Being the UK's youngest competitive gamer and why we need Tekken on Evercade, with Mean Machine Dean
Retro Titans - the giants of retro and indie gaming in conversation
Release Date: 08/07/2024
40+ years of making games, from Jet Power Jack & Rick Dangerous to Wreckreaction - with Simon Phipps
Retro Titans - the giants of retro and indie gaming in conversation
This episode's guest's fingerprints are all over some of the most iconic games of the 80s, 90s and beyond - Simon Phipps, aka Simes. From the 8-bit bedroom coding scene to the heights of AAA development, Simon’s career has spanned hits from Rick Dangerous and Shadow Man, to the Harry Potter games for EA. In addition to finding out about his long career in computer and video games, we hear about his love for art and making Star Wars props and costumes. This feature-length episode covers a lot of ground, and is essential listening for anyone working in the creative or gaming industries -...
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Evercade Anniversary and Showcase - with Andrew Byatt and Sean Cleaver
Retro Titans - the giants of retro and indie gaming in conversation
It's the five year anniversary of Evercade, the cart-based retro and indie gaming system, and we are celebrating with a special interview with the CEO and head of marketing of Blaze Entertainment - Andrew Byatt and Sean Cleaver respectively. Following the latest Showcase announcement on 29th May 2025, we have a deep-dive interview covering all the cart releases, and of course the Taito Alpha! It's a packed announcement, with fan favourites NEOGEO back, Taito getting a first cart release, and a wonderful new indie game, Roguecraft. 🔗 Links: Websites - ...
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Making modern Game Boy Color games, from Block Droppin to OutRun - with Shane McCafferty
Retro Titans - the giants of retro and indie gaming in conversation
Despite being over 27 years old, developers are still making games for the Game Boy Color - and one such game designer and coder is Shane McCafferty. He has been making games since he was 11, but has taken his side hustle and hobby onto a whole new level, releasing 9 Game Boy Color games on ItchIO in the past 18 months. We find out what it is that compels Shane to make games like Block Droppin, Cave Dave and Word Forward for the Game Boy Color, which projects kept him up at night, and the ones he's most proud of. We also discuss his current project to make a 'What If?' version of OutRun...
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Evercade, Home Computers, Consoles And The Future Of Retro, with Retro Asylum's Chris Worthington and Jim Middleton
Retro Titans - the giants of retro and indie gaming in conversation
Retro Asylum is widely regarded as one of the top gaming podcasts in the world, so we wanted to find out the secret to their success and why they've taken on the challenge of playing through and reviewing every single Evercade cart, on top of the rest of their output. So, Jim Middleton and Chris Worthington were kind enough to share their views and experiences covering the space, why they love Evercade, and whether it's OK to play emulation-based devices. 🔗 YouTube Links: Website - Discord - YouTube - Spotify - Spotify - 🎵 Music: Neon Gaming and Space Technology,...
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Evercade Showcase Reaction - NEOGEO, Data East, Gremlin Interactive, Windjammers & more with Crazy Burger
Retro Titans - the giants of retro and indie gaming in conversation
In this episode, we return to the world of Evercade to discuss the Evercade Showcase, which was released on 31st March. In a packed announcement, Evercade released 3 new carts, 2 Super Pockets, a hardware refresh for the EXP-R and VS-R, and teased a few things for the future. To make sense of it all and offer some analysis and predictions, we are joined by our regular special guest: retro gaming and Evercade YouTuber, Crazy Burger. In addition to Crazy Burger's thoughts and opinions, we managed to get a quick Q&A with Blaze Entertainment's head of marketing, Sean Cleaver. ...
