This week, we’re joined by Stuart Cox, artist at the legendary Midland studio Gargoyle Games, for a brilliant trip through the golden age of British 8-bit development. Stuart shares how he went from the Dragon 32 and early arcade obsessions to working on Scooby-Doo, Light Force, Shockway Rider, Hydrofool, ThunderCats and more, with stories of rapid-fire development, clever tricks to push the ZX Spectrum, digitised graphics, Rob Hubbard’s incredible turnaround times, the truth behind the “Wolf” and “Samurai Dawn” confusion, and even the lost ThunderCats NES port. A proper behind-the-scenes look at one of the UK’s most fascinating 1980s game studios.

Stuart's current project: https://www.wireadmin.com

Contents:

00:00 – The Week’s Retro News Stories
50:41 – Gargoyle Games Interview

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

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:

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Show notes

A1200 Delayed: https://tinyurl.com/yfzd3wdd
Tomb Raider Side-Scroller: https://tinyurl.com/msn72sab
Tomb Raider On N64: https://tinyurl.com/bdfz8zds
C64 And Spectrum Handhelds: https://tinyurl.com/mwv2bj88
Zapped To The Past: https://tinyurl.com/2rvzth58
Cancelled Simpsons Game Revealed: https://tinyurl.com/4444m3aa
Ask.com Shuts Down: https://tinyurl.com/mr467yby
Resident Evil Teaser Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJPu1spHqfk

Inside Psygnosis: WipEout, PlayStation and the Rave Generation - The Retro Hour EP531

This week we’re joined by former Psygnosis PR manager Glen O’Connell for a brilliant journey through one of the most exciting eras in British gaming. Glen shares stories from Liverpool’s arcade and computer shop scene, his move from rave music promotion into games, and his time at Psygnosis during the huge shift from Amiga and Atari ST to CD-ROM, Saturn and PlayStation. We hear how WipEout fused club culture, cutting-edge design and licensed music to help define the PlayStation generation, plus memories of Destruction Derby, G-Police, Formula One, Rage, EA, Burnout, Need for Speed and plenty more.

Stuart's current project: https://www.wireadmin.com

Contents:

00:00 – The Week’s Retro News Stories
43:38 – Glen O'Connell Interview

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

PlayEXPO Blackpool tickets: https://www.playexpoblackpool.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

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

Neo Geo Crossplay Revival: https://tinyurl.com/33xx8nah
Bomberman Online Returns: https://tinyurl.com/mwk7xepp
Bloodstone For ZX Spectrum: https://tinyurl.com/zn677unx
BioCreeps For NES: https://tinyurl.com/ytd9zuaw
Switch As Wii U GamePad: https://tinyurl.com/4c58vbcb
Star Fox 64 Remake: https://www.youtube.com/live/ePZeyh5q9R8

This week, we’re joined by Larry Kuperman, former VP of Business Development at Nightdive Studios, former Business Development Manager at GameStop, Stardock veteran, and co-founder of the IGDA Ann Arbor Chapter. Larry shares incredible stories from the business side of games, from discovering Wolfenstein 3D on a mighty 486, selling custom PCs in the ’90s, and Stardock’s early digital distribution gamble, to GameStop’s attempt to compete with Steam and Nightdive’s mission to bring classics like Turok, System Shock, Star Wars: Dark Forces and more back to life. We also dig into DRM, lost source code, game preservation, and why classic games are art worth saving.

Contents:

00:00 – The Week’s Retro News Stories
49:20 – Larry Kuperman Interview

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

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

Go to https://surfshark.com/retrohour or use code RETROHOUR at checkout to get 4 extra months of Surfshark VPN!

Nottingham Gaming Market: https://www.nottinghamgamingmarket.com/

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

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

VCF Bomb Scare: https://tinyurl.com/c4k2kb27
Resi 4 On Dreamcast: https://tinyurl.com/ud4v8t69
Commodore 64C Returns: https://commodore.net/
GoatBeat Hits C64: https://tinyurl.com/4cebch5b
Majora’s Mask On Vita: https://tinyurl.com/8dzxj937
Warhammer Classics Return: https://youtu.be/crVfMM3by_k