This Month In Retronauts: July 2026 edition (Patreon)

too hot for opening paragraph, please enjoy podcast.

come to Long Island Retro if you can!

Specific items mentioned in this episode include:

Jimothy!

already sighted at Mariners games

non-Americans might not understand why I brought up diarrhea

my beverage for the recording: Monster Bad Apple

Burger King aka Hungry Jack's down under

Mr. Nice Guy (1997, dir. Sammo Hung)

Yars Rising (2024)

Jenny Yokobori stars as Emi Kimura

music director Tommy Pedrini with Megan McDuffee also writing/performing

Desktop Explorer (new release! just finished it! recommended!)

from Recurring Dream, a "Mexican-led" team on America's West Coast

"This game explores themes of depression, suicide, trauma, PTSD, self-harm, and family grief, including mild depictions of gore. Player discretion is advised."

X-Men 97

"committed for four seasons at the very least" EW

"The Avengers have adventures. The X-Men have MESS."

Meccha Chameleon (see Korone & pals play)

Baldur’s Gate Dark Alliance (originally 2001, now on Switch)

talk of Evil Dead Burn (2026) kicks off Cinema Chat

Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022)

Backrooms (2026, coming soon-ish to Japan)

30:08 "are you going to complain about AI?" Yes.

”Jane” somehow morphs into "April" and later "June" as we discuss their comment

"It's not enough to be against AI, you need to be pro art." Casey Explosion

you can just skip to 39:36 if you don't wanna hear this

Dead or Alive 6 Last Round (multiplatform)

loaded with anti-mod files & copious DLC options

Arcade Archives 2: TEKKEN

Console Archives: T.R.A.G.: Tactical Rescue Assault Group aka Hard Edge

also modern revival Hard Edge - War Zone just came out on Steam

Switch Online adds Super Mario Land 3: Wario Land (just now?)

Stu's right: Wario Land, Wario Land 3, & 4 are available, but not II

Biomechanical Toy (1995) now out on Steam & consoles

"akin to an Amiga knockoff of Gunstar Heroes" GSK

Thunder Hoop (not "Loop") is also coming soon

Franko 2: No Mercy prototype released

sequel to Franko: The Crazy Revenge (1994)

another sequel did come out in 2023: Skinny & Franko: Fists of Violence

new mod makes Code Veronica X a third-person shooter

works in Dolphin or PCSX2

I only just played the arcade version this year!

Mega Man ZDOOM (get it??)

WIP DOOM port for the PC-FX

Modern Vintage Gamer made a video about how DOOM is a tough fit for the NEOGEO

this prompted many viewers to work up their own versions!

Steam Machine priced! spittake 

in theory anyone can build a Steam machine

people are even recycling ewaste into game machines

"The Steam Machine is meant for an alternate present but, barring that, it could lay the groundwork for a more interesting future." Chris Person @ Aftermath

meanwhile: an UN-release for the Steam Machine Companion Cube

Sony nearly released a Brazilian plug-and-play "way before" the mini console boom

Wikipedia has an article explaining Brazil particular video game market

Nintendo has plans to comply with new EU battery regulations

some products will NOT be modified and will disappear from shelves in 2027

NES, SNES, MD Controllers for Nintendo Switch

Pokémon™ GO Plus +

all Nintendo Switch 1 models & Pro Controller!

Mario Kart Tour shuts down September 29

3DO: Rising…or not

the Simoria page is gone but you can still see the concept art above

the only game on Empire's site is TROY (and it too looks like genAI crap)

Jill Valentine's "boyfriend" EXPOSED

Craig Burnatowski ACCUSED of abusing a former romantic partner

Legendary kusoge Death Crimson original artwork found on Twitter

山﨑シブ claims the artist was their dad Takashi Yamasaki

Death Crimson does include light gun support, not that it helps

here's my 2023 column about Hakaiō: King of Crusher

Marvel Tōkon (PC/PS5) adds Blade, Loki, and Deadpool

I wish they picked Gwenpool, I love her.

the open beta is scheduled July 24-26 so maybe you can play it??

less good: Marvel Tōkon blocked in 132 regions on Steam

Art of Fighting 3R coming to Steam

TEKKEN! cartoon? Not CG or 3D, a 2D cartoon

computer games coming soon to Steam & GOG.com from publisher SNEG

Ecstatica & Ecstatica II (1994, 97)

Dark Earth (1997)

Warlords IV: Heroes of Etheria (2003)

Soldiers at War (1998)

Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor (2001)

FINAL FANTASY VII EVER CRISIS ending service October 6

Stuart actually remembers Mega Man X Dive

Persona live-action series coming from Netflix?

exec producer/showrunner/writer Christopher Monfette

"the monkey's paw of everyone who suggested a Persona game in a Western School begins to curl" Alex Donaldson

God of War series needs new Kratos, Kratos hurt himself

major Stuart Gipp news announced exclusively during this segment

EW reported on a bunch of Microsoft-related media

Sea of Thieves movie because everyone loves pirates?

