New Arcades For Elegant Living - This Week In Retro 269

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If you've had a hard time getting arcade cabinet purchases past "The Accountant" (as Chris affectionately calls Nicky) a new transformable design from furniture to fun on Kickstarter may be the solution. In addition to the marital politics of arcade ownership, this unprecedented episode of This Week in Retro also takes on the international politics of song through LOOK MUM NO COMPUTER's retro tech-themed contribution to Eurovision and the Australian politics of microcomputer innovation, which culminated in "The Matilda." All this, a Minty Cyberdeck, a replacement for the Atari POKEY, and more!

ERRATA: Jason accidentally says "Atari 2600" at 19:22. He of course meant to say "Atari 600XL," the 16k microcomputer.

00:00 - Show Opening

01:47 - Small Solutions To Big Tech Problems Story Link: https://newatlas.com/games/swap-arcade-gaming-system-folds-into-cabinet/ https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/amat/swap-arcade-full-arcade-that-turns-into-a-furniture-cabinet/description Swap Arcade Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/amat/swap-arcade-full-arcade-that-turns-into-a-furniture-cabinet Minty Cyberdeck: https://hackaday.io/project/205598-altoids-tin-mini-cyberdeck

14:34 - From Beetles to Bees Story Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idt-g_UQbqw Aussie JSW: https://jswcentral.org/jsw48-a-59_aussiecousin.html

23:06 - Housekeeping - News links found below

28:16 - Look Mum, One Point! Story Link: https://news.sky.com/story/who-is-look-mum-no-computer-the-electro-frankenstein-hoping-to-end-uks-eurovision-drought-13544400 Furby Organ: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYLBjScgb7o

34:30 - Community Question of the Week

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This Week in Retro is a weekly roundup of the hottest stories from the world of retro gaming and computing, voted on by you, the listener! Hosted by Chris from 005 AGIMA, Jason from The Retro Adventurers and Dave. Edited by Duncan Styles.

News In Brief Links

Isometric Wolf3D: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S59w7Qeu9D4

Atic Atac 3D: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EofGuoLeSrQ

Vacuum tubes: https://hackaday.com/2026/05/11/the-vacuum-tubes-last-stands/

ThamesTV 1980s Computers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_IzLdfVK2k

Windows CE on Nintendo 64: https://hackaday.com/2026/05/17/running-windows-ce-on-the-nintendo-64/

Digital Press forums offline: https://www.timeextension.com/news/2026/05/thanks-for-destroying-your-own-legacy-quarter-century-of-online-gaming-history-vanishes-as-digital-press-forum-goes-dark

JUST_POKEY: https://lotharek.pl/productdetail.php?id=431

Infocom novels online: https://www.reddit.com/r/zork/comments/1tbv4cb/classic_zork_novels_now_in_ebook_format/