As you well know, USgamer and the Retronauts podcast activated their Wonder Twin powers last week for the season debut of the show. And this week... there's no Retronauts.

It's a bi-weekly podcast, see. Once every other week, that is, not twice weekly. (It's a confusing term.) But don't despair: We still produced a podcast this week! It's just a very tiny episode, and a one-man show at that.

Between regular episodes this season, we'll be publishing something called Retronauts Micro — and, true to the name, none of these episodes will run for more than 10 or 15 minutes. They're not meant to be standard shows, but rather quick explorations of topics that maybe can't sustain a full-length conversation.

This week, for example, I ruminate on the TI-99/4A computer, a system that yielded a couple dozen very simplistic games in the few years it was on the market. It's no Commodore 64 or Apple II, but at the same time the TI was the first computer I ever used... mainly for reasons of geography. Unlike any other Retronauts episode over the past eight years that I can remember, this installment is a solo show — a one-man rumination about an old computer. Will you love it? Hate it? Here it is so you can decide for yourself:

As the structure of this installment might suggest, Retronauts Micro episodes will be more experimental in nature than the usual conversational panels we publish. (The second Micro episode will actually be a normal Retronauts conversation... but one truncated to about 12 minutes long.) And to prove it, I decided to experiment with turning this episode into a video.

Love it or hate it, the only guarantee we make about Retronauts Micro is that the next episode will probably be completely different. So please enjoy! I hope!

Download links:

Libsyn (1:33:12 | MP3 Download) | SoundCloud

This episode's musical selection:

Chrono Trigger | "The Corridors of Time" | Yasunori Mitsuda

Supplemental reading:

TI Fest West 1998: An in-depth account of a reunion of many of the original designers of the 99/4A.

Finally, if you like what you hear, consider donating to our Patreon campaign, which is fully funding this entire season of Retronauts. For just a dollar a month, you can get every episode a week ahead of time—this week, our Patreon backers are listening to this seasons second episode of Retronauts, which will show up here next Monday. Can't swing a monthly donation? A kind review on the iTunes Music Store certainly helps. Thanks for your support, even if it's just enjoying what we produce!