Blog

Video Interview with Stello Doussis

Stello Doussis is a veteran graphic designer, coder and composer, mostly recognized for for the cool soundtrack of Game Boy Color games such as "Happy Hippo" for the Kinder Surprise brand! In this interview he talks about how he started with is love for game music, learned how to code, do graphics and finally was able to turn his love for music into an employment to make a living. He also covers his steps working on music on the C64 for the cracking and demoscene. Learn more about the process of creating Game Boy (Color) music and how he tried to squeeze more out of the system's sound hardware than what he used to hear before. Also he shares stories about working on games for the pre-smartphone mobile phones (J2ME devices) with tiny screens and crude possibilities! A journey not to be missed!

Posted by Nafcom on Oct 24, 2020 // Read more »

Video interview with Randy Farmer

Randy farmer is a pioneer in online gaming, he created the first MMOPRG in 1986 aka Habitat while he worked for Lucasfilm Games (Later Lucas Arts), he has worked for Yahoo, Google, worked on Second Life and a lot more. Join us as we go through the history of time, it will be an entertaining ride!

Posted by Nafcom on Sep 10, 2020 // Read more »

Podcast Episode #93 - Revisiting NeoHabitat with Randy Farmer

Habitat, and its final version Club Caribe, was one of the world's first MMORPGs: an immersive, graphical, virtual world populated by C64 users in real time through the Quantumlink Network. Randy Farmer is one of the original architects of that world, and he remains involved in maintaining the project to this day. He joins AJ and Joerg to talk about the challenges behind creating the original Habitat, as well as resurrecting it, and the unique ways in which it has influenced culture, law, and modern MMORPGs. (Interview begins at 12:00)

Posted by AJ on Aug 20, 2020 // Read more »

Video Interview with Holger "Harvey Dent" Weßling

Holger tells us about his time publishing and writing books and software for the Amiga under Data Becker and later on other publishing houses. He talks a lot about the atmospheres and little stories and background about the times of computer book / software publishing in the 90s and throughout his book publishing today including the books for the C64 Mini and Maxi

Posted by Nafcom on May 24, 2020 // Read more »

Podcast Episode #88 - Digital Retro Park with Stefan Pitsch and Falk Heinzelmann

The Digital Retro Park is one of the premier museums of digital culture. Falk Heinzelmann and Stefan Pitsch are the guys who started it all, and they've taken some time to talk to AJ and Joerg about the museum, as well as take us on a virtual tour while we're all stuck at home! (interview starts at 10:05)

Posted by AJ on Apr 27, 2020 // Read more »

Podcast Episode #86 - Johan Grip and the C128 Neo!

In the world of retro reproductions, the Commodore 128 is the red-headed stepchild, with the least attention from enthusiasts. That is, until now! Johan Grip joins AJ and Joerg to talk about the C128 Neo, a replica PCB designed to help preserve these vintage machines. (interview starts at 13:40)

Posted by AJ on Apr 01, 2020 // Read more »

Podcast Episode #82 - Welle:Erdball

Welle:Erdball has been making music for almost 30 years, and the Commodore 64 has been an integral part of their unique sound since the beginning. Joerg and AJ talk to W:E members Honey and MissMoonlight about their musical process, what it means to them to be able to create art at this level, and the importance that the C64 plays in their music. (Interview begins at 35:49)

Posted by AJ on Jan 21, 2020 // Read more »

Podcast Episode #78 - Creating a New Mechanical Amiga Keyboard with Liwei Guan

The Micronics is hard at work creating a new mechanical keyboard for the Amiga 500, 600, and 1200, and Liwei Guan is the person making it all happen. AJ and Joerg talk to her about how she got involved in the Amiga community, the logistics of creating a new keyboard, and the unique directions she's taking to get this done. (Interview begins at 10:19)

Posted by AJ on Nov 21, 2019 // Read more »

Podcast Episode #77 - The Internet Archive with Jason Scott

Jason Scott is the free-range archivist of the Internet Archive and the creator of textfiles.com. AJ, Joerg, and Martin W. talk to him about why preservation is so important and ways in which everyone can help ensure that our digital histories are preserved. Interviews starts at 26:59

Posted by AJ on Nov 16, 2019 // Read more »

Podcast Episode #74 - Antstream with Jo Clifford and Brandon Keenen

Antstream is the world's first retro game streaming subscription service (think Netflix, but for retro games!). AJ, Martin, and Joerg talk to Antstream's Brandon Keenen and Jo Clifford about how this all came together, and how they're paving the way for the future of retro gaming.

Posted by AJ on Sep 09, 2019 // Read more »