour EP511

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509: “This Shouldn’t Be Possible on an Amiga 500!” – H0ffman - Demoscene and Game Ports – The Retro Hour Podcast EP509

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508: "The 3DO M2 demo was mind-blowing... we were dying to ship it!" – Michael Devine (Former 3DO VP of Sales) – The Retro Hour Podcast EP508

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507: "A Single MP3 is Bigger Than the NES Library!" – eXo on Emulation, BBS Days & Saving DOS Classics – The Retro Hour Podcast EP507

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This week, we’re joined by eXo, the visionary behind the colossal eXoDOS emulation project, dedicated to preserving DOS, Windows 3.x, and interactive fiction games in all their original (and often qui...

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This week, we catch up with the ever-inventive Ctrl-Alt-Rees in his brand new studio. Rees shares his latest projects, retro tech obsessions, and the bizarre story of a Japanese teaching computer with...

14 Marras 20251h 54min

505: “I Presented the Amiga Chipset to Atari… and Everyone Freaked Out!” - Atari's Matt Householder - The Retro Hour Podcast EP505

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From hating Pong to working for Atari, this week we chat with Matt Householder.  From his early days at Gaming Devices Inc. and designing the arcade classic Krull, through to joining Atari right after...

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