Episode 935: Optimizing Vertex Rotation at High Speeds – Radio Free Nintendo

Oh, and you thought “blast processing” was the pinnacle of weird gaming lingo…

So, the buzz around this episode? It’s about the Konix Multisystem. I mean, who even knew this obscure British console existed? Like, 99.99% of gamers and media folks probably didn’t have a clue. But dig into its promised features, and you’re bound to be a bit… baffled.

And rightly so! A frequent emailer, GX—who also moonlights as a game master—joked it feels like a plot straight out of The Simpsons.

Looking back, Konix is mostly known for making questionable accessories. That motion chair? Infamous. But hey, it shows us a time when the world wasn’t all interconnected. Feels kinda nostalgic, right?

Their marketing was all about those home computers that were huge in Britain back then. Commodore Amiga, Atari ST, Sinclair… and whatever quirky thing Amstrad was pushing. The games were more home arcade ports, not like the blockbusters that would dominate later, like Mario or Sonic.

Konix (along with Atari XEGS) sort of paved the way for other companies in this space to try their own systems: Amiga CD32, Atari Jaguar, Amstrad GX 4000. Most were just rebadged computers (Jaguar was essentially a repackaged Konix prototype). Even though Atari and Commodore were American, they faced the same problems post-Video Game Crash after the NES arrived in ’85. The UK was still catching up and hadn’t experienced that 70s home console craze.

With new ideas and money flowing in, the UK and European markets reached a new gaming evolution. Japanese consoles, especially Sega, dominated over there, while Microsoft took over home computing.

There’s a term for this cultural divergence: Galapagos Syndrome. Usually, it describes Japan, ironically enough.

And then—oops, where was I? Right, New Business! Greg and James are, like, knee-deep in Donkey Kong Bananza land (00:02:17), and they’ve got more insights now. It kind of brings James to mind of Ultimate Play The Game’s era (aka Rare) under Nintendo when they stopped making impossible titles like Knight Lore.

James takes a breather, hands New Business over to Guillaume, who’s racing through Mario Kart World (00:57:39) and throws shade at anyone who thinks Mario Kart 8 in 4K would’ve been better. Meanwhile, he’s gradually unraveling Balatro but hasn’t circled back to the Final Fantasy VI Pixel Remaster. Instead, he grabbed another Atari-published gem: Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story (01:09:12). And Jon’s pretty retro with Gaiares (01:41:59), a Sega Genesis shooter. He sighs over the closing of the Movies and TV store on Xbox (01:52:11).

Anyway — wait, no — there’s so much more, but I think I sidetracked enough for today.