This Week in Retro

It's a bonanza of stand-up arcade feature stories this week. Will Basic Fun! give Arcade1Up a powerful next stage? We also remember the life and career of Sega legend David Rosen and look at the latest in miniature cabinets from My Arcade including Sonic the Hedgehog, Galaga, Pac-Man, and Atari hits. In other news a Sega racer achieves a rare trifecta on the show, the origins of PCMCIA are discussed, and we follow up on Stunt Car (Track) Racer and Freescape from last week's show.

You can order the latest issue of Pixel Addict fresh and wrinkle free, with the optional physical cover-disk, direct from the source by visiting https://www.addict.media/

00:00 - Show Opening

02:15 - Arcade2Up
Story Link: https://insider-gaming.com/arcade1up-reportedly-closing-operations-very-soon/

18:18 - Sad Duties To Inform
Story Link: https://www.theguardian.com/games/2026/jan/05/sega-co-founder-david-rosen-dies

Additional links:
https://bsky.app/profile/playhistory.bsky.social/post/3mbwx2gijrc27
https://memoritree.com/memorial/david-m-rosen
https://www.gamedeveloper.com/console/obituary-sega-co-founder-david-rosen-has-passed-away-at-age-95
https://www.replaymag.com/segas-dave-rosen-passes-on-christmas-day-in-l-a/
https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/05/hpux_end_of_life/
https://www.osnews.com/story/144094/hp-ux-hits-end-of-life-today-and-im-sad/

29:46 - Housekeeping - News links found below

39:03 - Is Bigger Better?
Story Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0tjYCw4yjM

50:35 - Community Question of the Week

🏆Your monthly support helps us keep the retro news flowing!
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Follow your hosts!
Bluesky:
https://bsky.app/profile/davevelociraptor.bsky.social
https://bsky.app/profile/jasoncompton.bsky.social

Youtube:
Chris - https://www.youtube.com/@005AGIMA
Jason - https://www.youtube.com/@jpcompton

Audio Podcast:
https://retroadventurers.podbean.com/

Subscribe to the audio version of the show!
📻 Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/this-week-in-retro/id1526487568?uo=4
📻 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2OPQ3cADaB92E9SpRdTe5y
📻 Podbean: https://twir.podbean.com
📻 Deezer: https://www.deezer.com/en/show/5734337
📻 RSS: https://feed.podbean.com/TWIR/feed.xml
📻 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ThisWeekinRetro

This Week in Retro is a weekly roundup of the hottest stories from the world of retro gaming and computing, voted on by you, the listener! Hosted by Chris from 005 AGIMA, Jason from The Retro Adventurers and Dave. Edited by Duncan Styles.

News In Brief Links

PicoPCMCIA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-04EoGlayY

GX4000 One Good Game: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlfarIWjfGQ

1972 Computer Giveaway: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRc5BXn_SsE

Amiga Mouse Pointers: https://heckmeck.de/pointers/ 

1999 Retro Consoles: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3p76ryEb_c

Amiga Sprite Trick: https://www.techeblog.com/amiga-sprite-mechanics-snes-hardware/

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

In this milestone 250th episode of This Week in Retro, we celebrate that the more things change, the more they stay the same. A revival of Geoff Crammond's Stunt Car Racer is our top story. That's just the tip of the iceberg in what was a very big week for fans of his game design work. In other news the set-top boxes of the 1990s and early 2000s get another look: the lost treasures of The Sega Channel have been preserved for modern-day Mega Drive/Genesis players, and recent developments have helped WebTV users but hurt those who get their websites from the Sega Dreamcast's PlanetWeb browser. And we remember Stewart Cheifet, the long-time producer and host of The Computer Chronicles.

00:00 - Show Opening

03:07 - Hump Back Is Back
Story Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rFJUb7GQyM - Stunt Car Racer Remake
on The New Retro Show

16:17 - New Life For Old Browsers
Story Link: https://hackaday.com/2025/12/30/microsofts-webtv-is-being-revived-by-fans/

30:37 - Housekeeping - News links found below

38:16 - Cable TV Relics Restored
Story Link: https://gamehistory.org/segachannel/

49:38 - Community Question of the Week

🏆Your monthly support helps us keep the retro news flowing!
https://www.patreon.com/thisweekinretro

🕸 TWiR Sub Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/thisweekinretro/

Follow your hosts!
Bluesky:
https://bsky.app/profile/davevelociraptor.bsky.social
https://bsky.app/profile/jasoncompton.bsky.social

Youtube:
Chris - https://www.youtube.com/@005AGIMA
Jason - https://www.youtube.com/@jpcompton

Audio Podcast:
https://retroadventurers.podbean.com/

Subscribe to the audio version of the show!
📻 Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/this-week-in-retro/id1526487568?uo=4
📻 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2OPQ3cADaB92E9SpRdTe5y
📻 Podbean: https://twir.podbean.com
📻 Deezer: https://www.deezer.com/en/show/5734337
📻 RSS: https://feed.podbean.com/TWIR/feed.xml
📻 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ThisWeekinRetro

This Week in Retro is a weekly roundup of the hottest stories from the world of retro gaming and computing, voted on by you, the listener! Hosted by Chris from 005 AGIMA, Jason from The Retro Adventurers and Dave. Edited by Duncan Styles.

