The Retro Hour (Retro Gaming Podcast)25 Apr 2025

477: American McGee - From Doom to Dark Wonderland - The Retro Hour EP477

We’re joined by legendary game developer American McGee, who takes us on a journey from his humble beginnings on the Timex Sinclair and Commodore 64 to designing iconic levels for Doom II and Quake. He shares behind-the-scenes stories from iD Software, reveals how a Ferrari-driving neighbour turned out to be John Carmack, and discusses the gothic inspirations behind American McGee’s Alice. Plus, we hear about his time at EA, and why being fired from iD turned out to be one of the best things that ever happened to him!

Contents:

00:00 - The Week's Retro News Stories
35:28 - American McGee 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

The Retro Hour Book: https://retrohour.myshopify.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/
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

YouTube Turns 20: https://tinyurl.com/mrx88ybs
Windows on Game Boy: https://tinyurl.com/25mkwpdp
OutRun the Movie: https://tinyurl.com/5n6r8ntk
Neon Hearts City: https://tinyurl.com/yvezebcn

Upcoming events

RetCon 2025 – https://retconfestival.co.uk/
PT1210 – https://www.ptweekender.com/
RetroMessa – https://www.retromessa.no/

Det här avsnittet är hämtat från ett öppet RSS-flöde och publiceras inte av Podme. Det kan innehålla reklam.

Avsnitt(500)

541: Colin McRae, Batman & AstroBurn: From Games to Hollywood… and Back - The Retro Hour EP541

This week's guest is Haz Dulull whose career has taken him from creating FMV and cinematics for games like Colin McRae Rally and Battalion Wars, to working on blockbuster films including The Dark Knig...

24 Juli 1h 49min

540: Netflix DIDN’T Kill Blockbuster — Here’s What Really Happened - The Retro Hour EP540

This week, we’re joined by former Blockbuster franchisee Alan Payne, author of Built to Fail, for the inside story of the video & game rental giant’s spectacular collapse. Alan reveals why Netflix and...

17 Juli 1h 41min

539: OctaMED, Amigas and Dark 80s Music - The Retro Hour EP539

Synth musician, performer and self-described “bleakwave” artist Paulee Alex Bow joins us. We explore dark ’80s music and an love for the Commodore Amiga. Paulee reveals how OctaMED became the heart of...

10 Juli 1h 49min

538: Commodore 64: The Birth of a Cultural Icon - The Retro Hour EP538

This week, we’re joined by legendary documentary makers Ant and Nic Caulfield, the team behind From Bedrooms to Billions, The Amiga Years and The Rubber-Keyed Wonder, as they return to celebrate one o...

3 Juli 1h 54min

537: The Man Who Made Lemmings Work On Atari ST: DMA Design's Brian Watson - The Retro Hour EP537

This week we’re joined by Brian Watson, formerly of DMA Design who worked on the Atari ST version of Lemmings 1 and 2, and porting it to the Atari Lynx. He later worked for Iguana Entertainment, Accl...

26 Juni 1h 31min

536: The 7th Guest: The Inside Story with Trilobyte's Rob Landeros - The Retro Hour EP536

Rob Landeros joins us to share the incredible story behind Trilobyte and The 7th Guest, from discovering the Amiga and working at Cinemaware and Virgin, to teaming up with Graeme Devine and helping ig...

18 Juni 1h 50min

535: The Game That Took 37 Years to Finish: Ocean Software's Colin Porch - The Retro Hour EP535

This week we’re joined by veteran programmer Colin Porch, whose career took him through some of the biggest names in British gaming history, including Imagine, Software Projects and Ocean Software. Co...

11 Juni 1h 49min

534: How Games Like Wipeout and Tony Hawk Changed the Music Industry - The Retro Hour EP534

This week we’re joined by video game music expert Matt Ombler, head of music and gaming partnerships at Laced, to explore the incredible world of game soundtracks, from Sonic on the Mega Drive and Ton...

5 Juni 1h 40min