This Month In Retronauts: June 2026 edition (Patreon)

I hope you're not exhausted after Friday's Retronauts Radio because this is another lengthy podcast filled to the brim with emotion, energy, and editorializing. Three Es, see what I did there? E3 may be dead and buried but every video game company still announces projects by the truckload in June, hence we have over 90 minutes of news to discuss—"we" being myself (Diamond Feit) and Stuart Gipp.

Specific items mentioned in this episode include:

Knicks!!

Bing Bong: Origins

I exaggerated: Pong came out in late 1972 and the Knicks won in May 1973

a sloppy acronym: YES = "Yankees Entertainment and Sports"

technically the Yankees don't own the channel, the Yankees' owners do

it is still a cable channel but it also has a streaming component now

Russian Personal Computer Station 3

Until Dawn (PS5)

see SGF play Directive 8020

I am allowed to forget Hayden Panettiere's last name

I should remember to say Rami Malek correctly ("rah-mi")

Stu has it backwards: the title is Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney

even more Donkey Kong Bananza

Shadow of the Tomb Raider (2018) starring Camilla Luddington

she may have been pregnant or a new mom during this time, Stu!

Alix Wilton Regan has since taken over the role for Legacy of Atlantis

read more about jacket colors in Lupin III

Switch Online adds Donkey Kong 64

CPS-3 core for MiSTer FPGA out in beta

buta is indeed Japanese for pig (and in some contexts, pork)

Open the door/Get on the floor/Everybody throw the dinosaur.

ArcStation mod replaces PS1 laser with emulator

ODE = Optical Drive Emulator

other consoles have ODEs and other ODEs for PS1 exist too

this one fits ALL PS1 models without soldering

24:52 NEWS BEGINS

Romhacking has HAD IT with these monkey-fighting machine translations

Downloads for ALL "Machine Translated" projects are disabled

read Thomas James on the emptiness of feeding text to a machine

also in my defense Thomas James doesn't use his full name on BlueSky

Sega-16 interviewed Mike Fischer, former VP 

this tidbit about Billy Hatcher made the rounds on social media

Streets of Rage: The Motion Picture?

as a non-Christian I endorse Violent Night

Stu in turn recommends both Silent Night, Deadly Night films

Zack Snyder is "reimagining" Escape From New York

Snyder did not direct 300: Rise of an Empire but he produced & cowrote it

"Get ready for the South Town Cinematic Universe." no! No!

Saudi-backed Arena SNK assert they're making tons of movies!

Fatal Fury written by David S Goyer

we discuss Goyer's peaks & valleys

Goyer did not write The Crow, he wrote its lesser 1996 sequel

Geese, an origin story written & directed by Grant Singer

Fatal Fury: The Vow, an animated series for streaming

an Art of Fighting webtoon

"The South Town collection of SNK games were crime and martial arts offerings, and proved to be influential on filmmakers such as Takashi Miike and Quentin Tarantino and on later video games such as Street Fighter and Grand Theft Auto" !?

Miike was only 30 when NEO GEO hit but I still doubt he cares about SNK

Stu brings up WWE so I bring up Danhausen & the Knicks

Danhausen guested on Talking Simpsons in 2022

he JUST debuted with WWE earlier this year

Spyro: A Realm Beyond (spring 2027, multiplatform)

Activision acquired the rights to Spyro in 2008

HITMAN Classic Trilogy Remastered coming in 2027

includes Codename 47, Silent Assassin, and Contracts

the 2013 Hitman HD Trilogy includes Silent Assassin, Contracts, and Blood Money

the 2019 Hitman HD Enhanced Collection includes Blood Money & Absolution

all five of these games are bundled on Steam btw

Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee Remastered (November 3, multiplatform)

Atari is publishing, dunno if Digital Eclipse is involved

might not be a Japanese release for this at all

the original Japanese title mirrors that of Super Smash Bros

ゴジラ怪獣大乱闘 (Gojira Kaiju Dairantō)

大乱闘スマッシュブラザーズ (Dairantō Smash Brothers)

Two Digital Eclipse collections incoming

Toy Story: Retro Roundup! (October 15)

Toy Story (SNES, Genesis, GB 1995)

A Bug's Life (PS1, GBC 1998)