News In Brief Links

Stewart Cheifet obituary: https://computerchronicles.blog/post/stewart-cheifet-1938-2025

Commodore 64 Ultimate experiences: https://www.reddit.com/r/thisweekinretro/comments/1ppdwec/c64u_is_here/

Ben Versteeg passage notice: https://www.reddit.com/r/zxspectrum/comments/1pqubkw/sad_news_good_bye_ben/

Amiga Desktops Worth Seeing: https://www.datagubbe.se/wbshots/

Geoff Crammond F1GP news: https://www.gamespress.com/MicroProse-and-Geoff-Crammond-Reunite-to-Revive-a-Racing-Legend

Mark Moxon's disassembly of Geoff Crammond's The Sentinel: https://github.com/markmoxon/the-sentinel-source-code-bbc-micro

As per tradition, here are some of the unseen bits and out-takes from This Week In Retro in 2025. Audio only listeners, you might get more from this by heading over to the video version on YouTube!

 

Thanks for watching, your support continues to humble and amaze us. 

We will be back with episode 250 soon. 

🏆Your monthly support helps us keep the retro news flowing!
https://www.patreon.com/thisweekinretro

🕸 TWiR Sub Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/thisweekinretro/

Follow your hosts!
Bluesky:
https://bsky.app/profile/davevelociraptor.bsky.social
https://bsky.app/profile/jasoncompton.bsky.social

Youtube:
Chris - https://www.youtube.com/@005AGIMA
Jason - https://www.youtube.com/@jpcompton

Audio Podcast:
https://retroadventurers.podbean.com/

Subscribe to the audio version of the show!
📻 Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/this-week-in-retro/id1526487568?uo=4
📻 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2OPQ3cADaB92E9SpRdTe5y
📻 Podbean: https://twir.podbean.com
📻 Deezer: https://www.deezer.com/en/show/5734337
📻 RSS: https://feed.podbean.com/TWIR/feed.xml
📻 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ThisWeekinRetro

This Week in Retro is a weekly roundup of the hottest stories from the world of retro gaming and computing, voted on by you, the listener! Hosted by Chris from 005 AGIMA, Jason from The Retro Adventurers and Dave. Edited by Duncan Styles.

In the last regular show of the year we are joined by Neil and Aaron for a bumper episode. The latest goings-on at Commodore including Commodore 64 Ultimates under the tree and reciprocal trademark challenges, a collection of things to do over the holidays and a look back at how catalogue shopping was a fun way to find your next tech obsession.

We are sponsored by Pixel Addict magazine which has just launched issue 32. It covers those dial-up ISPs that had a firm grip on your internet access back in the day. Head over to https://www.addict.media/

Aaron is part of the team at Amigos Retro Gaming: https://www.youtube.com/@AmigosRetroGaming

Neil is part of the team at The Retro Collective: https://www.youtube.com/@TheRetroCollective

GLYPHIS_IO BBS: The Proxy Tapes 1989: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4179570/GLYPHIS_IO_BBS_The_Proxy_Tapes_1989/

00:00 - Show Opening

06:53 - We’re Still Keeping Up With The Commodore
Story Link: https://www.commodore.net/post/press-release
C64 Laptop: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5QQ0ECfwyE
Amiga 40th: https://youtu.be/udrnSDVbbhw

31:40 - Snow Day Diversions
Story Link: http://superchartisland.com
The Eagle Obsession: http://eagledocumentary.com
ReStory Chill Electronic Repairs: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3812600/ReStory_Chill_Electronic_Repairs/

52:16 - Housekeeping - News links found below

58:53 - All I Want For Christmas
Story Link: https://christmas.musetechnical.com/ShowCatalogPage/1985%20Sears%20Christmas%20Book/608
Full Catalogue: https://christmas.musetechnical.com/ShowCatalogPage/1985%20Sears%20Christmas%20Book/
Argos Autumn / Winter 1989/1990: https://archive.org/details/argos-autumn-winter-1989-1990/page/n283/mode/2up 
1991/92 has some consoles in the toy section on page 338: 
https://archive.org/details/argos-autumn-winter-1991-1992/page/n337/mode/2up 
Argos Christmas Gifts 1993 - Consoles and games from page 10: 
https://archive.org/details/argos-christmas-gifts-1993 
Nostalgia Nerd Christmas Catalogues flick through videos: 
https://www.youtube.com/@Nostalgianerd/search?query=Argos%20Christmas 
Christmas and other vintage TV Adverts at:
https://www.youtube.com/@RetroSteveUK 
RetroSpectives, he’s just dropped a video called “The 1984 Dixons Catalog - what’s inside?”: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AP4RgB73IGg 
My own Christmas Pamphlet Catalog Video (Fresh from last Friday): 
https://youtu.be/Ck-RqHRV34M 

