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

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/

Avsnitt(500)

472: RogueCraft: Making The Ultimate Modern Amiga Game - The Retro Hour EP472

472: RogueCraft: Making The Ultimate Modern Amiga Game - The Retro Hour EP472

This week, we chat to the creators of RogueCraft, a stunning new Amiga title that recently won an award at the Debug Indie game awards. Ricki and Henning from Badger Punch Games tell us about their ro...

21 Mars 20251h 37min

471: The Elder Scrolls: How It All Began with VJ Lakshman - The Retro Hour EP471

471: The Elder Scrolls: How It All Began with VJ Lakshman - The Retro Hour EP471

This week, we hear about the origins of The Elder Scrolls with the legendary VJ Lakshman, co-creator and a key figure in Bethesda Softworks’ early days. From the D&D roots of Elder Scrolls, and how pr...

14 Mars 20251h 41min

470: GOG: Meet the Heroes Saving Your Favourite Childhood Games - The Retro Hour EP470

470: GOG: Meet the Heroes Saving Your Favourite Childhood Games - The Retro Hour EP470

We chat with Marcin Paczyński, Senior Business Development Manager at Good Old Game, and Adam Ziółkowski, Technical Engineer, to hear about their new Preservation Program. Launched in November 2024, t...

7 Mars 20251h 35min

469: Behind the Scenes of GTA 3 & Guitar Hero with Kelly Sumner - The Retro Hour EP469

469: Behind the Scenes of GTA 3 & Guitar Hero with Kelly Sumner - The Retro Hour EP469

In part two of our epic interview with Kelly Sumner, we move beyond Commodore and into his time at GameTek and Take-Two Interactive. Kelly shares behind-the-scenes stories from the launch of GTA 3 and...

28 Feb 20251h 30min

468: What Really Killed Commodore? UK MD Kelly Sumner Tells All - The Retro Hour EP468

468: What Really Killed Commodore? UK MD Kelly Sumner Tells All - The Retro Hour EP468

In the first part of our epic two part interview, we sit down with Kelly Sumner, former Managing Director of Commodore UK, to hear the highs and lows of his 15-year journey at the legendary company. F...

21 Feb 20251h 34min

467: The Games of a Lifetime with Jaz Rignall -  - The Retro Hour EP467

467: The Games of a Lifetime with Jaz Rignall - - The Retro Hour EP467

We catch up with legendary games journalist Julian 'Jaz' Rignall about his epic new book, The Games of a Lifetime, which is a video game time machine that takes you on an incredible journey from the v...

14 Feb 20251h 38min

466: Deus Ex, System Shock & Origin Systems: Harvey Smith Tells All - The Retro Hour EP466

466: Deus Ex, System Shock & Origin Systems: Harvey Smith Tells All - The Retro Hour EP466

This week, we chat to Harvey Smith, the legendary designer behind Deus Ex, System Shock, and Area 51! From his early days playing D&D and Ultima Underworld to working at Origin Systems on Super Wing C...

7 Feb 20251h 39min

465: ZX Spectrum, GamesMaster & Retro Nostalgia with Rose Tinted Spectrum - The Retro Hour EP465

465: ZX Spectrum, GamesMaster & Retro Nostalgia with Rose Tinted Spectrum - The Retro Hour EP465

This week, we chat to Dave from the wonderfully nostalgic Youtube channel Rose Tinted Spectrum.  From growing up in the arcades of Blackpool to his love of ZX Spectrum budget games, his hilarious take...

31 Jan 20251h 29min

Populärt inom Fritid

somna-med-henrik
uggla-ugglas-podcast
man-i-grupp
roda-vita-rosen
svenska-fpl-podden
rss-livsreglerna
rss-max-tant-med-max-villman
travpodden
elbilsveckan
bilar-med-sladd
rss-horrujeje
avsuttet-med-elsa-johanna
spokhistorier
rss-speljuntan
hemnetknarkarna-podcast
sexet
nordigt
kontrollbehov
skillnadens-av-sara-backmo
rss-algjagare-emellan