534: How Games Like Wipeout and Tony Hawk Changed the Music Industry - The Retro Hour EP534

The Retro Hour (Retro Gaming Podcast)

The Retro Hour

Technology, Leisure, Video Games

4.9 • 558 Ratings

🗓️ 5 June 2026

⏱️ 103 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

This week we’re joined by video game music expert Matt Ombler, head of music and gaming partnerships at Laced, to explore the incredible world of game soundtracks, from Sonic on the Mega Drive and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater shaping a generation’s music taste, to Wipeout, Halo 2, retro sound chips, vinyl reissues and the growing importance of preserving game music history. Matt also shares stories from his journalism days interviewing legends like Nile Rodgers and Nobuo Uematsu, plus how he helped bring metal heavyweights including Howard Jones, Trivium and Polyphia into Cult of the Lamb’s Hymns of the Unholy project.

Laced Records: https://www.lacedrecords.com/

Contents:

00:00 – The Week’s Retro News Stories
46:30 – Matt Ombler Interview

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Show notes

Sonic On ZX Spectrum Next: https://tinyurl.com/48fpsssy
Legal Disc Ripping: https://tinyurl.com/2s4pufay
Virtual OS Museum: https://tinyurl.com/2kz9r9aw
Castlevania Rondo of Blood On Mega Drive: https://tinyurl.com/3x8ukbxn
Amiga CD32 ODE: https://tinyurl.com/3p93uuam
Final Fantasy XVI Demake: https://tinyurl.com/5yxeu5yp

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	People across the country are feeling all warm and fuzzy about their heat pumps.
0:04.0	Installing it during the renovation was an easy call.
0:07.0	The bathroom tiles, however.
0:08.0	It's much nicer than your boiler.
0:10.0	The place is just always warm and cozy like.
0:12.0	The government grant was the help we needed to start upgrading.
0:16.0	You get a lovely, steady temperature.
0:18.0	Walking around without waste slippers are you?
0:20.0	Feel all warm and fuzzy inside with a seven and a half thousand pound government grant towards your heat pump at gov.
0:25.6	.uK slash clean energy.
0:27.6	Eligibility criteria applies the website for details.
0:29.6	People across the country are feeling all warm and fuzzy about their heat pumps.
0:33.6	Installing it during the renovation was an easy call.
0:36.6	The bathroom tiles, however.
0:38.8	It's much nicer than your boiler.
0:40.3	The place is just always warm and cozy like.
0:42.6	The government grant was the help we needed to start upgrading.
0:46.1	You get a lovely steady temperature.
0:48.0	Walking around without my slippers are you?
0:49.8	Feel all warm and fuzzy inside with a seven and a half thousand pound government grant towards your heat pump at gov.uk. U.K. slash clean energy. Eligibility criteria applies the website for details. Coming up on this week's show, Sonic the Hedgehog lands on the spectrum. CD 32 gets an optical drive emulator. And we go inside the world of video game soundtracks with Matt Ombler.
1:21.2	And the Retro Hour podcast is brought to you every Friday with our good friends and our sponsor at BitMat Books.
1:27.0	Now, if you love
	...

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