This Week in Retro

🛠 Check out PCBWay at https://pcbway.com/ for all your PCB needs! 🛠 "Keep a copy of what's important to you.""Punish your children one day." With these bullet points (provided by special guest  @RonsCompVids ) in mind, we take a critical look at a Philips CD-i retrospective, discuss a substantial update to the Stop Killing Games movement, and dig into the fundamental right of physical media ownership. We share your top tips to avoid doomscrolling and introduce a new Community Question of the Week: what retro technology would you resuscitate with a one BILLION dollar budget? 00:00 - Show Opening 05:18 - Was The CD-i Doomed From The Start?Story Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNDm13SbX_Q 30:54 - Ross Has Saved Your GameStory Link: https://www.pcgamer.com/games/stop-killing-games-is-launching-ngos-in-the-european-union-and-the-us-were-not-just-going-away-on-this/ 48:53 - Housekeeping - News links found below 58:51 - Streaming Is So Last YearStory Link: https://www.whathifi.com/streaming-entertainment/why-ill-never-give-up-my-dvd-collection 01:15:02 - 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.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/jasoncompton.bsky.social Youtube:Chris - https://www.youtube.com/@005AGIMAJason - 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 SDF Public Access UNIX: https://connect.sdf.org/ Commercial Availability Of Pre-2010 Games: https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.redd.it%2Frflir4u3odkg1.jpeg THEA1200 Preorder: https://retrogames.biz/products/thea1200/ Dolphin Emulator: https://dolphin-emu.org/blog/2026/02/16/rise-of-the-triforce/ Lemmings 35th Anniversary: https://youtu.be/Ulx0WE8KnA4 ATABoy: https://youtu.be/XUmxxTCaCM4 Echo Aviation Controller: https://www.windowscentral.com/gaming/pc-gaming/honeycomb-echo-aviation-controller-review  Games You Missed: https://www.reddit.com/r/thisweekinretro/comments/1rbp5d2/new_column_from_itsmethyroid_games_you_missed/ Giant Macintosh: https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/case-mods/computer-history-museum-unveils-comically-large-scale-rendition-of-the-1986-apple-macintosh-plus-towering-all-in-ones-keyboard-looks-disproportionately-huge-today

DJ Slope of  @slopesgameroom  is our guest for this week's dive into the history of shoot 'em up games of all shapes and sizes. In other departments we examine the claim that 1996 changed computing history forever and explore whether handheld retro tech can defeat the modern scourge of doomscrolling. Plus news in classic tech ranging from the Nabu to the CIDCO Mailstation, on Episode 256 of This Week in Retro. Visit https://www.addict.media/ for your copy of Pixel Addict magazine. 00:00 - Show Opening 02:23 - Shmups Away Story Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9GFX6lIbeE 20:59 - 1996 Really Was A Big Deal Story Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BM1gXDZsMO0 Additional link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OHkrQYSmtE 38:01 - Housekeeping - News links found below 44:07 - Doomscrolling Defeated Story Link: https://www.theguardian.com/games/2026/feb/09/how-a-decades-old-video-game-has-helped-me-defeat-the-doomscroll 56:42 - 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 Original GTA Working On PC: https://www.pcgamer.com/games/grand-theft-auto/a-gta-modder-has-got-the-1997-original-working-perfectly-on-modern-pcs-and-steam-deck-and-its-a-joy-to-behold-i-wanted-pick-up-and-play-gta-on-windows-with-the-best-possible-compatibility-without-classic-installation/ BBC WAP: https://youtu.be/CYW0LngZ7v8?si=YP7ne10BFTEEWMyJ Unreal Tournament: https://www.oldunreal.com/downloads/ut2004/full-game-installers/ Barn Find Nabu: https://glassalmanac.com/2200-vintage-computers-sat-in-a-barn-for-23-years-sold-on-ebay-for-under-e100-each/ Outrun On Apple Watch: https://youtu.be/fAXkovTMOvY?si=JAL8F0wD8y6wrseS The Last Z80 Mass Market Machine: https://www.theregister.com/2026/02/11/last_z80_machine/     Episode Credits "File:Amstrad CPC464.jpg" by Bill Bertram is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.5 Parts of "How the Shoot ’Em Up Genre Was Born" courtesy of Pixel Playback See the full video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9GFX6lIbeE Parts of "This rare BeBox still works!" courtesy of PCWorld and The Retro Roadshow See the full video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OHkrQYSmtE

