The Retro Hour (Retro Gaming Podcast) · The Retro Hour (Retro Gaming Podcast)

Medal of Honor: The Inside Story with Chris Cross - The Retro Hour EP482

·1 hr 38 min·5 clips

Firing a Browning .50 cal on a half-track hit Chris Cross with a compression wave he could never recreate in a game.

This episode of The Retro Hour podcast features hosts Dan Wood, Ravi Abbott, and Joe Fox discussing retro gaming news and interviewing Chris Cross, the lead designer of the influential first-person shooter series Medal of Honor. The hosts preview their conversation with Cross, who has a long industry history including work at Blizzard and DreamWorks Interactive. They note his involvement with the infamous Jurassic Park: Trespasser game, which sold poorly and was heavily returned. The interview explores Medal of Honor's design philosophy, which emphasized a slower, more thoughtful pace compared to contemporaries like GoldenEye. Cross details the technical challenges of adapting first-person shooter controls for the PlayStation's D-pad before analog sticks were standard. The discussion covers the series' evolution across hardware generations, from PlayStation to PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. A significant topic is Cross's work on the Jurassic Park: Trespasser project, which he notes was voted the worst game of 1998 and set a record for returns at the time. One surprising insight is the direct creative link between Steven Spielberg's involvement with DreamWorks Interactive and the Medal of Honor series. The hosts find it interesting that a game as high-profile as a Jurassic Park title could fail so dramatically. They also discuss how Medal of Honor incorporated historical references and a sense of realism that was novel for console shooters. The technical "hacks" used to make the original game playable on PlayStation hardware are highlighted as a key achievement. The episode's first half covers retro gaming news, including a new homebrew project called "Vanilla" that lets users replace a Wii U GamePad with a PC or phone screen and a standard controller. The hosts examine a newly released, free fan-made port of OutRun for the Game Boy Color. They also discuss "Words of Vengeance," a free, typing-based spin-off of the Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun game that mimics the gameplay of *The Typing of the Dead*. Another news item is a Kickstarter for a 3D-printed ruler with a built-in emulation device capable of playing NES, Game Boy, and even *Doom*. The hosts also share news of a new portable USB distribution for AROS, an open-source operating system inspired by the classic Amiga OS. The tone is conversational and enthusiastic, with the hosts sharing personal anecdotes and nostalgic memories related to the games and tech they discuss. This episode will appeal to fans of classic first-person shooters, especially those interested in the development history of Medal of Honor. Listeners who enjoy deep-dive interviews with veteran game developers and weekly roundups of retro gaming community projects will find it engaging. Those with no interest in early 2000s shooters or retro hardware hacking might choose to skip it.

As heard by us

A loose Medal of Honor interview wrapped in the show's familiar retro-news, sponsor, and side talk rhythm.

This episode stays loose and conversational, pairing a Medal of Honor discussion with lead designer Chris Cross with the show’s usual retro-news lead-ins, sponsor reads, and side talk.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

Hear Medal of Honor with lead designer Chris Cross.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from The Retro Hour (Retro Gaming Podcast)