Toy Story 2 (GBC 1999)

Toy Story 2: Buzz Lightyear to the Rescue (PS1 1999)

Buzz Lightyear of Star Command (PS1, GBC 2000)

Toy Story Racer (PS1, GBC 2001)

a la carte: Toy Story 3 Complete Edition

lookit, there's Chris Kohler with Jim Hanks

Barbie Rewind (November 12)

part DreamHouse decorator, part game library:

Barbie (NES 1991)

Barbie: Game Girl (Game Boy 1992)

Barbie: Super Model (Genesis, SNES 1993)

Barbie: Vacation Adventure (Genesis, SNES) Unreleased!

Barbie: Race & Ride (PS1 1999)

Barbie Super Sports (PS1 1999)

Barbie: Pet Rescue (GBC 2001)

Barbie: Groovy Games (GBA 2002)

Secret Agent Barbie: Royal Jewel Mission (GBA 2002)

Barbie Horse Adventures: Blue Ribbon Race (GBA 2003)

The Barbie Diaries: High School Mystery (GBA 2006)

the Deluxe Physical Edition includes a Barbie doll, naturally

I gave the movie ***½ stars so I liked it!

Star Trek: Shadow Frontier by Bloober Team?? (multiplatform)

"a mature, psychological action-adventure" starring Ro Laren

Memory Alpha says Ro Laren appeared in 8 episodes of TNG

not bad considering she debuted in season 5 of 7

I forgot Michelle Forbes appeared on TNG before she played Ro

she's also in Escape From LA which Stu mentioned earlier!

on BSG she commanded the Pegasus

Sony State of Play

Marvel Tōkon (PC/PS5) adds Magneto, Green Goblin, and CARNAGE

Omae is not the rudest second-person pronoun in Japanese but if you say it right you will definitely piss people off.

Dynasty Warriors 3: Complete Edition Remastered (October 1, multiplatform)

look at EN and JP Wikipedia side-by-side to see the off-kilter numbering

everything past the first one are all musō games, technically

I misspoke: it's not shin as in "new" it's shin as in "real"

see also: Shin Samurai Spirits vs Samurai Shodown II

Ikumi Nakamura & Unseen present KEMURI (2027, PC/PS5)

"online co-op for up to three players"

Until Dawn 2 (2027, PS5 only?)

from Firesprite, not Supermassive

God of War Laufey starring Mrs Kratos (no date)

lotsa good double jump/air combo jokes on BlueSky

Jack Quaid appeared in Scream (the fifth one not the first one)

Marvel has had their own (male) Laufey since 1965

coming to PlayStation Plus this summer

Gitaroo Man (out now & soundtrack on streaming services)

Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy (Still up on MyAbandonware)

Onimusha Dawn of Dreams (the one from 2006)

Summer Games Fest guest starring Billy from Saw

I am all caught up with my Saw homework

said homework will not include the upcoming SAW: Genesis

Stranger Than Heaven featuring the late Tupac Shakur

Tupac's only living relative DOES NOT control his likeness rights

Bunta Sugawara died at 81, Toshiro Mifune at 77. Neither was murdered.

young Mifune appears in Capcom's new Onimusha game

Street Fighter 6 Year 4: TIFA (early 2027)

plus new characters Yasmine, Arjun, Bosch

Resident Evil (no Code) Veronica (2027)

Final Fantasy VII Revelation coming in Spring 2027

Multiplatform at launch

The Wolf Among Us 2 (2027) + remaster of original this year

Telltale Games went bankrupt in 2018

LCG Entertainment became Telltale Games in 2019

Fables creator Bill Willingham had a rift with DC in 2023

he put Fables into the public domain but DC says NO we own it

either way don't worry about supporting Willingham

Mighty Cuphead Adventure (multiplatform & Sega Master System!? 