01:18:06 - Community Question of the Week

🏆Your monthly support helps us keep the retro news flowing!
https://www.patreon.com/thisweekinretro

🕸 TWiR Sub Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/thisweekinretro/

Follow your hosts!
Bluesky:
https://bsky.app/profile/davevelociraptor.bsky.social
https://bsky.app/profile/jasoncompton.bsky.social

Youtube:
Chris - https://www.youtube.com/@005AGIMA
Jason - https://www.youtube.com/@jpcompton

Audio Podcast:
https://retroadventurers.podbean.com/

Subscribe to the audio version of the show!
📻 Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/this-week-in-retro/id1526487568?uo=4
📻 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2OPQ3cADaB92E9SpRdTe5y
📻 Podbean: https://twir.podbean.com
📻 Deezer: https://www.deezer.com/en/show/5734337
📻 RSS: https://feed.podbean.com/TWIR/feed.xml
📻 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ThisWeekinRetro

This Week in Retro is a weekly roundup of the hottest stories from the world of retro gaming and computing, voted on by you, the listener! Hosted by Chris from 005 AGIMA, Jason from The Retro Adventurers and Dave. Edited by Duncan Styles.

News In Brief Links

The Quickshot Joystick: https://retrogames.biz/products/thequickshot-ii/

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

An 80s film and game icon has a statue at long last, RAM prices are sky high and not for the first time and the BBC took a look at how CGI was used in the film Tron. 

00:00 - Show Opening

01:53 - Your Move, Statue Creep
Story Link: https://www.metrotimes.com/arts/detroit-finally-has-a-robocop-statue/

14:19 - All Of This Has Happened Before, And It Will All Happen Again
Story Link: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/12/after-nearly-30-years-crucial-will-stop-selling-ram-to-consumers/
Frontline Scotland: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQDWytFwpYI

26:38 - Housekeeping - News links found below

30:34 - Back To The Grid
Story Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zr1QuMnoLvQ
Tron Behind The Scenes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tm4i6D3XXBQ
Long Tron Doco: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbgHMrLPQrE
Hold and Modify: https://www.youtube.com/c/holdandmodify

42:46 - Community Question of the Week

🏆Your monthly support helps us keep the retro news flowing!
https://www.patreon.com/thisweekinretro

🕸 TWiR Sub Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/thisweekinretro/

Follow your hosts!
Bluesky:
https://bsky.app/profile/davevelociraptor.bsky.social
https://bsky.app/profile/jasoncompton.bsky.social

Youtube:
Chris - https://www.youtube.com/@005AGIMA
Jason - https://www.youtube.com/@jpcompton

Audio Podcast:
https://retroadventurers.podbean.com/

Subscribe to the audio version of the show!
📻 Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/this-week-in-retro/id1526487568?uo=4
📻 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2OPQ3cADaB92E9SpRdTe5y
📻 Podbean: https://twir.podbean.com
📻 Deezer: https://www.deezer.com/en/show/5734337
📻 RSS: https://feed.podbean.com/TWIR/feed.xml
📻 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ThisWeekinRetro

This Week in Retro is a weekly roundup of the hottest stories from the world of retro gaming and computing, voted on by you, the listener! Hosted by Chris from 005 AGIMA, Jason from The Retro Adventurers and Dave. Edited by Duncan Styles.

News In Brief Links

Nick Thorpe Passes: https://bsky.app/profile/retrogamerdaz.bsky.social/post/3m6zkrs5yws2o

UT2004 Revived: https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/fan-community-announces-it-will-revive-unreal-tournament-2004-with-epics-blessing-were-doing-this-for-free-because-were-fans-of-the-game-and-we-like-a-challenge/

Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa Passes: https://deadline.com/2025/12/cary-hiroyuki-tagawa-dead-mortal-kombat-actor-1236636368/

MD Engine: https://www.reddit.com/r/thisweekinretro/comments/1pd3i1f/md_engine_create_your_own_mega_drive_games/

New Carmageddon Game: https://www.polygon.com/carmageddon-rogue-shift-reveal-trailer-release-date-2026/

Sega Dreamcast Mini: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYF87gt6hAQ