Retro Titans - the giants of retro and indie gaming in conversation

Chris Donnelly — better known in the Pico-8 community as Gruber — is a professional pianist, Steinway Artist, and former jazz player and tutor at the University of Toronto who’s taken his love of music in an unexpected direction: composing soundtracks for tiny retro-styled games on the fantasy console Pico-8. His chiptune soundtracks have graced fan-favourite titles like Alpine Alpaca, Golf Sunday, and Pico Pirates, blending musical sophistication with 8-bit charm. In this episode, Chris joins me from Nova Scotia to talk about his journey from the jazz world to retro game music, how Pico-8’s strict limitations inspire new forms of creativity, and what the experience taught him about community, creativity and learning. But behind the creativity lies a more personal story. After years in academia and performing, Chris faced burnout that led him to step back from the piano - even selling his most cherished instruments. He has come out the other side and has an amazing, inspirational story to tell.  And of course, we wrap up with a visit to the Retro Rocket Museum, where Chris chooses his one must-have retro device, two treasured games, and a track to send drifting through the cosmos.   🔗 Links: YouTube – @Gruber_Music [https://www.youtube.com/@Gruber_Music] Pico-8 www.lexaloffle.com/pico-8.php [https://www.lexaloffle.com/pico-8.php] 🎵 Music: Intro – Neon Gaming, by Dope Stuff Kind of Bloop, by Andy Baio Fez, by Disasterpeace Ghouls 'n Ghosts, by Tamayo Kawamoto

Badger Punch Games — the duo of Ricki Sickenger and Henning Ludvigsen — have been creating games together since their Amiga demo scene days in the early ’90s. Their breakout title Roguecraft first made waves on the Amiga in 2024, later winning the Debug award and quickly earning a devoted following. Now the game has been reimagined and released as Roguecraft DX on Evercade, bringing their retro-inspired roguelike adventure to a whole new audience. In this episode, Ricki and Henning join me to talk about their journey from humble beginnings in the demo scene, to building games as a side hustle, to becoming part of the Evercade family. We discuss the origins of Roguecraft, the challenges of bringing it to life on classic hardware, and the process of enhancing it for Evercade — from new features to the community support that helped make it happen. Along the way, they share insights into procedural generation, design choices like the lack of save states, and what they’d love to add in the future. As always, we wrap up with a trip to the Retro Rocket Museum, where Ricki and Henning pick their all-time favourite retro device and two games to preserve for future generations, and finish with a music pick to play us out. It’s a must-listen for fans of Amiga, Evercade, and indie retro development.   🔗 Links: Website – www.badgerpunch.com [https://www.badgerpunch.com/] Facebook – @BadgerPunch [https://www.facebook.com/badgerpunch] Discord - @BadgerPunch [https://discord.com/invite/Q6uC7RhE9C] Evercade - evercade.co.uk/cartridges/roguecraft-dx [https://evercade.co.uk/cartridges/roguecraft-dx/] 🎵 Music: Intro – Neon Gaming, by Dope Stuff Outro – Driller C64 Loading Tune, by Matt Gray

Today’s episode takes us back to the golden age of the arcade, courtesy of one of the true giants of the industry: TAITO. We are celebrating the launch of a new game collection of four classics, which have been re-released and upgraded for fans old and new. The collection includes stone-cold classic Operation Wolf, and it’s sequel Operation Thunderbolt; plus two games less familiar to Western gamers - Night Striker and Space Gun. To tell us more, we're joined by Yuichi Toyama, producer at TAITO, along with Embracer Freemode's James Wragg, who provides interpretation through the interview. For flow, we have only provided brief excerpts of Yuichi, and homed in on James' interpreting, so apologies to our Japanese-speaking listeners!  This is a fascinating insight into the development of arcade games from inside the HQ of Taito, giving a brief glimpse into the decision making process around the games, and what they mean in Japan. Thanks to Overload PR and Clear River Games for setting up and fascilitating the interview.    🔗 Links Operation Night Strikers on Steam  [https://store.steampowered.com/app/3099790/Operation_Night_Strikers/] Operation Night Strikers on Nintendo [https://www.nintendo.com/en-gb/Games/Nintendo-Switch-download-software/Operation-Night-Strikers-2890005.html?srsltid=AfmBOoqCCuGehk0y2s7bMhFjRlU1dzFlep45_lFXvDDLBkS1tcS1Hk-Q] Operation Night Strikers on Clear River Games [https://shop.clearrivergames.com/collections/operation-night-strikers]   🎵 Music  Neon Gaming and Space Technology, by Dope Stuff Ray Force, Penetration - by Tamayo Kawamoto

This episode features Grant Sinclair, inventor of the IRIS eTrike and nephew to legendary innovator Sir Clive Sinclair. Following in the footsteps of his father and uncle, Grant Sinclair is a futurist and innovator who is making waves in the gaming market with the launch of a new handheld gaming device called the GamerCard. This interview covers life growing up in the Sinclair household during one of the most exciting times in British computing history, seeing the launch of the Sinclair ZX80, ZX81 and, of course, the ZX Spectrum. Grant shares what it was like to see Sir Clive Sinclair at work, his love of taking things apart, and how he and Grant's father Iain supported the family in their innovation ambitions.  We also find out about the GamerCard, which is a unique gaming device based on stack of PCBs and Raspberry Pi, with a high resolution IPS square screen format, and dual dome navigation discs.  As usual, we have more entries for the Titan 1 rocket-based retro gaming museum - and an unusal tale about astronaut, Major Tim Peake.  🔗 Links  grantsinclair.com [https://www.grantsinclair.com/]   🎹 Music Neon Gaming and Space Technology, by Dope Stuff Guitar arrangement of Risky Ride from the XBOX port of "OutRun 2" by Fumio Itoh

In this episode we welcome back YouTuber and retro gaming aficionado, Crazy Burger. Although perhaps best known as an Evercade reviewer and content creator, Crazy Burger has a decent sized retro gaming handheld collection, and has tinkered with devices and explored the emulation gaming scene over the years.  Our objective in this episode is to answer the question: if you were to buy only one emulation-based handheld, what would it be? With brands like Anbernic, Miyoo, Retroid and Powkiddy pumping them out on a weekly basis, there is a baffling amount of choice. Our aim is to break down the hype and steer you in the right direction.  We explore the pros and cons of emulation-based gaming, hop around the piracy issue, and cover common questions, like which operating system is best, and what do I get for my money?  Crazy Burger also gives a quick verdict of the year so far for Blaze Entertainment and Evercade, comparing the platform with the handhelds we discuss on the show.    🔗 Links YouTube Crazy Burger [https://www.youtube.com/@CrazyBurger]   🎵 Music: Neon Gaming and Space Technology, by Dope Stuff Celeste, First Steps - written, performed & mastered by Lena Raine