Playtesting Adventures, ZX Spectrum Next (KS3), Retro LANs & Neo Geo Ports – Game & Gadget Podcast #42
samedi 16 août 2025 • Durée 01:05:04
I am joined by Tony Warriner who is one of the founders of Revolution Software as we discuss more gaming, gadgets and technology both retro and modern.
00:00:00 – Introduction and podcast opening
00:00:17 – Tony’s tour experience promoting UrbX Warriors game
00:01:18 – The importance of playtesting games with real people at events
00:02:33 – Upcoming gaming events
00:03:47 – Experience of putting the game in front of players for the first time
00:05:24 – Discord community and alpha demo releases
00:07:39 – Technical challenges of developing for ZX Spectrum Next vs PC
00:08:26 – Real-time bug fixing and community feedback process
00:11:11 – Comparing modern playtesting to classic game development (Lure of the Temptress, Beneath a Steel Sky, Broken Sword)
FPGA, Spectrum Next Development, Retro 90s PCs & More… – Game & Gadget Podcast #41
dimanche 27 avril 2025 • Durée 59:58
I am joined by Tony Warriner who is one of the founders of Revolution Software as we discuss more gaming, gadgets and technology both retro and modern.
FPGA devices becoming more accessible, focusing on the MiSTer project and its many retro gaming cores
The challenges of developing for the Spectrum Next, dealing with tight memory banking restrictions
Porting UrbX Warriors to PSX, Steam, Switch, Amiga and Mac
James’ retro PC escapades – saving and restoring early 2000s hardware for Windows 98 and XP gaming
Collecting CRT monitors and comparing the experience of CRT versus modern digital displays
The charm and madness of original hardware compared to FPGA and software emulation
Nostalgic memories of Voodoo 2 graphics cards and the thrill of early PC 3D acceleration
Scaling games like Broken Sword for different PC specs and the Game Boy Advance back in the 1990s
Video Game Music with Rosewater’s Mark Benis – Game & Gadget Podcast #40
mercredi 9 avril 2025 • Durée 01:09:13
I am joined by Mark Benis, who has composed the musical soundtrack for the point and click adventure game Rosewater, set in the wild west and released in 2024. Mark has also worked on the soundtrack for Lamplight City with others credits for titles including Wolfenstein: Youngblood.
In this podcast, we discuss his joy of retro chip-tune music of retro gaming platforms including the Nintendo Game Boy, which has inspired his journey creativity to now write musical soundtracks for modern gaming titles.
Topics include:
Mark Benis’ opportunity to become a game composer
Childhood love of Pokémon Red/Blue music led to a lifelong curiosity about chip music
The beauty of 8-bit music to orchestral and back again
Using Wwyse and FMOD as audio middleware to replace line-by-line coding
Mark’s early days and the audio equipment he used
The financial barrier of the many professional audio sample libraries
No woodwinds in the game Lamplight City inspiring creativity by limitation
How hardware MIDI modules (Roland MT-32, Sound Canvas etc) have been replaced with software music audio libraries
Mark’s go to piano performances to loosen his fingers and inspire his thoughts
Mark’s computer and desk setup for music composition
What is Rosewater and the musical brief you were given
Avoiding the typical wild west country style music
How much of the original work made it into the game soundtrack?
How much of the artwork and game direction did Mark see before composing the tracks?
Timing introductions to the music, or arranging the music to the intro?
Hearing the voice acting dialogue for the first time reactions
Mixing virtual instruments with live music players
Choral music creation for the game Lamplight City recorded in a church with a real choir
Mark’s future projects
Collaborating on musical projects and avoiding arguments
Featured music within the podcast, kindly provided with permission by Mark Benis…
90s Retro PCs with vswitchzero Interview – Game & Gadget Podcast #39
vendredi 10 janvier 2025 • Durée 56:53
I am joined by Mike from vswitchzero, who has a fascinating YouTube channel dedicated to 90s retro PC hardware and gaming. In this podcast, we explore the fascinating history of this exciting era of 3D acceleration advancement with classic graphics cards including the 3Dfx Voodoo while delving into the repairs, nostalgia and the pitfalls of revisiting retro PC computing.
Topics include:
Commander Keen, Doom, Quake and the evolution of PC gaming hardware during the 90s
Introduction of 3DFX and Voodoo graphics cards, including personal experiences and significant technological leaps
Voodoo 2 SLI configurations and their impact on 3D gaming
Comparisons between 3DFX, PowerVR and other competing technologies of the time
Popular sound cards like the Creative Sound Blaster series and Yamaha DB50XG/SW60XG
General MIDI and enhanced gaming experiences through better audio fidelity
Game & Gadget Podcast #38 – Original Xbox Ticking Disaster, PS Vita Beauty & More…
mercredi 4 septembre 2024 • Durée 01:01:45
I am joined by Tony Warriner who is one of the founders of Revolution Software as we discuss more gaming, gadgets and technology both retro and modern.