Gears of War movie for Netflix is an origin story, hooray!

Netflix making animated Minecraft & Gears of War series

Amazon is adapting Wolfenstein & a Fallout Shelter "reality competition"

Xbox also wants more money for their theoretical game consoles

also no more 2TB model because parts cost too much

take advantage of the new "buy now pay later" plan lol

layoffs at IO Interactive (Hitman, 007 First Light) and it's all Microsoft's fault

Add Arkane Studios to Microsoft's possible hit list

unionized Xbox members responded to layoff talk

the official "Reset" word came: 3200 jobs, gone

Double Fine and Compulsion will become independent, retain their IP

Zenimax, id Software, Activision and Obsidian all reported layoffs

"60-70" or about "one-quarter" of Obsidian

"majority" of Id's studio gone, at least 136 people

"I want XBOX to be one of the few companies that entertains more than a billion people each day" the fuck you say

"Does Xbox CEO Asha Sharma know what a billion is?" PC Gamer

many, many times more than Steam has ever reached in one day

"You just sent 1600 people into one of the worst job markets in history for the industry, and you’re talking about an install base of a billion, are you fucking high?" Chris Person at Aftermath

as predicted, Sony/Bungie laying people off now that Destiny 2 is over

no numbers announced but it's at least 292

Grim: the Sony announcement has a 2 in the URL because this is a repeat

Sony says no more discs effective January 2028

pubs may "place re-orders for existing PlayStation disc games"

"general preference for digital media significantly outpaces physical discs"

yeah because they're impossible to find, bitch

GameStop's Ryan Cohen says this change is "irrelevant" to his video game stores

it gets worse: PS3 and Vita stores are closing over the next year

Sony also loves AI!

more EA layoffs before the execs score their big Saudi payday!

the EU just approved this deal, btw

GameSpot lays off people for the fifth time in four years

latest round includes Brendan Hesse on paid leave b/c he got SHOT

Ubisoft launched another Assassin's Creed so that means more layoffs

"Nearly a third" of Ubisoft Barcelona facing redundancy at the end of July

La Confederación General del Trabajo has already called for a strike

said strike began on July 14!

RIP Sam Neill, master thespian and lover of nature

tested for James Bond in the late 80s but didn't get it (and didn't want it!)

"do you want to be a bumblebee with me?"

owned a winery called Two Paddocks, often posted himself with farm animals

diagnosed with blood cancer but survived, said he was "cancer free" in 2026

notable roles (to us)

Possession (1981)

The Hunt for Red October (1990)

Memoirs of an Invisible Man (1992)

In the Mouth of Madness (1994)

the catburglar in The Simpsons (1994)

Event Horizon (1997)

Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016)

two cameos in the Thor movies as Odin on stage

the Jurassic Park movies

and who could forget Omen III: The Final Conflict (1981)

Google "J.J. Cafaro" or click here

Chrono Jigga by 2 Mello & The Grey Album by Danger Mouse

you can buy the latter but not the former

read James Eldred's blog about Puc-Man Fever

PAC-MAN by Power-Pill (Aphex Twin)

Gary Garcia passed away in 2011 but Jerry Buckner continues to record music

read even more about this cultural moment on 52 Weeks of Pac-Man Fever

1-31-2007 Never Forget

one collaborator on the would-be ad campaign passed away in March

according to the 2002 Metroid manga, Rodney Aran is Samus' father

Jeremy, Nadia, and Diamond appear as ringside spectators in RetroMania Wrestling

Potentially dangerous golf scenarios:

Crazy Golf (I think I meant Zany Golf but various Crazy Golf titles exist)

Battle Golfer Yui (1991)

Jackass (2007) has two golf-based stunts

Ninja Golf (1990)

Cursed to Golf (2022)

Golf War: Return to the Golf (does not exist)

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

11:22 "eighty two (feat. milkyPRiSM)" (Yars Rising)

28:27 "Pipes" (Backrooms) (composed by the director!)

39:36 "Wannabe" performed by Fairouz Ai*

49:34 music from Resident Evil Survivor 2 – Code: Veronica

1:02:03 "Turret Wife Serenade (Beta Mix)" (Portal 2)

1:14:04 "Moula " (Death Crimson)

1:25:06 "You Don't See Me" by Kratos TC Carson

1:42:47 "AIAIAI" by Kizuna AI*

1:55:40 audio of Sam Neill featuring Angelica

2:07:39 "Dig Dug" by Digital Air

2:13:24 "Hang 'em High" (Atom Zombie Smasher)

Finale: Sam Neill plays us out on his ukulele

*notice both artists are named AI