In this episode I talk about Chords, a cyberpunk visual novel coming to the Mega Drive, EA shutting down BioWare, the Atari VCS store closing with a positive twist, a Doom engine for the NES, DOOM on a clamp meter and a vape, using AI to make smart TVs less annoying, a plug-and-play PS1 optical drive emulator, USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt for Windows 98, a 6502 laptop, a new Dizzy collection for the Mega Drive, AI slop flooding Steam Next Fest, cloning fears delaying an indie playtest, an unusual CPU swap for the original Xbox & more!Listen on your favourite podcast platform: https://anchor.fm/reesramblesThe official podcast of ctrl-alt-rees: https://youtube.com/ctrlaltreesSubscribe to Rees Rambles on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/reesramblesJoin the Discord: https://discord.gg/5k922pd8PWEpisode Links:Chords On Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4909120/Chords/Chords Official Site: https://www.pixelpushergames.co.uk/chords/Matteusbeus On YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MatteusBeusRetroDevMatteusbeus' Second Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@RetroSegaDev2Matteusbeus On Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/matteubeus?welcomeModal=showEA Shuts Down BioWare: https://www.windowscentral.com/gaming/xbox/ea-officially-shuts-down-bioware-and-cuts-400-jobs-mass-effect-5-has-been-cancelledMy Atari VCS Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqlFPpd7u20Atari Ends VCS Support: https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/atari-is-ending-support-for-its-2021-vcs-console-will-release-a-homebrew-app-to-let-players-keep-making-and-adding-games/Doom NES: https://nancygold.itch.io/doom-nesDOOM On A Clamp Meter: https://github.com/ArturBieniek4/DMC100-DoomDOOM On A Vape: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNx4T7kC93wUsing AI To Make Smart TVs Dumb Again: https://techcrunch.com/2026/10/19/people-are-using-ai-to-make-their-smart-tvs-dumb-again/Plug & Play PS1 ODE: https://x.com/krikzz/status/2110718308844744934USB 3.0 & Thunderbolt For Windows 98: https://hackaday.com/2026/10/18/thunderbolt-strikes-windows98/LT6502b Laptop: https://www.maddox.pro/?p=448Codeberg Of The Above: https://codeberg.org/TechPaula/LT6502bCrankfruit Game Player: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yN6j7aCtP2INew Dizzy Collection: https://www.timeextension.com/news/2026/10/the-oliver-twins-mark-40-years-of-dizzy-with-new-sega-genesis-mega-drive-collectionSteam Next Fest AI Slop: https://www.timeextension.com/news/2026/10/thin-end-of-the-wedge-steam-next-fest-under-fire-as-demo-festival-drowns-in-a-flood-of-ai-slopCloning Fears Delay Playtest: https://www.timeextension.com/news/2026/10/too-big-a-risk-indie-dev-digital-sun-delays-revamp-public-playtest-over-ai-cloning-fearsC3 1.2GHz CPU In An Original Xbox: https://www.reddit.com/r/originalxbox/comments/1xa63l7/i_had_to_know_if_it_would_work_via_c3_12ghz_cpu/Video Of The Week 1 (Jenovi 32X Audio Limits): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRYMxTwz7FkVideo Of The Week 2 (Windows 2000 On An Original Xbox): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1LQpWCVnAMVideo Of The Week 3 (Gamers Nexus DDR3 Rides Again): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4c2FSSaCswVideo Of The Week 4 (TNMoC Tony Sale Award 2026): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmUtew0NaTQChapters:00:00:00 Good News For Cyberpunk Graphic Novel Fans!00:08:21 RIP BioWare00:15:27 RIP Atari VCS (With A Positive Twist)00:26:32 The DOOM Shrine00:35:43 Making Your Smart TV Less Annoying... With AI00:43:29 Definitely NOT Rees's Pieces00:55:37 Videos Of The Week01:06:06 ...And Finally

https://www.pcbway.com - PCB fabrication, assembly, 3D printing, CNC machining & more!

