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

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

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 the video game crash and witnessing the dramatic Amiga chipset saga from the inside. Matt reveals what it was really like working under Jack Tramiel, converting GEM for the Atari ST in record time, and why developers had to sell snacks from their desks just to survive. He then takes us into the golden years at Epyx, creating World Games and the smash hit California Games, before moving on to 3DO, where a secret project he managed ended up helping fund Diablo.

Contents:

00:00 - The Week's Retro News Stories
54:26 - Matt Householder Interview

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Show notes

Solid Aluminium Xbox Prototype Actually Works: https://youtu.be/0OMP8JvGWNY
Lost Destruction Derby 2 Saturn Prototype Unearthed: https://tinyurl.com/5c75zhxa
James Pond Makes a Comeback on Modern Consoles: https://tinyurl.com/2s4j38wd
Castlevania Amiga Remake Gets CD32 Upgrade: https://tinyurl.com/47624rsa
Castlevania Comes to the Atari 2600 (!): https://tinyurl.com/2k5ub8f5
Sonic Finally Lands on the GX4000: https://tinyurl.com/bdm5svj2
Worms Turns 30 – Team17’s Classic Celebrated: https://tinyurl.com/mrvtutnc

Jaksot(500)

492: “My Teacher Said I Wasn’t That Good” – The Story of Worms with Andy Davidson - The Retro Hour EP492

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 g...

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491: Croc Was Meant to Be Yoshi - Then It All Changed! - Matt Porter, Argonaut Programmer - The Retro Hour EP491

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490: "I Only Found Out My Game Was in a Magazine Years Later" Rob Smith, Retro Inventor - The Retro Hour EP490

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...

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489: “Don’t Press OK – It Will Destroy Your PC!”: QA Testing at Virgin with Dave Isherwood - The Retro Hour EP489

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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 lau...

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488: "My Spectrum Caught Fire on Boxing Day!" - RetroBytes - The Retro Hour EP488

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 r...

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487: “We Cold-Called Nintendo After a Few Ciders” The Story of Enigma Variations - The Retro Hour EP487

487: “We Cold-Called Nintendo After a Few Ciders” The Story of Enigma Variations - The Retro Hour EP487

This week, we’re joined by Darren Melbourne and Mark Greenshields to unravel the untold story of British software house Enigma Variations. From bargain licensing deals for Postman Pat and Bugs Bunny t...

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486: He Cracked Games at 14, Then Made Game Genie and Rock n’ Roll Racing - The Retro Hour EP486

486: He Cracked Games at 14, Then Made Game Genie and Rock n’ Roll Racing - The Retro Hour EP486

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485: Psygnosis to PSN: Phil Gaskell on Shaping Sony’s Early Playstation Era - The Retro Hour EP485

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