389: From EA to Midway: Mortal Kombat, Madden & More With Michael Rubinelli

We chat to author Richard Moss about how the golden age of shareware subverted, shook up, and reshaped the video game industry, and kept independent game development alive.  Shareware Heroes: https://sharewareheroes.com/ Please visit our amazing sponsors and help to support the show: Bitmap Books https://www.bitmapbooks.com/ Thanks to our latest Patreon backers, in the Hall of Fame this week: Jake Evans, Albert Dunberg 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/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/retrohouruk Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/retrohouruk/ Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/theretrohour Join us in Norway at Retro Messa on 20-21 August: https://retromessa.no/  Amiga 37 - 15th and 16th October Notts VGA Festival - https://www.nottsvge.com/ - 17th & 18th December 2022 Show notes:  80's video shop in Alfreton: https://80svideo.co.uk/store https://youtu.be/4PWpyv2jIuw New Alone in the Dark game: https://bit.ly/3STlrmd Live-action Pacman game in development: https://bit.ly/3T2bdA2 Doom playable on tractor: https://bit.ly/3K0jvUN New 8-bit console you build yourself - Game Tank: https://bit.ly/3K0qFIL New Dreamcast Shmup: https://bit.ly/3wA6sEf

18 Aug 20221h 29min

We take a trip back to the heyday of Atari and chat to developer Rich Adam who worked on legendary titles like Missile Command and Gravitar. Please visit our amazing sponsors and help to support the show: Bitmap Books https://www.bitmapbooks.com/ Check out PCBWay at http://pcbway.com for all your PCB needs Thanks to our latest Patreon backers, in the Hall of Fame this week: Todd Hendsbee, James Ash 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/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/retrohouruk Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/retrohouruk/ Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/theretrohour Join us in Norway at Retro Messa on 20-21 August: https://retromessa.no/  Amiga 37 - 15th and 16th October Notts VGA Festival - https://www.nottsvge.com/ - 17th & 18th December 2022 Show notes:  Steam now supports Switches retro controllers: https://bit.ly/3bMzSYv Nokia 8210 is back: https://nokia.ly/3pdGjqs Super Punch-Out!!'s secret 2 player mode: https://bit.ly/3JO9TfK Sonic Triple Trouble 16-bit remake: https://bit.ly/3JQJTjG Another Princess in Our Castle (Mario 64 horror mod): https://bit.ly/3wlV92n

11 Aug 20221h 29min

We chat to Reflections founder Martin Edmonson about the making of classics like Shadow of The Beast, Destruction Derby and the Driver series! Please visit our amazing sponsors and help to support the show: Bitmap Books https://www.bitmapbooks.com/ Thanks to our latest Patreon backers, in the Hall of Fame this week: Mikey McCorry 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/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/retrohouruk Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/retrohouruk/ Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/theretrohour Join us in Norway at Retro Messa on 20-21 August: https://retromessa.no/  Show notes:  WinAMP is back (again!): https://bit.ly/3QbA562 Final fight being proted to the Mega Drive: https://bit.ly/3JxIui3 1962's Space War released on the Analogue Pocket: https://bit.ly/3JuScl8 New retro FPS game 'Compound': https://bit.ly/3BQ8cwa Pinball Fantasies mini table: https://bit.ly/3bu7me6

4 Aug 20221h 39min

We're joined by the wonderful Ed Rotberg who was a core member of Atari's coin-op team from 1979 onwards, and worked on classics like Battlezone, S.T.U.N. Runner and Blasteroids. Please visit our amazing sponsors and help to support the show: Bitmap Books https://www.bitmapbooks.com/ Check out PCBWay at http://pcbway.com for all your PCB needs Get 3 issues of your favourite Future Publishing gaming mag (Play, Edge, Retro Gamer and PC Gamer) for just £3! https://www.magazinesdirect.com/retrohour BetterHelp - You deserve to be happy. Try the world's largest on-line therapy service and get 10% off your first month by using our link at https://www.betterhelp.com/retro Thanks to our latest Patreon backers, in the Hall of Fame this week: Mikey McCorry 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/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/retrohouruk Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/retrohouruk/ Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/theretrohour Join us in Norway at Retro Messa on 20-21 August: https://retromessa.no/  Show notes:  Was Robin Williams the world's first podcaster?: https://bit.ly/3cDtuTg Arcade Paradise simulator: https://bit.ly/3JbGNXn Lego Atari 2600: https://bit.ly/3zHcwfK All SNES manuals have been uploaded by a fan: https://bit.ly/3SkuP1U Blood re-release for PC through Limited Run: https://bit.ly/3S6RLl5

