524: Confessions of a Pirate BBS SysOp: The Arcadia Story - The Retro Hour EP524
The Retro Hour (Retro Gaming Podcast)
The Retro Hour
4.9 • 558 Ratings
🗓️ 27 March 2026
⏱️ 110 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Step back into the underground world of 90s dial-up piracy as we’re joined by Beast of Quartex, SysOp of Arcadia, once the largest pirate bulletin board system in the UK. From trading disks in the post to running a five-line elite BBS packed with the latest cracked Amiga games, Beast shares how the scene really worked: the hierarchy, the rivalries, and the race to release first. Plus, the secret world of crackers and couriers, and the moment it all came crashing down when FAST raided his operation.
Contents:
00:00 – The Week’s Retro News Stories
50:08 – Beast of Quartex 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/
Check out PCBWay at https://pcbway.com for all your PCB needs
We need your help to ensure the future of the podcast, if you’d like to help us with running costs, equipment and hosting, please consider supporting us on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/retrohour
Join our Discord channel: https://discord.gg/GQw8qp8
Website: http://theretrohour.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theretrohour/
X: https://twitter.com/retrohouruk
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/retrohouruk/
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/theretrohour.com
Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/theretrohour
Show notes
Sega 32X Elite-Style Game: https://youtu.be/rR-arrDKu3s
Double Baboon Ninja: https://tinyurl.com/3fb748tm
Xbox 360 PS3 Wii U Retro: https://tinyurl.com/yeyn8w6p
Final Fantasy IX Animated Series: https://tinyurl.com/4fsm7b22
PS2 Emulator iOS: https://tinyurl.com/4kefxjpp
New Steve Jobs Video: https://youtu.be/EoM2Y2KO6kU
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Coming up on this week's show, new games galore with an incredible new platformer coming to the Amiga. |
| 0:05.8 | A new elite style space explorer for the 32X. And we go inside the world of pirate BBSs with our guest Beast of Cortex. |
| 0:29.2 | And the retroro Hour podcast is brought to you every week with our good friends and our sponsor at Bitmap Books. |
| 0:37.2 | Now, brand new from them and available on their website right now, leaps and bounds, a visual guide to nine console generations. |
| 0:40.0 | Now, this massive new book charts the history of home video game consoles exploring how nine generations of hardware transformed our living rooms, |
| 0:45.6 | our bedrooms, connected communities worldwide, shape modern entertainment and blends expert |
| 0:50.0 | insight those amazing illustrations and striking design that you know from Bitmap Books and |
| 0:55.2 | celebrates iconic systems and forgotten flops and the technological leaps that defined gaming |
| 1:00.8 | culture. You can order your copy right now at bitmapbooks.com. |
| 1:06.1 | Hello and welcome to the Retro Hour podcast, episode number 524, your weekly dose of retro gaming |
| 1:12.1 | and technology news with me, Dan Wood. |
| 1:14.7 | Me Ravi Abbott and me Joe Fox. |
| 1:17.2 | And a very warm welcome to this week's show, the podcast every Friday brings you up to |
| 1:20.7 | speed on all the big happenings in the world of retro gaming and technology and welcomes on |
| 1:25.1 | veterans and just cool people from the industry for an interview |
| 1:28.5 | on the podcast every single week. And a big shout as well if you are new to the podcast as well. |
| 1:33.8 | I did see actually recently, and not only has the audio podcast number has been very good, |
| 1:37.9 | YouTube's starting to pick up eventually as well, which is quite nice to see after last week's show. |
| 1:42.5 | It's interesting. I've not done YouTube for years. |
| 1:45.0 | I know you're an aficionado of YouTube, Dan. |
| 1:48.0 | You're starting to upload again. |
| 1:49.9 | But I'm like, out of date, I'm like, guys, we should do the Mentos Challenge. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Retro Hour, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of The Retro Hour and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.