🛠 Check out PCBWay at https://pcbway.com/ for all your PCB needs! 🛠 We're gonna need a bigger byte to hold future episodes of This Week in Retro, but the end of the 8-bit era leads off with an exploration of the innovative SCUMM adventure game engine. Originally created by Lucasarts Games for Maniac Mansion, the system went on to be used in major franchises including Sam and Max and Indiana Jones, and is the topic of an upcoming crowdfunded documentary. We also report on some major achievements for retro users of PowerPC Macs and ancient accounting packages, and sift through the 30 year legacy of Duke Nukem 3D and the origins of John Romero's Catacombs 3D. 00:00 - Show Opening 02:15 - Passport To AdventureStory Link: https://adventuregamehotspot.com/announcement/5936/sign-up-available-for-passport-to-adventure-the-scumm-story DevsQuest: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bq-am862uRg 15:11 - Herculean Efforts In RetroStory Link: https://lowendmac.com/2026/finally-a-properly-modern-browser-for-powerpc-macs/ Additional Links: https://dmitrybrant.com/2026/02/01/defeating-a-40-year-old-copy-protection-donglehttps://github.com/HarryR/z80aihttps://www.pcbway.com/project/shareproject/ATARI_ST_MV16_Sound_Audio_Card_Cartridge_BAT_e1c2ad3a.html 34:03 - Housekeeping - News links found below 42:24 - Hail To The Catacombs BabyStory Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70mZq8bUStw Catacombs 3D https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcUqwMf01pI 52:42 - 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.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/jasoncompton.bsky.social Youtube:Chris - https://www.youtube.com/@005AGIMAJason - 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 https://www.timeextension.com/news/2026/02/taitos-1987-outrun-clone-top-speed-makes-its-debut-on-modern-consoles-later-this-week https://www.bcs.org/articles-opinion-and-research/sir-clive-sinclair-views-on-ai-and-super-intelligence/ https://www.gog.com/redeem/WELCOMEGIFT https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/you-can-now-view-the-computer-history-museums-collection-from-the-comfort-of-your-own-home-and-its-full-of-retro-blasts-from-the-past/ https://www.raspberrypi.com/news/beige-is-back-remembering-the-bbc-micro-with-raspberry-pi-500-plus/ https://www.ukag.org.uk/index.php/2026/01/08/more-info-on-the-june-uk-amstrad-group-meet/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxuvEtgfbPU  

After years of uncertainty, the vast and historically significant Atari archives held by the late Curt Vendel have a new home at The Strong National Museum of Play. We hear from Atari chroniclers Kay Savetz and Martin Goldberg about the significance of this new installation and share behind-the-scenes photos. Game design pioneer Mike Singleton gets another day in the sun as a Midwinter remake emerges, and the history of Counter-Strike and player-vs-player mayhem get fresh perspective with a new look at Dust2 map designer Dave Johnston. Visit https://www.addict.media/ for your copy of Pixel Addict magazine. DESCRIPTION 00:00 - Show Opening 02:05 - Who Collects The Collections?Story Link: https://www.museumofplay.org/press-release/the-strong-national-museum-of-play-acquires-atari-home-computer-and-console-division-collection/ Additional links: https://ataripodcast.libsyn.com 14:31 - Take On General ReMasteredStory Link: https://midwinter-remaster.titanium-helix.com/index.html Additional links: http://mercenarysite.free.fr/mercframes_graphic.htmEpisode 124 of This Week in Retro, Mercenary remake: https://youtu.be/FaTiRBGMCfI?si=pCbuvWcWcV4gJCbC&t=2430 28:18 - Housekeeping - News links found below 33:16 - n00b or h4x0r?Story Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWWhxfGq_yk 47:32 - 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.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/jasoncompton.bsky.social Youtube:Chris - https://www.youtube.com/@005AGIMAJason - 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 Intel 486 motherboard: https://www.tomshardware.com/video-games/retro-gaming/the-m8sbc-486-is-an-open-source-intel-486-mobo-built-from-scratch-in-under-6-months-the-original-idea-was-to-achieve-linux-and-doom-compatibility-but-it-achieves-far-more-than-that Speedball 2: https://youtu.be/Mujivih30bc Native PC ports from PlayStation 2: https://www.timeextension.com/news/2026/01/native-pc-ports-of-ps2-games-could-be-on-the-way-thanks-to-new-recompilation-experiment Arcade church: https://youtu.be/kPKJyJGucH4 Why Do We Say Sprites?: https://youtu.be/tTqfeJ2yJwE Amiga 1200 Mini-ITX Alicia: https://youtu.be/NMKiRaLyuD8 The Visible Zorker: https://eblong.com/infocom/visi/

