Retro Gamer

DARRAN JONES Whenever I think of Sonic I think of the killer whale attack from Sonic Adventure. I’ll often return to that first stage just to experience it. Expertise: Juggling a beautiful wife, two gorgeous girls and an award-winning magazine, all under one roof! Currently playing: Geometry Wars: Galaxies Favourite game of all time: Strider ANDY SALTER The build up to the release of Sonic The Hedgehog 2 was the first time I remember seeing any hype for a videogame, and from what I remember is wasn’t as well-received as the original. Expertise: Modding games, no ‘vanilla’ versions for me, thanks! Currently playing: M&B2: Bannerlord… Modded of course Favourite game of all time: Rome: Total War ANDREW FISHER Playing the amazing C64 conversion by Mr SID released at the end of 2021 – a real technical marvel. Expertise: Forty years of gaming,…

Here’s a frightening thought - I realised earlier that many of today’s gamers won’t associate Sonic with Sega consoles. It makes sense, as it’s been over two decades since Sega’s mascot appeared on a Sega system and it’s even more sobering to realise that he only spent ten years of his life appearing on Sega formats. But still, what a decade it was and for many Sonic fans it’s those early outings that were both so formative for the growth of Sega’s new mascot and also their love for the impossibly speedy hedgehog. Sega knows this all too well which is why its incoming release of Sonic Origins is exciting fans so much. We’ve been lucky enough to speak to Simon ‘Stealth’ Thomley, a Sonic fan himself who has been behind Sega’s…

On 9 May it was reported by Ben Ward that his father, David Ward, the cofounder of Ocean Software, had passed away. “Sad to report that my father David Ward has died,” Ben tweeted. “Born in 1947, he was a computer games pioneer and father of six. We had a complicated relationship and we loved each other. Will miss you pop.” The news spread quickly across social media with many gaming veterans paying their respects. “He was one of the pioneers of the games industry,” commented David Darling, cofounder of Codemasters. “A true entrepreneur, very talented and will be sorely missed.” The sentiment was shared by Ian Stewart who founded the Sheffield-based Gremlin Graphics who referred to David as, “A true pioneer and entrepreneur. He will be remembered fondly by many.…

The writer and director Luther Bhogal-Jones is working with Faster Productions to finance a brand-new feature biopic highlighting the career of Mel Croucher. The Machina Man is currently looking for funding and plans to chart Croucher’s early life, the founding of Automata and key titles such as Pimania and Deus Ex Machina. Its press release promises a visual style and tone for the feature biopic that will be “somewhere between the much loved Edgar Wright TV programme Spaced and Michael Winterbottom’s Tony Wilson biopic 24 Hour Party People”. More news as we get it.…

The New York Times recently revealed that negotiations between Electronic Arts and FIFA to extend the popular football series have ended without a new agreement in place. FIFA games have been part of the gaming landscape since the Nineties so it’s going to be interesting to see how gamers react to EA Sports FC, the new name for EA’s football games going forward. Could this move spark a renaissance in football games with FIFA teaming up with multiple third-party developers? We’ll just have to wait and see.…

The weird thing about being famous is the more famous you get, the more free stuff you can blag. I used to be famous. That’s not me showing off, it’s just true. I did a TV show starting in 1999 called The 11 O’Clock Show. A rather rude show that made some of its stars actual proper millionaire movie famous. I just had a slightly famous glow, and that was enough for me. Before that show, I was signing on, massively in debt and living with my mum. This was the last roll of the dice for me, and I got lucky. It was also my first instance of blagging stuff. I remember sitting in the office and someone telling me that Richard Bacon, then hosting The Big Breakfast, had been given the…