In this episode I talk about the new studio, a decompilation community shut down by AI, the first human-led Beetle Adventure Racing recomp, Ultima Underworld rebuilt for modern systems, Sinclair's ULA design documents, DOOM on a Hasselblad camera and through DNS, the ESA vs retro handhelds, 30 years of 3dfx, Apple Records vs Apple Computer, Ubisoft's remote working row, Dungeon Master in ScummVM, GTA's Atari ST origins, a tribute to Richard "Levelord" Gray & more!

Listen on your favourite podcast platform: https://anchor.fm/reesrambles

The official podcast of ctrl-alt-rees: https://youtube.com/ctrlaltrees

Subscribe to Rees Rambles on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/reesrambles

Join the Discord: https://discord.gg/5k922pd8PW

Episode Links:

AI Shuts Down Decomp Community: https://www.404media.co/video-game-reverse-engineering-community-shuts-down-because-ai-has-made-it-too-easy/

decomp.dev: https://decomp.dev/?ref=404media.co

Human-Led Beetle Adventure Racing Recomp: https://www.timeextension.com/features/well-be-the-first-human-led-recomp-vibe-coders-outpaced-them-but-this-beetle-adventure-racing-fan-isnt-giving-up

Underworld Exhumed: https://github.com/abedegno/underworld-exhumed

Enhancements For The Above: https://github.com/abedegno/underworld-exhumed/blob/main/docs/ENHANCEMENTS.md

Exhume Toolkit: https://github.com/abedegno/Exhume

Sinclair ULA Design Docs: https://hackaday.com/2026/10/15/45-years-later-the-sinclair-ula-design-documents-surface/

Video Of The Above: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiW3P1rJRMc

Ferranti Docs Archive: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1_6S9HtXdFBRyo7NQ52pcOQgZlP1N_M-T/edit?gid=2081835427#gid=2081835427

DOOM On A Hasselblad: https://www.tomshardware.com/video-games/retro-gaming/researcher-ports-doom-to-usd8-000-hasselblad-x2d-100-mp-medium-format-camera-uses-touchscreen-for-directional-control-shutter-button-to-fire-weapon

DOOM Via DNS: https://www.theregister.com/columnists/2026/10/12/no-shame-in-the-domain-name-game-dns-is-doomed-literally/5302670

ESA Vs Retro Handhelds: https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/us-government-told-to-flag-retro-handhelds-loaded-with-pirated-games-as-a-notorious-market/

3dfx Voodoo Turns 30: https://www.club386.com/3dfx-voodoo-history-ross-smith-interview/

Apple Records Vs Apple Computer: https://dfarq.homeip.net/when-apple-records-sued-apple-computer/

Ubisoft Remote Working Row: https://www.verticalslice.news/this-is-your-crisis-this-is-your-failure-inside-the-global-battle-to-preserve-remote-working-at-ubisoft/

Dungeon Master In ScummVM: https://www.timeextension.com/news/2026/10/scummvm-now-supports-ftls-legendary-1987-adventure-dungeon-master

GTA's Atari ST Origins: https://bsky.app/profile/philsan.bsky.social/post/3mxox2b2vca2e

Play The Prototype: https://patkerr.co.uk/2d-vehicles/

Levelord Obituary: https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/legendary-level-designer-richard-levelord-gray-has-died/

Video Of The Week 1 (Adam Sipione Why Is Shenmue?): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fr3vlpBehcI

Video Of The Week 2 (CNCDan Space Cadet Pinball): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtXlG4FHs88

Video Of The Week 3 (Kevin Moonlight PicoPCMCIA): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmKyWd5aae8

Video Of The Week 4 (SoundFontGuy PS1 Music): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1rn0YP3OLU

Video Of The Week 5 (The 8-Bit Guy's Movie): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmgeFTAk2a8

Chapters:

00:00:00 Studio Update

00:04:00 PCBWay

00:04:48 Major Decompilation Community Shuts Down Thanks To AI

00:17:50 Ultima Underworld For Modern Systems

00:30:18 Sinclair Preserved! Ferranti ULA Design Docs Released

00:38:55 The DOOM Shrine

00:47:48 Definitely NOT Reese's Pieces

01:00:18 Videos Of The Week

01:12:45 A Tribute To Richard "Levelord" Gray

In this episode I talk about Heretic and Hexen, ArtCraft's AI-coded clones of Adobe's apps and Microsoft Office, DOOM on the Vectrex, in a Microsoft developer tool, on a pen plotter and on a PlayStation memory card, video games on VHS, newly surfaced footage from Xbox's cancelled Perfect Dark reboot, a warning for Playdate owners, Max Toy's short tenure at Commodore, modern Nvidia GPUs on Windows XP, an Atari 2600 handheld with a CRT, open source replacement boards for the SNES, Famicom and Sega CD, a tribute to Apollo software pioneer Margaret Hamilton & more!

