036 - Triforce, Virtual Boy & AI Coding an 8-Bit Game

In this episode, John and Dave cover a mix of retro gaming hardware, emulation history, and hands-on tinkering with old and new tech. They start by discussing Nintendo’s new Virtual Boy accessory for the Nintendo Switch, reflecting on the strange legacy of the original system and what it’s like to experience those games today. The conversation then dives into the fascinating story behind the Nintendo/Sega/Namco Triforce arcade platform and the effort to preserve and emulate these unique arcade systems. Dave also shares a retro-computing adventure recovering files from 1990-era floppy disks by rebuilding a DOS environment and reinstalling Microsoft Works on modern hardware. Finally, they wrap up with an update on Dave’s long-running Commodore 64 project recreating the classic Mattel handheld football game, and how modern AI coding tools are now helping move the project forward.

Topics discussed in this episode

• Nintendo’s new Virtual Boy accessory for Nintendo Switch and Switch 2
  https://www.nintendo.com/en-ca/store/products/virtual-boy-for-nintendo-switch-2-120829/

• Nintendo announcement and details about the Virtual Boy accessory rollout
  https://www.nintendo.com/en-ca/whatsnew/virtual-boy-accessories-for-nintendo-switch-2-and-nintendo-switch-now-available-for-pre-purchase/

• Dolphin Emulator blog post: “Rise of the Triforce” — the history and emulation of Nintendo/Sega/Namco’s arcade platform
  https://dolphin-emu.org/blog/2026/02/16/rise-of-the-triforce/

• Dolphin Emulator project website
  https://dolphin-emu.org/

• MiSTer FPGA project (used for recreating vintage computer environments)
  https://mister-devel.github.io/MkDocs_MiSTer/

• MiSTer ao486 core for running DOS-era PCs
  https://github.com/MiSTer-devel/ao486_MiSTer

• Microsoft Works archive and documentation (classic DOS productivity suite mentioned in the episode)
  https://archive.org/details/microsoft-works-1.0-1.05-1988-05-english-5.25-360-kb-packard-bell-oem

• AtariAge forums discussion of the classic Mattel handheld football game
  https://forums.atariage.com/topic/90135-1970s-mattel-classic-football-led-handheld-game/