28 Juli 20221h 23min

We chat to Core Design legend Peter Connelly who worked on classics like Tomb Raider 3, The Last Revelation and The Angel of Darkness to get a fascinating inside look. Please visit our amazing sponsors and help to support the show: Bitmap Books https://www.bitmapbooks.com/ Get 3 months of ExpressVPN for FREE: https://expressvpn.com/retro Thanks to our latest Patreon backers, in the Hall of Fame this week: Edwin van den Oosterkamp, Michael Nicholson 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/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/retrohouruk Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/retrohouruk/ Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/theretrohour Join us in Norway at Retro Messa on 20-21 August: https://retromessa.no/  Show notes:  Original Xbox Live returns: https://bit.ly/3PQNHUd Pokedex cart: https://bit.ly/3PCjAQa Saturn Quake ported to PC: https://bit.ly/3PQNKiR Limewire is back: https://bit.ly/3PsuqIR Sega USB cyber stick: https://bit.ly/3PqDxtC

22 Juli 20221h 29min

We chat to Rare legend Paul Machacek to hear the fascinating story of the company's portable games, including Battletoads, the Double Dragon crossover and the cancelled Super Battletoads game. https://www.rare.co.uk/ Please visit our amazing sponsors and help to support the show: Bitmap Books https://www.bitmapbooks.com/ Thanks to our latest Patreon backers, in the Hall of Fame this week: Pete Barfield, Rob Claridge, Paul Dobek 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/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/retrohouruk Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/retrohouruk/ Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/theretrohour Show notes:  Windows 98 on Xbox Series X: https://bit.ly/3nYvAzs Next-gen Dreamcast VMU 'VM2' coming soon:  https://bit.ly/3RtHKhn Evercade THEC64 Collection: https://bit.ly/3ccmFYP 3DO M2 on MAME: https://bit.ly/3Rtzpu9 Portable TV and SNES: https://bit.ly/3uK3TP0

14 Juli 20221h 29min

We catch up with documentary makers Ant & Nic Caulfield to chat about their latest project, dedicated to the history of the Amiga 500.  What made it so special? Did piracy help or harm the machine and lots of our memories in this very nostalgic episode. The Gaming Chronicles - The Amiga 500 on Kickstarter FINAL HOURS: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/gamingchronicles/the-gaming-chronicles-episode-1-the-amiga-500 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 Grow your business today with a 14 day FREE trial of Shopify, use our link at 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/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/retrohouruk Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/retrohouruk/ Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/theretrohour Show notes:  Atari 50th anniversary collection: https://bit.ly/3PgDuA5 Our chat with Nolan Bushnell: https://bit.ly/3RgjzTF  The Simpsons Hit and Run fan remake is open world: https://bit.ly/3ypyoL5 Ron Gilbert stops giving Monkey Island updates after fan backlash: https://bit.ly/3alza3M Metal Slug for Mega Drive and Atari ST: https://bit.ly/3ysF1fq Game Cube Pico Mod Chip: https://youtu.be/qwL4ZSa0xMo

8 Juli 20221h 43min

We chat about the rarest retro Apple prototypes, a look back at classic Macs, NeXT cubes, BeOS and more with Krazy Ken from the amazing Youtube channel, The Computer Clan The Computer Clan: https://www.youtube.com/c/ComputerClan Please visit our amazing sponsors and help to support the show: Bitmap Books https://www.bitmapbooks.com/ 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/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/retrohouruk Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/retrohouruk/ Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/theretrohour Show notes:  RIP Bernie Stolar: https://bit.ly/3acYtVk Windows 98 gets a new update... in Mars!: https://bit.ly/3QWaDTn Mega Drive Mini 2 gets Mega CD add on: https://bit.ly/3a8u4ro Mega Drive Mini 2 11 more games announced: https://bit.ly/3bDbpEs Resident Evil 2 running on Sega Saturn: https://youtu.be/4FexI3TLIlQ Floppy Drive Orchestra gets upgrade: https://bit.ly/3nsVhYH Windows 95 on Mega Drive: https://youtu.be/g2hr8CgU3uM

1 Juli 20221h 32min