🛠 Check out PCBWay at https://pcbway.com/ for all your PCB needs! 🛠 We celebrate the launch of PicoIDE, the all-in-one replacement for ATAPI CD-ROM and IDE hard drives by welcoming creator Ian Scott (polpo) to the show! Ian personally guides us through the underpinnings of PicoIDE, available for crowdfunding order now. Then we transition to tricky challenges in software preservation through the lens of Little Computer People and Alternate Reality: The City, and wrap up with a discussion on the charms of VHS videotape and CRT display, including the design of the all-in-one TV/VCR combo. We then share your top picks for new tech documentaries before sharing our latest Community Question of the Week! 00:00 - Show Opening 02:52 - High Quality CD Emulation Is Here! The PicoIDEStory Link: https://picoide.com/Additional link: https://www.crowdsupply.com/polpotronics/picoide 23:35 - Software Preservation Tough TruthsStory Link: https://www.reddit.com/r/thisweekinretro/comments/1qhx9z1/is_this_the_only_game_you_cant_really_emulate/Additional links: https://archive.org/details/apple_ii_library_4amhttps://www.hvsc.c64.org 46:21 - Housekeeping - News links found below 54:02 - Story RedactedStory Link: https://www.reddit.com/r/thisweekinretro/comments/1qiso5v/a_new_vhs_combo_tv_thats_perfect_for_retro_gaming/Additional link: https://www.reddit.com/r/thisweekinretro/comments/1qesxv3/retrobox_are_bringing_back_the_vhs_combo_crt_with/ 01:05:23 - 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.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/jasoncompton.bsky.social Youtube:Chris - https://www.youtube.com/@005AGIMAJason - 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 Amigathon 2026: amigathon.com EB Aussie Stores News: https://press-start.com.au/news/2026/01/22/a-small-number-of-aussie-eb-games-stores-are-closing-but-theres-no-reason-to-worry/ EB Games Shovels Money Overseas: https://www.channelnews.com.au/real-concerns-as-eb-games-shovels-millions-offshore-as-losses-mount-and-stores-close/ The Retro Hour Interviews Norman Cool (Fatboy Slim): https://youtu.be/1-UOBjJjGuM Atari ST Mini: https://preview.redd.it/pmh955lbypeg1.png?width=1363&format=png&auto=webp&s=42a33326774858870fe81b32bb06127339c42adc More Atari ST Mini: https://www.tomshardware.com/video-games/retro-gaming/atari-st-enthusiast-announces-the-minist-with-fpga-misterynano-core-and-black-tkl-case-priced-at-around-usd400-each-but-the-initial-run-is-a-mere-five-units New TWIR Viewer Posts Message: https://www.reddit.com/r/thisweekinretro/comments/1qk8xlo/greetings_from_an_avid_watcher_and_twir_fan/ IBM Mwave: https://youtu.be/v1RmAd9iwwA?si=hNymBS4IFxpJJK-g