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The big Thalamus interview with Andy Roberts - Creatures, Roguecraft, Cecconoid, Zzap64!, Commodore Format & more
Retro Titans - the giants of retro and indie gaming in conversation
For 8-bit home computing fans, Thalamus is one of the great names of the late 80s and early 90s, publishing classics such as Creatures I & II, Hunters Moon, Hawkeye and Armalyte. When the company went bankrupt in the early 1990s, everyone thought the story was over - but the rights to the games were bought by former Commodore Format games writer Andy Roberts, and the company was reborn. This interview with Andy Roberts tells the full story of Thalamus's heyday, decline and return, including insights into the 80s/90s games industry, writing for Zzap64! and Commodore Format, publishing games...
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From Sensible Soccer & Cannon Fodder to Sociable Soccer 25: creativity, music and navigating the games industry, with Sensible Software co-founder Jon Hare
Retro Titans - the giants of retro and indie gaming in conversation
Jon Hare is the co-founder of legendary game studio, Sensible Software, and was behind a host of global best-selling games, such as Sensible World of Soccer, Cannon Fodder, Mega Lo Mania and Sensible Golf. Jon's career as a creative director and game publisher stretches from the 1980s through to today, and is currently launching Sociable Soccer 25. We cover a lot of ground in this interview, from how he found his way into the industry, through to developing hit games and navigating the challenges of the games industry. We also discuss gaming music at length, including insights into...
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The birth of football management computer games, and their glorious return - with Football Manager developer, Kevin Toms
Retro Titans - the giants of retro and indie gaming in conversation
If you loved football management games, this episode is a must-listen. That's because we got to speak with the man who pretty much invented the genre, Kevin Toms. He's the developer of Football Manager, the 1980s series of games that started the whole thing. Since you can also now play Kevin Toms' Football Manager on your mobile, we thought it would be a great excuse to find out the story behind the original games, and why they've returned. 🔗 Links: Website - Facebook - X - 🎵 Music: Neon Gaming, by Dope Stuff Space Invaders by Tomohiro Nishikado,
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The past, present and future of Evercade, with Blaze Entertainment CEO, Andrew Byatt
Retro Titans - the giants of retro and indie gaming in conversation
In this episode we catch up with Blaze Entertainment CEO, Andrew Byatt to find out more about the origins of Evercade and the key milestones that have led up to its popularity today. Andrew describes Blaze's vision for retro gaming, the reasons behind the Hyper Mega Tech! brand and explains how licensing works in retro gaming. We also hear Andrew's desert island carts - can you guess what he picked? 🔗 Links: Websites - YouTube - Instagram - Facebook - X / Twitter - BlueSky - 🎵 Music: Neon Gaming, by Dope Stuff Desert Island Disc theme tune, by Eric Coates...
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Season 2 opener - Making Flea 2, developing the Lightbook project-mapped popup book, and making games accessible, with Ally Low
Retro Titans - the giants of retro and indie gaming in conversation
In our second season of Retro Titans, we welcome back Ally Low, game designer and founder of Lowtek Games. Ally discusses the inspiration and challenges around making Flea 2, which returns to Evercade as well as Steam, NES, Dreamcast and Itch-IO. We also cover his new innovation, the Lightbook project-mapped popup book, and his work around making games dyslexic-friendly. Season 2 will continue to cover Evercade extensively, but we'll also be looking beyond at other systems, so subscribe to get all the latest interviews with games designers, publishers, manufacturers and industry...
info_outlineRemember Sky TV's Games World from the 90s? In this episode, we meet one of the early finalists and the youngest competitive video gamer of the era, Dean Kennedy - aka Mean Machine Dean. A relative newcomer to Evercade, Dean talks through his early experiences on the platform and what attracted him to it in the first place.
As well as his love of Street Fighter, Dean has a passion for all fighting games and would love to see Tekken brought to Evercade - "never say never". Dean also talks about his Twitch channel, inspirations in the world of gaming and his new side-hustle making custom shells for classic gaming consoles.
🔗 Links:
Website - meanmachinedean.com
Twitch - @meanmachinedean
X / Twitter - @meanmachinedean10
🎵 Music:
Neon Gaming, by Dope Stuff
Desert Island Disc theme tune, by Eric Coates and his orchestra
Chaos Engine soundtrack, by Richard Joseph