518: GameShark: The Rise, Fall & Return with Todd Hayes – The Retro Hour EP518
The Retro Hour (Retro Gaming Podcast)
The Retro Hour
4.9 • 558 Ratings
🗓️ 13 February 2026
⏱️ 108 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This week we’re joined by Todd Hayes, original US CEO of GameShark, the device that changed how a generation played games. From arcade beginnings to building a $252 million video game empire, Todd shares the story of bringing Action Replay to America, battling Sony in court, navigating Nintendo’s lockout chips, and launching the ambitious SharkWire online service for the N64. We also hear aboutthe return of GameShark for the modern era and his new GameShark Cheat Code Compendium, preserving the secrets behind gaming’s most legendary cheats.
GameShark Kickstarter: https://tinyurl.com/4t6a96jb
Contents:
00:00 - The Week's Retro News Stories
52:48 - GameShark Todd Hayes Interview
Please visit our amazing sponsors and help to support the show:
Bitmap Books - https://www.bitmapbooks.com
Go to https://surfshark.com/retrohour or use code RETROHOUR at checkout to get 4 extra months of Surfshark VPN!
Play Expo Blackpool: https://www.playexpoblackpool.com/
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Show notes
The Simpsons: Hit & Run Dreamcast Port: https://tinyurl.com/ystdsvx3
Dark Sci-Fi SNES Shooter: https://tinyurl.com/2smj37y5
Amiga Addams Family Secrets: https://tinyurl.com/3j356rep
New Wii Game Announced: https://tinyurl.com/4u4f2haz
ReStory: Console Repair Game: https://tinyurl.com/39a95ctm
Apple iPod Comeback Rumours: https://tinyurl.com/7u3xpd2p
New ScummVM Documentary: https://www.scummdoc.com/
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Coming up on this week's show, new shoot-em-ups on the way for classic consoles. |
| 0:04.7 | Secrets unlocked in the Amiga version of Adam's family. |
| 0:07.7 | And we get the story of GameShark with Todd Hayes. |
| 0:20.4 | And the Retro Hour podcast is brought to you every Friday with our friends and our sponsor |
| 0:25.4 | of Bitmap Books. |
| 0:26.6 | Now, one of their books that will be back in stock in just a couple of weeks time is N64 |
| 0:31.7 | a visual compendium. |
| 0:34.5 | Now, this tells the incredible story of the console that changed the gaming world. |
| 0:39.6 | Back in the 90s, when Nintendo finally made the move to fully embrace 3D, |
| 0:44.8 | and profiles more than 150 titles that defined the N64. |
| 0:49.5 | All the big ones are in there, of course, Mario 64, Goldmite 007, Ocarina of Time, Banjo |
| 0:56.0 | Kazui, and some that maybe flew under the radar that you might not be familiar with, and weighs |
| 1:01.0 | in at a massive 436 pages. |
| 1:04.0 | You can get notified when it's back in stock and check up the rest of their retro gaming collection |
| 1:09.0 | at bitmapbooks.com. And with our friends |
| 1:11.5 | at replay events who are bringing back a bit later this year, the UK's longest running retro |
| 1:17.0 | gaming event. The Mighty Play Expo returns to Blackpool for 2026 at the Olympia Exhibition |
| 1:23.3 | Centre, top of the promenade in Blackpool on Saturday and Sunday, the 3rd and 4th of October. |
| 1:29.7 | You can expect it all. |
| 1:30.8 | Of course, the traders are going to be there. |
| 1:32.8 | Get yourself some bargains, the amazing arcade area, pinball machines, consoles and computers. |
| 1:38.5 | You can sit down and play on competitions and, of course, the talks will be there as well. |
... |
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