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The Retro Hour (Retro Gaming Podcast)

478: Why The Demo Scene Is Now a Cultural Treasure - The Retro Hour EP478

The Retro Hour (Retro Gaming Podcast)

The Retro Hour

Technology, Leisure, Video Games

4.9558 Ratings

🗓️ 2 May 2025

⏱️ 92 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

This week, we’re joined by the brilliant Tobias Kopka—aka Melkor of Haujobb—as we explore the importance of the demo scene. We explore how this underground digital art movement went from C64 crack intros to global recognition through the ‘Art of Coding’ UNESCO initiative. From the days of 2,000 sweaty kids attending events like The Gathering to international cultural bids, Tobias shares some amazing stories, including running demos on ATMs and sending them into space! 

Contents:

00:00 - The Week's Retro News Stories 
39:49 - Tobias Kopka Interview

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Show notes

Wii Homebrew Channel closes: https://tinyurl.com/yy32spc4
Frontier Force: https://tinyurl.com/53uy5u54
Breakspace Spectrum magazine – Issue 1 released: https://breakspace.itch.io/issue-1
Toys R Us – the movie: https://tinyurl.com/48trvmhm
Linecraft for Pico-8: https://tinyurl.com/5cbyrynu

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

coming up on this week's show bad news for wee home brew fans a new spectrum magazine launches

0:07.0

and we chat about the culture of the demo scene with tobias cocker and the retro hour podcast

0:19.4

is brought to you every friday with our amazing friends of Bitmap Books.

0:23.2

Now, recently on the show, we've been talking about unreleased games over the last few weeks.

0:27.9

And there is a book that they released recently called The Games That Weren't.

0:31.5

There is in stock right now on their website covering more than 40 years of video games that sadly never saw the light of day for a variety of reasons.

0:41.2

And this book actually shines a light on those.

0:44.0

Now, loads of legendary titles in here, dating from 1975, right up to the PlayStation 4,

0:49.3

including screenshots, the stories of what happened as well,

0:52.0

and interviews with the authors of these games

0:54.5

that never made it to market. Weighing in at 644 pages, you can check it out in the rest

0:59.4

of their retro gaming collection at bitmapbooks.com. And with our friends at PCB Way. Now,

1:07.0

PCBWay, massive supporters of the retro community, and they offer fully featured custom PCB prototyping, low-cost, fast turnaround quality boards, and if you're looking for services like 3D printing and injection molding, they've got you covered.

1:22.2

And also check out the shared project section on their website to see what people are doing in the retro community

1:27.6

with PCB way and get an instant quote right now at PCBway.com.

1:33.4

Hello and welcome to the retro hour podcast episode number 478, your weekly dose of retro gaming

1:39.9

and technology news with me Dan Wood.

1:42.3

We're Ravi Abbott and and me, Joe Fox.

1:44.5

And a very warm welcome to this week's show, the podcast that comes out every single Friday

1:48.2

and celebrates all the wonderfulness about the world of retro gaming and technology.

1:53.7

We're bringing up to speed on what's been happening in the world of retro from over the last week.

1:58.1

And I think definitely a highlight of this podcast.

...

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