Listen on your favourite podcast platform: https://anchor.fm/reesrambles

The official podcast of ctrl-alt-rees: https://youtube.com/ctrlaltrees

Subscribe to Rees Rambles on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/reesrambles

Join the Discord: https://discord.gg/5k922pd8PW

Episode Links:

Heretic Gameplay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Xklmh0dz2I

Hexen Gameplay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZOWDbU1voE

ArtCraft: https://getartcraft.com/pricing

ArtCraft's Clean-Room Claims: https://bsky.app/profile/matthodges.bsky.social/post/3mxbzlzahok2u

ArtCraft Takes On Microsoft Office: https://www.theregister.com/software/2026/10/08/rust-upstart-reveals-reimplementation-of-microsoft-office-with-claude-on-coding-duty/5301952

DOOM On The Vectrex: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDJuGPmYWis

DOOM In Microsoft's Aspire Dashboard: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXPj2DK6CPk&t=345s

DOOM On A Pen Plotter: https://www.reddit.com/r/PlotterArt/comments/1wz4k5o/playing_doom_at_000881057_fps/

DOOM On VHS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcgEQVsysYM

DOOM On A PlayStation Memory Card: https://www.timeextension.com/news/2026/10/superstation-ones-usd20-memory-card-goes-on-sale-today-and-yes-it-plays-doom

Cancelled Perfect Dark Reboot Footage: https://www.timeextension.com/news/2026/10/new-footage-from-xboxs-cancelled-perfect-dark-reboot-surfaces-online

Video Of The Above: https://x.com/IdleSloth84_/status/2107577138140586402

Playdate Certificate Expiry Warning: https://www.siliconera.com/psa-panic-recommends-update-as-older-playdate-os-secure-certificates-about-to-expire/

ZX Spectrum Book Smashes Kickstarter Goal: https://www.timeextension.com/news/2026/10/new-book-celebrating-45-years-of-the-zx-spectrum-smashes-its-kickstarter-goal-day-one

In-Flight Nintendo Console: https://www.facebook.com/groups/retrocomputers/posts/29405041699098998/?hpir=1&_rdr

Max Toy's Short Tenure At Commodore: https://dfarq.homeip.net/max-toy-embattled-commodore-president/

Nvidia Pascal GPUs On Windows XP: https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/gpu-drivers/modder-brings-nvidia-pascal-gpu-support-to-windows-xp-32-bit-modded-drivers-unlock-better-displayport-and-hdmi-support-for-modern-monitors

Atari 2600 Handheld With A CRT: https://hackaday.com/2026/10/07/handheld-atari-2600-packs-a-crt/

Starlight Retro Open Source Boards: https://bsky.app/profile/starlightk7.bsky.social/post/3mxbxeuagbc2n

Buy Page For The Above: https://starlight-retro.com/buy/

Margaret Hamilton Obituary: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx5yn46j41zpo

Video Of The Week 1 (GlassTTY Newbury Newbear): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBDzNDR9Bic

Video Of The Week 2 (Throaty Mumbo Games on VHS): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcgEQVsysYM

Video Of The Week 2 (RetroBytes History Of Cray): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSgnDD83m-U

Video Of The Week 3 (Talos Principle 3 Gameplay Reveal): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UB-btaymgEY

Chapters:

00:00:00 This Week I Have Been Mostly Playing

00:07:47 AI Slop Takes On Adobe... And Microsoft?

00:20:34 The DOOM Shrine

00:32:04 Cancelled Perfect Dark Reboot Footage Found!

00:42:12 Not Rees's Pieces

00:56:58 Videos Of The Week

01:06:06 ...And Finally