529: Nightdive, Stardock and the Business of Saving Classic Games: Larry Kuperman - The Retro Hour EP529
The Retro Hour (Retro Gaming Podcast)
The Retro Hour
4.9 • 558 Ratings
🗓️ 1 May 2026
⏱️ 112 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This week, we’re joined by Larry Kuperman, former VP of Business Development at Nightdive Studios, former Business Development Manager at GameStop, Stardock veteran, and co-founder of the IGDA Ann Arbor Chapter. Larry shares incredible stories from the business side of games, from discovering Wolfenstein 3D on a mighty 486, selling custom PCs in the ’90s, and Stardock’s early digital distribution gamble, to GameStop’s attempt to compete with Steam and Nightdive’s mission to bring classics like Turok, System Shock, Star Wars: Dark Forces and more back to life. We also dig into DRM, lost source code, game preservation, and why classic games are art worth saving.
Contents:
00:00 – The Week’s Retro News Stories
49:20 – Larry Kuperman Interview
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Show notes
VCF Bomb Scare: https://tinyurl.com/c4k2kb27
Resi 4 On Dreamcast: https://tinyurl.com/ud4v8t69
Commodore 64C Returns: https://commodore.net/
GoatBeat Hits C64: https://tinyurl.com/4cebch5b
Majora’s Mask On Vita: https://tinyurl.com/8dzxj937
Warhammer Classics Return: https://youtu.be/crVfMM3by_k
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | My name is Beverley and this is my NHS story. |
| 0:04.7 | I had to make regular journeys to my local CDC at blood tests because I had lymphoma. |
| 0:12.0 | I think it really helps to know that you've got somewhere local. |
| 0:15.5 | It was really a godsend. |
| 0:17.0 | The government is opening new community diagnostic centres with many already available 12 hours a day, seven days a week, |
| 0:22.6 | so the NHS can be there for all of us when we need it. |
| 0:25.1 | Find your closest one at gov.uk-Nh-Hs fit for the future, available England-wide. |
| 0:30.0 | Coming up on this week's show, Commodore's next computer is revealed. |
| 0:34.6 | A GameCube classic lands on the Dreamcast, |
| 0:36.8 | and we taught the business behind gaming with Larry Cooper Man. |
| 0:49.0 | And the Retro Hour podcast is brought to you every week with our sponsor and our good friends |
| 0:53.4 | of Bitmap Books. |
| 0:54.4 | Now, if you're a fan of fighting game history, look out for this landing in the next few weeks. |
| 0:59.5 | The definitive guide to Fatal Fury, also known as Garo Densetsu in Japan. |
| 1:05.2 | A massive 460-page volume featuring rare concept art from SNK's archives, exclusive interviews of the original |
| 1:13.0 | developers covering the entire series from the Neo Geo Classics right up until the upcoming |
| 1:17.4 | City of the Wolves. Pre-orders available right now at bitmapbooks.com ahead of release on May 20th. |
| 1:23.3 | And with our good friends at replay events who this weekend are bringing the UK's biggest |
| 1:27.4 | retro gaming market to Milton Keynes happening Saturday, 2nd of May, and Middleton Hall in Centre MK. |
| 1:34.4 | Now, if you've not visited one of these before, you can expect basically a massive venue filled with nothing but video games and merchandise retailers, thousands of gamers, collectors, and fellow geeks eager to find a bargain, |
| 1:46.0 | basically gaming navana. You can get your tickets right now at milton keens gaming market.com. |
| 1:52.8 | Hello and welcome to the Retro Hour podcast episode number 529, your weekly dose of retro gaming |
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