528: The Man Behind the Atari Jaguar: John Mathieson- The Retro Hour EP528

The Retro Hour (Retro Gaming Podcast)

The Retro Hour

Technology, Leisure, Video Games

4.9 • 558 Ratings

🗓️ 23 April 2026

⏱️ 100 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

This week, we’re joined by John Mathieson, the hardware designer best known as the father of the Atari Jaguar. John takes us through an extraordinary career that began at Sinclair Research on the ZX Spectrum, before moving through ambitious and often misunderstood projects including Loki, the Konix Multisystem, Atari’s Panther and Jaguar, and later the Nuon. Along the way, he shares brilliant behind-the-scenes stories about working with Clive Sinclair, Jeff Minter and the Tramiel-era Atari team, and reflects on the technical ideas, challenges and missed opportunities behind some of gaming’s most fascinating machines.

Contents:

00:00 – The Week’s Retro News Stories
53:08 – John Mathieson Interview

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Show notes

Stunt Car Racer 60FPS Update: https://tinyurl.com/48auryjz
Stunt Car Racer Multiplayer: https://tinyurl.com/4juw2a99
Pokémon Adventure Demo: https://tinyurl.com/2bcntp4u
Crystian And The Lost Crystals: https://tinyurl.com/4ju936w9
DS And PSP Screen Fix: https://tinyurl.com/4mphcth5
SuperSega Creator Returns: https://tinyurl.com/5eezr29v
Sega RPG Returns: https://tinyurl.com/nw8jupxa

Transcript

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0:00.0	Your life's already digital. From banking and shopping to streaming and learning. So why
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0:21.0	Your voice matters.
0:22.8	Search Digital ID consultation to have your say.
0:26.6	Digital ID, making it work for you.
0:30.0	Coming up on this week's show, big news for fans of stunt car racer.
0:35.0	An impressive new platformer lands on the C64.
0:38.4	And an easy trick to fix your PSP display.
0:51.9	And the Retro Hour podcast is brought to you every week with our good friends at Bitmap Books.
0:56.7	Now have you checked out their latest volume? So interesting. Leaps and bounds, a visual guide
1:02.0	to nine console generations. Now, this massive new book, charts the history of home video game consoles,
1:08.8	exploring how the nine generations of hardware transformed our living
1:11.9	rooms, connected communities around the world, and basically shaped modern entertainment,
1:16.5	blending expert insight, incredible illustrations, and that striking design that you've come to
1:20.9	know from Bitmap Books and celebrates iconic systems, bold experiments and the forgotten flops
1:26.0	and technological leaps at defined gaming
1:28.2	culture.
1:29.0	Get your copy right now at bitmapbooks.com.
1:34.3	Hello and welcome to the Retro Hour podcast episode number 528, your weekly dose of retro gaming
1:40.4	and technology news with me Dan Wood.
1:42.6	Me Ravi Abbott.
	...

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