Alien Isolation 2 (no date)

Fumito Ueda's "Project Robot" now genAtlas (no date)

Platinum doing TMNT with The Last Ronin (no date)

initially announced in 2023 by Black Forest Games

that version no longer exists

TMNT Mutants in Manhattan (2016) was delisted in less than a year

director Eiro Shirahama seems to be at Capcom now?

also that was with Activision so who knows what they asked for

Day of the Devs

Blood Dungeon (2026, demo available)

from Messhof (Nidhogg)

Into The Unwell (2027)

Prove You're Human (no date)

from Sunset Visitor (1000 X RESIST)

N PLUS INFINITY TIMES TWO ("sometime next year")

Nintendo Direct

Ocarina of Time remake is real (2026)

Kingdom Hearts IV (multiplatform, no date)

Kingdom Hearts Collection [I~III] also coming in October (multiplatform)

Kingdom Hearts HD I.5 + II.5 ReMIX

Kingdom Hearts HD II.8 Final Chapter Prologue

Kingdom Hearts III + Re Mind

the cover art might be genAI but only in the US??

I'm right about the Shibuya Disney Store

Touhou Koumakyou: New Classic ~ The Embodiment of Scarlet Devil (multiplatform Sep 2026)

lots of people online hyped for this, including Kevin

Xenoblade Genesis (Switch 2, 2027)

Final Fantasy Resonance (multiplatform Oct 2026)

Dragon Quest Monsters 4 aka The Withered World (multiplatform, Dec 2026)

Slime Morimori 3 does indeed have an English patch!

Crazy Taxi: World Tour (2027, multiplatform)

"At SEGA Corporation, we utilize generative AI as a support tool for developers"

"used to support our teams during the development of background assets…Assets generated were still subject to review by the development team" according to Game Informer

"We used it as a reference…our artists would pull up [and] generate some of their ideas and then they would look at that, you know, generated image and then they would draw the actual thing." series creator Kenji Kanno

"i want shorter games with worse graphics made by people who are paid more to work less and i'm not kidding" 6/29/2020

Kohei Ikeda has left Bandai Namco after 20 years

Tsuneki "IKD" Ikeda retires from Cave after 30 years

Cave does iterate a lot on past games but they have continued to release new work

Ubisoft and Microsoft continue to ruin lives

Ubisoft Winnipeg closed + other cuts = "up to 380 layoffs"

Ubisoft actually tried to EMBARGO the announcement

co-founder Claude Guillemot died on June 19 in a plane crash

Microsoft issued a deliberately vague "Next 100 Days: XBOX Reset" open letter

ex-Rare Craig Duncan & Louise O’Connor have both resigned

Double Fine, Compulsion, and Ninja Theory all at risk

last year's South of Midnight (won a Peabody AND a BAFTA)

execs gloated about the awards just months ago

Xbox JUST announced a third Senua game!!

Doctor Who "put out to tender" as RTD & co. depart the show

"in order to set the show up for future series, it was decided that rather than bridge the gap with a one off special, we are choosing to push forward to invest in the long-term future of the show" BBC statement

"For the record: there was no script, I never wrote it, and no actor was ever approached to play the next Doctor." RTD on Instagram

Stu loved "Boom" "Lux" "The Devil's Chord" "Dot and Bubble" and "Rogue"

Jodie came back for "The Reality War"

RIP (and tear) Bobby Prince composer of DOOM

2:01:05 NEWS END

SF Alpha (2000) is feature-length but SF Alpha Generations (2005) is only 45 min.

two animated hour-long specials are debatable inclusions

Rule 63: "for every character there is a gender swapped version of that character"

Rule 35: "If there is no porn, it will be made"

Leigh Dove's link regarding Bubble Buster (& Pang & Buster Brothers & more)

"Ultimate Ghosts 'n Goblins is pretty enjoyable" - Stuart Gipp

full credit to Chris Person on BlueSky for this month's new question

written in response to Bob's answer

come see me (and other Retronauts (but not Stu)) in Long Island August 7-9!

buy Stuart's zine The Oath!

Art & edits by Diamond (image source). Music heard in this episode:

10:08 "O Death" (Until Dawn)

24:00 that startup sound we all know and love 

42:00 "You Are Cursed"

53:16 "Data & Picard"

1:07:46 "Born to Be Bone" (Gitaroo Man)

1:25:09 "Night Riders" (TMNT Turtles in Time)

1:39:36 "Jipangu" (Slime Morimori Dragon Quest 3) 

2:00:06 "Running From Evil" by Bobby Prince

2:16:13 audio from The Addams Family pinball table

Finale: live from MSG, Game 4