The Retro Hour (Retro Gaming Podcast) 505: “I Presented the Amiga Chipset to Atari… and Everyone Freaked Out!” - Atari's Matt Householder - The Retro Hour Podcast EP505
Nov 7, 2025
01:56:47
From hating Pong to working for Atari, this week we chat with Matt Householder. From his early days at Gaming Devices Inc. and designing the arcade classic Krull, through to joining Atari right after the video game crash and witnessing the dramatic Amiga chipset saga from the inside. Matt reveals what it was really like working under Jack Tramiel, converting GEM for the Atari ST in record time, and why developers had to sell snacks from their desks just to survive. He then takes us into the golden years at Epyx, creating World Games and the smash hit California Games, before moving on to 3DO, where a secret project he managed ended up helping fund Diablo.
Contents:
00:00 - The Week's Retro News Stories
54:26 - Matt Householder Interview
Please visit our amazing sponsors and help to support the show:
Doncaster Gaming Market: https://www.doncastergamingmarket.com/
Bitmap Books - https://www.bitmapbooks.com
Check out PCBWay at https://pcbway.com for all your PCB needs
Take your business to the next level today and enjoy 3 months of Shopify for £1/month: https://shopify.co.uk/retrohour
We need your help to ensure the future of the podcast, if you'd like to help us with running costs, equipment and hosting, please consider supporting us on Patreon:
https://theretrohour.com/support/
https://www.patreon.com/retrohour
Join our Discord channel: https://discord.gg/GQw8qp8
Website: http://theretrohour.com
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Show notes
Solid Aluminium Xbox Prototype Actually Works: https://youtu.be/0OMP8JvGWNY
Lost Destruction Derby 2 Saturn Prototype Unearthed: https://tinyurl.com/5c75zhxa
James Pond Makes a Comeback on Modern Consoles: https://tinyurl.com/2s4j38wd
Castlevania Amiga Remake Gets CD32 Upgrade: https://tinyurl.com/47624rsa
Castlevania Comes to the Atari 2600 (!): https://tinyurl.com/2k5ub8f5
Sonic Finally Lands on the GX4000: https://tinyurl.com/bdm5svj2
Worms Turns 30 – Team17’s Classic Celebrated: https://tinyurl.com/mrvtutnc
Contents:
00:00 - The Week's Retro News Stories
54:26 - Matt Householder Interview
Please visit our amazing sponsors and help to support the show:
Doncaster Gaming Market: https://www.doncastergamingmarket.com/
Bitmap Books - https://www.bitmapbooks.com
Check out PCBWay at https://pcbway.com for all your PCB needs
Take your business to the next level today and enjoy 3 months of Shopify for £1/month: https://shopify.co.uk/retrohour
We need your help to ensure the future of the podcast, if you'd like to help us with running costs, equipment and hosting, please consider supporting us on Patreon:
https://theretrohour.com/support/
https://www.patreon.com/retrohour
Join our Discord channel: https://discord.gg/GQw8qp8
Website: http://theretrohour.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theretrohour/
X: https://twitter.com/retrohouruk
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/retrohouruk/
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/theretrohour.com
Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/theretrohour
Show notes
Solid Aluminium Xbox Prototype Actually Works: https://youtu.be/0OMP8JvGWNY
Lost Destruction Derby 2 Saturn Prototype Unearthed: https://tinyurl.com/5c75zhxa
James Pond Makes a Comeback on Modern Consoles: https://tinyurl.com/2s4j38wd
Castlevania Amiga Remake Gets CD32 Upgrade: https://tinyurl.com/47624rsa
Castlevania Comes to the Atari 2600 (!): https://tinyurl.com/2k5ub8f5
Sonic Finally Lands on the GX4000: https://tinyurl.com/bdm5svj2
Worms Turns 30 – Team17’s Classic Celebrated: https://tinyurl.com/mrvtutnc