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

• The Revolution Story: Broken Sword, Steel Sky, and Going Indie - with Tony Warriner

  Tony Warriner is a co-founder of Revolution Software — the team behind Lure of the Temptress, Beneath a Steel Sky, and Broken Sword. From his teenage coding experiments on the Amstrad CPC to shaping one of Britain’s most iconic adventure studios, Tony’s story is one of creativity, independence, and survival. In this episode, Tony joins me to talk about building Revolution from the ground up, the clever tech behind the Virtual Theatre engine, and what it really took to bring Broken Sword to life. We discuss the indie spirit that’s guided him through decades of change, his self-published book Revolution: The Quest for Game Development Greatness, his upcoming game UrbX Warriors, and his thoughts on the future of small-scale game development. Plus, Tony takes on a round of quickfire questions — including a story behind the goat puzzle, the most chaotic genius at Revolution, and the one game cover he’d want on his gravestone.   🔗 Links: Instagram: @TonyWarriner X: @tonywarriner Bluesky: @tonywarriner.bsky.social Tony's book: Gumroad   🎵 Music: Intro – Neon Gaming by Dope Stuff Revenge of the Mutant Camels (C64), by James Lisney    

  --------  

  1:16:40

  --------

  1:16:40
• Pico-8, gaming music, and moving to Nova Scotia, with Chris Donnelly aka Gruber

  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 Pico-8 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  

  --------  

  1:17:02

  --------

  1:17:02
• From Amiga demo scene to Evercade hit — the story of Roguecraft DX, with Badger Punch Games’ Ricki Sickenger & Henning Ludvigsen

  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 Facebook – @BadgerPunch Discord - @BadgerPunch Evercade - evercade.co.uk/cartridges/roguecraft-dx 🎵 Music: Intro – Neon Gaming, by Dope Stuff Outro – Driller C64 Loading Tune, by Matt Gray

  --------  

  1:08:27

  --------

  1:08:27
• Operation Night Strikers: the rebirth of classic arcade action games - with Taito's

  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  Operation Night Strikers on Nintendo Operation Night Strikers on Clear River Games   🎵 Music  Neon Gaming and Space Technology, by Dope Stuff Ray Force, Penetration - by Tamayo Kawamoto         

  --------  

  29:50

  --------

  29:50
• Inside the world of Sir Clive Sinclair, a new Retro Gaming Handheld innovation, and hanging out with Major Tim Peake - with Grant Sinclair

  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   🎹 Music Neon Gaming and Space Technology, by Dope Stuff Guitar arrangement of Risky Ride from the XBOX port of "OutRun 2" by Fumio Itoh    

  --------  

  1:10:09

  --------

  1:10:09

More Leisure podcasts

Trending Leisure podcasts

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

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