About Us
Here on the Retro Spectives Podcast, we argue about old video games. We dredge up the remembered classics of our childhood, or other revered titles of the past, and examine them through today’s lens: are they still masterpieces if we hold them to today’s standards? We won’t forgive games for having clunky controls or a wonky camera, an impossible UI or terrible graphics. We want to know how enjoyable these games are in this day and age.
We take turns suggesting old games to play, so neither one of our preferences overrides the other. Most importantly, until the day of the cast we refuse to discuss our experiences at all. While this does give the cast a looser, less organised feel, it also means that the conversations and arguments that we have are authentic and fresh.
The podcast originated from that simple idea - what if we were to replicate all the long winded discussions we have about video games live on air? Instead of arguing over a long car ride or ruining a group dinner for everyone, we could speak on the podcast.
We decided to focus on older games because we wanted to be able to cut through the ‘noise’ - when a new game comes out there are a million different takes on it. But old games sit there silently, gathering dust from neglect. These older games deserve to be played and there are still lessons to be learned from them - both good and bad.
So have a listen, and don’t hold back your criticism, because we certainly won’t.
Pat & James.
The Hosts
Patrick Arthur
Patrick can most often be found scrolling up and down through his vast steam library, bemoaning that he has ‘nothing to play’. His favourite activities include complaining about unskippable cutscenes and arguing that good JRPGS don’t actually exist. In his free time he can usually be found endlessly replaying Super Hexagon or reading Terry Pratchett Novels.
James Tuerlings
The kind of man who can spend five-thousand hours in DOTA but just can't find the time to mow the lawn.
James graduated as an electrical engineer in 2017 and quickly put his six years of debt to work by beating at least one level of TIS-100.
He is a firm believer that any game requiring Microsoft Excel is good and that people who skip cutscenes can’t appreciate a good story.