Topics include:
Tony wants to play Elite on his BBC Micro, but the smoking capacitors have other ideas
‘The Spectrum‘ hardware announced for emulating classic Spectrum titles
What is a ‘sensible’ retro collection purchase?
New Metro Siege Game for Amiga Interview – Programmer Alex Brown – Game & Gadget Podcast #37
jeudi 25 juillet 2024 • Durée 46:05
I am joined by Alex Brown, programmer of an upcoming brand new beat-em-up 2-player game for the Commodore Amiga – Metro Siege. With the target platform the Amiga A500, originally released way back in 1987! Alex takes us through the journey of pushing the limits of the Amiga A500, the experience of programming with the Amiga custom chips and how this wonderful passion project will become a final release.
Topics include:
How Alex became a programmer
Alex’s favourite game influences
Why create a new game for the Amiga?
Pushing the limits of the Amiga A500
Taking the Amiga online with cross system online multiplayer
The art of releasing a beta or technical preview and gathering feedback
Keeping the gameplay smooth with 2 players, enemies and lush surroundings
Parallax scrolling, moving trains and what’s needed to achieve the results
Using modular character animation on the Amiga
Given extra life to a retro computing platform
The reason for the expansion memory of 512kb memory requirement
The programming resources available for the Amiga
The tricks of the trade for programming the Amiga
The software and tools for creating Amiga games
Emulation versus real hardware for testing
The size of the team and the understanding of the capabilities of the Amiga
The biggest challenge of getting the game to work
Why AGA has not been targeted… yet?
Ensuring there is an end goal to any “passion project”
If you watch the video version of the podcast, I have captured Metro Siege running from my own Amiga A500 (which mine does have Pistorm installed, but I have been assured it will still run great without one). You can find out more by visiting the Metro Siege website.
Tony spending money to get his retro collection connected to a modern display – OSSC, RGB cables, power cables etc
Mister FPGA costs versus retro hardware collections
Aaron positive thoughts (and excellent excuses) on the cost of collecting retro hardware
The Atari Falcon, the development kit for the Atari Jaguar
Aaron’s first computer, which he still owns!
Modifying old computers ROM chips and copyright risk
My brand new retro hardware portable device for less than £1
RGB cables everywhere!
The Apple G4 Cube USB flaw
Skiving to get into computer games
The inspiration of the ZX81 and micro computers
My fondness of the Atari 65XE 8-bit computer
Bye bye ICQ
Tony and Aaron invent Code Jenga
Development is hard
Manually typing code from old books and magazines – oh the typos!
Code in books, to disks on magazines to digital DLC
What happens to digital licensed content when you die?
The importance of archiving DLC and game patches
Licensing music for games
The cost of patching a console game
The beauty of Xbox Live Arcade and developing the first games
Playing Xbox Live Arcade version of Golden Eye on an Xbox 360 debug unit
Game & Gadget Podcast #35 – Retro Vs Modern Gaming, Subscriptions Galore & More…
vendredi 5 avril 2024 • Durée 52:01
I am joined by Tony Warriner who is one of the founders of Revolution Software as we discuss more gaming, gadgets and technology both retro and modern.
Topics include:
James hunting for a SEGA Genesis in the USA
Broken Sword Reforged Kickstarter blasts through £50,000 target to over half a million!
Broken Sword 2 remastered?
Did Tony from Revolution Software realise Broken Sword on its original release would be so popular?
The design differences between Lure of the Temptress, Beneath a Steel Sky & Broken Sword
Balancing PC minimum spec and recommended levels in development of games
Sony PlayStation 5 Pro details leaked splitting the PS5 target specs
Triple AAA titles and layoffs in the industry
Netflix, Disney Plus etc and how we are cancelling subscriptions due to raising prices
The needless pain of grinding in a game to progress
YouTube Premium, if only they would separate YouTube Music
Apple Music for lossless, even on Android
Where is Spotify HiFi lossless audio??? Literally years since the original announcement
WearOS versus Tizen on smartwatches
Tony’s Apple Watch experience
NOTE: Tony or I lost connection at the very end, so the conversation goes a little odd as we wonder where the other person went :) Luckily the software locally records so Tony continued recording!
Game & Gadget Podcast #33 – Super Amiga, Real Hardware Vs FPGA & More…
samedi 20 janvier 2024 • Durée 01:04:16
I am joined by Tony Warriner who is one of the founders of Revolution Software and Karl from Retro32 as we discuss more gaming, gadgets and technology both retro and modern.
Topics include:
James’ experiences with emulator Gotek floppy drives for retro computers and the Atari 520 STFM
Tony’s experience of the Anbernic portable handheld RG35XX Plus
Challenges faced when updating the Anbernic device
Using original gaming hardware versus FPGA
Keeping retro computers and consoles alive
Discussion on the financial aspects of retro gaming, accessories and their cost
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