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

Please visit our amazing sponsors and help to support the show:

Doncaster Gaming Market: https://www.doncastergamingmarket.com/

Bitmap Books - https://www.bitmapbooks.com

Check out PCBWay at https://pcbway.com for all your PCB needs

Take your business to the next level today and enjoy 3 months of Shopify for £1/month: 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

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

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

Avsnitt(500)

496: "The SID Chip Was My First Love” - Jeroen Tel: Maniacs of Noise - The Retro Hour EP496

496: "The SID Chip Was My First Love” - Jeroen Tel: Maniacs of Noise - The Retro Hour EP496

This week we catch up with legendary C64 composer Jeroen Tel of Maniacs of Noise fame. Jeroen takes us back to the early days of programming music directly in machine code, pushing the SID chip to its...

5 Sep 20251h 24min

495: PS1 Demo Discs, Bedroom Coders and FMV Revival - Indie Games That Changed The World - The Retro Hour EP495

495: PS1 Demo Discs, Bedroom Coders and FMV Revival - Indie Games That Changed The World - The Retro Hour EP495

We're joined by games journalist and author Aaron Potter to chat about his new book, 50 Indie Games That Changed the World. From the roots of the Indie scene with the 80's bedroom coders, the revival ...

28 Aug 20251h 26min

494: “Sonic R’s Soundtrack Has a Life of Its Own” - Richard Jacques, The Sound of 90s SEGA - The Retro Hour EP494

494: “Sonic R’s Soundtrack Has a Life of Its Own” - Richard Jacques, The Sound of 90s SEGA - The Retro Hour EP494

This week’s episode comes live from Retromessa 2025 in Norway, where we were joined on stage by legendary video game composer Richard Jacques. From creating music on a ZX Spectrum at age 11 to scoring...

21 Aug 20251h 36min

493: “Flash Games Should Never Have Died” – Alex Johansson, Experimental Game Maker - The Retro Hour EP493

493: “Flash Games Should Never Have Died” – Alex Johansson, Experimental Game Maker - The Retro Hour EP493

This week we are joined by award-winning experimental designer, educator and game maker Alex Johansson of ALYO Games. He is the mind behind wild alt-controller creations like Muppet Boxing, syringe-po...

14 Aug 20251h 33min

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...

8 Aug 20251h 40min

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

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

This week we’re joined by Matt Porter, former programmer at Argonaut Software and one of the key developers behind Croc: Legend of the Gobbos. Matt shares inside stories from the development of titles...

1 Aug 20251h 39min

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...

25 Juli 20251h 31min

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

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

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...

18 Juli 20251h 31min

Populärt inom Fritid

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