Monday started off like any other day, but then Chase reached out and said, “Me and Larry on an episode? The current state of gaming is making us go back to the golden age!” Los and I decided the only responsible thing to do was to make it happen. Welcome to Episode Four of Retro World Order. Mike is joined by Chase and Larry from Geeks Gone Raw. As for Los, well, yeah, sometimes the best-laid plans of mice and men go awry. Who said Mike wasn’t well-read!
The crew talks about revisiting older games on everything from original Xbox 360 hardware to the Steam Deck, Android phones, and modern retro handhelds. Oh, you want more? How about Steam Input, emulation, game preservation, DroidDeck vs. GameNative, and the realization that Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 games are somehow becoming “retro.”
There’s also plenty of discussion about why older games continue to pull us back, whether nostalgia is really responsible, and why today’s AAA gaming landscape sometimes makes looking backward even more appealing.
- Revisiting older PC games on Steam Deck and using Steam Input to make them more controller-friendly.
- Mike’s journey through some overlooked Xbox 360 games, including Inversion, Bodycount, and Afro Samurai.
- When does a console officially become retro? Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 are now retro?
- Playing games natively on original and modded hardware versus emulation.
- Introducing a younger generation to classic Call of Duty multiplayer.
- Community projects that keep older games playable and improve their experience on modern hardware.
- Turning inexpensive Android phones and handhelds into capable emulation devices.
- Mike and Larry compare their experiences running PC games on Android, including performance, compatibility, and how much the hardware matters.
- Blur vs. Split/Second, licensing problems, delisted games, and why the price is the price.
- What’s happening to AAA gaming? Rising budgets, fewer releases, live-service games, “forever games,” and what happened to the B-tier?
- Can the next Grand Theft Auto change the industry, or will its success simply convince publishers to chase even bigger games?
| Larry | Heavenly Sword – Ninja Theory’s PlayStation 3 action game starring Nariko. Larry thinks it’s still worth going back and experiencing. |
| Chase | Fallout: New Vegas – Chase’s pick for an older single-player game that remains easy to get your hands on and still delivers a great experience. |
| Mike | Singularity – Raven Software’s 2010 shooter and a longtime favorite of Mike’s. Now the question is whether it holds up as well as he remembers. |
| Larry’s Bonus Pick | Dark Sector – Digital Extremes’ Xbox 360-era action game, remembered for its distinctive glaive weapon and its connection to the studio that would later create Warframe. |
| Geeks Gone Raw | Chase and Larry’s podcast covering games, life, music, and whatever else comes up along the way. |
| Silent Hill 2: Enhanced Edition | The fan-created enhancement project Chase discusses for the original PC version of Silent Hill 2. |
| DroidDeck | The Android Steam project Mike and Larry have been experimenting with. |
| GameNative | Another approach to running PC games on Android and one of the projects compared with DroidDeck during the show. |
| DroidDeck on the Retroid Pocket Nova | Mike’s hands-on testing of DroidDeck on the Retroid Pocket Nova. |
| XenDroid | The Xbox 360 emulator for Android discussed during the episode. |
| Agent 64: Spies Never Die | A modern retro-style spy FPS inspired by games like GoldenEye 007 and Perfect Dark. |
Mike – Retro World Order / Play It Again
Chase – Geeks Gone Raw
Larry – Geeks Gone Raw
Los couldn’t join us for Episode 4, despite being assigned show-note homework in his absence.